Saxon's Savior (Protect and Serve #3) - Pandora Pine Page 0,43

snag it without waking her up. I noticed how right the little girl felt in my arms, like this was exactly where I was meant to be. Her arms curled around me as if she instinctively knew I would keep her safe.

Mom was waiting at the front of the truck to embrace us. “Hello, little princess.” She set a hand on Lola’s back. “Thank goodness you’re safe.” Mandy pressed a kiss to her head before kissing me. “Both of you.” Her eyes narrowed in on me. “We’ll talk later.”

I knew Mandy had zeroed in on my malfunction. I could only imagine how uncomfortable that conversation was going to be. I nodded and headed over toward my brothers, who were all grinning at me like idiots.

Ozzy was the first to hug me and Lola. He whispered something to the sleeping girl before shooting me a knowing grin. With every brother or brother-in-law-to-be that hugged me, I felt worse about myself and the need I felt to run away from this situation.

Thankfully, Saxon was behind me with Sophie. She’d woken up, and my brothers were hugging her and telling her how beautiful she was. Once she met Ozzy, the biggest brother of all of us, she wasn’t letting him go. I didn’t blame her one bit. Ozzy had been my rock when I’d come to stay with the McCoy’s. Sophie couldn’t go wrong with Oz having her back.

Saxon looked worn to the bone, but that didn’t stop me from handing him Lola and her stuffed animal. He wore a stunned and profoundly sad look as I backed away from him.

I was going to be sick. Not only was I running from the man who could be my happily ever after, I was also running from being the man Mandy and David had raised me to be. Without a second look at my family or Saxon, I got in the truck and pulled out of the driveway.

My stomach ached as if my body knew I’d just made the biggest mistake of my entire life.

20

Saxon

After getting the call about my sister’s death, I didn’t think anything else could surprise me tonight. Watching Dallas practically run from the house shocked me to my core. Now wasn’t the time to think about where our fledgling relationship had been heading before the phone call, but I knew for a fact the minute he handed Lola to me, anything we had between us was dead.

“It’s getting chilly out here. Why don’t we get the girls inside?” Mandy wrapped an arm around me and urged me toward my front door, away from the sight of Dallas’s retreating headlights.

“Mandy, I can’t thank you enough for everything you did tonight. The social worker at the hospital didn’t want me to take the girls home, she wanted to put them into the system. The pictures you sent saved the day.” The only thing worse than losing my sister, would have been losing Sophie and Lola too.

“I’m just glad we could help.”

When I walked into the house, the first thing that caught my eyes were toys for Lola and books for Sophie. “How did you know?”

Mandy smiled. “You showed me pics of the kids, and I remembered what was in the pictures with them.”

As we walked past the kitchen on the way to the stairs, I could see breakfast cereals sitting on the counter, along with snacks and fresh fruit. I would never be able to thank Mandy and David enough for all their help.

“We’re all going to head out.” Ozzy tried to hand Sophie to Mandy, but she was having none of it. My niece clung to his neck like her life depended on it. “They’re all going to head out,” Ozzy amended.

Mandy waved to everyone before escorting me up the stairs. I could hear Ozzy’s heavy steps on the stairs behind me.

I’d seen photos of the spare bedroom, but seeing it in person was another story. Two princess nightlights gave the room a warm glow. Twin beds were made up with pink sheets, folded back and ready to sleep on. New pajamas sat at the end of each bed and a new stuffed animal rested against each pillow. A lion for Sophie and a tiger for Lola. I knew what message they stood for. Strength. My nieces and I were going to need it.

I set Lola on the bed and started to undress her. I noticed her shoes were too small, by several sizes unless I missed my guess. Her little