Page 2 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

Okay, maybe Grady had worded things wrong. But he just hadn’t wanted the kid getting ideas. His mom was good at planting ideas, and Hala was only like twenty or something. Maybe. She could be younger than that. She was young and na?ve and had been hurt by a guy in the past.

He didn’t want her to be hurt again. Even by him. Was that so wrong?

He actually wasn’t sure how old she was, now that he thought about it.

Just that she had always been trailing after Greer, who was twenty-two or so now, maybe.

She’d always been a lot smaller than Greer, too.

He was pretty certain she was a few years or so younger.

Maybe. He didn’t exactly keep up on how old his sisters’ friends were.

Grady was usually too busy to worry much about what the girls were getting into.

At least until recently, anyway. Since what had happened with Genesis and her friend Aubrey at the hospital last week, when someone had hurt them both. That had scared him. Made him resolve to keep a closer eye on them when he could.

It had shocked the hell out of him to learn after that that his sister Genesis had a real thing for Chad Fields, their neighbor’s son. Chad had been good friends with Gene and Guthrie their entire lives but was all about Genesis now.

He hadn’t thought Genesis was old enough to want to get serious about a guy yet. Chad was far too old for her, too. There was ten years or so between them. Grady had told Genesis that, too. She’d told him to butt out and mind his own business. She always had been feisty, that little sister of his.

She and Chad were all over each other. Like Grady’s older brother Gene was all over Chad’s younger sister Chantal now, too. That had seriously come out of nowhere. Those two had hated each other for years.

Chantal was over almost constantly—instead of hiding like she always had before.

She had hidden from Gene, now she was curled up around him all the time.

It didn’t make any sense to Grady. He’d never been good at understanding relationships.

But Chantal was over every day, Genesis’s friend Aubrey was around all the time now, with her own little sister.

That little sister was one of Greer’s friends, too, and he was sure she was just like nineteen.

There were women everywhere lately.

Grady was doing his best to deal with that. He’d never liked big crowds of people.

Hala’s older brother was staying at their house, too, after a car accident.

Hudson and his little boy Ryan. That’s when Hala had suddenly popped back up everywhere.

Like a little curly-haired brat, pestering him every chance she could.

He hadn’t really seen her much at all in the last several years. Now he wondered why.

Everything was changing.

Grady didn’t like it.

Next thing he knew Greer or Gia would end up bringing some asshole home or something.

Hala was back from wherever she’d disappeared to for all those years.

And she would be around more often. Getting into trouble again, with Greer right next to her.

Strange guys would be coming around all the time again, looking for the girls, and he’d have to help get the girls out of trouble—again. Like they used to.

Greer and Hala had caused so much trouble when they’d been teenagers—Grady shuddered remembering.

Things had gotten quieter since Hala had stopped coming around for a while.

She’d been in college, he thought. With Greer in and out at the ranch constantly again, Hala would probably be in and out of the place again.

He was going to have to get used to that. Hala wasn’t too much of an irritation. She was always laughing and happy about something, anyway. She did have a great laugh. Her entire face lit up when she smiled, too.

It had always made him want to smile. Every time he heard her laugh, he wanted to smile.

He’d missed that. He hadn’t realized how quiet the place was without Greer and her friends in and out all the time.

No surprise Greer had moved out, though—she’d moved out around the time Gene’s ex-wife had first moved in.

Greer had stayed gone all that time, too. She really hadn’t gotten along with Gene’s ex. He’d seen Hala snarling at that woman a time or two, too.

Grady leaned against the kitchen island and just…

watched the girls as they fluttered around.

Genesis was in scrubs, like she often was.

Gia still wore a business suit, but she’d taken off the jacket, that mane of hair was down now, and she had Hala’s nephew Ryan riding on her hip like the kid had been there a thousand times before.

Ryan had a cast on his leg; he had to be getting heavy for his sister, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Gia loved kids, and they always loved her in return.

Greer was right there, brooding about something, too. There were other women there, too. Aubrey and Ayla, Genesis and Greer’s friends, who lived in town. They were beautiful. All of them were.

Including his sisters. But they didn’t look like teenagers any longer.

They looked like…women, he realized. He was pondering that when Hala strolled back in from the hallway right into the kitchen. Looking… different.

He almost choked. What had the girls done to her?

Hala was dressed in a dress that girl had no business ever wearing. She definitely shouldn’t be wearing that out in public. Ever. There were far too many things on display right now. Things he hadn’t realized she even had.

She didn’t look like a twenty-year-old kid now, either.

Her brother came in and told her ‘Hell, no, she wasn’t going out in that or he’d ground her forever!’.

Grady liked Hudson. He’d been Gene’s friend for years, and had been Gia’s boss at the county prosecutor’s office for years.

The guy seemed pretty sensible and trustworthy.

Grady wouldn’t let Greer out in a dress like that .

Or Genesis. Gia, either, for that matter.

Where had Hala gotten that thing? It was just designed to make a man drool.

He was pretty certain he had a handkerchief with more material in it than that dress.

“It’s a perfectly respectable dress,” Gia said. “It goes almost to Hala’s knees.”

“Your dress, I take it?” Hudson asked, giving Gia a significant look that had Grady’s hackles rising a bit. Maybe he did have a problem with Hudson, after all. Guys shouldn’t look at one of Grady’s sisters like that. “It would be indecently short on you.”

Well, Gia was six or seven inches taller than Hala and curvier. It would definitely be indecent on his sister. He was going to burn it, first chance he had. A brother had to do what a brother had to do, after all. There were real creeps out there. He’d told his sisters that before.

“I didn’t hear any complaints from the last guy I wore it for. I may even wear it when I go out with Anthony next week.”

Did anyone else hear the growl from Hudson at that?

Grady sure did. What in the hell was going on around here?

Gia was dating Anthony Lake now? George’s brother-in-law was a nice guy and all, but Grady didn’t want Gia dating him or anything.

Lake was coming off a bad divorce. Grady didn’t want Gia to be a rebound or anything.

Gia was a bit na?ve with guys—she’d spent all her time when she was younger just studying, and now working.

She didn’t know how guys operated much at all.

None of his sisters did. Grady wanted to keep it that way.

The last thing he wanted was for his sisters to be hurt.

Gia just kept talking and glaring at Hudson. “Hala, ignore the idiots. You look gorgeous. Beautiful.”

Well, his sister wasn’t wrong. Hala did look beautiful, no denying that. And that dress…it showed far too much smooth, creamy skin that looked incredibly soft to touch. And…there were freckles on her shoulders, too.

Grady’s fingers twitched for some reason.

That dress, those freckles…they would make a man want to touch them. To see…for himself…the contrast…

This place was insane lately.

“ Hala’s too young to wear a dress like that.” Hell, they were all too young for dresses like that. Gia had no business even owning it. His sisters were enough to destroy a brother’s sanity, hands down. Didn’t they all know the kind of jerks that were out there, just looking for women like them?

Greer laughed at him, right in his face.

She always had been a brat, but he was glad to see she wasn’t crying again—she’d been crying in the middle of the night last night.

He’d heard her, and knocked on her door.

He’d hugged her when she opened it, told her everything would be okay.

He’d make it okay, no matter what. She’d just clung, breaking his heart, but not telling him what was wrong.

Was it any wonder he was worried and not paying attention to his sisters’ friends?

He'd been worrying about his sisters and trying to protect them for years.

And something was definitely wrong with Greer right now. Grady just wanted to fix it.

“Hala’s older than I am, Grady. She just doesn’t look like she is most of the time,” Greer said.

Grady just gawked. No. That didn’t make sense. He’d always thought Hala was younger. “Oh. I thought she was just like…nineteen or twenty or something?”

Greer’s little blonde friend with forearm crutches snickered audibly. She covered her mouth and giggled. She really was adorable—Gunn was just staring at her like she was the first woman he’d ever seen. But…way too young for Gunn. Way too young.

“Grady…do you know how old Greer is, sweetie?” Genesis asked him, snarky as always.

“Probably not. He is just that clueless. Too much time playing with his horsies in the barn,” Gia had to add.

“I don’t know, twenty-two or so?”

Everyone laughed at him like he was an idiot. Especially her. Smirking at him with those lips that were covered with red lip gloss she had no business wearing, either. Hala shouldn’t have a mouth that looked like that. She just shouldn’t.

“Grady, sweetie-pie, I’m twenty- four . I’m older than Greer—but younger than Ayla.

I’ve been fully legal for a long time—and have been enjoying it.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my date for this evening is waiting.

So…how do I look, everybody?” She gave a little hair flip, and almost twirled.

Revealing the back of that dress—lack of a back of that dress—and creamy pale skin. And no bra. Hell.

She did not have on a bra.

She looked…hot. How was that even possible?

He wanted to follow her. See just who this date was in the first place. But the girl-pack swung into action. They blocked him from following, told him to go kiss his horses good-night or something useful. Told him he was just getting in their way.

Hala was twenty-four ? He did some math, realized…

maybe he’d been a bit caught up in the ranch lately.

Grady had been taking on more of the horse side of things, while Gene focused on the cattle side of the operation since his divorce.

Maybe…time had gotten away from Grady along the way.

He knew how old his sisters were, damn it—he just had to stop and subtract.

Hell, Gia was thirty, now. That meant Genesis was twenty-seven and Greer almost twenty-four.

“Okay, Aub and I will drop you off,” Gia said, bossy as always, handing Hala’s nephew back to Hudson. “We’re going to go hang out at her place until your date ends.”

“Text me when you are ready to leave,” Aubrey added, quietly.

She did everything quietly, Grady had noticed before.

She was really shy—and a bit soft-hearted.

Probably why she’d become a doctor—Guthrie was just as soft-hearted.

Guthrie was attracted to her, too—Grady could tell.

“Or if you need us before that. We’ll be just around the corner.

If you want, he can drive you there, or we’ll come and get you. ”

“All of this for a simple date?” Grady asked. They were acting really weird. Weirder than usual, even for his sisters. “What, is he with the mob or something?”

“A girl can never be too careful with baboons like you running around out there. It’s a first date, I may not want to be in a car alone with him, you know,” Hala said, crossing her eyes at him and blowing him a kiss.

Making him feel like a dimwitted teenager again. “I’m ready. Let’s roll. He’s waiting.”

She spun once, in a way designed to taunt a man, and then looked at her little pack of minions.

And then three of the women-beasts were gone. Just like that.

Grady watched them go. He didn’t understand women like them at all.

Even his sisters were entirely too complicated.

He just grunted and took off. He would head up to the barn, make sure the horses were okay.

Check that the mama dog who had been dropped off on them recently was doing okay, with her eight puppies.

Take some time away from the crowd to think.

Twenty-four? When in the hell had that happened?

And who the hell was she dating tonight, anyway?

Why did it even matter? Hala Hanan had gotten on his nerves from the moment he’d met her almost two decades ago. He didn’t see that ever changing. And he was just fine with that.

Damn it. His shin hurt now, too.