Page 50 of Derecho

“I’m glad you got to experience it,” Birdie said.

Violet’s hand covered my sister’s. “And you will get to, too.”

Birdie sighed. “Not any time soon. I’m still healing from everything that happened earlier this year…And Beau isn’t taking any chances that something will hurt me. No matter how many times I remind him I’m here, and I’m okay.”

“I can’t imagine that man keeping his hands off of you.” Vi smirked.

“Oh, his hands aren’t the problem. Neither is his tongue. It’s that damn⁠—”

“La la la la…it feels illegal to hear you talking about this.” I laughed.

“Lain, you know how babies are made.”

That was true. Beau and my sister were going to pour all of their love into each other—ew—and then he would dote on her throughout her entire pregnancy. I hadn’t gotten pregnant the same way. I didn’t have a soul connection with Greg. I had a drunken night where I thought he was coming back to me.

“Lainey Belle?”

“Sorry.” I smiled. “I know how badly you’ve always wanted to be a mom. And then Juniper came along for Beau, and you get to be her mom…but I know you want to experience pregnancy, too, and I hope that happens for you. You’ve always been the best mom to me. Your kids are, and will be, very lucky to call you mom.”

“Here.” Jessie handed a plate with a burger, grapes, and two pickle spears on it to me. I’d been sitting over here, alone, since my sister and Violet got called back to wrangle their kids.

“Oh, uh, thanks. I could have come up to eat.”

She shrugged. “Lach told me to bring it over to you.”

“That was nice of him.” I turned to find him laughing at something Beau had just said. His brother nodded toward us, and Lach turned, his smile bright as his eyes landed on me. I don’t know why, but I smiled, mouthing thank you as my hands lifted the plate.

“What is going on with you and my brother?” Jessie asked as she sat several feet away from me, her back resting against a tall, rounded post.

I’d been waiting for her to seek me out since we got here. I knew it was coming. I knew exactly what she was about to say. Because if I was in her shoes, if I had a normal, loving family and a brother who was so genuinely good and caring, I’d want to protect him from anything.

“I…He’s just helping me out.” That didn’t seem to clear any of the suspicion off her face, so I continued. “I’m not staying with him long. Birdie and I were just talking about the safe house being almost done. I don’t want to move there if I don’t have to. I want to find a place of my own.”

Jess nodded. “And you’re going to, right? You’re going to move into your own place and stand on your own two feet? We’re going to have a big problem if you think you’re going to take advantage of Lachlan because he’s struggling right now⁠—”

“He’s not struggling,” I bit back. “He’s healing. There’s a big difference there. Don’t even think about saying that shit around him.”

Jessie’s eyes went wide. “You’re right. He is healing. And our family doesn’t want him getting wrapped up in drama that could slow that progress down. He doesn’t need that trouble right now⁠—”

“That’s all I am, right? Trouble.” The nickname that Lach used, that usually made something melt inside me, now made my stomach turn sour. I set the food down on the dock, wiping my hands on my shorts before pressing my fingers into my back. As if he could feel the change in my heartbeat, the little alien woke up, kicking my ribs as he stretched. “You saw that in high school, and I made your life miserable for trying to hold me accountable for my actions. I’m sorry, Jess. I loved being your friend, and I’m truly sorry that I was so messed up I couldn’t hold it together to be a better friend to you.”

“Or a friend at all. You went out of your way to hurt me, Lainey. And I won’t let you do it to Lachlan. It’s not healthy. Whatever is happening between you two, the way you’ve attached to each other—I don’t like it.”

“We’re just friends.”

“That’s what worries me. Because I don’t think you know what it means to be a friend. And I’m scared that my brother is being pulled into the orbit of someone who could really hurt him. He’s already lost a best friend to selfishness and bad decisions.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the tears from falling. “I’m not like Dakota.”

“You might not be able to see it, but you’re exactly like him. Dakota took and twisted things, forcing Lachlan to help him. He wasn’t sorry for using Lach as a safety net until irreparable damage had already been done. And it doesn’t matter at that point.”

“You think I’m just using him?”

Jessie folded her arms across her chest. “Aren’t you? I don’t know what happened between you and Greg, and it’s none of my business, but why did you have to go to Lach instead of your sister? It doesn’t make sense.”

“He came for me,” I whispered.

That got her attention. “What?”