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He was starting to like this other woman, Anne. She was on his side, for some odd reason, but rather than question it, he’d accepted it. Anne had his back and she had taken a real shine to Robin. For that, he trusted her and if there was anything she ever needed, all she had to do was ask, and it would be hers. She was more loyal than his own men at the moment, and he needed that.
“It’s better. Headaches, no matter how drunk you are, don’t last a long time.” She rubbed at her temple. “You should have seen Anne though. She looked a little worse for wear this morning.”
“You drank a lot.”
“Yep. I won’t be touching the stuff for another couple of years. So, where do you want to go?”
He took her hand as he moved her out of the way to push Bethany.
“Are you sure you want people in town seeing you so vulnerable?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me pushing your daughter,” he said. “I intended to be involved with our little girl.”
“I can see that.”
Once again, their life was held in sadness.
“Don’t do that, Robin. There’s no need to be sad.”
“No need to be sad? Do you even remember what I’ve done and what we’ve been through? You’ve been wanting to kill Reaper for a long time and now because of me, you can’t.”
“I can. I can kill him anytime I want, and one day, I will, but until then, I’m happy to have you back.” He pulled her close, kissing the top of her head, feeling the overwhelming love she gave him filling up his world.
He’d never trusted a woman until he’d allowed himself the chance to be with Robin. He’d killed Bishop’s mother because she’d gone to Reaper. Shaking his head, he pushed all of those thoughts aside and instead focused on Robin. She was here and in the now, and he wouldn’t be dragged down by any other thoughts or feelings.
“You called her our girl,” Robin said.
“That’s who Bethany is, she’s ours.”
They walked to a small park. Several people were already enjoying lunch.
A couple of the prospects had set up a small picnic and were waiting for him to arrive. He thanked them, letting them leave so he could have this time with Robin.
After putting the brake on the stroller, he grabbed Bethany, holding her in his arms as he sat down in front of Robin.
“It’s nice to see you holding her,” she said. “I was worried you wouldn’t be able to.”
“She’s part of you and I love all of you, so I guess I get to love her as well.” He smiled at her. “This isn’t just a date, Robin, this is something more.”
“It is?”
“Yes, I know I haven’t been very forthcoming in my reasonings here, and you have to understand I don’t want you to end up with Reaper. He’s not right for you.”
“He’s still Bethany’s dad.”
“I know. But I want to know what happened to you just before you landed in the hospital where Randall was treating you. You’re saying Reaper isn’t responsible for your shattered foot or broken wrist. I know what I saw, and I want to know how it happened.”
It was the one thing they hadn’t discussed. He didn’t know if it was because of her fear or down to Reaper, or even the revelation of her marriage and Bethany. Either way, he had questions and she was the only one he wanted answers from. Reaper had his own agenda and there was no way he could trust him.
“That time is a little fuzzy. Reaper, he’d gone to the store and he’d taken Bethany with him. I don’t know how this group of men found me. Apparently, Reaper owed them a lot of money and they’d been tailing him, I don’t know. It’s all a little blurry. The details, I mean. They knew where he lived and when they knocked down the door, I wasn’t expecting it. I remember getting hit around the face.” She touched her cheek. “On the way down, I hit the counter’s edge. It’s probably where I banged my head, and then everything went dark. I don’t know. I woke up in a cage. Chained to a wall.”
She went white as a ghost and Preacher reached out, taking her hand. He needed all these answers even if they did bring back terrible memories.
“It was the most awful experience of my life. I don’t…” She stopped and pulled away. She drew her knees up, closing herself off. “I try not to think about it.”
“It’s fine.”
“Why do you want to know about them?”
