Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

“Is something wrong?” Noah asked cautiously.

Seth looked startled but shook his head. “Not at all. Dillon and I had matters to discuss with you and Liam. About your future here. And Lauren.”

He said her name last, more pointedly, and despite the fact they said nothing was wrong, Liam tensed at the mention of her name.

Dillon and Seth exchanged looks and then focused their gazes on Noah and Liam.

“Look, we know this is difficult. For all of you,” Dillon said grimly. “We also know you’re doing the right thing for Lauren, and we appreciate that. Our entire family does. Especially Max. We’ve all been worried about Lauren, and the thing is, she’s worried too. About you two.”

Noah and Liam exchanged quick what the fuck? looks. Lauren was worried about them? Oh hell no. She had enough on her plate without them adding to her worries.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” Liam demanded.

“There’s no roundabout way to discuss this,” Seth said. “So I’m just going to put it out there. I need a deputy. Jim is retiring soon. He already would have if I’d had a ready replacement. A few years ago when I took over the sheriff’s position from Lacy England, she said that Jim wanted to work a few more years to secure his retirement. My other deputies are young. They’re good, but I need someone with more experience.”

He glanced at Liam. “I’d like you to consider that position. It doesn’t pay the moon, but it has good benefits and this is a good town. Not too dangerous. Most importantly, it keeps you here, close to Lauren, and keeps Lauren close to her family.”

Liam looked poleaxed. His brows drew together and his lips pressed into a firm line.

“The other thing,” Dillon said, breaking the silence. “I need someone who can manage my businesses, the pub in particular. I own several in Clyde, and I’m looking to expand to an Internet presence with the retail stores.”

He was looking expectantly at Noah as he spoke, and realization crept up Noah’s spine. Noah grimaced.

“Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but it’s not necessary. We don’t want to be a fucking charity case. We can support Lauren on our own until we figure out what we’re going to do.”

“Don’t piss me off,” Dillon growled. “I wouldn’t be extending this offer if I didn’t absolutely need someone. Neither would Seth pony up something as important as a deputy’s position. Too much rides on the man he chooses. In order to keep his job as sheriff, he has to make the town happy.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” Noah murmured.

“Here’s the deal,” Dillon said bluntly. “I’m out. With Lily having our child in a very short time, there is no way in hell I’m going to put in the hours I’ve been putting in at the pub and the other businesses. She needs someone with her twenty-four seven. Michael will be cutting back on his practice hours, at least for the first while after the baby gets here, and if Seth hires another deputy to fill Jim’s position, then he won’t have to put in the extra call hours.

“Now, I want someone I can trust and someone I know will do a good job. Callie could do it, but I don’t want to lay that on her. She and Max travel frequently and the thing is, she doesn’t need the job. Max has more money than his grandchildren will spend in a lifetime. Not to mention, I don’t want my sister to shoulder that kind of a load.”

“Why did you say Lauren was worried about us?” Liam asked softly. “And how would you know this?”

Seth’s mouth turned down into a grimace. “She confided in Mom that she’s scared that you both gave up too much for her. That you won’t be happy here. She’s worried that you’ll feel too much pressure to support her and her desire to stay here with family. She’s mentioned that she wonders if she shouldn’t be willing to go back to New York so that you two can resume your lives and careers, but at the same time, it terrifies her.”

“Son of a bitch,” Noah muttered. “That’s a hell of a note.”

Liam didn’t look any happier with the news.

“Jesus, and here we’ve thought that she’s still dealing with what happened,” Liam said. “I never once imagined she had gotten such a crazy thought in her head that we wouldn’t be happy here or that for the love of God, we were making this huge sacrifice for her. Fuck that. We’re right where we want to be. That’s not changing.”

Dillon grinned broadly. “So you’ll take the jobs?”

“Whoa. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here,” Noah said. “That’s a lot to lay on us all at once. While I don’t doubt for a minute that Liam could do the job as a deputy, I have zero experience in retail.”

Dillon shrugged. “You’ve run your own business for years. Now you’ll be running mine. Business is business. If I didn’t think you were capable, believe me, I would not hand over my entire livelihood to you. I have a wife and a child to think about. Those businesses are how I support them, how I support my family.”

Noah glanced at Liam again to see a thoughtful look on his friend’s face.

“Liam?” Noah asked. “What do you think?”

Liam’s expression darkened a bit. “What I think is that we have a lot to talk to Lauren about. And a lot of points to reassure her on. She’s our fucking life. And our life is here. There’s no sacrifice too big to make to have that life with her.”

“This could go a long way in reassuring her,” Noah said quietly. “If we had jobs here. Worked with people we like. No amount of talking is going to completely convince her that we’re happy. But we can show her.”

Liam looked at Seth, a grimace etched on his forehead. “Have to tell you. I’ve been my own boss for a lot of years. I appreciate the offer, and I’ll do the best job I can, but I’ll warn you now. I’m used to doing things my way and not having a boss hanging over my shoulder all the time.”

Seth chuckled. “I never imagined you did. Look, I don’t micromanage my deputies. Do the job, and you and I will never have an issue. I’d rather you look at this as a partnership. A shared duty to protect this town. And the people we love.”

“I think I can handle that,” Liam said slowly.

“What about you?” Dillon asked Noah. “Are you in?”

“Hell, I’d be a fool not to, but we need to at least discuss my salary. I don’t come cheap you know, and eventually I plan to have children to support as well.”

Dillon threw back his head and laughed.

“You up for a trial by fire? I only have a few weeks until Lily delivers, and when that happens, I’m out. I won’t leave her. Not even for an hour. This is too important. She’s been through hell before, and over my dead body will that ever happen again.”

“Liam and I need to discuss this with Lauren. This affects her too, and I want to be sure she’s on board. And evidently, Liam and I haven’t been seeing what’s going on in her head lately. We thought . . .” He ran a hand through his hair in a weary motion. “She hasn’t been sleeping. She still has nightmares. And the fact that she’s been stressing about us . . . Goddamn. That guts me. I wish to fuck we’d known. We purposely haven’t addressed the issue of what we’ll do, because we haven’t wanted to spend even one minute away from her. She needs us. We had plenty of time to work it all out, and I wish to fuck she hadn’t worked herself in knots over it.”

“She’s a sweet woman with a heart of gold,” Seth said. “She wants what’s best for everyone around her. She never thinks of herself.”

“That shit’s got to stop,” Liam said bluntly. “Starting now.”

Noah nodded his agreement.

“How about you come into town this afternoon and fill out an application at the sheriff’s office?” Seth said to Liam. “There will be a town council meeting in a few days to announce Jim’s retirement. He’ll be happy that I found a replacement so soon, because he promised to stay on until I hired someone else, but he wants out now. And the council will listen to my recommendation. As long as you don’t have any skeletons in your closet, you’ll be a shoo-in. With your military background and your experience in personal security, the town will feel safe in your hands.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Liam said. “Noah and I appreciate this. More than you could possibly know.”

“You’re family,” Dillon said with a grin. “One of us now. Which means you’ll have the dads breathing down your neck, making sure you stay on your toes. Mom will smother you with hugs and take over your lives. And of course babysitting the new niece or nephew will keep you occupied from time to time.”

“That goes both ways,” Liam said, a gleam in his eyes. “I’m planning to have a few munchkins myself, and I can’t think of a better place to leave them than with their aunt and three uncles.”

Wonder seeped into Noah’s heart. How easily they sat talking about the future. A future with Lauren. And their children. The families spending time together and babysitting.

But first . . . First they had to ease Lauren’s fears and make sure she knew that there was nothing in the world they wouldn’t do to have her with them forever.

LAUREN brushed out her hair and strained her ear toward the door, trying to figure out if Seth and Dillon were still here. She wasn’t sure what they’d wanted to discuss with Liam and Noah, but she didn’t want to intrude.