I wished she would open up to me. I couldn’t force it - I would have to wait for her to decide to come to me about whatever was bothering her.
“Tell me about you,” she said, obviously determined to keep her secret for the moment.
“I’m a simple man. Not much to me,” I said with a chuckle. “What you see is what you get. You already know everything worth knowing, in my opinion.”
Her breathing evened out, and before long, she was asleep again. I stayed up, staring at the ceiling. The creaking of the old cabin put me on edge. I knew Mason was staying up and keeping an eye on the cameras, but I was still alert. I would always be alert. It was part of my DNA. Nearly twenty years in the Marines and four tours of duty would do that to a man.
I closed my eyes and focused on the rain pouring outside. It had become such a common occurrence, it almost blended into the background like ambient noise. Every once in a while, there would be some thunder in the distance, but for the most part, it was a quiet, rainy evening. It was almost relaxing and peaceful, but I couldn’t let my guard down.
“Graham?” Emmy muttered, taking me by surprise since I thought she was sleeping.
“Yes?”
“I have something to tell you.” She turned her head up and looked at me, and I wondered if she had fallen asleep at all. She seemed wide awake.
“I’m all ears.”
“I’m just afraid if I say something, that—”
There was a knock at the door.
“One minute,” I called out. I turned my attention back to Emmy. “What is it, darlin’? What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing,” she sighed, sitting up in the bed. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, there’s always someone knocking or moving around here. That’s what happens when you have three brothers,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood. “But I promise you, he can wait.”
The knock sounded again. “Sorry, Graham, but it’s important,” Mason’s voice called from the other side of the door.
Dammit.
“I said give us a minute,” I growled.
“We don’t have a minute.”
“Just let him in,” Emmy said, pulling the blanket up over her body. “We can talk later.”
I pursed my lips, cursing my brother under my breath, but it sounded urgent. “Alright, come in, Mason.”
The door opened, and light filtered in from the hallway. “Sorry to bother you, but Teddy’s on the phone,” Mason said. “He needs all the men he can get to help with the sandbagging in town, and since you have experience with that sort of thing, he asked for you by name.”
I lowered my head in defeat. When I’d first retired from the military, I’d volunteered in some disaster-prone areas, and Teddy knew my history. I told him to call on me if he ever needed anything, but now certainly wasn’t the time.
“Talk to him, Graham,” Emmy said softly from beside me. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
I slipped from the bed as Mason walked toward me with his phone. “He tried to call you on yours, but—”
“Mine’s on silent,” I interrupted. I took Mason’s phone and stepped into the hallway. “Hey, Teddy. What’s up?”
“Hey, Graham. Sorry to wake you up so early, but we could really use your help. There’s some flooding downtown, and we want to set up some sandbags and other barriers, and I remember you saying you have experience with stuff like this.”
“I do, yes,” I said, rubbing my brow. “But listen, I don’t know if I can leave right now.”
“It’s fine, Graham,” Emmy’s voice spoke up from behind me. “Go. Help out. Your brothers are here.”
I turned around and found her in the doorway wearing nothing but my sweatshirt, which fell to her knees and nearly devoured her. While it hid her delicious curves, the sight of her in my shirt was sexy as hell.
Mason was right behind her. “She’s right,” he said. “I’ll be up for a while. Sam was just making some breakfast, so he’s up too. Eli could go with you if you needed the help. This place is pretty damned secure.”
I knew Emmy would be safe here, and the people of Liberty needed me. Teddy wasn’t the type to ask for help if he didn’t need it.
“I’ll meet you at the station in an hour,” I said.
It wasn’t easy to say those words. It would be even harder to leave the house knowing I was leaving Emmy behind. But