Page 28 of The Secrets She Keeps

“How is Hope doing?” Powell had met Heather’s younger sister a few times. Hope was funny and open and bubbly and sweet and kind. Haldyn had really taken to Hope too. So had Madison.

Hope was the kind of person that made people smile.

“Better. She’s home now. She came home yesterday.” Cara shot her a wicked grin. “Miguel carried her inside and kind of just…took care of her all day. Likeall day.He showed up at our house and left his three kids with us and went to the hospital with my mom to get Hope, like everyone had just planned it that way. But none of us even knew he was coming, not even Aunt Heather or Mom. He stayed almost all day too. He’s staying at our house until Heather gets back now. But we never reallyinvitedhim to, I don’t think.”

“Mig is? Why?” Gunnar asked. “He’s still off on medical leave, right?”

Powell knew the story—Miguel Rodriguez had been shot a week before Hope and Haldyn. By Heather’s ex. She’d heard there were a lot of theories going around.

“He’s supposed to go back tomorrow.Ithink he has a thing for Hope, and that’s why he’s there—but Hope doesn’t. Hope says he’s just being nice because he’s Heather’s friend. He was Uncle Nick’s best friend years ago too. Heather brought Nick home one day because he’d gotten beaten up on a case. We all took care of Nick then. Heather is always bringing stray people home when they need helping hands. So does my mom. Or they did. Until we moved to Finley Creek anyway, after Nick died. Heather and Mom don’t really like us bringing people there now. I don’t think they trust people that much anymore.”

Cara liked to talk when she was comfortable. Powell had gotten used to the random things Cara would say in week one of working with her. She just nodded and listened.

“So we just took care of Uncle Nick instead. Like we did Miguel when he was shot too. Uncle Nick fell in love with Joy like almost instantly, and they had four kids before Eastman murdered Uncle Nick and almost killed Joy and baby Nalla. I think Hope believes Miguel has a thing for Heather, but he reallydoesn’t. Everyone else can see that. Miguel is Heather’s best friendevernow,I think.” Cara just kept talking. And talking. “Her first day of work in Finley Creek, Heather came home and was crying because she was so happy. She told Joy that Miguel worked right there in the same department. And then they were both really happy. I like it when Heather is happy. She’s so beautiful when she is laughing. So is Joy. Heather used to laugh all the time, you know.”

Powell smirked at her brothers. Alex was hanging on Cara’s every word. But so was Mac. Why? Powell narrowed her eyes at her big brother. He just smirked in return. Yes, McKinley Mason Barratt was up to something.

“Hope thinks guys only have the hots for super-sexy women like Summer and Eden and Heather—and never girls like her. It drives Heather crazy. She doesn’t like it when Hope talks negatively about herself like that at all. Heather has always just sort of taken care of Hope, you know? Well, Heather took care of all of us when we were little really. Like while my mom worked constantly and stuff. Heather was always the one in charge. Heather also says she thinks Hope is a little bit afraid of Miguel because he’s a cop, and Hope is afraid of all guy cops now. Especially really big strong ones, and Miguel is, like, really big and strong. Like the biggest and the strongest ever. It’s kind of hard to miss. So is Heather—afraid of guy cops now, I mean, even if she’s never said it out loud—so I think she’d be able to tell that Hope is too, right?”

“Probably.” Powell was used to Cara’s unique way of talking. But both her brothers and Gunnar had slightly shell-shocked looks on their faces. Normally, she was quiet, but when she felt comfortable, Caratalked.Sometimes, completely without filters. Or artifice. It was one reason why Powell liked her so much—she knew what Cara was thinking. And Cara was unfailingly honest.

But sometimes, Cara talked about things she probably shouldn’t. Powell made a point of protecting her from the repercussions of that when she could. Still, Cara wassaferight here with Powell and her brothers. No matter what.

Cara was gently arranging the preschooler on the couch. The little girl snuggled into the cushions and pulled her rear end up before going back to sleep. “Heather says guys do like Hope a lot too, but Hope just doesn’t always notice when they do. Like, never notices. She never really has, even when we were in high school and college together. Guys would talk to the three of us a lot, you know—Hope and I always had Cashie too—and Hope would just not get it. She is way too naive where guys are concerned. It’s a problem really. We have to watch her so she doesn’t get into situations she shouldn’t. Cashie was always watching her like crazy when we were in school. Just to be on the safe side. Hope doesn’t understand guys at all.”

Alex made a slightly choked sound. Powell knew exactly what her brother was thinking—Cara was more than just naive with men too. Powell had made it one of her missions at B-3 to run interference with Cara and the men at the firm. Just in case.

“The guys do like Hope at the TSP. Murdoch just always chases them off. From Hope and Heather both. He says he has a family obligation to do it,” Gunnar said. “He really enjoys it. He’s weird that way.”

“We like Murdoch best of our new…relatives. He’s funny and really nice and actually acts like he wants to knowustoo. Heather doesn’t want any guy to have a thing forherever again, though. She says she’s becoming the Ice Queen of Hughes Heights like Eden did. Definitely no guys from the TSP ever again. Which makes sense really. Considering what happened to her because of the TSP. The horrible things they let happen to her and everything.”

The baby fussed. To Powell’s surprise, Gunnar reached down and unlatched her carrier straps. He slipped the baby girl out of her seat and snuggled her to that broad, perfect chest of his. He covered her with the blanket and jiggled her a little until she settled. Like he’d done it a thousand times before.

Well, at least one of them knew what to do with a baby.

Even if it wasn’t her.

“She has a pacifier clipped to her shirt. If she’ll take it, it might keep her asleep a little longer. Ember’s going to wake up hungry any minute. But Heather didn’t have time to pump before we left—or privacy on the jet. Ireallyhope Heather gets back here fast. Commander Butthead McKellen showed up and told Heather she had to come up here this morning, kind of whether Heather wanted to or not. Heather told them she couldn’t leave the girls behind for three or four days—it wouldn’t even be possible for her to leave Ember that long, anyway—and now here we are. Heatherhadto come. She can’t afford to lose her job, you know.”

“That was it?” Powell asked. “They just showed up without warning?”

“Yes. Heather barely had time to take a shower while my mom and Eddie packed for her, and I grabbed my stuff. Most of us were still in our pajamas. I was the only one who didn’t have anything scheduled to do this week since the law school is on break, so I was the only one of us who could come with her to watch the girls. Heather freaked a little when she was first told it was an unpaid suspension. For three whole weeks. She couldn’t afford that. None of us can afford to help, especially with Hope’s salary gone now too. But I heard Murdoch threatened to beat Commander Butthead McKellen up if it wasn’t switched to paid.”

It took Powell a moment to process and keep everyone straight. Why on earth had Heather been suspended?

“It wasn’t Murdoch who threatened that. It was Dom and Jarrod. I believe ripping Daniel’s, uh, lungs out through his ears might have been mentioned at the time,” Gunnar said, a dark expression in his beautiful blue eyes. “And what about Hope’s salary?”

“They are only giving her thirty percent. I think that has to be wrong—Hope was shot because of that stupid job. Shouldn’t her full salary be covered by the TSP while she recuperates? Wereallyneed that money right now. Mom and Heather and Summer are trying to rework the budget to cover it and start paying on Hope’s hospital bills now too. But, well, Heather had to come here instead.”

Cara had told Powell quite a bit about how the Coleson family operated. They all pitched in on the bills equally. No matter what. And even that was tight for all of them. “Hope’s full salary should be covered, Cara.”

“And not just thirty percent then? They are saying she has only a partial impairment for the worker’s comp claim. That just doesn’t make sense to me. I was going to ask you if you could explain to me better when I had a chance.”

It definitely didn’t make sense. Haldyn was getting seventy percent from workers’ comp, and the TSP itself was covering the remaining thirty until Haldyn was back on her feet. It should be the same for Hope. Exactly the same. “What?”

“Wait a second—” Alex said. “Hope’s salary isn’t being fully covered?”

“No. It isn’t going to be. She got a letter out of Wichita Falls that says she doesn’t get the full seventy percent coverage. She was shot while working by enemies of the TSP. Doesn’t that even matter? The letter said that it waspersonalwith Hope,stemming from a previous unsubstantiated domestic violence complaint. It was only unsubstantiated because those people in Wichita Falls hid the files and threatened Heather and Hopeto keep their mouths shut. They let Wilson stalk and terrorize Heather for four years and everything.I think we should just sue the TSP, but I think Heather is afraid to even think about it. Especially right now. She’s really afraid of what they will do to her or to the rest of us.”

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