Page 114 of Broken Skulls

Lily starts barking orders. “Dan, go back home and get the mason jars and the two bags of dirt I have in the shed. I think there are some plastic pots in there too. Grab them.”

He doesn’t even hesitate; he turns and walks out of the room.

She places her hands on her hips. “Dirk, have Jackson run home and get Willow. She’s a plant expert. If anyone can save them, she can.”

Her attention turns to the man with the bag. “Pick up all the pieces of porcelain from the pots and put them in a bucket.” She kneels beside me. “They’ll never look the same, but we’ll do a mosaic with the pieces or something, okay?”

I nod at her, wiping my tears with my bloody hands.

“The cards,” I say, pointing to one on the floor.

Her eyes soften. “I’ll save all of them,” she promises. “Now, please go with Jesse. You’ll be no good to him if you don’t heal your concussion.”

When she senses my reluctance to leave the room, she tries again.

“You can help with the plants when you get to feeling better, but until then Willow will keep them alive.”

Jesse and Lily pull me to my feet, and Jesse wraps her arm around my waist, helping me into the bathroom. Tank is there with a pair of latex gloves on and a sponge in hand.

“Sorry,” he says. “I was just trying to clean up the blood we washed off JD before locking him up.”

“Is he hurt?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No. He didn’t have a scratch on him.”

“Good,” I say, dropping my shoulders.

Jesse drops the toilet lid and pushes me to sit down. “I’m going to go grab her some clean clothes. Can you wait with her a minute?” she asks him.

He nods, pulling the gloves from his hands and dropping them into the trash can. He has blood all over him.

“Are you okay?” he asks, reaching in to turn the water on.

“I’m fine.”

He laughs. “I don’t think you’d tell me if you weren’t.”

“Probably not,” I agree tiredly, rubbing my head.

Dirk walks in with a glass of water. “Here’s that Tylenol.”

I take it from him. “Thank you.”

He waits until he’s sure I have it down, and then he leaves the room.

Tank and I wait for Jesse to return. I point to his clothes, realizing he must have been one of the men who had to pull Jacob off his father. “Thank you for helping.”

His brows pull together, and he scratches his head. “You really love him, don’t you?”

“I do,” I admit quietly. “I love all of them.”

He sighs. “Yeah. They kind of grow on you, don’t they?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry if my being here is awkward for you,” I tell him honestly.

He chuckles. “It was at first, but I don’t think it will be anymore, do you?”

I give him a small smile. “No. I don’t think so.”

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