“She doesn’t trust us to tell us more.” Ben couldn’t help the upset in his own voice as he leaned against the porch railing over at their house. It was nearly midnight by the time they finished up dinner and celebrating over at Max and Eric’s place.
Wyatt joined Ben and Charlie in mid-discussion.
“Anna’s sound asleep. She exhausted herself today,” he added before he took a seat on the single rocker next to Charlie and across from Ben.
“Poor thing. I’m worried that she’s rushing the healing process. She should be here with us on the ranch where we can take care of her,” Charlie added.
“She’s independent. Don’t you get that, Charlie?” Wyatt replied.
“That’s because she’s used to handling things on her own. We have to make her see that she doesn’t have to anymore. I don’t know about you guys, but I want it all with Anna. I want Anna’s belly round with our baby and the house filled with kids we can enjoy and raise together. I, for one, have never wanted any commitments like that before.” Ben stuck his hands in his pockets and looked embarrassed for making the statement.
“Shit, Ben. We’d be pissed at you if you didn’t feel that way. I want the same thing, and so does Wyatt,” Charlie replied, with a toss of his head toward Wyatt for confirmation.
Wyatt looked concerned.
“She’s still keeping secrets from us,” he stated, then rose from the chair.
“You mean about New York?” Ben asked.
“That, too. Something happened in the diner today.”
“What?” both Charlie and Ben asked.
“When I came in to pick Anna up, I saw Stew next to her. He was real close, and I swear Anna looked nervous. I asked if everything was okay, and Jack said yeah. So did Anna, but Stew had gotten out of there real quick, if ya know what I mean?”
“Stew better stay away from her,” Charlie whispered with his fists by his side.
“What makes you think
something happened if Jack said nothing did?” Ben asked.
“I had a feeling he lied to me. I think for Anna’s sake because he, too, noticed the way she responded. So I stopped by after I dropped Anna off here. Jack said Stew touched her and that before Stew could try something else, he intervened. Then I showed up.”
“She didn’t tell you any of this?” Ben asked, sounding angry.
Wyatt shook his head.
“We need to put a stop to this right away. She needs to know that we’re here to protect her,” Charlie added.
“I know, believe me, when I found out, I wanted to tear Stew a new one and throw Anna over my knee and teach her a lesson. She doesn’t concern herself with her own safety. Her old man made her a victim in every sense of the word, and now, we need to teach her better,” Wyatt stated.
“Well, if she withheld information about Stew, what about getting her to talk to us about New York so you can make some calls?” Charlie asked.
“That is what we need to do, but first, we have to resolve this issue of keeping information from us.”
“Yeah, including knowing about Stacy and the baby,” Ben added. Both Charlie and Wyatt stared at him as if asking, “What?”
“My woman is going to know that I’m in charge, and she better not withhold information of any kind to me. Including about friends, family, and especially herself.” Ben huffed then turned toward the door.
“Whoa, Ben! Slow down, will ya? She’s not like other women, Ben. She’s been a victim of abuse all her life, and any attempt on our part to push her or be too forceful with her could be misconstrued as abusive.”
“I wouldn’t hurt her, Charlie! How dare you even suggest I would abuse her.”
“Calm down, Ben, that’s not what Charlie is saying. Just keep in mind her past and what little we know about Anna’s life with her dad.”
“Where are you going?” Wyatt asked Ben as Ben gave an exasperated exhale and headed inside.
“I’m going to bed, and first thing in the morning, Anna’s gonna have some explaining to do.”