Again, Brogan’s gaze was drawn to the women. Pixie looked healthy now. Vital, energetic, and so damn sweet …
“Marlow and Pixie are two of the strongest women you’ll ever meet. They’ve both overcome stuff that could have leveled them, yet there they are.” He nodded at the women. “Still beautiful, both inside and out.”
Yeah, Pixie was that, all right. Hearing Cort, seeing the women’s closeness, left Brogan feeling like an intruder. Like the fraud Ruth had accused him of being. “I should be going.”
“Like I said, that’s the wrong move. I agree, Ruth is going to dog your heels, and there’s no doubt it’ll get ugly.”
With every word, Brogan felt a little more lost. “Which is why I should go.” He couldn’t expect others to put up with the mayhem.
Cort shook his head. “It’s why you have to stay, but not in the lake house. You need to be with someone.”
Pride clawed up his spine, cinching the muscles in his neck and locking his jaw. Cort was tall, but at six five, Brogan topped him. Firm and irrefutable, he stated, “I can take care of myself.”
Judging by the smirk on Cort’s mouth, Brogan knew the other man was amused.
“Never doubted it, and in your shoes, I’d react the same way. Except that you’re forgetting something,” Cort pointed out.
Against his will, Brogan’s gaze darted to Pixie. He saw her tip up her water bottle for a drink just as Marlow leaned close and said something. Whatever it was, Pixie nearly spit out the water with a quick laugh. She covered her mouth and leaned into Marlow, the two women grinning conspiratorially.
“No, not her,” Cort said. “Though I wouldn’t want to see her hurt.”
“I wouldn’t want that, either.”
“There are still times when Pixie—very unnecessarily—wants to prove her worth. Marlow and I do what we can to show her how proud we are, but after being used by Dylan, then having to come to Marlow for help, she suffered a blow to her dignity.”
Everyone around Pixie could see that she was a fantastic mother, a dedicated friend, a hard worker, and talented on top of it all. But the hurt remained as it always did and made self-respect difficult. He understood that.
Behind him, Cort spoke quietly. “I think in many ways, you and Pixie are the same.”
“How do you figure that?”
Cort studied him a moment. “You don’t want to accept help, either. It makes you think you’re slacking, when you’re not. Think of it like the military. There are few things you couldn’t do, but others are sometimes better qualified, or your time is better allocated on different tasks.”
Brogan shook his head, unwilling to mix his two worlds. “If you weren’t worried about me hurting Pixie—”
“I’m talking about that tiny baby, who’s now counting on you to shield her from ugliness.”
Ruth was definitely ugly. Not on the outside. In appearance, she was still an attractive older woman. Slim, her gaze sharp, her hair only a little frazzled. But on the inside? As far as Brogan could tell, she was as callous and cold as a tombstone. “You think I won’t protect Shayna?”
“I imagine you’d die for her, but dying isn’t always an option, is it?”
The way Cort said it, Brogan guessed that he already knew.
Cort clapped him on the shoulder. Voice low and respectful, he said, “I lost men, too. I came home and they didn’t. I can’t say it gets easier, because it doesn’t.”
Renewed pain twisted in his guts. “I didn’t think it would.”
“Being with Marlow, having Pixie and Andy in our lives, that helps to balance the memories. I don’t relive them as often as I used to. The pain is still there, always will be, but I know they’d be happy for me now. They would love Marlow as much as I do.” Cort smiled. “And if they were here, they’d all be after Pixie. You’d have your work cut out for you.”
Brogan found himself smiling back. “No doubt.” Giving Cort one small admission, he said, “I didn’t expect her to be so pretty, but that’s not even the biggest part.” If Pixie was only pretty, if it was merely a matter of avoiding her big blue eyes and shy smiles, he could handle that. “It’s seeing her with Andy, hearing her talk about you and Marlow. Her laughs.”Everything, really.“It’s how she is … with me.”
Cort was quiet a moment; then he straightened away from the counter. This time, when he spoke, his voice was loud enough for both women to hear. “Which is why you need to stay here with Pixie, or with Marlow and me. If Ruth comes back, there’s no way you can deal with her and take care of Shayna, too.”
Seeing Pixie stand, followed quickly by Marlow, Brogan wanted to groan. “If I leave, she’ll have to find me first.”
“And she will. Look at you and look at her. You think she’s above crying that you mishandled her, that you bullied her? What will the cops say if she calls them?”
“She wouldn’t …”Or would she?Ruth surely had her ownreasons for wanting to avoid the law, but would she risk it to hurt Brogan? He couldn’t rule out the possibility.
