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I nodded, wondering how I could broach this subject after the appointment we just had... “I told Liv she needs to stay in the main house, so she doesn’t get hurt on the way over or Maya doesn’t run out in the morning again alone. But thank god she was there for Maya this morning. Liv sure is something else.” My heart warmed just thinking of her.

“She is...” He studied me. “You’re not getting any ideas, are you?”

I didn’t know how to answer. I couldn’t lie to him, but his reaction wasn’t exactly positive.

Without waiting for my response, he stood up, toe-to-toe with me, and said, “Look, Fletch, I love you like a brother, but we both know my sister deserves better than what happened with Regina.”

My head jerked with the force of his words. “What happened with Regina is different.” I was trying to convince myself too.

“Really?” he asked, studying me. “Because I see it in your eyes. You’re still hurting.”

“It’s better,” I told him. “I’m better.”

“I hope so. For you and for Maya. But I don’t want you using my sister to make you feel better. She deserves someone whole. Who could give her a family and put her first. I love you like a brother, Fletch, but we both know that isn’t you. Not right now. Maybe not ever.”

Before I could respond, he walked out of the office, leaving me feeling more alone than ever.

* * *

My stomach was still churningas I drove up to the house. And I was having that conversation with myself again.

The one where I reasoned with myself.

I was better than I was eight years ago, a new resident with no idea how it would affect me to see so many children hurting.

I’d done the therapy, I’d taken the medication, my PTSD was under control. But it wasn’t the kind of thing that was ever truly gone. I still had flashbacks from time to time, nightmares that felt real as anything else in my life. But I could recover faster now. I was more me than I’d been back then.

And it pissed me off that Rhett couldn’t see that.

I didn’t like Liv in the same way I’d been attracted to Regina.

And the way Liv loved my daughter... she understood. She knew that Maya had to come first.

These feelings I had couldn’t be one sided. Not with the way Liv looked at me this morning.

I let out a heavy breath as the house came into view.

Because none of it mattered if Rhett wouldn’t give me his blessing. That woman I cared for? Her family meant everything to her. It would kill her if she had to choose between Rhett and me. If we didn’t have her family’s full approval and support.

I was right before to keep this strictly professional. I shouldn’t have let my thoughts get away from me. I wouldn’t let them get away from me again.

And I couldn’t blame Rhett for being on edge this morning. I couldn’t have picked a worse time to talk to him about my feelings for his sister.

30

Liv

As I transferred my clothes from a laundry basket to my new dresser in the guest room, Maya lay on my bed, her chin propped in her palm. Graham slept next to her on his dog bed. (What Fletcher didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.) “So we’re going to have a sleepover, like every night,” she said, giddy.

“Pretty much,” I replied with a smile. “Except for the nights I go to my parents’ for dinner or hang out with my friends.”

She pouted. “Me and Dad are your friends.”

I reached over, tweaking her nose gently. “The best friends.”

When she smiled, I went back to folding clothes.

“Why do you think that coyote came after us?” she asked.