They grilled the fish and finished making all the sides. The bread in the oven smelled especially good. When they sat down to eat, Elowen looked around and was proud of what she’d created here. The table had come from a tree a neighbor had to take down. She’d rescued the wood and created this long table that sat this group comfortably with the leafs extended.
Griz’s friends seemed nice. They talked amongst themselves easily, not asking her too many questions so she didn’t feel like they were grilling her, but they included her in the conversation. At the end of the meal she insisted that she should help them clean up. The guys shook their head and told all the women to head outside and sit in the shade with a beverage.
She was a little surprised, but glad they’d taken over the cleanup and she was outside getting to know the other women. “So how did you all meet your men?” Elowen asked.
Amelia laughed. “I was hooking up with Apple when we were younger. I got pregnant. He didn’t know. Our daughter was four when I was kidnapped and Apple found out through a mutual friend, no, not friend, acquaintance about Lainey. He rescued me and now we live with him.”
“Whoa, you were kidnapped?”
“Yes. Everything is fine now. The guy who orchestrated it is gone. He came after me, but he didn’t survive.”
“Oh, that’s good you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Yeah. This group of guys is great. They take care of their own.”
“I was a reporter doing in depth reporting on hospitals near the front lines of military unrest,” Nichole said.
“The SEAL team rescued me. I’d hooked up with Jay on a vacation before. It was nice that he was the man who came in to rescue me.”
“Wow.” Elowen couldn’t believe they’d both had terrible things happen to them.
“I grew up with Sharp. I ran into him when my ex was trying to kill me,” Danika said. “He wanted me dead. Sharp kept me safe.”
“Is the ex out of the picture?”
“Oh yeah, he’s no longer a threat,” Danika said.
Rowan leaned forward. “We were teenagers and on a plane that went down. I became a psychologist and Shine came to see me.”
“So no danger?”
Danika burst out laughing. “She went through hell. One of her patients decided to kidnap her. She’s lucky she was found.”
Rowan nodded. “Very lucky. If I hadn’t reunited with Shine, I don’t think I would have ever been found.”
“Wow.” Elowen turned to Asher, the last one to tell her story.
“I was trafficked. I ended up in a terrible place. I was only rescued because Squat didn’t give up.”
“Damn. You’ve all been through so much.”
Danika took a sip of her beer then lowered the bottle. “It made us who we are today. We still have some issues. There are certain men I’ll never allow into my house. I make sure Sharp or one of my friends is around if we have repair people coming into our house. I hate that I have to do that, but it’s just one of those fear things.”
Elowen nodded. “Some of the guys I used to work with were ridiculous. It’s why I saved up my money and bought this place. I had to act tough all the time, and I still do when I have contractors come over to help with something, but it sucks that you can’t just trust people to be decent.”
Amelia’s lips twisted to the side. “I haven’t had any repair people come to our house. I hadn’t even thought of having someone with me.”
“Do you think you need someone?” Rowan asked.
Amelia shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“The number of people who would be willing to lose their job and hurt you is low, but it’s not zero. Logically, which I know emotions and fear from past abuses aren’t logical, so don’t mistaken what I’m saying. But logically,you don’t need anyone to be with you because most workers aren’t willing to risk their job, but if you’ve had stuff happen like what happens to so many women, you can’t trust. And I know I’m doing my therapists thing, but it’s more about what you’ve been through in your life than what another person will do in your presence.”
Danika nodded. “I‘ve never had any problems, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m not alone, or if it’s because the person is decent.”
Elowen raised her eyebrows. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
The men stepped outside and began tossing a ball around. She continued chatting with the women, glad she’d decided to come instead of canceling. Griz’s friends really were good people. They weren’t hung up on themselves, which was refreshing. Before, when she’d been working construction, the guy’s wives were always snippy toward her, saying things that made her never want to spend time with them.
