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So he did the only thing he could do. He just stood there. And held her.
For as long as she’d let him.
It wasn’t nearly long enough.
“We need to go find Hope’s family. I promised Heather I would.”
Jarrod nodded, but he didn’t want to let her go.
He wasn’t certain that he ever would again.
38
Those assholes had meant it. Sol wasn't a fool. Wilson and Costovia were going to do it tonight. Go after people who hadn't done a damned thing to them.
Little Hope's face popped into his head. He'd stuck around the hospital for a bit after he'd given Rodriguez an escort to FCGH. Just to see if the girl's mother had needed anything, after he’d seen her in the parking lot, hurrying toward the doors.
She'd patted him on the hand and thanked him for helping. Gave him a distracted smile. He would never forget that woman's gorgeous smile. Or how Bonnie had fussed over the two daughters who had been with her, their big dark eyes filled with worry over little Hope.
He'd wanted to stay, find out how the little thing was, but it wasn't his place. Besides, Rodriguez was sticking close. As if he was a part of the family or something.
Hell, maybe he was.
Probably because of Heather.
She was the kind of woman who would gain a man like Rodriguez's attention. She might even look back at Rodriguez, too. Then they could raise those kids of theirs together. Give them a loving kind of life. A good family life.
Be together, and everything. Have someone to come home to.
Sol had come home, fixed himself a damned peanut butter sandwich—no use cooking for just one any longer—when the damned cell rang.
With instructions.
And Sol had no choice.
He was going to have to do what he was told. So the only person he gave even half a damn for left in this world didn’t pay the price. Maribeth’s mother had suffered enough.
39
His little rabbit was lost in her own head. Jarrod hadn't missed that. She was barely eating dinner—she or her little devil pal, Powell. Jarrod suspected the barbecue at the Barratts' had been too taxing and people-y for his and Gunnar's fragile little flowers. Neither one of them seemed to do well in crowds. They were both shy. That discovery had rocked him when he’d realized.
They both just looked so tired. Wan and overwhelmed in that way that made him want to fix everything for them. Like his mother had always said a man should.
Which…that thought gave him pause. These women didn’t need a man to swoop in and rescue them. They could take care of themselves. Very well.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to do just that. Him wanting to take care of them didn’t make them like his mother. Far from it.
It just meant he cared about them and wanted to take care of them—like he used to Gabby, Brynna and Melody. Because he cared.
It made him want to scoop Haldyn up, carry her to his suite, and just tuck her in and take care of her.
That was the last thing he'd ever imagined wanting to do with her, but the urge was there. She'd been worried about Hope; he hadn't missed that. Haldyn was going to have to find a way to cover Hope's hours on the lab schedule, too. But he'd heard the worry for her friend when she'd been speaking to Zoey about what had happened.
Queen Haldyn lived for the lab, but she loved her friends far more.
He picked up her fork, waved it under her nose. "You need to eat more."
"I must have missed it. Did someone assign you to be my keeper over everything as well as doing babysitting duty?"
