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When they were all dry, Grady placed her on the bed and they climbed in on either side. But she couldn’t sleep, the nightmare played over and over in her mind.
“Why don’t we try to help you sleep?” Steele murmured.
“I’ll go get the bottle,” Grady said, climbing from the bed.
Effie wanted to reach after him and pull him back, but she knew she was acting like a crazy person.
Unfortunately, even a bottle of milk didn’t manage to calm her or make her sleepy. She was aware of the two men sharing an alarmed look before Steele got out of bed. She stared up at him with fear, wondering if he was planning on leaving.
“We could try swaddling,” Grady suggested.
“You okay with that, baby girl?” Steele asked.
“Yes,” she said croakily.
Grady came back with a large muslin blanket that had pictures of sloths on it. Laying it on the bed, Steele placed her in it and Grady wrapped her up tight.
An instant feeling of calm came over her.
Steele slipped her pacifier into her mouth and then picked her up in his arms.
Then he started rocking her back and forth.
Her eyes started to drift closed.
“We’ve got you, baby girl. We have you.”
They had her.
She just had to hold on.
* * *
She still couldn’t feelher legs.
And she was done.
Brooks seemed to have settled in well. It was Sunday, four days after the accident. Last night he’d gone on a date with Stella, just the two of them. And today he was with the twins.
She hated to uproot him. But she couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t hold on.
Not when she was going to become a weight around their necks . . . dragging them down.
Effie, no one wants someone who is a burden.
“I know that, Nan.” She clenched her hands into fists. “I know it.”
A knock on the door had her looking up.
The guys wouldn’t knock.
“Hello?” A woman with dark hair and a big smile peered around the door.
What the heck?
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Wait. She’d seen this woman before. But where? Oh, in the photos downstairs.
