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And she saw them all the time.
Since the day they’d learned of her dire situation, they’d made it their personal mission to be her 24/7 bodyguards.
Where she went, they went. Zero questions. No arguments allowed—even from her.
Which left her torn.
For the past few weeks, tension had been building inside her—and it wasn’t the good sexy kind. It was more a premonition that something bad was about to happen. She’d felt it before her mom had married her stepfather. She’d felt it again before her mother had passed away. Right before her grandparents had died.
Something was coming. It was why she’d been so triggered by the alarms going off at her facility this week.
Constant dread clenched her shoulders and clawed at her raw nerves. Her inner knowing sensed a storm looming on the horizon, and it wasn’t the sort that nourished the earth for the Daly ranchers. When it came, it would rip through her life like an EF-5 tornado, leaving destruction in its wake.
The question was, should she take off first, so she could keep her friends safe?
A knock pounded on the door, startling her and pulling her from the worries piling up on her again, making her hands shake as her pulse raced.
“Dev, you okay? Dining room traffic is picking up,” Hawk called.
She nodded, though he couldn’t see her, and sucked in some centering breaths, her hands gripping the edge of the sink.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” She grabbed her chunky black-framed glasses off the counter and shoved them back on her face. “I was just…”
She trailed off.
She was just what?
Just obsessing again and wondering how much longer she’d have to hide? To run? How long it would be until trouble rained down on them all?
There was nothing she could tell him.
“Looking for gray hairs?” he teased when she opened the door.
“Something like that.” She wouldn’t tell him how close to the mark he was. Sometimes, it seemed as if she’d been here in Daly for an eternity—long enough to have a full head of gray.
“Eh, you’re only twenty-five. Give it some time.”
Twenty-five… That’s what everyone in Daly believed. Not true. She hadn’t even been seventeen when she’d come here, yet due to an excellent fake ID she’d paid a fortune to obtain, no one had seriously questioned her claim of already being twenty-one.
Funny, that today was when she’d actually arrived at that monumental age.
Wouldn’t everyone be in for a shock when the truth came out?
“Happy birthday to you…” he sang at her, wrapping an arm around her waist and guiding her toward the front. “The dining room’s a zoo. The customers are hungry, and they’re waiting for you.”
She bumped his shoulder. “Thanks for the serenade. Don’t quit your day job.”
He wobbled his head back and forth. “Or my night job or my other job or—”
“Yeah, yeah…”
“You okay?” he asked again, a question he and Cannon seemed to pose way too often because of her tendency to get lost in worries, what-ifs and the web of lies tangling up her life.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to decide if I need to dye my hair again.” She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe, I’ll just shave it all off. That would solve a problem. For a minute.”
“Don’t even think about it,” he said. As his arm dropped from around her shoulders, his hand grazed across hers, which was as close to affection as he’d let himself get in public.
Not for lack of wanting her. He and Cannon both did. The desire shone in their eyes when they looked at her. She’d seen it there the day they’d learned her secret and vowed to keep her safe. She saw it every day since. All she’d have to do was take a leap and they’d catch her.
