My gaze locked with Caelyn’s, and I saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. A rage like I’d never known before lit through my veins as I took in the side of her face. A long gash curved the side of her temple. I held out my empty arm, and Caelyn immediately walked into it. I held them as tightly as I could without hurting them.

I lost all track of time as we stood there. I breathed them in. They were hurt, but they were safe. I wasn’t going to lose them.

Parker cleared his throat. “EMTs are here to check Caelyn out.”

I reluctantly let her go, but Mia stayed curved around me like a monkey. “It’s okay, Little Bit,” I whispered in her ear, rubbing a hand up and down Mia’s back.

“I really don’t need EMTs. I just need some alcohol swabs and a Band-Aid,” Caelyn protested.

“The EMTs are going to look at you. Mia, too.” I tried to keep my voice even, but there was a bite to it that I couldn’t disguise.

Caelyn sighed. “Fine.”

Crosby pushed to his feet. “Now that Griffin’s here, Ford and I are going to go get some plywood so that we can board up that window when the techs are done.”

“Thanks, Crosby,” Caelyn said.

He nodded. There was no mischievous grin or smartass comment tonight. Crosby looked like someone no one in their right mind would want to mess with. He met my gaze. “You got them?”

“I got them.” Nothing else would happen to this family if I had anything to say about it.

As Crosby and Ford headed out, Kenna appeared with two juices in her hands. “You want some apple juice, Mi?”

She shook her head. “Want my giant.”

Kenna gave us a watery smile. “Looks like you’ve got him.”

Mia clung even tighter to me. I picked up rubbing her back again as the EMTs rounded the side of the house. Her little fingers curled into the neck of my shirt. “No! I don’t want to go with them.”

“I’ve got you, Little Bit. They’re just going to check out Caelyn and then look at your cheek.” Whoever had sent that brick through the window had better hope I didn’t find out who they were.

“Caelyn, you okay?” an EMT in his mid-twenties asked.

“I’m fine, Nick. Just a little bump on the head.”

“That is not just a bump on the head,” I growled.

She rolled her eyes at me. If Caelyn was giving me grief, that meant she would be fine. I let out a slow breath and leaned against the picnic table, keeping Mia in my arms. I glanced at Parker as the two EMTs began assessing Caelyn’s injuries. “What the hell happened?”