M att Masterson wanted Pip to meet him at his vet clinic at two. She had almost two hours until then. Masterson wasn’t exactly a big city—the town itself only had about eight hundred people in it—but it was big enough at times to freak Pip out .
Crowds of any kind were too much for her. But she dealt. Silently .
She wasn’t about to lose out on this time with Perci and Pandora because she had panic attacks whenever more than three tables in the diner were occupied .
Perci squeezed her elbow. Always there. Just like Pan, the youngest sister, used to be. Until she’d left them to be the Mastersons’ housekeeper. When Phoebe returned from her honeymoon in a few hours, she’d effectively become Pan’s boss. No real change there. Phoebe had been bossing from the moment Perci and Pip had been born. Some things would never change .
They took the last booth on the left. Macy, the owner’s granddaughter, a woman a year or so older than Pip, nodded when they walked by—she had her hands full. The place was crowded .
With people Pip didn’t recognize. She bit back the panic. She was safe .
Her sisters were right there. Two men near the back were first cousins. And there, right in the corner booth on the right...was the sheriff of Masterson County and his brand-new bride .
Phoebe was back. And Pip was safe. She’d just have to keep reminding herself that .
She changed direction, aware of Pan and Perci following. They all took turns hugging Phoebe. The eldest sister smiled and told them all about her three-day honeymoon, beaming as she spoke. Joel hadn’t been able to take any longer than that, so they’d made the best of the time they had had .
And Phoebe hadn’t wanted to leave the boys for too long. They’d had a family meeting--Joel included--right before the wedding to discuss how things at the ranch were going to have to change .
It would take some adjusting for all of them, but Phoebe was moving in with Joel at the Masterson Ranch a few miles away. She’d still be around during the day--Joel would drop her off on his way in to town each day. Either her husband or one of his brothers would pick her up each evening after the chores on the family place were done. After the boys’ homeschool and Phoebe’s drove of Angora goats were tended each day. It wasn’t ideal, but it would work .
It meant Pip would have to step up with the boys of the evenings, too. Perci could help out on her nights off, but her sister often put in five twelve-hour days at the hospital. On her nights off, she needed to rest. And handle other chores that built up around the place while she was gone. Perci helped where she could—probably too much .
Change. It was never easy for Pip .
They were halfway through their meal when three tall, gorgeous men approached. Pip’s hands immediately slicked with nerves as Matt and Nate moved an empty table up to the edge of their booth .
“Family reunion?” Levi asked, smiling at Pip and Perci as he settled into the chair nearest Pan. “Ok, the scrubs tell me which is which today .”
Nate glowered at them both. “Persephone’s scar is on the left. Pip’s is on the right. Not that hard to remember .”
He was right. Perci had a scar just above her left eyebrow from the accident that had killed their mother. Pip had one near her right eyebrow that she’d received when Tom Rutherford had nearly killed her older sister and Joel .
Pip shivered when the men turned to look at her and the scar .
“It’s because you dropped him on his head,” the brother beside her said. “He’s been difficult to teach ever since .”
Matt . Matt was the calm quiet one. The one who’d pulled her from the river when she’d swam in to rescue Phoebe that day. The one who’d covered her and her sister with his own body when bullets had been flying around. Matt had been the one to protect .
She trusted Matt. He was the one brother who didn’t scare her all the time, the one she could sit next to and not have a panic attack. The one who she liked talking to .
Pip forced herself to relax. Even though she could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave, could feel the warmth of his big body next to her .
Pip shivered. For a strange moment she wanted to almost snuggle up against that warmth and forget the crowd around her. That was crazy, wasn’t it ?
She trusted these men. She was safe. She had to learn to stop freaking out every time one of them got close to her, didn’t she? Pip concentrated on eating her lunch and following the conversation around her. She’d spent four years pretending not to panic every time something scared her—she’d gotten good at making her family believe she was fine. Today would be no exception .
Fake it until you make it, after all .
Pip looked up at Perci and Phoebe— who shared the bench seat with Joel—a few minutes later,. Looked up in time to see her sisters both pale. To hear Perci’s low curse and Phoebe’s surprised gasp .
Pip turned to look for herself .