Page 168 of His Boys to Protect

The woman grinned at him and got to work.

When it was finished, Skylar couldn't stop staring at it in the mirror.

It really was perfect.

Now, even if only like this, Ward and Charlie would be with him forever.

Chapter 59

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WARD

WARD STOOD at the front counter at his brother's shop, waiting for his keys. He'd been such a distracted mess over the past week and a half that John had told him to take the day off. There hadn't been much to do there anyway, being the day before Thanksgiving. But that meant Ward had been sitting around at home, dwelling on how empty the place felt.

So he'd spent the morning doing laundry, realizing just how much it had piled up. Then he'd seen how bare his refrigerator was. He hadn't relished the idea of grocery shopping in the holiday madness, but it had to be done. But as soon as he'd gotten into his truck, he'd noticed the service light on.

He'd been so distracted by everything, he hadn't noticed it was overdue for an oil change.

So he'd called Vaughn, and they'd squeezed him into the schedule. Ward had spent an hour sitting in the waiting room, having nothing better to do. His shopping would have to wait until the truck was done. The phones never seemed to stop ringing the whole time he was there, people clamoring for service before they left town for the holiday. And the front door kept opening and shutting, people coming and going, droppingoff their cars or picking them up, all of them in a rush to get somewhere or meet someone.

Ward envied them.

He was going to dinner at his folks' house tomorrow, but he wasn't looking forward to it. There would be no hiding his broken heart. It was too fresh.

Maybe he should skip the holiday. Claim he was sick or something.

“Here you go,” Vaughn said, handing over his keys. “See you tomorrow!” He started to head back out of the office.

“You don't want me to pay?” Ward asked.

“We can deal with that later. You should go.”

Ward frowned. “What–”

“Shit. Too late.”

The door opened behind Ward.

“Hey, Kelly,” Vaughn said. “Be right with you.”

Ward tensed.Kelly? Shit.That was just what he needed. He slowly turned, and Kelly looked up at him in surprise.

“Well,” she began, fussing with her purse. “I guess this was bound to happen someday.”

“Yeah.” Ward stepped aside. “Excuse me.” He moved around her and was just reaching for the door handle when she stopped him.

“Wait.” She put a hand on his arm, then quickly snatched it back. “Are you okay?”

Ward didn't move.

“It's just…Ward, you look like someone died.”

Ward grimaced. He almost felt like someone had died. It certainly hurt that much.

“Look, I know it's none of my business, whatever it is,” Kelly went on. “But if you need someone to talk to…” She trailed off with a shrug. “I'm sure I'm the last person you'd want for that,but if you need it? I do still care about you, you know. I'd be happy to listen.”

Ward considered it. The office was otherwise empty at the moment, and he had so much pain built up inside, he was dying to get it out. It was either talk or go punch a wall. The latter honestly sounded better, but he'd never been a violent or aggressive man and he wasn't about to start now.

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