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say something, but Rebel spoke first. “Well then, let's decide how we're going to do this.” He looked at Blackie and Judd. “I think we should have Georgia stay in the apartment upstairs until she's better."
    "Good thinking,” Judd agreed. All three of them had kids, and it wouldn't be a good idea to have her in any of their homes while she was so sick. His son, Jay, would probably understand what was going on. But all three of Rebel's kids were under six, and Blackie's twins were just babies. Keeping her at the garage seemed like the best place ... for now.
    "Since we were supposed to take a long weekend and go hunting, the garage is closed until Wednesday,” Rebel continued, “so that'll give her a good four, almost five days of privacy. We'll see how she is Tuesday night, then tell the rest of the guys only what they need to know. When she's better, they'll get an explanation."
    Judd thought that was smart, too. Even though Georgia would be accepted without question by the rest of the McCassey's who worked in the garage—their uncles, Frank and Jimmy, and their cousins, Brady, Kane, and Flynn—they were going to be very curious when they found out about her. She was going to have a hard enough time the next few days as it was without being pestered by a bunch of relatives she didn't know.
    "Let's go up, then,” Blackie suggested. “That room ain't been used in a while, and I want to make sure we got everything we're gonna need."
    As he started to head for the metal staircase in the corner of the garage, Georgia, who was still sitting at the table, yelled, “Wait!", stopping them. “I need to ask you all something first."
    Judd, who happened to be standing closest to her, turned around. “What is it?"
    "Why?” she asked quietly. “Why are you all doing this? You don't know me, but you believed me when I said that Dolan McCassey was my father."
    Blackie actually chuckled as he came to stand next to Judd. Although Judd didn't think it was so funny when Blackie draped an arm around his shoulders and slapped the side of his face. “See this face, little girl? Well, on Judd here, it's ugly as sin. But it looks much better on you."
    Neither Judd nor Georgia said anything.
    "What I'm sayin', is that you look enough like Judd here to be his damn twin. And them eyes of yours are the same royal blue color as mine, Judd's, Rebel's, and every other McCassey that was ever born. There ain't a doubt in any of our minds that you're one of us; and McCassey's take care of their own."
    Georgia set her elbow on the table and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “So that's why you're helping me, because I'm a McCassey?"
    Blackie stepped forward and knelt in front of her. They were eye to eye when, in a calm, comforting voice that Judd had only heard him use once before, Blackie said, “Yeah, that's one of the reasons. But we're also doin’ it because you're our sister. It don't matter that we ain't got the same mother. Fifty percent of the blood runnin’ though your veins is the same we got runnin’ through ours. In this family, we don't use words like, ‘half', or ‘in-law'. We're all just brothers and sisters, little girl, and that includes you. Understand?"
    For the first time since she walked into the garage almost five hours earlier, Georgia smiled a real, genuine smile; making Judd think that maybe everything would be okay.
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    Chapter 6
    Georgia wanted to die.
    Hanging her head over the side of the king-sized bed in the tiny, barely furnished studio apartment above the garage, retching into a bucket for what seemed like the thousandth time in two days, Georgia prayed for anything that would make the pain stop.
    Death just seemed like the easiest way out.
    "Easy,” Blackie whispered, and Georgia knew he was doing his best to console her, just as he, Judd, and Rebel had all been doing since her first serious withdrawal symptoms had begun two nights before. They'd been taking