She lifted her head off my chest and looked at me. Her eyes were full of concern. Telling her this was fucking terrifying. I didn’t want her to walk away. Fact was, I’d chase her and beg her to stay if I needed to. But she had to know.
“It’s a long story. Begins when I thought you were dead and I left my dad’s. I was lost and homeless for a while, until I met a man. He gave me a home and a way to fight the pain and horror that consumed me. I want to tell you everything, but I’m fighting to stay awake on this medicine . . .” I didn’t realize it until I said it, but suddenly, I was drowning in waves of drowsiness.
She reached up and ran her hand over my head, brushing my hair back gently. “Rest. I won’t leave. I’m not leaving you.”
My eyes drifted closed as she continued to play with my hair. “When I tell you . . . you might try. But I’ll follow you,” I said with a heavy tongue.
“Good,” she replied, her words close to my ear.
Knowing she was there and not leaving was all I needed in that moment, and I let sleep pull me under.
• • •
When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t have to look to find Addy. Her head was beside me, and her hand was tucked into mine as she slept. She was sitting on the chair she had pulled over next to the bed. I gazed down at her and enjoyed the view. She’d always been so peaceful when she slept. I loved watching her. Knowing she’d stayed close to me like this while I slept made me smile.
“She’s been asleep for about an hour now.” Blaire’s voice startled me, and I turned my head to see my sister sitting on the other side of the bed, looking at me closely. “Major called Mase, who called Rush. Glad I got to hear it through the grapevine that my brother had been shot and was in the hospital.” Now she looked annoyed.
“Guys I used to work with didn’t know to call you,” I told her.
She arched her eyebrows. “But they knew to call her?”
I glanced back down at her. “Yeah, they knew to call her.”
Blaire let out a soft laugh so as not to disturb Addy. “I’d be hurt by that if I wasn’t so happy to see someone as sweet and kind as her holding on to your hand like you were her entire world. I like seeing that.”
She made everything right.
“You gonna tell her about this? About why you’re in here?” Blaire asked. There was the flash of sisterly worry that I expected. But what exactly did she know about why I was in here?
“What do you mean?” I asked, watching her closely.
She leaned forward and held my gaze. “Do I look stupid to you? People do not just get shot in this town. Something else is happening here. You go away to Dallas and meet Mase and Reese. A man who deserves to die threatens Reese, then ends up dead himself. After that, you come here. I’ve thought about it, and something is off. You don’t look or act like a man who wants to work in the restaurant business. You look like a man who knows how to handle a gun. So you getting shot in the leg doesn’t add up with what you’ve been telling me. And just to be clear, you don’t have to tell me anything. I just want you to know that I know something is up with you. Your past is sketchy. We don’t know much about your adopted parents, and you don’t talk about them. So yeah. Are you going to tell her the truth, at least?”
I nodded. Because I was, but that was all she would ever know.
Blaire smiled and stood up, then walked over to me and put her hand over my empty one. “Good. She’s the one person who needs to know you. The real you. To make this work, you can’t keep secrets. Trust me, I know.”
“Thanks. I agree with you.”
Blaire smiled and squeezed my hand. “If you need anything, call me. When you’re ready, I want to bring Nate up here to visit. I’d stick around, but I think you have all the help you need, and you probably want some alone time with her, too.”
“Yeah, I do,” I said.
“It’s going to be OK. She loves you,” Blaire assured me, then turned and left the room.
Once she was gone, I turned my attention back to Addy as she slept. It was morning now, and although I knew Addy well enough to know she had everything handled with Franny, I was still concerned about the girl waking up to her mom not being there.
Soon she’d have both of us there every morning. She would also have her own room, and I’d drive her to school every morning. I wanted to make up for all those years I’d lost with both mother and daughter.
Addy
I heard deep voices talking quietly as I slowly opened my eyes. I could feel the warmth of River’s hand as it enclosed mine. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep, but when I woke up, I discovered his sister, Blaire, had been there. I’d never met her, but before River had figured out who I was, I had seen her visit the restaurant before.
Now it sounded like he had more visitors. I felt River’s hand tighten over mine.
“Good morning,” he said raspily.
I blinked and focused on him. “Hey,” I replied, hoping I didn’t look a mess.
His smile softened even more, and my heart did a little flutter in my chest. “You need to crawl up here beside me next time you sleep. You’re going to be stiff and achy now.”
I straightened up and stretched. “I’ll be fine. You needed your sleep. I would have bothered you.”
He shook his head. “No, you would have felt so damn good I would have probably slept longer.”
I felt my cheeks warm, and I wanted to lean up and kiss him.
Someone cleared their throat behind me, and River’s mouth turned into a smirk as he lifted his eyes to the other people in the room. I’d forgotten they were there.