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“That’s her. Cara likes pink. She works with Powell at Barratt, Barratt & Barratt.”
“The intern Powell is trying to convince not to quit because of Powell’s brother Alex?” He’d apparently been a real ass to the girl a week or so ago. Powell was furious—she’d liked that intern more than she had any of the others. Powell had issues trusting people enough to work with them. But she’d really liked Cara Coleson.
“That’s her.”
“I think she’s in the garden down that path there—I think she may be with Alex. I can go find her, if you need me to.”
“I still need to find Crispin and Cashlyn and Summer.” She pulled her phone. “Thanks, Hal. I know this is crazy. But…crazy seems to be a Coleson thing lately.”
Haldyn impulsively patted the other woman on the shoulder. “Hope will be okay. She’s one of the toughest women I know.”
“More than anyone can know.” A look crossed Heather’s face. One of pain and regret. And almost…fear. Hurt, definitely. “I need to find my family. Hell, I don’t even know where my own babies are right now. This…this place…we don’t belong here.”
Jarrod had heard Heather’s words. What her family had gone through seriously sucked. And he suspected it wasn’t going to be easy for them to find their way through.
Murdoch had said as much to him once—that the battle lines were drawn between Zoey’s family and Heather’s. And neither side was really ready to cross them yet.
He could understand that.
Heather’s family felt on the outside. She’d said some things to him before. Zoey’s family keeping secrets for months after Eastman’s attack probably hadn’t helped. Jarrod wasn’t a fool—he’d seen the news articles practically shredding Heather’s family everywhere. They were still going on, almost every two or three days now.
There weren’t nearly as many about Zoey’s branch as there were Heather’s.
Jarrod suspected the money had something to do with it. Zoey’s family had more than enough money to protect themselves. Heather’s family didn’t.
Jarrod followed Haldyn like the good little bodyguard he was trying to be. The garden path wove around the side of the Barratt Ranch toward the back gardens. He’d been there plenty of times before.
She sighed. Stopped walking. Jarrod stopped. Looked at her face. “Hey, it’ll be okay. I’m sure the gremlin will be just fine. I saw Miguel loading her into his truck. He has things handled, I’m sure.” He’d had one of the Colesons with him—one of the doctors, he thought. Jarrod just wasn’t certain what exactly had happened. Something about a kid in a tree, maybe? The Hope-gremlin in a tree, possibly? Anything with that woman was believable. He just hoped she’d be all right.
“I’m sure he does. Though of all the people in the world that could have rescued Hope?—”
“No kidding.” But her eyes were still sad. Jarrod didn’t like that one bit.
He wrapped his hand around hers and pulled her close. Until her head was tucked under his chin. She just seemed to fit there. His hands covered her back, and he just held her.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“Holding you. Making you feel better. Talk to me.”
“Why would I do that? It’s not like we even like each other.” Her words were mumbled, but he understood them.
“Maybe not until recently, but I can honestly say that is changing. I never kiss women I don’t like, you know.”
“I’m sure you don’t.”
“Tell me what’s eating at you. Just pretend I’m Daniel if it makes it easier.”
He waited. But she didn’t pull away. It shocked the hell out of him—but she didn’t pull away. So he tightened his arms around her. And just held her.
“I like Heather and Hope. A great deal. Zoey is one of my closest friends on the planet. I hate seeing how much they are hurting. When does all the hurt go away?”
Of course, she was hurting for them all. Because Queen Haldyn had a soft heart. One she kept hidden. Why hadn’t he ever realized that before?
Jarrod did something insane. He pulled her into a little cranny next to the main house of the largest tourist attraction in Finley Creek and Barratt Counties.
His hand cupped her cheek. So soft. So perfect.
“I don’t know. But…they’ll figure it out. Make things better.” He wanted to make things better for her. He just didn’t know how.
