Chapter 17

Sunday night went well, and on Monday, Peach left for work, hoping Haisley would adjust to living in California. It hadn't surprised him that she'd been asleep when he left. He left a note telling her he would be back around four and hoped that she had a good day.

It was odd going back to work after time off. Nothing really happened, but going back to doing heavy workouts after not doing any in Georgia wore him out. After lunch, he stretched out on the floor and closed his eyes.

“Hey, you taking a nap?” Harry asked.

“Not now, I guess,” Peach said.

"Hey," Jax called out as he entered the room. "Fifteen minutes, and we're in a conference. Room eight."

Peach stood, groaning as he got up. Tonight, he needed to get some deep sleep. Stress was eating at him. He still needed to contact someone about his parents. Maybe he could talk to someone before he left for the day.

The meeting was another reminder that he needed to warn Haisley about some of the things his job required. They weren't leaving now, just being warned about a place heating up overseas. There were multiple areas they watched, but this one was new and looked like it could explode at any moment.

“Hey.” Harry came up beside him as they walked over to their offices. “Everything okay?”

"Stress. I don't know what my dad was thinking when he flew off to Colombia with my mom in tow. There was a missing woman, and someone ended up taking a photo of her in Colombia. The mother of that woman was a neighbor to my parents. Then my mom and dad took off to Colombia to do who knows what. I can't believe they didn't contact me or anything. I'm angry, and then, with everything else, it's been a week, and I don't know what to do next. Plus, I have all the shit to go through and figure out their accounts."

“Dang, that’s a lot. How about we work on the Colombia thing when we get back to the office?”

“What Colombia thing?” Jax asked as he came up beside them.

Harry told Jax the information, and he immediately called someone. Jax helping was a small relief. Maybe someone would look into it. He hated that his parents had done something so boneheaded as head to Colombia to rescue a woman, but his dad was someone who leaped before he looked.

Growing up, it had been exciting, but it also had gotten them in trouble a few times. His dad had almost fallen off cliffs, almost been attacked by a mountain lion, and almost ended up on the wrong end of a gun being held by pissed-off mountain men. There had been so many close calls Peach couldn't count them. He loved his parents, but his father had pushed to the extremes.

Maybe the extremes had led Peach to be a SEAL, but being a SEAL taught him responsibility. There was a proper way to go into a situation and do things, and his father didn’t follow any rules, and he certainly didn’t use wisdom when he jumped into things.

They'd set up around a table, all of them on their computers, as they searched for information about what had happened to his parents. There were few reports and no photos. Now Peach was even more concerned about what had happened.

Jax received a phone call, and he left the room. Peach wondered if he should follow, but Jax hadn’t waved him over. There was almost an overwhelming number of things he had to do. He’d thought he could go to Georgia and take care of everything quickly, but the things he’d found at his parents’ place had expanded his to do list, making it seem almost impossible to conquer.

“How is Haisley doing?” Wild asked.

Peach shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. I feel like I bit off more than I can chew.”

“Hey, you’ll get it together,” Wild said.

“Peach,” Harry called out.

“Yeah, man?”

“How about Rory and I come over and go through the paperwork you need to sift through?”

“The box with the papers won't arrive until tomorrow morning.”

“We’ll come over tomorrow night. We’ll help you arrange the papers and make a list of places you need to call, or we’ll cancel subscriptions for you.”

“Gosh, that’s too nice of you all.”

“Maybe, but it will help, right?”

Peach nodded. “Yeah, that will take a huge load off my shoulders.”

"Well, we've got that settled," Harry said as Jax stepped in .

“What’s settled?” Jax asked.

Harry answered, “I’m going to help Peach go through the papers and get accounts closed or at least looked at.”

Jax nodded. "So the woman I contacted took the information about Audrey and Diane. They're going to look into what happened. Also, they'll look into the deaths of your parents. The investigation may not find answers you like, but at least there'll be someone looking into it."

“Thank you. That’s another thing off the table. It feels manageable.”

“So Wild said Haisley has never been to the ocean,” Bear said.

“Nope. She’s never seen the ocean.”

“How about we head to the beach on Saturday morning and then we can hang out at the pool?” Harry asked.

“I’ll make sure she’s okay with that,” Peach said.

Andy chuckled, and Peach turned to him. The smile on Andy's face was too big.

“What?” Peach asked.

Andy lifted his eyebrows. “You’re getting attached.”

Peach pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I’m just being nice. My mom wanted her taken care of. I’m just following my mom’s wishes.”

There was more laughter from Andy. Wild rolled his eyes and shook his head. The other guys had various reactions.

A weird feeling slid through Peach. Maybe he'd mouthed off a few times about not wanting to be with anyone. He'd vowed never to get into a deep relationship and here he was living with a woman he was extremely attracted to. But no, he wouldn't get involved beyond helping her and making sure she could eventually live on her own .

“Guys, I’m really just helping her out. You’d all do the same in my situation,” Peach said.

“Yeah, and look how that has turned out for us,” Bear said. “I have a wife and two kids.”

Peach frowned. "It's not like that. I'm not with her. We haven't kissed, and we're not going to."

Wild came over and put his arm around Peach. “We believe you.”

He wasn't sure if Wild was making fun of him or if he really meant it. Haisley was here because he couldn't leave her in Georgia. Those people wanted her dead, and he wouldn't allow them to win. He would look after Haisley like his mom would. There wouldn't be more to it. He would prove that he could have Haisley in his house and his life and he wouldn't develop feelings for her, because feelings got people in trouble.