Tate let out a long breath. “He doesn’t mean it.”

“That’s the thing. At first it hurt so bad. Like he blamed me. But then I realized that wasn’t it. He said some crap about how he had too much to do and didn’t have time for a relationship. But his whole life can’t be about his father. He came back here to help them. He’s a good man, Tate. He needs someone to help him. He loves me, Tate. I know it. I know it. And I love him. He needs help and I’m going to give it to him.”

Tate smiled. “There she is. My girl. You have a plan.”

“I yelled at Lily. In the middle of the sidewalk. I need to call her. She took on Nate and Jacob to give me some time to get away. I came here. I just needed you.”

Tate put her milk down to wrap her arms around Beth. “Of course you do. And I’m here. Because I love you. Now, what are you going to do?”

“It wasn’t alcohol. Though he was drunk. He’s not right. Joe mentioned his dad being on a new round of treatment so I’m guessing it’s mental illness of some kind. So I’m going to research. Get as much information as I can. He needs an advocate so I’m going to be one. Trey’s sister is a mental-health nurse. I’ll ask him for her number.” Making plans made the problem seem far less insurmountable. It was how she made it through. Step by step.

She felt better already.

“Matt called Shane. Joe was treated for lacerations and released. He’s at the hospital with his mother. Carl is still there, under observation. Shane didn’t say much about that. You know he already said more than he should have.”

“Probably some sort of mental-health hold. Better there than jail. I wish I could go over there. Just to be with him. But I don’t know his mom very well, and I don’t want to be more hindrance than help. I need to know what to do.”

“I’ll get you a pad and a pen and the laptop. You can call Trey after you check in with Lily. Nathan will be going crazy with worry.”

She hugged her sister tight. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Tate had no idea how much she meant to them. It was part of how wondrous she was.

“For being here when I needed you. For knowing what I needed to do and for making it happen.”

“How many times have you been there for me? To pick up the pieces when I fell apart? I love you. It breaks my heart to see you upset. But this Beth I can deal with much easier than the one who was in tears. You want him. He needs you. We’ll make it happen. Heck, if he gets too out of line, we’ll get Polly involved.”

Beth laughed. “He’d never know what hit him.”

“For now, let’s keep it between us.” Tate winked as she got up. “Call Lily before Nathan shows up. Or worse, William hears about it.”

“I don’t know why you couldn’t just say all this at the Sands. I could have given you a ride to Tate’s. You ran off in the dark. After you’d nearly been thrown through a window.”

“I’m sorry, Nathan.” And she really was. She could see in his mannerisms that he’d been worried. “I needed to get away. I was…”

Tate rolled her eyes and handed her brother a cookie. “She was weeping.”

Nathan’s mouth dropped open and Beth felt even worse at the look on his face. “I’m going to punch Joe Harris in the face.”

“No. It’s not his fault. He thinks he’s protecting me. He’s embarrassed.”

Nathan hugged her. “He made you cry. You never cry.”

“I love him.”

Nathan sighed heavily. “All right. I know you well enough to understand what that means. What can I do to help?”

Lily squeezed Beth’s hand before she kissed Nathan quickly. “I love you. You big marshmallow.”

“Lily, she never cries. Not even when—” He shut up quickly.

Beth shook her head, taking his hand. “No more silence. That’s part of the problem. If I cried, he won. Our father I mean. So no matter what, I wouldn’t let him make me cry. I could control that. I never wanted to give in to him. To give him the satisfaction. Not even when he broke my arm. Not even when he punched me so hard he knocked out my tooth. I won’t ever let him make me cry. But that’s not my shame to own, and Joe needs to understand he can’t own shame for anything other people do.”

“I’ve been your best friend since we were kids and you never told me? My God. Beth.” Lily looked to them all, shaking her head. “It’s a miracle, you know. That you all turned out to be so wonderful and loving.”

“We did it to spite them both. Now, Trey gave me his sister’s number. She gets off shift in an hour. I’m going home. Don’t worry, I’ll be back for waffles in the morning. I want to see my girls. But I have stuff to do between now and then, and I don’t want to wake them up. Nathan is going to drop me home. Go snuggle with your wife.”

Matt kissed her cheek. “We’ll see you tomorrow morning then. Don’t make me come get you.”

Joe had just crawled back home when he heard a knock on his door. He ignored it, but it kept on.

He opened up, saw it was Beth and had to fight the need to simply hold her.

He had to satisfy himself by asking after her. “You all right?”

She touched the butterfly bandage on her forehead. “Just a few cuts. Nothing major. What about you?”

“Fine. Look, Beth, we said all there was to say last night. I’m exhausted. I need to sleep before I go to work a while.”