Page 46 of Sold to the Single Daddies

I scowled at my brother.

“Shut up, Tate.”

The door to the exam room opened and West came in carrying Nellie’s giant cat, Papa Jack. He was holding the cat out in front of him like a bomb but his focus was on Reagan. “Are you okay? Is she okay? I would’ve been here sooner but Nellie’s asshole cat attached itself to the mailman again and that man’s so fed up with the cat he was threatening bodily harm. Now I’ve got this fucking cat and Nellie isn’t answering her phone. Is Bianca sure she’s okay?”

Papa Jack twisted his body around and scratched West’s face before rocketing himself out of my brother’s arms and into the room near Reagan. We all froze. The cat was a fucking terrorist and I was going to do more than bodily harm if he scratched Reagan. Reagan didn’t know the true depravity of Papa Jack’s crimes so she innocently reached out to pet him before we could tell her to freeze.

“What a pretty kitty.” Reagan casually scratched the cat behind his ears and smiled when he purred and curled himself into her side. He’d gone from demon to innocent kitten in the blink of an eye. “This is the cat which supposedly terrorizes the town? I don’t believe it.”

West knelt next to Reagan and tried to reach over and touch her but the demon cat appeared once more and tried to claw him.

“Fucking cat.”

Reagan tutted at the cat and pulled him closer, keeping her arm between it and West.

“Be nice, cat, or you’ll end up as a fluffy tail on the end of some mailman’s keychain.”

Tate let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“She’s okay. Heat exhaustion. She’s getting fluids and will need to take it easy for a couple of days. She’s also going to have quite the sunburn.”

I looked away. It was my fault. So much shit was my fault and I’d gone through life feeling like a fucking hero for the things I’d done at war. What did that matter when I’d let so much devastation happen at home?

“Stop it, Mills.” Reagan pressed her foot to the center of my chest and added enough pressure to get my attention. “I can feel you trying to make this your fault. I’m an adult. I’ve worked on ranches in Texas for long enough to know better than what I did today. I was just excited to be working outside and I ignored my body. It won’t happen again.”

I looked at West and nodded to her feet.

“Come sit over here and keep her feet elevated.”

She sighed. “Mills.”

As soon as West was in my spot I left. I went straight down the street to the bar and ordered a double shot of whiskey. Bianca’s wife, Meredith, owned the bar and she studied me while pouring my drink. I knew news traveled fast in our tiny town but I was still surprised when Meredith asked how Reagan was doing.

I cleared my throat after downing the whiskey and nodded for another.

“She’s okay.”

“Is there a reason you’re here and not back at the clinic with her?”

I scowled.

“My brothers are there. I didn’t leave her alone.”

“That’s not what I asked, cowboy.” She refilled my glass and made herself busy wiping the bar down. “I asked if there’s a reasonyou’renot back at the clinic?”

“Why would I be?” It was hard to stay nice when I felt like shit and just wanted to get drunk enough to forget everything.

“Oh, Mills.” Meredith laughed easily and leaned across the bar. “Let me let you in on a little secret. This town talks. Always. But it especially talks when it’s had a few drinks. There’s nothingI don’t know. Plus, I hang out with your sisters and Reagan’s joining us now. I know things.”

“There’s nothing to know.”

“Bullshit. I know that woman showed up with your kid and you and your brothers instantly moved her into your house. I heard that you broke every traffic law on the books getting her to the clinic and you looked, and I quote, ‘pale and petrified’.”

“Who the fuck said I looked pale and petrified?”

“You can sit here and get drunk, Mills, or you can go back to the clinic and sit with Reagan like I’m assuming you want to.” She left the bottle and walked away, leaving me to my choice.

I hated small town gossip. I hated that everyone knew everything. There was no hiding in a town so small, no matter how desperately you might want to hide certain things. I took the bottle and made my way to a dark corner of the bar. I wasn’t leaving the bar until I was fucking drunk off my ass.

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