Holly stared at each of her boys in turn, love warming her eyes. “She’ll need us all. We’re her family now. All she has left is Max. Max said she’s ashamed and doesn’t want anyone to see her or know what’s happened. I’m counting on you boys to spoil her rotten and make her feel at home.”
“You know we will, Mom,” Dillon said, his face still dark with a frown. “Damn it, but that sucks. She’s a little bit of a thing.”
Lily nodded her agreement, wincing at the image of some man knocking Lauren around. They’d all met Lauren only once—at Callie and Max’s wedding—and she’d been a beautiful, shy young woman, so different from Max’s overpowering presence and quiet confidence.
Michael’s arm came around Lily, and he pulled her into his side. He squeezed almost as if he knew how much she needed his comfort and support. And oh God, she did. More than anything she needed to know that everything would be all right. That he and his brothers would be right here, with her. Always.
“When will they be back?” Seth asked quietly.
Holly shrugged. “I’m not sure. You know how your sister is when she sets her mind to something. She won’t be coming home without Lauren and it won’t matter what Lauren thinks she wants.”
Michael chuckled. “Takes after Dillon. Both stubborn hardheads.”
Dillon curled his lip at his brother.
Holly rolled her eyes. “Okay boys, time to clear out.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I don’t trust you.”
Holly lifted both eyebrows in mock dismay. “What a thing to say to your mother! Go on now. All of you shoo. Your fathers are expecting you.”
“It’s sad that even when I’m thirty-three years old, my mother can still make me feel ten,” Seth grumbled as he got his coat out of the closet.
He tossed jackets to Michael and Dillon, then headed back toward Lily.
Without a word, he hugged her up tight and squeezed until she was breathless. Then he kissed her, his hand lingering on her cheek.
“Be back later, baby.”
Lily kissed Dillon and Michael and watched as they shuffled out the door. Then she turned to her mother-in-law. “Ready to get to work?”
CHAPTER 6
THIS is ridiculous,” Max muttered as he drove down the interstate. “I never should have let you talk me into this.”
Callie huddled in the blanket Max had wrapped around her and adjusted the heater vent to hit her more squarely.
“I just took some more ibuprofen. My fever will break soon,” she said, trying to control her chattering teeth.
“You can barely talk,” Max said. “And your throat hurts. You have chills and fever and you have no business getting on a plane. I should check you into a hotel and have your dads or brothers come get you.”
“Don’t you dare,” Callie growled. “I can lie down on your plane same as I can lie down at home in my bed. What’s the difference?”
“The difference is you’d have someone to fuss over you, you’d have a more comfortable bed, and you wouldn’t be out in the cold and snow.”
She made a disgruntled sound and burrowed deeper into her blanket. “Lauren needs us both. I can use my sickness as a trump card. If she starts arguing, I’ll feign weakness and be pitiful. Then she’ll have to come so you can whisk me back home to my sickbed.”
Max shook his head. “You’re diabolical.”
She grinned around her quivering lips. “You love that about me.”
He shot her an amused look. “I love you more when that evil streak isn’t aimed at me.”
For a moment she stared at him, suddenly struck, as she was so often, by how much she adored this man. Was he perfect? Oh hell no. He’d made his fair share of mistakes. But he’d done everything in his power to make up for those mistakes. He showed her every day how much he loved and adored her. He took care of her. He showered her with affection. She was one spoiled woman and she loved every minute of it.
“Do I even want to know what you’re thinking?” he asked with a resigned sigh.
“I love you,” she said softly.