Page 75 of Echoes of You

Some of the Hartleys weren’t made for relationships: me, Roan, even Holt for a time. But Lawson was the kind of person who had marriage and family stamped on his forehead. He was steady, dependable, and protective. The kind of man any woman would want—and a large portion of those in our town did. But the past had skewed his mind on the matter. No matter what any of us told him, he didn’t think it was something he deserved.

“Where’s he staying?” I asked, taking pity on Lawson and changing the subject.

“The Peaks.”

I felt that muscle in my jaw tick. “I should have Caden kick him to the curb.”

“You could, but then we wouldn’t know where he was. At least we can keep tabs on him this way.”

“You’ve got a point there.” And, of course, Adam was staying there. Only the highest-end spot for the douchebag.

“You have to keep a lid on your anger. You deck this guy, and you know he’ll press charges.”

My fingers fisted involuntarily as if they were already halfway to punching him. “I know.”

“Hopefully, once he knows the cops are involved, he’ll realize it’s not worth the trouble and go back to Atlanta.”

God, I hoped so. But you could never tell with a guy like this. Our little visit might scare him off, or it could make him dig in his heels.

Lawson pulled up to the guard shack and rolled down his window.

The guard nodded at us. “How can I help you?”

“Caden Shaw called in a pass for me. Chief Lawson Hartley.”

The guy immediately moved to hit the button to open the gate. “Do you need a map?”

Lawson shook his head. “We’re good.”

“Have a good day.”

“You, too.”

Lawson rolled up his window and eased through the gates.

“You got the decent security guard. The last time I was up here, they made me show ID, and the guy looked at me like I was going to rob the place.”

Lawson snorted. “You must just have that look about you.”

“Rude.” I glanced at my brother. “Did you tell Caden what was going on?”

“I told him a guest here was giving Maddie some trouble, and I wanted to have a word. He slipped me the cabin number.”

Caden’s dad would be pissed as hell at him if he knew, but neither of us would rat him out. “I need to ask Mads if I can tell him. He deserves to know. Especially if the douche is staying here.”

“She still pissed at you for telling us?”

I shook my head. “No. And she told Grae and Wren yesterday. It’s just hard for her. She feels a lot of shame that this happened to her a second time.”

“I can’t even imagine how much this has messed with her head. It’s gonna take time for her to sort it all out. But she’ll get there.”

“I know she will. And she’s starting to see that she has a great community surrounding her while she heals.”

Lawson pulled to a stop in front of one of the larger cabins. “That’s good. She needs to know she’s not alone in this, and that no one looks at her any differently. None of this is her fault.”

“Damn straight.” I pushed open my door. “Let’s get this over with.”

Lawson got out, shutting his door with enough force that whoever was in the cabin should’ve heard us. “Let me start the conversation.”

---