“Come in. I’m just having lunch. You can sit if you want.” I was doing everything in my power to keep from pushing. The last thing I wanted was to scare her away again.
She stepped inside but didn’t take a seat. Instead, she stood twisting her fingers into intricate knots, then untwisting and starting the process all over again. “Are you okay? I heard someone attacked you.”
“I’m fine. Just a bump on the head.”
Addie studied the bandage near my temple. “That doesn’t look like a bump.”
“A few stitches.”
Her fingers bleached white as she knit them tighter together. “You hurting?”
“Not bad. Just a headache. That should go away in a week or so. How are you? Everything okay?”
She ignored my question. “Ian’s really mad that the sheriff talked to him again. You need to be careful.”
As much as I didn’t think the attack was my brother, I had to ask… “Was he around the night it happened?”
Addie stiffened, the manic acrobatics of her hands stilling. “I don’t know. I go straight to my room after dinner. I don’t want to be around if they’re drinking.”
“Addie…”
“I’m fine. I know how to take care of myself.”
Taking care of herself was one thing. Having to play a constant guessing game for when your father or one of his ranch hands might lose his temper was another thing altogether. I would’ve given anything for Addie to trust me in that moment. For her to come stay with me. I wanted to protect my baby cousin how I’d failed to all of those years ago.
“I know you can, Addie. I just wish you didn’t have to.”
The look in her eyes was so bleak—exhaustion and something that appeared as if she’d given up. “Me, too.”
Before I could say another word, the door opened again. This time, broad shoulders filled the space, and dark eyes cut to me. Hayes’ gaze stayed on me a beat longer than normal as if surveying to make sure I was still in one piece, before moving to Addie. “Afternoon, Adaline. Ev.”
Addie winced at the use of her full name. Her father was the only one who always called her by the moniker. Everyone else called her by the shortened version.
“Call her Addie. Everyone does. Have you met Hayes officially?” I asked my cousin.
She had shied back a few steps. “No. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too, Addie. I’d like to give you my card if you don’t mind. That way, you can call if you ever need anything.”
She moved farther away, shaking her head. “I can’t. If he finds out I have it—I just…can’t.”
“All right, then. You need me, just come to my office.” His gaze locked with hers. “There’s always a way out. And I’d be happy to help you find that path.”
“Not always,” she whispered. “Not for me.”
And with that, she bolted around Hayes and headed straight for the door. I didn’t call out this time. Didn’t try to stop her. I needed to give her some room. Space to bolt when she needed to, and a place to come back to when she was ready. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. My headache pulsed behind my eyes as I tried to hold back tears.
Hayes slipped into the empty chair next to me. “Hell. I’m sorry. I had to try.”
“I know. And I think it’s good that you keep telling her she has you to run to if she needs it. She came here on her own today. I think that’s progress.” My breath hitched. “I hurt her so bad. Pretty much everyone who was supposed to love her has let her down in one way or another.”
Hayes set a small paper bag on the table and curved his hand around mine, that now-familiar sweep of his thumb picking up across my skin. “You’re here now. That’s what counts.”
“Does it?” A single tear slipped out of the corner of my eye, and Hayes wiped it away. “Those hurts may run too deep. It’s all she’s known for so long. I’m scared she’ll stay in that familiar place forever.”
“I don’t think she will. The more Addie sees you living your life, free with a job you love and chasing a dream…I think that will make her want to reach for more. What was it that you told me? She only needs twenty breaths of bravery.”
His finger ghosted along the tattoo behind my ear, sending a pleasant shiver down my spine.
“I hope you’re right.”
“Let’s hold on to hope right now.”
I took a long inhale, letting the air out slowly again. I could hold on to hope for Addie. It might be one of the most dangerous emotions there was, but right now, I needed it. I looked up at Hayes. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
He raised a single brow. “Not happy to see me?”
I was happy to see him anytime he popped up. But that wasn’t something I was ready to admit yet. “Depends why you’re here.”
He chuckled and released my hand. “I came to check on the patient and bring you a little something. Hadley said you were a fan of the whoopie pies at Spoons.”
I straightened instantly. I’d discovered the perfect little confections last week, and Hadley and I had consumed half a dozen on her babysitting day. “What’s in the bag?”
He held it close to his chest. “Gonna change your tune about being happy to see me?”
“I’m the happiest person you’ll ever meet if you’ve got whoopie pies in there.”
Hayes carefully unrolled the bag and handed over a chocolate cookie sandwich with thick vanilla buttercream frosting in the middle. “Now, I get one, too.” He set the other on a napkin he stole from the center of the table.
“I think one might be my limit. I had three with your sister and felt a little sick.”
Hayes shook his head. “Hadley’s not real good with limits.”
“I’m starting to learn that. I think she was going more stir-crazy than I was being cooped up.”
“She always wants to be moving. It’s why being an EMT works so well for her. She’d hate being cooped up in an office or having to do the same thing day after day.”
I broke off a piece of cookie and popped it into my mouth. “I like her. She’s hilarious and has a really good heart.”
“That’s for sure.”
I paused for a moment, wondering if I had any right to ask what I wanted to. “I get the sense she and your mom struggle.”
Hayes leaned back in his chair. “You’re not wrong there.”
“Why? I can tell they love each other.”
He broke off a piece of his cookie and dipped it into the frosting. “Mom held the reins pretty tight after we got Shiloh back. A lot of folks would say too tight. Everyone else understood why, but Hadley…she was so young. When she got old enough, they battled. Mom was used to me and Beckett, who simply let her have her way. Or Shiloh, who would just disappear into the barn or the fields when she didn’t want to talk about something. But Hadley…she’s always had a firecracker of a temper on her. And she doesn’t back down from anything.”
“I can see both sides.”
“So can the rest of us. It’s why Dad and I are always trying to run interference. To get them both to see the other’s perspective. But a lot of hurt has built up over the years.”