Page 72 of Together Is Where We Belong

“You didn’t overstep. I know how your family is. I knew they’d come running, and it’s okay,” she said as she stepped back out of my touch.

We walked back over to the table, and I pulled out the chair for her to sit down. She tucked her dress under her as she sat and scooted the chair forward. I sat in the chair beside her. I draped my arm across the back of her chair as we sat there waiting for her to be ready to begin.

I didn’t miss the shocked looks the three of them gave me as they sat across from us in silence.

“What’s goin’ on?” Holden asked, breaking the silence.

“I have a stalker,” Carolina blurted out.

The three of them went rigid.

“What do you mean?” Gentry asked.

Carolina explained everything to them just as she had to me, not leaving out a detail.

“What do you need us to do?” Brooks asked in a protective tone.

“I was thinking you could go with us to the sheriff, and Holden and Gentry could take Luke back to the ranch,” I told them. I didn’t just want him at the ranch to go on an adventure like I’d implied. I wanted him at the ranch around all the men that I knew would protect him. The gate and fence around our property would hopefully deter anyone from stepping foot on the property.

“We can do that,” Gentry said as he looked over to Holden who nodded. His fists were clenched just as tight as his jaw.

“Thank you,” Carolina whispered without elaborating what she meant.

“For what?” Brooks asked.

“Being the same Courtright brothers I remember,” she whispered, her voice breaking with emotion at the last word.

“You don’t have to thank us. This is what families do,” Brooks said in reassurance. The bite to his tone let me know how mad he was at the situation.

Brooks pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed out a message to someone before he looked up at me and nodded.

His phone chimed within seconds.

“He’s waiting for us at the station,” Brooks said, and I heard Carolina let out a nervous sigh.

“Where are your keys? I’ll go get Luke’s booster seat out of your SUV,” I asked Carolina as I stood.

“They’re in my bag on the counter. I need to grab him a change of clothes to put in his backpack. We can’t forget it. His meds are in there,” she said as she looked up at me with a worried expression.

“I’ll grab them. Don’t worry,” I assured her as I nodded over to Holden and Gentry who stood and followed me.

I went inside and found Carolina’s purse just where she’d said it’d be. I pulled out her keys and tossed them over to Gentry who caught them and walked outside to get Luke’s booster seat.

“Are you okay?” Holden asked from behind me as I heard Carolina’s phone buzz on the counter.

I turned to Holden who’d gone stock still just as I had.

I walked over to the other side of the counter where her phone still lit up from the message that’d come through.

Picking it up, I let out a relieved sigh when I saw that it was her boss checking on her.

I carried it over to her bag and dropped the phone down in her bag as I turned back to Holden.

“No, brother. I’m not. I won’t be okay until whoever is threatening her is caught,” I told him honestly. He nodded in understanding as I grabbed Luke’s backpack and went to his room to grab the change of clothes.

“You ready for that adventure, little man?” I asked as I pulled a pair of shorts and shirt out of his dresser that were paired together.

I unzipped the backpack and looked down in it to double-check that the bag with his EpiPen was inside before I shoved the clothes inside.