Page 23

R hae sat on the office floor across from Navy, rolling a ball to her daughter. Navy splatted her palm down on the rubber, and it rolled out of reach.

“Get it, Navy! Get the ball.”

With an excited squeal, the baby crawled away after it.

A small chime sounded from Rhae’s desk, one she didn’t hear very often. A new appointment notification.

She pushed off the floor and took a few steps to the desk, leaning in to check the schedule on her computer.

Justin—3:00 pm

Her eyebrows lifted. She’d told the new veteran on the Black Heart to take his time, get used to the place and there was no hurry.

She’d also told him that most of the guys didn’t book appointments. She thought having a session looming over a man might offer him a little peace of mind, but he must prefer more structure.

“Three o’clock.” It was a little different from what she was used to, but she’d roll with it.

She glanced at Navy. The baby had circled back to her playmat and was rolling around on her belly, her obsession with the ball shifting to a stuffed caterpillar that rattled.

“You gonna be a good girl for Momma’s session?”

Navy blew a raspberry and kicked her heels.

“That’s what I thought.”

The knock came promptly at three. Rhae hurried to open the door and found him standing rigid in the doorway, shoulders squared.

“Justin. So nice to see you today. Come on in.” She stepped back.

He gave the room a quick scan before he nodded to her. “Ma’am.”

She closed the door. “We’re not so formal here. Call me Rhae.”

“All right.”

“Take any seat you feel comfortable in.”

He glanced at Navy on the mat. A few toys were scattered around the room as usual. He nudged a rattling toy out of his way with his boot before sinking into the chair.

She observed the new vet, taking in his body language and reactions to things that, even when they were new to the ranch too, didn’t seem to bother the other vets. Like the baby and her toys.

He didn’t bend to pick up the toy or shake it for Navy. He didn’t comment on Navy either. No glance of curiosity or a gentling of his expression like she saw from the other guys.

He settled with his spine ramrod-straight, obviously stressed about the visit.

“I wasn’t sure when you’d feel ready to come,” she started off mildly, hands in her lap and no pen or paper for taking notes. She wanted to keep things relaxed, casual. She’d found from working with dozens of military personnel, as well as the vets here on the ranch, that this approach worked best.

“Had some stuff to get off my chest,” he dove right in. “I thought I’d come talk.”

This was unusual—no warmup, just straight to it.

She nodded, mentally noting his detachment and the flat tone of his voice. “I’m here to listen to whatever you have to say.”

“I was in a unit in Ramadi. Five of us were tight-knit. Brothers.” His gaze focused on a point on the wall, not in a far-off way, but like he was reading a script written on a prompter. “Three are dead now. One is still active. As far as I know, anyway. I fell out of touch with him.”

She offered an encouraging nod.

“We called ourselves the Ghosts.”

She’d heard similar things from other men. But the dispassionate way he talked about a brotherhood was far different from how those men talked. Loyalty and pain, she heard over and over again as a common theme. This felt…detached.

He could have a dissociative disorder. She would need to speak to him further to find out.

“Two were taken out by IEDs. One by friendly fire. Shit happens.” He forced a small shrug.

She let her gaze roam over his face. There was no flicker of emotion and no grief burning in his voice.

Of course, every patient handled things differently, but Justin threw her a little.

“Was it hard losing them?” she asked softly.

“Yeah. Sure. They were my guys.” He sounded so mechanical. “I figured you’d want to hear that.”

Her ears perked up. Figured you’d want to hear that? As if he was attempting to check off all the boxes she might have for him. To give her the answers he thought she expected?

“Tell me what you’ve been dealing with since coming home.” She sat back in her seat, hoping he would relax more, but he still sat stiffly.

Just then, a knock interrupted them. She stood and moved to answer it, throwing a glance at the clock. Her other patients didn’t typically drop in at this time of day, so she thought they’d be free of interruptions.

When she opened it, she saw Honor standing there.

The woman was wearing one of her long, flowy dresses with flowers on it, a thick cardigan that looked hand-knitted over it, and her new addition of cowboy boots that she’d been wearing with every outfit now that she spent so much time on the ranch with Gray Malone.

She smiled at Rhae. “I hope I’m not interrupting you. I thought I’d take Navy with me to art therapy. We’re fingerpainting today.”

“Oh yes! Let me get her for you.” She left the door slightly ajar, but Honor saw the new patient and tactfully remained in the hallway.

“I’ll just be a moment, Justin,” Rhae murmured to him as she scooped up Navy and snagged her thick blanket off the desk chair.

She felt his stare following them across the office, but he didn’t speak.

Honor reached for the baby, and Navy let out a squeal of joy to see Auntie Honor. “Ready to paint, little bean?” she asked Navy, taking the infant and wrapping the blanket around her.

“She shouldn’t be hungry for a while, but she’ll still try to eat the paint.” Rhae and Honor shared a laugh. She leaned in to brush a kiss over Navy’s head. “Have fun with Auntie Honor.”

As Honor settled Navy on her hip and turned to go, Rhae caught sight of Justin’s face.

He grimaced. Not in a subtle way. His lip curled in distaste, as if she’d just peeled smelly onions in front of him.

Honor caught it too. Her gaze landed on Rhae’s for a brief second. Then she let out a cheery, “Be back in an hour! Tell Momma bye!”

Rhae threw them a wave and quietly shut the door, turning to Justin.

“Sorry about that. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I just don’t like kids.”

Another oddity around here. Even the guys who didn’t think they enjoyed children melted like butter around Navy.

“That’s fair. But you’ll see her around the ranch. She’s kind of a staple around here.”

He let out a low grunt and shifted uncomfortably. “I guess I’ll adjust.”

She schooled her reaction. Not everyone loved children. She couldn’t take offense. But her gut prickled.

He rambled about missions and his platoon, told her about guarding oil fields and tracking insurgents. But his terminology was off, and it seemed like he was recycling words from a movie.

At the end of the session, Rhae leaned forward in her seat. “You’ve been through a lot. But you don’t have to worry—I’ve got your six.”

She said it like she said it to all the guys, showing him that she was in his corner. That she had his back.

Justin blinked, but he didn’t react.

At all.

Maybe he’d only served in the military a short while.

Or maybe he hadn’t served at all.

The thought was a black cloud breaking over her, leaving her cold inside and out.

But that was silly. The Malones researched the vets they accepted into the program. Their natural instinct to protect, coupled with owning a security company, wouldn’t allow them to let just anybody on the ranch.

Still, she was left with a sinking feeling she couldn’t shake.

After he left, she opened a notebook and wrote some notes about their session.

Check service record. Discrepancies in language, detachment, no standard emotional cues.

She was just tucking the note into Justin’s file when the door opened. This time, it felt like sunlight flooded in.

Denver entered, a smile on his face.

Behind him, stood a man. Tall, dark-haired. Stacked with muscle.

And as stupidly handsome as the rest of the Malones.

She launched to her feet. “Let me guess. Another brother?”

Denver smirked. “What gave it away?”

“The eyes.” All the Malones had the gray eyes, including his daughter.

Their gazes locked for a moment in a silent acknowledgement of this. Then Denver waved a hand at his brother.

“This is Theo.”

She rounded the desk and crossed the room to shake his hand. “So good to meet you, Theo.”

They clasped hands, his palm warm and rough. His eyes held secrets, just like all the Malone men, but he offered her an easy smile that lit the gray depths.

“I thought I’d bring him by to meet you before you got busy with another patient,” Denver said.

She shifted her gaze to the open door behind them, but Justin wasn’t in sight.

“We just passed the newcomer to the program. Justin, right?” Denver asked.

She nodded.

“How’d the session go?”

She hesitated. Doctor-patient confidentiality kept her from talking about it, but she didn’t need to. Denver picked up on the shift in her.

His eyes sharpened. “Anything I should know?”

Luckily, Honor put a stop to the conversation by appearing with a bundled-up Navy in her arms, fingers streaked with the residue of blue paint.

Rhae let out a laugh and reached for her child. “Hi, Navy!”

Navy grinned and leaned forward into her.

Honor relinquished her with a laugh. “Success. She only tried to eat the paint once.”

“That’s what I call a win.”

Denver’s gaze softened on her and Navy, but she didn’t miss the flicker of worry in the depths when she avoided telling him about the session.

She shifted Navy in her grasp. “Why don’t you go see Daddy?”

She felt Theo’s surprise. His head snapped to look at Denver, then his gaze narrowed on the baby, gray eyes working over the child’s face as if trying to pick out the family resemblance.

Denver took Navy from her. The baby grabbed on to his finger, her little digits clamped around his long one, bringing a lump to Rhae’s throat.

“Meet your Uncle Theo.” He wagged his finger, moving her hand with it, and she giggled.

Theo’s focus settled on Navy’s sweet face. The baby stared up at the new person with unblinking interest.

“Hi, Navy.” His voice had suddenly grown a bit hoarser.