by Becca Van
Shyann blushed as she smiled at her man. Maddox felt a stab of jealousy when he saw the love between Shyann and her three men. He wanted what they had. What a lot of his friends had, but he couldn’t see that happening any time soon. Now that he knew Sammy had a daughter, he didn’t think he and his brothers would stand a chance with her. He loved kids and wanted a few of his own, but mothers were protective, and if Sammy had been burned and was a single mom, she probably wanted nothing to do with the opposite sex. However, until he knew one way or the other what her story was, he wasn’t giving up.
He and his brothers were going to head to the library tomorrow and see what they could find on animal husbandry. It didn’t matter that there was no need for them to get information on cattle. He’d use any excuse he could to meet and talk to Sammy.
Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.
* * * *
Lily squealed “Momma” and ran over to Sammy as soon as she spotted her. Sammy had been standing just inside the doorway of the childcare center, watching her daughter laughing and playing with the other kids. Seeing her so happy had set her mind and her heart at ease. After fleeing, Sammy had lamented since she’d moved to Slick Rock, Colorado, over putting her baby girl into childcare so she could work to earn money. She’d fought back tears every morning for the last four weeks as she’d left her daughter in the care of others.
Sammy hadn’t wanted that for Lily even though she knew it wasn’t doing her child any harm. Knowing that interacting with kids her own age was good for her didn’t make it easier for her to leave her with strangers even if that was nothing new. She’d had to leave her baby in New York to earn money, too.
Sammy loved working at the library with Shyann and Kat even if she was only earning minimum wage and was barely scraping by. Lily had everything she needed, and that was all she cared about. It didn’t matter that the bed she slept on was a second-hand single bed, which she suspected was full of termites. Or that in the living room of the small studio apartment was a sagging uncomfortable sofa, but it was better than nothing. Nor that their place was only a few streets behind the main street of town, and that she was living on a staple diet of cheap noodles. She made sure Lily had the vegetables, fruit, and calcium she needed for her body to grow.
She sank down onto her knees, opening her arms wide as Lily slammed her little body against hers. As she enfolded her baby girl in her embrace, she inhaled her sweet scent into her lungs. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, but she pushed them back. Lily was back in her arms where she belonged.
If it hadn’t been for the head librarian’s men buying her lunch every time they visited their woman, Sammy wondered if she’d have faded away to a shadow of her former self weeks ago. Right now, the rent was due as were the electricity and the gas. Once they were all paid, she would have nothing left. The nest egg she’d saved up before leaving Fordham, New York, was long gone. She’d used the money to get as far away from the east coast as she could, and then she’d used the last of her cash for bond and rent. Thankfully, she’d gotten the job at the library, or she and her daughter would have been out on the streets.
If she hadn’t had Lily she wouldn’t have cared, but she did, and there was no way she was going to have her child sleeping outside under the stars in a dirty alley freezing to death. She loved Lily with her whole heart and wouldn’t be without her. Lily was her life. Her baby gave her the strength to get up every morning with love in her heart and a smile on her face even though her circumstances could have been better.
Sammy would get by no matter what. As long as she had Lily to take care of, she would do the absolute best she could. She’d sell her soul to the devil if it meant Lily was happy and well.
“Momma.” Lily’s sweet voice brought her back to the present.
“Hey there, sweet pea. Did you have a good day?”
“Yes. Played with Sona.”
Sammy smiled. Though she never talked baby talk to Lily and her daughter’s vocabulary and speech were above her age group, she still had difficulty pronouncing some words. The friend she was talking about was little Sonia Conroy. She was a year older than Lily, but they were like two peas in a pod.
“Are you ready to go home?”
“Yes. I’m hungry, Momma.”
Sammy tried to ignore the rumbling in her own empty belly as she smiled at Lily. “Then we’d better hurry so you can have an early dinner. Maybe even an apple for dessert.” Sammy shoved to her feet, ignoring the slight light-headedness due to lack of food. None of Shyann’s men had the time to visit their woman for lunch today. Friday was busy for everyone, and she didn’t expect them to bring her something to eat, but they did without fail every time they came to the library.
Sammy knew she was going to be in big trouble if she didn’t find something to put in her stomach soon, but Lily would always come first no matter what. Her daughter would and did go to bed every night with a full stomach.
“Thanks, Yasmine.” Sammy waved to the other woman across the room who spent the day taking care of her baby and quite a few others.
“Bye, Sammy, Lily. See you tomorrow.” Yasmine waved.
Sammy exited the building, breathing in the cool autumn air, trying not to shiver when the cold breeze pierced her worn, thin clothes. She always made sure she was clean, neat, and tidy, but there was no spare money for her to be wasting it on new clothes. Not that it would be a waste when she only had a few changes, but she couldn’t even afford to go to the thrift store to buy something warmer. Lily was growing fast, and when she could afford to buy something, the money was always spent on her baby girl.
“Brrr.” Lily’s lips vibrated with the noise she made snuggling deeper into Sammy’s arms and body. Of course, Sammy had wrapped Lily up in her coat before leaving the daycare center, but there was a real winter bite to the strong breeze.
Sammy picked up her pace, walking back toward the center of town with plans to take a shortcut through one of the small alleyways, between the shops instead of walking around the long way because she wanted to get her baby out of the cold and into the warmth of their temporary home.
She smiled as other people hurried past, but since it was after six, most of the shops and offices were already closed with the exception of the diner, the pub toward the west, and the hotel and restaurant to the east and the new twenty-four-hour internet café. The one-bedroom apartment she and Lily called home was a couple of streets north of Main Street, but right now it felt as if it were ten miles away.
Sammy’s energy was flagging fast after putting in a long day. She didn’t start her shift at the library until 9:00 a.m. and finished at 3:00 p.m., but her day started way earlier than that. Lily was an early riser and woke around five in the morning wanting her breakfast. Usually after her baby was in bed by 7:00 p.m., sometimes later, and depending on the circumstances, Sammy had washing and housework to catch up on. She usually didn’t crawl into bed until eleven, but right now with her feeling so tired, she wondered if maybe she should get into bed as soon as Lily was asleep. She certainly felt as if she could sleep for a week.
She was so intent on looking ahead and not watching where she was walking, she didn’t see whatever she tripped over, but when she realized she was falling, she twisted her body around so that she’d land on her back to protect her child. Air was shoved from her lungs as she hit the hard concrete pavement, and Lily’s small body thumped against her diaphragm. Lily cried out, waving her small arm in panic, her hand knocking into Sammy’s chin and snapping her head back, which cracked hard into the ground. Pain stabbed into her skull and deeper into her head. Sammy tried to tell Lily that everything was okay, but she couldn’t drag air into her aching lungs and already there was a pounding drum setting up in her head.
Lily’s wails seemed as if they were getting farther and farther away, and then the weight on her chest was gone. Sammy sucked in a deep breath and then another and another. She forced her eyelids up, blinking a few times to dispel the darkness ov
er her eyes.
“Are you okay, honey?” a man with brown hair and blue-green eyes asked.
It was only then that Sammy realized he was kneeling on the ground right next to her with a worried expression on his face. She winced when she turned her head toward the sound of her still crying daughter. Her heart flipped in her chest when she saw two other tall, muscular men close enough that if she reached out, she’d be able to touch them. They were both crouched down next to her, and one of the men was holding Lily, rubbing up and down her back, trying to comfort her little girl.
Sammy used her stomach muscles to sit up, closing her eyes again when everything in front of her swam dizzily.
“Hey, don’t move so fast or you’ll pass out,” Blue-green Eyes said as he clasped her elbow to steady her.
“Is my baby all right?” Sammy asked when she was no longer seeing things swimming in front of her eyes.
“She’s fine. You made sure of that,” the man holding Lily said.
Sammy reached out for her daughter as Lily reached for her. The broad-shoulder, handsome man passed her over. The moment Sammy wrapped her arms around Lily’s small, warm body, she hiccupped and stopped crying.
“I’m Maddox Keegan, and these are my brothers, Logan and Haden. Are you hurt anywhere? You hit the ground pretty hard and blacked out for a second or two.”
“I’m fine,” Sammy replied automatically. She didn’t have time to worry about herself. She needed to get her baby home, warmed up and fed.
“Let us help you up,” Logan said, his grip on her arm tightening just as Haden grasped her other arm and the two men helped her to her feet.
Everything went dark again, and Sammy hoped she wasn’t swaying on her feet. She drew in a deep breath of air, and as she exhaled, her vision returned. The ache in her head intensified to the point of nausea, but she tried to push the pain in her skull to the back of her mind.
“Haden, go and get the truck,” Maddox ordered. “We need to get…”
Sammy stared at him blankly, wondering what he’d been about to say.
“What’s your name, baby?”
Sammy’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. She would have smacked herself in the forehead for her “duh” moment if her head hadn’t been aching up a storm. “Sorry. Sammy. I’m Sammy Reilly, and this is my daughter, Lily.”
“We’re pleased to meet you both,” Logan said. He smiled and winked at Lily, eliciting a giggle from her toddler.
“I’ll be back in a few,” Haden said before he spun on his heels and ran down the street.
Sammy couldn’t help but watch the gracefulness of Haden’s long-legged stride or the way his ass flexed in his denim jeans. When one of the men cleared their throats, her face felt as if it were on fire. She couldn’t believe she’d just been ogling a man’s sexy ass.
“Momma, I’m hungry,” Lily said.
“I know, sweet pea. I’ll get you some dinner as soon as we get home.”
“You need to be checked out at the hospital.” Maddox frowned.
Sammy shook her head, immediately regretting it when the hammer behind her skull started pounding harder.
“Momma hurt?” Lily placed her small hands on each of her cheeks.
She opened eyes she hadn’t realized she’d closed to meet her little girl’s scared blue-eyed gaze. Sammy forced a smile. “I’m okay, sweet pea.” She looked up into Maddox’s blue eyes, instantly wishing she hadn’t. Sammy thought she saw hungry heat in his orbs, but it was gone so fast, she figured maybe she’d imagined it. However, now that she was staring into his eyes, she felt as if he could see right into her heart and soul. She dispelled that thought with a snort.
“Haden’s here,” Logan said. “Why don’t we get you and Lily into the truck so we can take you to see a doctor?”
“No,” she answered firmly.
“No! Sammy, you’re hurt,” Maddox stated frustratedly. “We all saw you hit the ground and smack your head on the pavement. I can tell by the way you’re squinting that you’re in pain.”
“I’m not going to see a doctor,” Sammy said emphatically. Other than her head and maybe a bruise or two on her back, she felt fine. The only time she’d deign to see a medical professional was if she was on death’s door or Lily was sick. She had health insurance thanks to the library she worked for, but that wouldn’t cover the full cost of a visit to a doctor, and she couldn’t afford to fork over any of her hard-earned cash. She needed her money to pay the rent and her bills.
While she’d been lost in thought, Maddox and Logan had guided her closer to the truck idling by the curb. Haden was sitting in the driver seat frowning out at them.
“Get in, Sammy. You’re shivering with cold. If we stand out here any longer, Lily will end up getting sick.” Maddox opened the back door, stepping aside and clasping her elbow to guide her into the truck.
Normally she wouldn’t have accepted a ride home from strangers, but her head was killing her and she was freezing. She scooted across the seat toward the other side of the truck, but before she could move from the middle, Maddox was getting in beside her. She blinked as she turned her gaze to the door she’d gotten in through and started getting scared when Logan clambered in before shutting the door. Her heart pumped faster, and she began to pant with fear. What the hell had she been thinking? Mothers all over the world taught their children to be wary of strangers. To never talk to someone they didn’t know or accept rides from them. As far as she was concerned, she’d just broken a cardinal rule.
“Sammy, you’re safe with us,” Logan said in a calm voice.
“We’d never hurt you or Lily, baby,” Maddox said sincerely.
Sammy gulped. She met Haden’s eyes when he turned to look at her over his shoulder. “Thanks for the lift. We don’t live far from here.” She rattled off her address.
“We worried about you, sweetheart,” Logan said. “If you won’t let us get you some medical attention, then you’ll have to come home with us.”
“What?” she asked stridently.
“We need to keep an eye on you, Sammy,” Maddox said. “Think about Lily. What would happen to her if you’ve got a concussion and didn’t wake up?”
Her lungs deflated as she breathed out. While she was nervous around the three handsome Keegan brothers, she didn’t think they were out to hurt her or Lily. Plus, Maddox was right. If she had a concussion—which she didn’t think she did, but she was no doctor—Lily could end up being all alone for hours on end. That scenario was unthinkable.
“How about this?” Haden quirked a brow. “We’ll take you back to our ranch, and after we’ve gotten you both something to eat, you and Lily can bed down in one of the guestrooms. In the morning, if you’re okay and have no lingering side effects from your fall, we’ll bring you back home.”
“We just want to make sure you’re okay, baby,” Maddox said. “We spent eight years serving in the Marines, protecting those weaker than us and fighting for our country. Now we run a cattle ranch. We never have or would hurt a woman, child, or anyone not as strong as we are. Please, Sammy. We couldn’t live with the guilt if we took you home and something happened.”
All the nervous panic she’d been harboring deflated on her next exhalation. Lily had been quiet ever since they’d gotten into the truck. She gazed down to see her baby was watching the three men avidly. Normally, Lily shied away from men, which was understandable after the way her father used to yell and hit her mom, but she seemed completely fascinated with the three brothers. She’d met Shyann’s men, and while she didn’t shy away from them like she usually did of the opposite sex, she didn’t go out of her way to look at them. She almost always hid her face in Sammy’s chest or behind her leg if she was standing on her own.
“Where we going, Momma?” Lily asked in her sweet little girl voice.
Before she could answer Maddox started speaking. “How’d you like to come to our ranch, Lily? We can get you some dinner, and if you’re a good girl and go to sleep when your mo
mma puts you to bed, in the morning, Logan, Haden, and I can show you the horses and the cows.”
“Horsies.” Lily clapped her hands as she bounced up and down on Sammy’s lap. “I love horsies.”
Sammy didn’t know whether to narrow her eyes and glare at Maddox for using her daughter against her, or if he was genuinely oblivious to what he’d just done. She had a feeling that nothing these three men did was done without thinking things through. If she’d been at her best, she would have told them all where to go in the nicest possible way since she had Lily with her, but she was too weary all of a sudden. The lack of food, as well as all the early mornings and hard work, was catching up on her. Sammy rested her head on the back of the seat and closed her eyes. She didn’t fall asleep exactly, but she did doze. Although she was aware of everything going on around her, and when Lily was lifted from her lap, she couldn’t summon the energy to open her eyes to take her daughter back. Plus Lily seemed more than happy to be chatting away with whoever was holding her.
She just hoped that she’d made the right choice by letting herself get railroaded into going home with the Keegan men.
For all she knew, they could be ax murderers.
Chapter Two
Todd was happy to be all alone again. He’d hated having that screaming brat in the house, but he hated having the kid’s mother living with him more. When he’d first met Sammy, he’d been infatuated by her beauty and her sexy pixie body, but his interest had begun to wander after she’d moved in. He never should have asked her to live with him. He’d been about to kick her out when she’d told him she was pregnant. At first, he’d thought she was joking, but had quickly changed his mind when he’d seen the dreamy smile on her face. The question to his answer of how far along she was had caused anger to simmer in his gut. She’d already been four months along, which meant it was too late for her to get an abortion.
That had been the beginning of the rage he’d never been able to dislodge. He’d begun to resent the bitch. Eating his food and sleeping in his bed. The fatter she got as the child grew, the more revolted he’d been.
