Page 15 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

Oh, that man. That silly, silly man.

Hala had finally figured it out. What he’d meant. As soon as he wandered off to do whatever it was Grady-type characters did at barbecues. After they’d heard Gia and Hudson outside, her head had cleared instantly, and it finally made sense.

Grady…doubted himself in some way.

He thought he wasn’t as good as his brothers, especially that twin of his—who, Hala had to be honest, was way too goody-goody even for Hala—and it was having a real impact on him.

He’d apologized, telling her if she didn’t want him to kiss her again, to kick him.

Well, of course she wasn’t going to do that. She wanted him to kiss her again, and she wanted to kiss him back, too.

This felt so…new, exciting, a little weird…And very, very concerning.

Not the kissing part. But that man, that beautiful, wonderful man…was really hurting. He’d meant it.

He didn’t think he was as good a man as his brothers. And that was just insane. The man needed serious reprogramming. And she wasn’t about to let some other woman be the one to do that reprogramming.

Nope. If any woman on the planet was reprogramming that man, it was definitely going to be her. No other woman would see him the way she did, that was for sure.

It hurt her that he didn’t see himself for the man he actually was. He was one of the best men she had ever met. Why didn’t he see that?

The idea that her words that night he’d thought his mother was plotting against them all might have contributed to this? Well, she just couldn’t sit there and do nothing about that. Hala had to make it right somehow.

Hala went looking for reinforcements—taking the back exit from the barn to avoid her big brother’s snooping.

Gia had saved her bacon—well, probably saved Grady’s, actually.

Hudson would have gotten all seriously snarly if he had walked in at the wrong time.

That was not a scene she would want to experience.

Hudson could be a wee bit overprotective—and she’d half-gotten Grady’s shirt off.

It hadn’t been something she’d intended, it had just sort of happened.

She’d wanted to feel him under that soft plaid, and he hadn’t been wearing an undershirt.

Her fingers had been under his shirt…his may have been under hers.

Neither one of them had really been thinking—it had just sort of happened and everything.

She needed to remember—when kissing him, there was a high likelihood things would escalate far too quickly.

Gia had saved her just in time. Any longer than that, and she’d have had the man naked on the hay, for heaven’s sake. Anyone could have walked in.

Including her boss—Luis and some of his family were wandering around the barbecue, too.

Not exactly how a kindergarten teacher should be behaving in a barn. She felt so…wicked and excited. She didn’t know what would happen next. What he would do next, either.

Heaven help her. This was Grady she was talking about here. And that…didn’t make any sense, not really. But he didn’t think he was a good enough man for her. She was going to have to prove him otherwise.

But how did she do that?

She needed a battle plan. There were smart women around who knew how relationships with men worked. Especially Hiller men. She needed pointers. Fast.

The first woman she saw was Gia.

Well, Gia wouldn’t be much help, honestly—Gia had probably been involved with less men than Hala had.

Gia hadn’t dated much at all—she’d been too busy studying when she’d been younger, then after what Jason Clarke had done to her, Gia had retreated from romance completely.

Gia was even more reluctant to date than Hala. For very nearly the same reason.

Hala studied her as she walked across the yard. Gia was with Ryan again, holding him and laughing. Ryan adored Gia. No denying that. Hudson was right there, too, watching Gia with that look he’d had around Gia for a few weeks lately.

She half thought her brother had the hots for Gia now, too. She just couldn’t find definitive proof of it. Yet. She lived in hope.

Hala really, really, really hoped that was the case. Those two needed to get busy.

There was no woman on earth who would be better for Hudson and Ryan than that woman right there. Hala was going to do everything in her power to nudge the two together somehow. Hudson, Gia and Ryan would be so beautiful together as a family.

Gia was the one woman on earth that she knew who could be with Hudson every day without wanting to clobber him.

Her brother could be a bit…much…at times.

And Hudson would make Gia feel safe in a way her friend needed more than anything.

Hudson was really good at the overprotective giant routine.

Gia needed that, Hala thought. Probably even more than Hala did.

But she had other problems right now.

Grady Treyton Hiller topped that list. The idea that he was hurting somehow…

She jerked her head at Gia. The other woman gave Ryan back to Hudson and hustled over. “What’s wrong?”

“I need a battle plan. Meet me in the puppy barn with the rest of us as soon as you can. I’ll grab Greer and Ayla.” It was strategy time.

“Okay. We’ll be right there.” Gia trusted her—and always had her back. She would make the most perfect sister-in-law. As soon as Hala figured out how to make that happen.

“Can Ayla do the path okay?” The puppy barn was the closest to the house. Easiest for Ayla to get to.

“She should be able to. Gunn got out there last week after dinner with the rest of the boys and made them widen a path and gravel it with the proper gravel to make it accessible. He’d been googling how to make the perfect accessible walkway for days.

He’s also muttering about making the path to the barn asphalt.

Because that would be far better, he said.

Once he finishes with inside the house. They are adding solar walkway lights back there and on the front walk.

He had Grady helping him build that new ramp yesterday morning.

” Gia said, a contemplative look on her face.

“I suspect he’s planning for her to be here a lot more than she already is.

Like permanently. He seems a bit determined that the house be as maneuverable as possible for her.

He’s even asked Dad about the ramps we had when Greer was hurt fifteen years ago and whether they had kept them.

Or if Dad thinks he should just build new ones instead.

Dad is planning to come back out here tomorrow and help him make the house fully accessible again. They were drawing blueprints, I think.”

That stopped Hala. As she considered it.

Ayla was driving herself crazy trying to figure out if the man was even attracted to her—and Gunn was building ramps and walkways for her like his heels were on fire.

“That’s…so sweetly romantic and a little bit screwy, too. He has it bad for her, doesn’t he?”

“I think so. I’m just not sure,” Gia shrugged, looking very much like Grady in that moment. That gave her pause. Gia probably would have some serious insight into that man—those two could be quite a bit alike at times.

“Neither is Ayla. That may be a problem.” Hala just shook her head. Those Hiller boys. They could be clueless boneheads, sometimes. But…there weren’t any other men like them out there. She was almost convinced of that. “Gunn may need reprogramming, too.”

“What?”

“Just get the rest of us. I’ll explain as soon as I can.” Hala turned. She was going to come up with a plan. That man wouldn’t stand a chance.

Not good enough? Well, that was beyond wrong.

Grady was just fine the way he was.