She huffed but remained quiet.
“Tell me… please.”
Another huff and then, “It’s just that I thought someone was in the building when I was waiting for the elevator but then I couldn’t see anyone. It’s stupid, everything is fine.”
“It’s not stupid. Always go with your gut when you get a bad feeling. It’s helped me more times than I can count when I was in the military or fighting a fire. Trust yourself and your instincts.” I ran my hand through my still damp hair. “I’m glad you got out of there and are headed home.”
Nodding to Lake, she pulled out her phone in understanding and within a second was on the line with Bronson who was home with Stormi—something she mentioned earlier. I knew that she’d make sure that he checked on River when she got to her house. It was nice they lived within a minute of one another.
“Huntley, did you say Lake was right there?”
“Yup.”
She groaned. “Great, she is gonna give me the third degree for talking to you and she’s going to get the gossip mill going. That includes all the ladies if you didn’t know.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, she was adorable.
In what seemed like perfect timing to escalate another long groan from River, Lake leaned into me and yelled into the phone. “Hey, sis, Bronson is going to meet you at your place so he can make sure everything is good and report back to me.”
“What is she, my parole officer?” River asked.
The woman was pretty funny in her own sarcastic way. Itwas something I really liked about her. I didn’t think she even realized how cute she was—inside or out.
“She just cares about you.Lotsof people do.”
The thick silence between us could be cut with a knife.
Yeah, I meant myself included, but didn’t want to come right out and say it. In the short time I’d known her it was abundantly clear that she’d sparked something inside of me that I’d never felt before. I was doing my damnedest to show her she could trust me, so I had to tread slowly.
We talked as she drove to her house and during that time, I had an unmistakable sense that something was still off and she was downplaying the worry that was clear in her voice.
“I just pulled in and Bronson is right behind me, so I guess I’ll let you go and deal with him.” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “The bright spot in all of this is that Stormi is with him.”
Stormi was a cutie. She could draw a smile from someone in the worst mood. All the kids in our circle could. Me being part of the group was a bit new, having been drawn in since I worked with Lake and also pulled River out of the fire.
“Will you text me later?” I couldn’t help myself, I wanted to hear from her again but now I sounded like a needy human.
“Sure, but can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” I told her.
“Why are you being so nice to me when I wasn’t exactly pleasant to you the few times we were around each other?”
Earlier she had apologized for that. I could tell it was bothering her, but it shouldn’t. She had her coping mechanisms. I’d witnessed the same thing with my mother as she dealt with life after my father and her feelings.
I tried to hold back a moment ago, but decided she needed to hear what I was thinking.
“Because I’m one of the ones who care about you.”
River sucked in so much air that if she released it all she could probably blow up a dozen balloons at one time.
“I d-don’t know w-what to say,” she stammered.
“You don’t have to say anything, just know it’s true.”
“Umm, okay. Bye, Huntley. I’ll text you later.”
“Bye, Warrior.”
