Page 64 of Broken Chains

“Sweetie, what happened?”

“Eve’s biological mother showed up today, trying to take her,” I blurted out.

“What? Where is she now?”

I shrugged.

“The baby, Peyton. Where’s the baby?”

“Oh, Kenneth and Tim have her until Oliver gets home from work.”

“What? Why is Oliver at work at a time like this?”

I cringed. “I didn’t call him. Kate, it’s his first day at the ranch. I just couldn’t.”

She shook her head and scowled at me as she reached for her phone and placed a call. I knew she was calling Wyatt and would have him send Oliver home. I knew I could have called Thomas to do that at any time throughout the day, but I also knew that Oliver would never want special treatment, especially on his first day, even though Thomas would have pulled anyone for the day given the circumstances.

I started prepping for my evening dinner parties, but my heart wasn’t really in it. Saturday night was my busiest shift, too. I tried to compartmentalize things and focus on the tasks before me, but Kate called in Austin to help.

Austin was one of my brother’s friends. They called themselves the Six Pack and had since high school. Kate’s mate, Wyatt was part of that group, too. Austin was a pain in the ass. He was also a hell of a cook and pitched in from time to time.

He walked over and hugged me when he came in. “Take the night off, Peyton. You have enough on your plate right now. And remember, technically your place is half Collier land. You call James if she shows up again. She’s not going to get Eve if we have any say in the matter.”

James was another of the Six Pack and a Collier deputy sheriff.

“Thanks, Austin. That means a lot, but really, you don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine tonight. I know Eve is safe with her uncles.”

“This place is supposed to be fun and relaxing, a romantic date night for a lot of people. And your wolf is not going to relax as long as there’s a threat to your kid. So tell me what’s on the menu, then get out of here and take care of your family.”

“And I’ve already scheduled you off tomorrow, too. That’ll give you ‘til Tuesday to get things sorted out,” Kate said. I started to protest, but she put up a hand to stop me. “You’d do the same for any one of us. How many times have you come in on your day off or worked a double shift for someone here? You always put others before yourself, but not this time. You need to be with your family right now, so go,” she said.

I nodded, feeling so grateful for a boss and friends that would just drop everything and pick up the slack when I needed it. Kate was right. I’d do the same for any one of them, too.

I spent a few minutes going over the evening plans with Austin before leaving. Kenneth stayed true to his word and was in the dining room eating with Tim and Eve. I unstrapped the baby and held her close to my chest.

“Kate’s got people to cover for me so I can take Evie home,” I informed them.

“You’d be pretty worthless here tonight worrying about everything anyway,” Kenneth said.

“Are you okay, Peyton?” Tim asked, sounding very concerned.

“I’m fine. It was just a very stressful day.”

Having Eve in my arms helped ease the nightmarish events just a little.

It wasn’t long before the diner door flew open and Oliver ran in looking panicked. He was heading straight for the back kitchen, but I flagged him down first. He quickly wrapped his arms around me and the baby and held us tight.

“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked. Wyatt had clearly filled him in on what I’d told Kate.

“It was your first day. I didn’t want to bother you. And we’re fine. Eve’s fine. I’m fine. We’re fine,” I said, feeling anything but fine.

He kissed my temple. “No you’re not.”

I gulped in air. I didn’t want to have a meltdown right there in the middle of the diner. “Can we just go home?” I whispered, even knowing that whispering in a room full of wolf shifters was really pointless, super wolf hearing and all.

It wasn’t until we turned to leave that I realized Wyatt and Thomas were there, too.

“Hi,” I said to my brother. As Oliver let go of me long enough to grab Eve’s car seat carrier, Thomas hugged me.

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