Page 126 of Guarding Over You
For one stupid, fleeting second, it had felt like coming home to his family.
Then he’d turned onto his street, seen Ford’s sheriff’s SUV and Clay’s truck.
Both parked outside Arden’s house.
His heart stopped.
He’d slammed the brakes so hard the tires screamed, terror gutting him before he even knew what had happened.
He was supposed to protect her.
And he hadn’t been there when she needed him most.
Now as he stood up from the bench when he heard a car door shut loudly, he popped his head out of the garage and saw Clay’s truck in Arden’s driveway.
What the hell? Did his brothers tell him nothing?
He moved forward. “What’s going on?”
“Sorry,” Clay said. “Didn’t know you were home.”
“I told you last night I was off for four days.”
No way he was working over the weekends now when he could spend the time with his girls.
Not just spending time, but watching over them.
“Yeah, didn’t mean you’d be here.”
“What’s going on?”
“Birds,” Clay said. “They keep setting off the camera on her porch. I’m trying to see if I can find another spot for it or tweak it.”
“Why aren’t I getting that alert?”
“Because yours is set for a bigger movement, mine is set for any whisper of a wind.”
“I want that,” he said.
“Dude. The last thing you need is that going off in your pocket at the ER. Get a grip. I’ve got it covered. She’s there with you and safe. It’s my job to cover this.”
He couldn’t dispute that. His brother was right.
The last thing he needed was any other distractions at work.
“It should be my job,” he said. “Seems I’m causing this but have no idea why. I spent all night lying in bed trying to think of anything I’ve done that was wrong. Nothing. No lawsuit against me. No one fighting me in the ER. I mean nothing other than someone being drunk, but nothing major.”
People were always complaining if they had to wait longer than they wanted. Or didn’t get the care they hoped for fast enough.
There’d been no complaints filed against him. He’d know if that happened when it was done.
“I want to tell you to cut yourself some slack.”
“But you won’t because you’d feel the same way. You know it.”
Clay was the last person who would tell him not to feel guilty over something that he had no control over.
“These damn birds are everywhere,” Clay said. “What the fuck is going on?”
