Page 25 of Securing His Family

“Keep me updated,” Steve said, going over to Tabitha’s side when she walked into the room.

“Everything okay here?” she asked, her focus settling on Lauren.

“Yes, I’m going to be staying with Reed,” Lauren responded knowing that the question was directed at her and not the guys.

Tabitha nodded approvingly. “That’s good. I’ll be able to rest so much easier knowing that you and Charlee are in a safe place.”

What would’ve happened if she hadn’t worked for Tabitha and Tabitha hadn’t married a man who ran a security company. How safe would she and Charlee have been?

It wasn’t something Lauren wanted to contemplate because the outcome today would be so very different.

ChapterEleven

“This is the room I can sleep in. All by myself?” Charlee’s voice was pitched high, and Reed was surprised the dogs in the neighborhood weren’t howling.

“Yep. And your mum is going to be right next door.”

“And what about you, where will you be?” Her eyes wide with wonderment and a tiny spark of hope. A rush of love for the little girl swelled his heart.

“I’m just down the hall. Do you want to see it?” he asked, quite happy to show Charlee his room. If she woke in the middle of the night, he wanted her to know that she could come to him if she needed to. Of course, her first stop would be her mum, but at least she knew she had options.

“Mummy, are you coming?” Charlee held out her hand.

Lauren was standing by the bed, looking a little shocked. Breaking the news of their new home situation to Charlee had gone off easier than he thought it would’ve. The little girl had been so excited she hadn’t even asked why they couldn’t stay at the house they’d lived in for most of her life.

Reed’s house was the one he’d grown up in. When his parents had died, he’d bought Ben out, allowing his brother to put a deposit down on his own place. Ben was more than happy for Reed to have the family home. Before, when the shit had hit the fan while Reed had been on missions, knowing that his younger brother and parents were safe in this house provided him the focus he’d needed to get through whatever crap he had to deal with. This house represented stability and love and peace, all things he’d needed after he’d discharged out of the Army.

It was a large house, far too large for him, but as he’d always wanted to get married and have kids, it hadn’t bothered him. Now he’d found the woman that he could see spending the rest of his life with, he just had to convince her of it. With her living under his roof, he planned to show her just how good it could be between them, if she would give him a chance.

“Sure, I’ll come, if it’s okay with Reed.”

“It is. Follow me.”

He led them out of the room that his brother had grown up in and headed down the hall to a door at the end. He opened it up and waved them ahead of him.

“Wow, Reed, this is huge!” Charlee exclaimed and ran over to the window seat.

After his parents had died he hadn’t wanted to erase their memories but he’d also wanted to make some changes. Make it his own. His parents wouldn’t have minded him doing what he’d done.

He’d enlarged his childhood bedroom and made it into the main bedroom. He’d added a bathroom, so that it was another master suite. He’d added the window bench because sometimes, when he felt like things were closing in on him, sitting there looking out at the garden, grounded him.

“It’s so pretty looking at the garden, Reed. Did you plant all the flowers?” Charlee asked.

“I did, munchkin. This is the house I grew up in, and my mum loved all sorts of flowers. It didn’t matter what type they were. After she died, and I was feeling sad, I went to the garden store and brought as many different kinds of flowers as I could find.”

“I like that.” Charlee pressed her nose against the window. “I bet it smells amazing, but there would probably be bees, and I’m allergic to bees.”

“How allergic,” Reed asked Lauren, because as much as he wouldn’t like to do it, if it was a choice between Charlee’s life and flowers, he’d choose Charlee’s life.

“Not a deadly reaction, but the area around the bite swells up. She was only stung once, but after that we try to be extra careful around too many flowers.”

Reed walked over to where Charlee sat and squatted down, his hands resting on either side of her leg. “Promise me that if you go anywhere near the garden you do it with either your mum or me. Not by yourself.”

“I promise. If I want to see them without you, I’ll just come in here.”

“Charlee!” Lauren protested. “You can’t just barge into Reed’s room. That’s not polite. We’re guests here, remember that.”

Reed wanted to counter Lauren’s instruction. He wanted to tell Charlee that she could come in any time she wanted, but he kept the words to himself. Lauren was Charlee’s mum, and she set the ground rules.

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