“You know the way our family works, Eden,” he told her mildly. “Clint is just looking out for you. You gave both of us a hell of a fright the other night. You want to tell me what you were doing there?”
She pressed her lips together. Yeah, that’s what he’d thought. Stubborn. He shook his head. “I’ve created a bad habit by running interference for you with our big bro, but not this time. Because I agree with him. You could have ended up badly hurt, raped, murdered.” He crouched down in front of her, in much the same position as he’d been with Abby three nights ago. He winced. He wouldn’t think about that right now. “You mean the world to us, Eden. We don’t want anything bad happening to you.”
She let out a sound of frustration.
“It’s only because we love you.”
She snorted. Then she sighed. “I love you guys as well. But if I don’t get off this ranch soon, I’m gonna go freaking insane.”
“No, you won’t. There’s plenty to do here. Are you supposed to be wheeling yourself around with your sore ribs?”
“They feel better.” She bit her lip. “I wanted to go into town and check on Abby. I called her yesterday and she sounded funny.”
He stiffened. “She did? Funny, how?”
“I don’t know. Just weird. I just...I don’t think she has many people watching out for her. Macca told me you put a new lock on her door. Was she all right?”
All right? No, he wouldn’t say that.
“I just feel terrible about all the times I’ve essentially i
gnored her. I mean, I’ve never been rude or mean to her, of course. I’ve always shut anyone down when I’ve heard them say something mean.”
“Who says mean things to her?” he demanded. Fury filled him. How dare anyone be nasty to her?
“Well, mostly they say things behind her back. They call her mouse.”
He clenched his hands into fists. He wanted to teach her that she shouldn’t allow anyone to put her down.
“I just wish now I’d made more of an effort to get to know her. I just...I feel bad. She helped me when most people would have run the other way. Do you think you could go check on her?”
Yes. “No.”
Eden’s eyes widened. “What? Why not?”
“I’ve got a lot to do right now. I’ll see if Macca is free to check on her.”
Only he didn’t want to do that. Not at all. Because the too-charming Aussie already seemed to be taking too much of an interest in Abby. Just yesterday he’d asked Kent if he’d done anything about her car problems or whether he wanted him to install a security system.
He ground his teeth together. He should send Macca to see if she was all right. The other man would be a good fit for her. He was a Daddy Dom like Clint. He was tough, smart, loyal. But he could also be very compassionate.
He’d be a much better fit for Abby than Kent was.
So why didn’t he want the other man near her?
“Kent? What is it? You don’t like Abby?”
“Of course, I like her. She’s an absolute sweetheart. Who wouldn’t like her?” He frowned thinking of what Eden had just told him. “I don’t like that anyone would put her down. She made a few disparaging remarks about herself...”
“Well, I know she didn’t have the easiest upbringing. Her nana was a stern woman. I only saw her a few times, but she wasn’t the cuddly, sweet kind of grandma. And Abby’s brother, well, you know about him, right?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Oh. I figured you would. You usually know everything,” Eden teased.
“What about her brother?”
“He’s bad news. If you wanted something, you’d talk to Max Reynold and he’d get it for you. Didn’t matter how illegal it was.”