Page 59 of Sudden Summer

“Hey, Birdie. I’m so sorry about what happened.”

“Yeah. I don’t really even understand. One minute I was shutting my door after getting home from night shift, and the next, he was just…there.”

Colt nodded. “We’ve both walked through the crime scene—” Birdie winced, and his face fell. “I’m sorry. We both walked through your house. We’ve cataloged the evidence, but we need to take your statement for the case file.”

“Okay. You just need me to go over everything?”

“Yeah. Take your time. Walk us through what happened. Nate will write it down and at the end, we’ll have you sign it.” His eyes dropped to the brace secured around her hand.

“Well…” Birdie took a breath in, looking over at me. What the hell was I doing, still standing up? I sat down on the couch next to her, wrapping my arm around her back. I’m not sure if she even realized how she immediately leaned into me, but I did. And my brother sure as hell did, too. “I was late coming home from shift because I stayed for a delivery…”

I tried to sit as still as I could, listening to her recount everything that happened. How she’d felt uneasy about a truck following her, but they’d turned before her street, and she didn’t see them again. But as soon as she started going through all the fucking horrific things she’d gone through in the house, my stomach pitched.

“You’re growling,” she’d whispered at one point. I froze. I hadn’t even realized I’d been doing it…

“And that’s when he said it wasn’t the end of things. I laid there until Beau came rushing in.”

“Fuck,” Nate sighed as he finished writing down the last of what Birdie had said. “Here. Take a minute to look these over and make sure I documented everything correctly. You can sign whenever you are ready.”

I moved my arm from around her shoulders, settling it against her thigh.

“What do you have from the scene? Anything?” I asked Colt.

He shook his head, and my stomach rolled. “Nothing so far. But we’ll find something. There’s no way in hell I’m letting someone put their hands on Birdie like that and get away with it. Not to mention the threat of returning. I don’t like it.”

She brought the pen to the paper and signed her name at the bottom. “Would you mind if I went back upstairs now? I think I could sleep a little more before Juniper comes home.” She smiled as she handed the paperwork back to Nate, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “I’m one of those people who has a hard time getting pain medicine to clear their system, and I don’t want to be sleepy when she’s here.”

“We have everything we need for now,” Colt said as he stood. “I want you to call me if you think of anything else, okay?”

“I will.” Birdie stepped into his embrace. Colt kissed the top of her head again, and I bit the inside of my lip, trying to not lose it as I scooped her up in my embrace.

“Give me a sec,” I said as I walked past Colt and Nate to the stairs.

“I can walk, you know?”

“Yeah, and I can carry you. I’m a big and strong cowboy, remember? Let me do this.”

“Fine.” Her head snuggled down onto my shoulder. “But it’s for your ego, and not my physical abilities or lack thereof right now.”

“Sure thing, baby.”

I tucked Birdie back into bed, kissing her forehead before jogging back downstairs.

“You better find this fucker before I do, Colt,” I told my brother as I grabbed the paperwork the hospital had given us to add to the report. “I swear to God, I’m going to rip him limb from limb for this.”

“Don’t say anything else, Beau. It can’t be self-defense if I know you’ve premeditated anything.” Colt took the papers from my hand.

“Didn’t hear anything that sounded like premeditation to me, Colt.” Nate nodded as he picked up his hat from the table. I shook his hand, then my brother’s, and watched them walk out the door.

“Hey, sweet girl. Welcome home. Were you good for Aunt Jessie?” Juniper was all smiles as I scooped her out of her aunt’s arms.

“Please, she was a dream! Beckett loved having her over, too.” Jessie rolled her eyes as I shifted Juniper onto my side so I could grab the bag in her hands.

“Where is Beck?”

“Hawk took him into town for some uncle-time with Gage. He wanted to go out to see Mae and the baby, and I had a bunch of freezer meals for him to drop off to them, too. It’s just easiest to drop Beckett off. With Quinn being brand new, we don’t want to get her sick, and I’m sure Mae and Stone are both exhausted. I couldn’t imagine a toddler coming to visit me right after getting home from the hospital with my newborn. No thank you.”

Jessie’s eyes drifted up the stairs while I turned to put Juniper on her tummy time mat. The floor wasn’t the most comfortable place to be, but if that’s where my baby was, then that’s where I’d be, too.