He shook his head, looked at the view but shared, “Just always on her ass. My room’s a mess, Mom never says a word. She’s always up in Tabby’s face to clean hers. When we lived there, Mom washed my clothes. Told Tabby years ago it was her responsibility to do hers. I play music loud, Mom don’t say shit. Tabby does or she’s on the phone or somethin’, Mom shouts at her. Never leadin’ into it, she just loses it right off the bat. And, when she hit high school, it got worse.” Rush looked at me. “Tab’s popular. Gets a lot of attention. Drives Mom crazy. Mom’s convinced she’s a slut.”

His eyes grew contemplative and his gaze slid to the view.

“She’s not a slut, honey,” I said gently.

“Seein’ an older guy,” Rush muttered.

“Sometimes, you get told enough you are what you aren’t, it gets in your head and you make it a self-fulfilling prophesy even if you really aren’t that.” Rush looked back at me. “She isn’t that,” I whispered. “She’s just in trouble enough for not being it, she probably thinks she might as well do it since she’s in trouble for it anyway.”

Rush took a moment to consider this and I let him.

Then he murmured, “Makes sense.”

“Stick by her,” I urged and his back slightly straightened.

“I will, Tyra.”

And he would.

“Good, honey.”

He grinned at me, his eyes moved to the view and he took a sip of coffee before he announced, “I need more coffee. You think we gave them enough time?”

He was giving them time, like me.

Really a good kid.

But I needed more coffee too. I’d only had one cup and already a full morning. I was hitting emergency status on the caffeine level.

“You’ve been a member of this family all your life, only you can make that call,” I told him.

I got another grin and he decided, “We’ve given them enough time.”

Oh hell.

That meant it was time.

I nodded, we both stood and Rush did the gentleman thing again, letting me precede him to the door and I wished he didn’t. I was happy to drag my feet.

But we’d given them enough time. I knew this because Tack had his back to the door and it looked like he was preparing food. Tabby was close to her Dad, hip to the counter, talking to him.

I sucked in breath for courage, opened the door and walked through it.

Tack’s torso twisted and his eyes came to me. Tabby’s neck twisted and she did the same.

I opened my mouth to speak. I didn’t know what I was going to say but I did it anyway.

I didn’t get a word out.

Tabby came flying at me and this so surprised me, at first, I just stood there. Then I braced because she threw herself at me full body. I went back on a foot, my arms closing around her but her arms were already around me. Tight.

“Honey –”

“I almost got you hurt!” she wailed then shoved her face in my neck and burst out crying.

I looked at Tack. Tack tipped his head to the side.

“Jesus, bitches,” Rush muttered as he closed the door and squeezed around us.

I grinned at Tack then dropped my head so my lips were at Tabby’s ear.

“I’m fine,” I whispered.

“I’m stupid,” she sobbed into my neck.

“You aren’t. He was cute,” I told her, her body went still then her head jerked back and her watery eyes found mine. “He’s a complete and total jerk, but he was cute.”

“What?” she whispered.

“And too old for you,” I went on.

“I –”

“And he let me best him in, like, a second. So he’s also a loser.”

Tabby blinked.

“And, I’ll repeat, he’s a complete and total jerk.”

Tabby said nothing.

I placed one hand on the injured side of her head and slid my thumb close to her bruise.

Then I started talking and I did it quietly.

“I know we’re still getting to know each other. But I also know you’re a smart girl. I hate that you learned this lesson at all, much less that you did it at your age. But please, Tab, learn it. You can have family that makes you safe. You can have friends who’ll take your back. But the most important person and the one who’ll have the best shot at keeping you safe is you.”

She pulled her lips through her teeth and held my eyes but said nothing.

So I carried on.

“And the best way to do that is be smart.”

She let her lips go and whispered, “I was just havin’ fun.”

“You can have fun and be smart,” I replied.

She looked over her shoulder quickly then back at me but I thought it was a good sign she didn’t let me go.

“Can we not talk about this?” she requested softly.

“Darlin’,” Tack cut in and she looked back over her shoulder at her father as my eyes lifted to him, “if you think what happened last night could happen and you’d get off talkin’ about it, you best think again.”

“You and me are good,” she said to him. “You told me so last night and again not ten minutes ago.”

“That don’t mean we’re not talkin’ about it,” Tack returned, I felt her pull in a deep breath then she sighed.

I gave her a reassuring squeeze and let her go.

Her eyes came to me, they were timid before she let me go and stepped away.

“Sit your ass on a stool,” Tack ordered, “Tyra wants a word.”

I watched Tabby’s tongue run over her upper lip then she dropped her head and went to a stool.

There it was. She might be messed up but she was a good kid too.

Tack went back to whatever he was doing at the counter. Rush moved to slide my mug of coffee on the counter at the stool next to Tab’s then he moved to the opposite counter and leaned his back against it.

I took a stool.

“Okay,” Tabby rushed out, trying to head off the attack, “I know he was older but I liked him, like, a lot. And he was nice. And he was into me and not in a gross way. I didn’t think he’d ever do anything like that. You have to believe that. I wouldn’t have started seein’ him if I thought that.”

“He get you booze?” Tack asked the counter which I thought was a good play. An important question with an uncertain response from him at whatever Tabby’s response would be but not in your face.