Page 6 of His Brown-Eyed Girl

The little girl froze and slid pretty eyes to her towering uncle. “No! He eats wittle kids. And mommies.”

Michael’s eyes sparked. “Well, we know he hates Mom and Dad.”

Charlotte started crying, but her older brother didn’t seem to care. He charged toward the gap in the camellia bushes, not bothering to listen as his uncle shouted, “Stop!”

“That little-” Lucas bit down on the expletive sure to explode from his mouth. He shoved the rolling bin to the side and started toward the gap.

But Addy did something unexpected.

She reached out and laid a hand on his arm.

Lucas stopped, turning to her, his irritation making her stomach flutter. “What?”

“Let him go.”

The man shrugged off her touch. “No, he’s being-”

“Lucas Whatever Your Name Is, I think you need to tell me what’s really going on. Where are Ben and Courtney?”

Lucas Finlay looked down at the small woman staring expectantly at him with eyes the color of aged wheat, not quite golden but not wholly brown, and stilled himself.

What was really going on?

How about total incompetency in dealing with kids?

Or helplessness?

Or guilt?

Or all of the above?

All those would likely cover the past forty-eight hours spent in the company of three kids he knew nothing about, a house that creaked and moaned and had weak pipes, and pets that needed constant feeding and walking. He’d encountered more poop in the last two days than in his entire lifetime… and he raised cattle on his ranch.

Not to mention, Michael had been correct.

Not about eating small children. Lucas might be tall, but he’d given up devouring tiny tots long ago… when he’d sold the golden egg laying goose. But the boy had been right about hating his brother and sister-in-law. Unequivocally correct.

“It’s a long, complicated story.”

Addy hooked a dramatic eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It is. And right now I need to go.”

“Ben and Courtney aren’t… I mean…”

“No. They are still alive.” Courtney had been adamant the children not know what had happened. Neighbors carried tales and Lucas wasn’t sure what Courtney wanted to reveal about Ben’s injuries… about the fact his younger brother lay fighting in a hospital bed miles away, knocking on death’s door. “They’re in Virginia.”

Not a lie.

Walter Reed Army Hospital was in Virginia.

“I know Ben’s deployed to Afghanistan. Was he injured?”

Lucas didn’t move a muscle. “I can’t give out information without their permission.”

She looked like she understood that it was something serious but wasn’t going to pry. “Oh, of course. I’ve just never seen you before. Not that I am close friends with your family.”

“My mom and dad are in Europe, trying to get back so they can meet Courtney in Virginia. There was no one else to stay with the kids on such short notice.”

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