Morrison (Caldwell Brothers)

“Surprise.” I laugh. “Marisa, these two clowns are my brothers, Hendrix and Jagger, and this here is Livi, my sister-in-law.”

She wiggles out of my arms and does a little princess curtsy. “How do you do?”

“Little chick, they’re just people like us; save that sh—” Hailey elbows me. “Oops, my bad. Save that stuff for the queen.” I start introducing Hailey. “This is my . . . um . . . my . . .”

“I’m Hailey, a friend of Morrison’s.” She reaches out and shakes their hands.

“We’re gonna grab the SUV,” I say, “head down the road, find a place to stay, and—”

“Nonsense, you’ll stay here.” Livi crouches down and smiles at Marisa. “You don’t want to stay at a stuffy old hotel, do you?”

She smiles and shrugs.

“We have plenty of room here.”

“Livi”—Hendrix wraps his arm around her waist—“they’re more than welcome to stay, but if they don’t want to—”

“What do you say, Hailey?” I ask. “Wanna crash here for a couple of days?”

“That would be very nice. Thank you,” she replies timidly, still taking everything in.

“Good. Now the guys can grab the bags and us girls will go find Marisa a room. It’s late; you must be tired,” Livi says, standing and smiling at Hailey.

“Nope.” Marisa smiles and takes both Hailey’s and Livi’s hands.

Once inside the garage, I look at my brothers. “Don’t judge me. Yeah, I should have called, but there wasn’t time, and I wasn’t sure she was gonna come.”

“She your girl?” Hendrix asks.

“She’s fucking hot.” Jagger winks at me.

“She’s a friend who is in trouble with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, scum-of-the-earth, Vegas loan shark. He thinks she owes him something and threatened to take the kid. Ain’t happening on my watch.”

“Why you watchin’ if you ain’t tappin’?” Jagger asks.

“Respect, Jag,” Hendrix warns.

“Random hookup; didn’t even know she has a kid.”

“You okay with that?” Jagger asks.

“Hottest piece of ass I’ve ever had. Shit’s platinum. I might have a problem.”

“Problem?” Hendrix questions.

“Yeah. She’s stubborn, has walls as high as the sun. Thinks she has to keep things even, afraid to owe someone. Same way with sex; she insists on giving as good as she gets.”

“Where’s the problem in that?” Jag questions, then laughs.

Hendrix and I both just look at him.

“Okay, fine, we don’t give it like that.” He nods.

“We give it better,” I say as I pat him on the back. “I’m starving. Let’s go up, and I’ll order dinner.”

Dinner is fun. Marisa loves the pizza and entertains us all. That kid is young enough that she doesn’t show any battle wounds. She is gonna break this damn cycle. Why? Because her momma is so damn strong and loves her so damn much she is going to make it happen.

Hailey is quiet, very quiet. I can’t even count the amount of times I see her look at the door like she wants to run. I’m not the only one who notices it, either. My brothers and Livi see that shit, too.

Marisa picks the room none of us have ever slept in, the room Hendrix had set up with Momma in mind. A room Momma never once stayed in.

After Hailey gives Marisa a bath, the two of them thank everyone, then go to bed.

Hendrix heads back to the bar to close up, and Jag says he is out to hit up the gym. It’s late; I’m sure he is hitting something, but my guess is that it won’t just be the gym.

“Things sure change in the blink of an eye,” Livi says as she wipes down the coffee table where we all ate.

“She’s a good girl, just needed a break.”

“You’re a good man, Morrison. All of you are. But please do me a favor?”

“Anything, you know that.”

“Don’t let Hailey fall if you aren’t strong enough to hold them both up. And don’t forget about how important that little girl is, if you and her mom do end up together. Remember, she was there by her mom’s side first. And don’t you fall if you don’t think Hailey can return the love that I know you’re capable of giving.”

“Listen, Livi, I’m not even gonna touch that again.” I nudge her playfully.

“Uh-huh. I’m serious, Morrison. You deserve to be happy, too. She is so vulnerable and scared, and you can’t—”

“Liv, I was raised by a woman who was strong enough to stay. I will never put a woman in a position like that. I’m gonna help her gain her freedom. That’s all she wants for herself and that little girl.”

In the morning, I wake up early and walk out of my room to find Hailey just standing there, looking around. I stop and watch her, wanting to know what she’s thinking. In her eyes, I see a lost look. In fact, she looks not only lost, but as if she feels caged.

I don’t want her to get the wrong idea about why I’m watching her.