Free Something's Gotta Give (Tempered Steel Book 3) by Maggie Adams Page B

their eyes wide in fear. Georgia kicked the knife under the sofa so they wouldn’t have to see it and tried to get up, but a wave of dizziness sent her to her knees.
    Suddenly the front door was kicked in, landing on the unconscious Trudy. Chance stepped through as Caleb swung the bat with all his might. Chance caught it in one large hand and jerked it out of the young boy’s hand. “It’s all right son. It’s over. You did just fine.”
    He pulled the boy in and hugged him as the child began to cry. “She was going to hurt, Miss Peaches. She said you needed to go away and be with another lady.”
    Georgia saw Missy Dee coming toward her in a blurry wave as Caleb’s words registered in her brain. This was all her fault. She had been selfish, wanting what she knew she couldn’t have. And now, poor Caleb would live with this trauma for the rest of his life. Trudy was crazy but she was right. Chance didn’t belong with her. She couldn’t take this kind of risk. She wouldn’t. She wasn’t brave enough to face this again.
    Her time with Chance had come to an end.
     
    ***
     
    That evening, Chance bundled Georgia up after all of the children had left with their parents. Georgia had a goose egg on her forehead, but no concussion .The police were still at the house trying to piece together how it all had happened. Trudy, though not dead, was going to have a hell of a headache and a very, very, long stint in a psychiatric ward. They had also taken Rochelle into custody for questioning.
    But Chance could care less about all of that. He was worried about Georgia. She now sat in his living room, staring at the TV, not uttering a word.
    “Georgia, honey, it’s going to be okay. Everyone is fine. Let’s get you to bed.”
    She nodded mutely and walked like a robot with him into his bedroom. He closed the door quietly and tried to take her in his arms. She stiffened immediately.
    “Peaches, you need to come back to me. We need to fix this. Tell me what I can do to fix this, baby.” He gathered her in his arms, although she was still unresponsive, and held her tight.
    He whispered in her ear, “Please, Peaches. You’re scaring me.”
    She refused to look at him. “I think I need to shower.” He was beyond frustrated. Something was terribly wrong. He watched her walk toward the bathroom. Seconds later, he heard the shower running.
    Knowing he couldn’t do anything but wait for her to come out, he made a quick decision to run up to the house and check on Missy Dee. He knew his mom was fussing over the old woman, but she had come to mean a lot to him in the past few weeks. Georgia was worried about her as well.
                  He reached the back porch and opened the door to the kitchen only to find Sam and Angel kissing passionately. He started to back away, but Angel saw his movement and came out of Sam’s embrace.
    “How is she doing?” Angel asked with a blush at being caught.
    “Not good. She’s vacant. I can’t seem to reach her.” Chance ran a hand through his dark locks. “I was hoping maybe mom or dad would have some advice. I feel like I’m losing her.”
    Angel moved out of Sam’s embrace and went to Chance. Standing on tiptoes, she kissed him on the cheek. “I’m going to go and stay with her. You take your time.” She headed out the door, and Chance was left with Sam regarding him, a severe frown on his face.
    “Want some coffee?” Sam asked as he walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a cup.
    Chance sat down heavily, his head in his hands, elbows on the scarred kitchen table “I don’t know what I want anymore. I did this to her. My fucking around did this to her.”
    Sam sat across from his brother, cradling a hot coffee mug. “You got to knock that shit off, brother. You had no way of knowing. And you need to convince her of that, too. That’s what she needs. And you can’t waste time like this, either. That woman needs a strong hand. She’s floundering right now,