Page 20 of Montana Justice

Without hesitation, she began shrugging out of the coat. “Here. Take it back.”

But as she tried to pull it off, something went wrong. Her face went white, and she swayed on her feet like a tree in a strong wind. I saw her eyes roll back just as her knees buckled.

I caught her before she hit the asphalt, her slight weight almost nothing in my arms. The baby’s cries grew louder from inside the car, and I could feel Piper’s body trembling against mine.

Fuck.

“Piper? Piper, can you hear me?”

Her eyes fluttered open almost immediately, confusion and embarrassment warring in her expression. “I’m okay. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine.” I helped her stand but kept my hands on her arms, steadying her. “When’s the last time you ate?”

“I… This morning. I had something this morning.”

The lie was transparent. I could see it in the way she couldn’t meet my eyes, in the sharp angles of her cheekbones and the way my coat hung on her frame like a shroud.

The baby was working himself into a full meltdown now, his cries echoing through the air around us. Piper tried to step toward the car, but I could feel her legs shaking.

“You can’t drive like this.”

“I’m fine.”

“You just collapsed in a parking lot. You’re in no condition to drive anywhere, especially not with a baby in the car.”

She tried to pull away from me, but the movement made her sway again. “I’ll figure something out.”

The temperature was dropping as the sun sank lower, and the baby’s cries were growing more desperate. Whatever was going on here, whatever game she might be playing, I couldn’t let her drive off in this condition. Not with an infant depending on her.

I pulled my coat back around her shoulders, hating myself for the softness in my voice. “Come on. You and the baby can stay at my house tonight.”

“What?”

“One night. You get some food and some sleep, then you leave first thing in the morning.” I opened the driver’s side door of her car. “I’ll follow you to my place.”

“I can’t?—”

“It’s not a request, Piper. You’re a danger to yourself and that baby right now. I won’t have that on my conscience. You come with me, or I put you in lockup and we call social services to get the kid.”

I felt like shit as what was left of the coloring in her face faded away until she was stark white. But I wasn’t letting her drive any distance when she was like this.

It was a safety thing, nothing else.

She got into the car without another word, her movements slow and careful. I waited until she had the engine started before walking back to my truck, cursing myself with every step.

One night. Food and sleep, then she’d be gone again.

I could handle one night.

Chapter 7

Lachlan

Piper was stillunsteady on her feet as she climbed out of her beat-up Honda, one hand gripping the doorframe while the other supported the baby car carrier. The late-afternoon sun cast long shadows across my driveway, and I could see her still swaying slightly.

“Inside,” I said, my hand moving to her elbow to steady her. “Sit down before you fall over.”

She didn’t argue, which told me everything I needed to know about how close to the edge she really was. I got her inside and settled on the couch in the living room, the baby right beside her, still in his little basket. She leaned back against the cushions and closed her eyes, her face a whitish-gray color.

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