“She just wants to know if she’s going to be safe here,” Blake whispered back. “If she thinks you hurt that horse, it isn’t a far leap for her to think you’d treat her the same. Give her a minute to work it out. I don’t imagine she’s ever felt safe. Anywhere.”
And that stabbed him in the heart and made him ache. He tried to swallow his emotions. Something about Gillian had his feelings rising to the surface, when he’d had them buried for a good long time. A very new sensation. He wasn’t sure he liked this turn of events.
“She’ll damn well be safe here. I won’t have her thinking otherwise.”
“Telling her that and making her believe it are two very different things. She’s been taught not to trust and not to let her guard down.”
They both jumped at the sound of soft crying coming from the truck. Gillian took off and hobbled around the truck just as a small, brown-haired boy popped up into view.
Bud paled and stared at the pair, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Blake tried to think rationally, despite the blaze of shock racing through his veins, making his heart drop to his stomach. Could the boy be hers? She was only twenty. She’d have been a child herself when she had him. He wanted to ask her and didn’t know how, or what to say. Bud saved him from having to speak the words.
“Is he yours?” Bud called out. She hadn’t gotten the boy out of the truck yet.
Gillian looked over at her grandfather and wanted to throttle him. What kind of person did he think she was? She wasn’t like her mother.
Keep your head. He doesn’t know you. Give him the benefit of the doubt.
Still, she couldn’t help her annoyance.
“He is now.” Let him chew on that for a minute.
She opened the truck door. Justin launched himself into her arms. She bit back an oath as pain shot through her whole body. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed the side of his head. His crying stopped when he landed in her arms. She hadn’t meant for him to wake up alone.
“Justin, we’re here. You remember what I told you.”
“Yes. I’ll stay with you and do what you say.”
“I talked to him. He seems nice. I think we’ll be okay here. If not, I promise I’ll take you away. We’ll find our own place. Okay?”
“Okay.” He pressed his face into her neck and held her tight. He believed her. She’d keep him safe. She always had. She always would.
Chapter 6
“Is that a horse?” Justin asked, his voice timid and afraid.
Gillian turned to look at the poor creature standing by the fence. “It is a horse. He’s not feeling well.”
“Did he do that to him?”
“He said he didn’t.” She made her way over to the fence with Justin still in her arms, his legs wrapped around her waist. It was killing her to carry him, but she didn’t set him down. Not yet. He needed the cuddles and love. He’d only ever gotten them from her. She wouldn’t tell him or let him see how much she hurt. “He took this horse away from someone who was mean to him. He’s trying to make him better. I think that’s a very good sign.”
“Is he going to make you better?”
She hugged him tighter even though it cost her. Pain radiated up her back and down her leg, but she ignored it. She stood by the fence and looked at the sad animal, her own sadness mirrored in the horse’s soulful brown eyes.
She didn’t know how to answer Justin’s question. She hoped that their grandfather would take them in and give them a roof over their heads and food to eat. Anything else was more than she could hope for or expect.
“He says he wants us to stay. We’ll see.”
Blake and Bud stood on the porch staring, completely dumbfounded by this new development. The screen door slammed, startling them.
“Well, what’s taking you guys so long?” Dee looked out across the yard. “Who’s that?”
Bud recovered enough to answer. “She says he’s hers. I think she’s still deciding if she’s coming in.”
“Well it’s no wonder she hasn’t come up the steps with you two standing here like sentries guarding the gate. The poor girl wouldn’t step within twenty feet of two huge men after what her father did to her. With your size and strength, she knows she couldn’t defend herself against the two of you. Didn’t you think to move out of her way?”
Blake swore under his breath. He’d wondered why she hadn’t come up on the porch with them to talk. Sure enough, she’d kept what had felt to him like an awkwardly long distance between them, but comfortable and safe for her. In fact, she’d made sure to keep enough distance that she could get to the truck before they overtook her.