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“I’ll go,” Parker said. “He won’t try to boss me around. He will Shawn, as he was always there as a kid.”
“Go. I want everything. Take my truck. Completely strip the trailer of everything that’s hers.”
Parker was already climbing in his truck and heading out.
Shawn took the lead, opening the back door and then going upstairs to her door. She had a room, even though she didn’t live there … yet. They all hoped that she would live with them soon. Once inside, Casey didn’t go straight for the bed. He took her toward the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet, he nodded at Shawn to start running a bath.
“She’s not going to like that,” Shawn said.
“Right now, I don’t care what she thinks she wants. She’s soaking with sweat, and I want to get her cleaned up. There’s vomit on her shirt. She’s been ill all night while we were home sleeping peacefully. That pisses me off. She’s our responsibility, and we should be the ones to take care of her.” He was so damn angry right now.
He’d followed her lead, letting her keep the damn trailer because she wanted it. Not anymore. She could have died in the time she’d been away. Sickness could kill. What if she got dizzy and fell down, hitting her head? There would have been no way for him to be there to help her.
His heart pounded as he thought about finding her alone, passed out, with a pool of blood beneath her head.
No!
There was no way anything could happen to her.
“She’s going to be okay,” Shawn said, finishing the bath.
“Help me get her shirt off.” Right at that moment, he didn’t feel anything sexual toward her. All he wanted to do was get her naked, wash her, dress her in one of the shirts they’d gotten for her, and put her to bed.
When she woke, she’d be pissed, but like all the other times before, she’d get over it. She had to. He didn’t want her mad at him because he was choosing to take care of her. He loved her, damn it.
Once she was naked, he carried her over to the tub. With Shawn’s help, they bathed her, and she moaned a couple of times. Exhaustion had clearly gotten to her because she didn’t wake up.
Neither of them lingered on the task at hand. Instead, they washed her body, dealt with her hair, and then Shawn picked her up out of the tub while Casey got the towel.
Within minutes they had her wrapped up, her hair brushed quickly, and she was beneath the covers. He pressed a hand to her forehead, not liking how hot she felt.
Shawn stood back as he stared down at her.
“She wants us, you know?”
“She does?”
“Yep. She said as much as I carried her to the truck. What she doesn’t want is to be cast aside like our other women.”
“She never would be.”
Casey signed. “We know that, but she’s just thinking about the other women that have been in our lives, and we don’t exactly have the best track record for this right now.”
“Speak for yourself,” Shawn said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Casey stared at Shawn, confused.
“I’ve been in love with Poppy for most of my life. There hasn’t been another woman for me to be with. I’ve not wanted anyone else. It’s always been her.”
“You’re a virgin?”
“Yeah, I’m a virgin.” Shawn shrugged. “I’m not going to be ashamed about this.”
“I’m not trying to make you ashamed. I just didn’t think for a second that you were a virgin.” Casey ran fingers through his hair, shocked. He wasn’t a virgin. Ever since he was fifteen years old, he’d been having sex. In the past three years, though, he’d not been with anyone, not since he’d given Poppy that necklace, and knew he’d do whatever he could to protect her.
His love for her was absolute. He couldn’t allow anything to happen to her, or for anyone to hurt her. He loved her so damn much.
“I didn’t want to be with anyone else. Poppy always kept us as friends, and I refused to take it any further. Then with all the chaos with her mother, I didn’t want to hurt her. I don’t ever want to hurt her.”
Casey could understand that. Cathy was a strong woman, and seeing her succumb to cancer had been one of the hardest things Casey had ever seen.
“I’m not letting her go back to that trailer,” Casey said.
“Then I’ll make it clear to her how sick she has been, and how silly she’s being not living here. I’m going to go and sit with her.” Shawn didn’t wait for permission. He already entered Poppy’s room, and Casey made his way down to the ranch. He finished some chores that were needed close to home.
Poppy had spent one long weekend preparing meals ahead in case of an emergency, and he pulled out a frozen lasagna, several of them, along with some garlic bread. Checking the heating instructions that she’d left with each item, he got ready to cook.
