have spooked anybody, but he’d have handled it. He’d have been there for her, to hell with his friends.
“I never gave her any reason to think that I wouldn’t be there for her when she needed me,” Caine said. “Just because I enjoyed myself in college doesn’t give her any reason to act like I’m no better than Andrew the Rat Bastard.”
“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but if Mel broke up with you. She’s got a reason.” Gage propped his feet up on the coffee table, looking so relaxed Caine had to fight the urge to punch him. “The real question is: are you going to fight for her?”
He didn’t know the answer. Okay, deep down he did. But that part of him was drowned out right now by the wounded, betrayed caveman side that was mad as hell at Mel for doubting him. He did know that, if he were being honest with himself, he’d probably admit that he would have run like hell if she’d even said the word pregnancy to him ten years ago. None of that changed the fact that she kept a huge secret from him, then used it to hurt him.
“Do you think that Andrew guy could be the one behind all the vandalism?” He needed to think about something other than licking his wounds.
Gage hesitated, his mouth pulling in a flat line. He grabbed a throw pillow from behind his back and idly tossed it back and forth from one hand to the other. His brother couldn’t stay still to save his life. "Not sure yet. I've been trying to track him down, but no luck. Last thing I found was his fiancée dumped his cheating ass. I'm still digging. Without evidence, there's only so much I can look into."
Caine sighed. “Can you keep an eye on Mel for me? She's not going to let me protect her now, and I know she's in the line of fire." If the stupid town wasn't so full of gossips, he'd sleep outside her apartment to keep her safe if he had to. He loved her. He might hate her a little right now, but seeing her hurt was not an option. In fact, he was pretty sure Ethan Carr would come back to life just to kick his ass if he let that happen.
Gage caught the pillow after flipping it in the air. “You know I will. Micah and I are going to talk to her, see if she'll agree to go stay with her mom until this all blows over. At least that way she'll have Micah close and they can ride into town together."
Caine stood, rolling his head from side to side, fighting the knots in his shoulders that refused to go away. HIs head swam a little from the alcohol and lack of food. “Thanks. Someone needs to watch out for her stubborn ass.”
“You love her, don't you?" Gage's voice held a note of empathy. Caine knew his brother had some skeletons in his romantic closet, but he never talked about them. He knew enough to recognize someone who'd been burned pretty bad.
“Hard to stop.”
Gage got to his feet and put a hand on his shoulder, the warmth of brotherly support easing a little of the tension that had a hold of Caine. "Don't give up on her. It might take time, but she'll let you in."
#
“Melody, I don't give a damn what you want," Micah said, pulling her suitcases out of her closet. "Either you can pack your bags or I will.
Mel glared at her brother. Blood throbbed a painful tattoo in her forehead. Eight days. Eight days since she’d walked out of Caine's house. She’d gotten maybe four hours of sleep last night and even less the night before. All she did was toss and turn and talk circles around her decision. The first night she’d thrown off the covers and started to drive back to Fortune Hill at least five times. The second night, it was only four. Last night she got it down to an impressive two. Needless to say, having her brother and Gage barge into her apartment was not something she wanted to deal with at seven in the morning.
Letting Caine go sucked, but she’d done what she had to do. Maybe once they’d gotten rid of whoever was stalking her, she would explain everything to him. She wouldn’t blame him if he hated her forever though. The look of betrayal on