The man set her gently on the bed, looming over her with a mischievous grin. "Rx," he teased, "I''m not about to throw a rifle in the baby''s crib. I''ll ship Barnaby off in a minute, promise."

Susanna rolled her eyes. This guy he didn''t justck a filter, he seemed to have misced hismon sense entirely.fn614e Readplete version only at /fn614e

Now Hull was starting to get why Ronald had t-out refused to take Barnaby in the first ce. Having one Finley around was enough; why risk his sanity with another loudmouth?

"Wait, what do you mean, ''baby practicing with a rifle''? Who''s having a baby?" Susanna sputtered.

Hull just smirked. "What, you think he''s got a point?"

"No! That''s not-ugh." Susanna was about to lose it.

How did she end up surrounded by people whose logic belonged in a circus?

...

Hull finally imed Susanna that night, no more training, no more games. Her ankle was sprained, and Hull had made up his mind: he was going to protect her, no matter what. Whatever hell they had to walk through, he''d be there, right beside her.

For them, things were looking up. But Ste was the one stuck worrying. Ronald figured Hull was plotting something big at ck Gate, so he kept quiet about Susanna''s whereabouts. Idris called Susanna, but kept mum about Yvonne''s trip to ck Gate—just asked her where she was, nothing more. Susanna thought it was odd, but didn''t dwell on it.

...

Ste, of course, was worried sick about Susanna. To her, the folks at ck Gate were family by blood, but that didn''t stop every single one of them from wanting her gone. Father, brother, sister—each one had a grudge. Her mother''s past had be the spark that set off the powder keg at ck Gate, and Dan was more than happy to fan the mes. Now, with Hull and Susanna''splicated rtionship in the mix, everyone seemed to have it out for her.

No one could get a hold of Susanna.

Ste called Yvonne. "Still no word from Susie?" she asked, anxiety clear in her voice.

Yvonne sighed. Just hearing Ste mention Susanna made her chest tighten. Damn Dan. She was starting to worry Dan had actually done something unthinkable to Susanna, but she had no proof. Of course, evidence was never Yvonne''s strong suit. But Ste-Star-was important. If Susanna ended up hurt, Ste would fall apart.

"Don''t worry," Yvonne said, forcing a confident tone. "I''m here at ck Gate. I''ll bring Susanna home, I swear." Truth was, she hadn''t seen a trace of Susanna yet and was starting to worry she was gone for good. Still, for Ste''s sake, she put on a brave face.

Ste hesitated. "And Dan-did he give you any trouble?"

Yvonne''s heart softened. She''d always known her little sister cared more than she let on. "Don''t worry about me. If Dan tries anything, I''ll deal with him myself!"

Steughed weakly. "Just be careful. Dan''s a snake if I ever saw one."

Yvonne grinned. "I know, sis. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"Actually, I have some good news," Ste added suddenly.

"Oh? What is it?"

"I''m pregnant. With triplets."

Yvonne nearly dropped her phone. "Wait, what? Triplets? Are you serious?"

She thought back to the time she''d seen a woman pregnant with twins-her belly had been enormous, and walking looked like a workout. Triplets? Poor Star was going to have her hands full.

"Star, if it gets to be too much, you know you don''t have to go through with it, right?"