We lay there quietly for a few minutes before she spoke again. “Will you tell me about them? Your friends. What were they like?”
She wasn’t asking about the capture, just about the men themselves. They deserved for people to know about them, and I had to start somewhere if I ever wanted to heal.
“You would have loved all three of them,” I started.
Pausing, I took a deep breath.
I could do this; this was my best friend I was talking to.
Right then, I reached for her, and I surrendered every part of myself to her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
PATIENCE
It was going to be hard to say goodbye.
The following Saturday after Dusty had saved me, we were all saying our goodbyes—well, she didn’t leave until the following day—at Braxton and Jurnee’s house. The ladies decided we should send her off with one of our famous gatherings, just as we had welcomed her into the group when she arrived.
I wished she was staying.
When I heard the guys had basically told her she could have a job with them—even before she kicked some guy’s butt to save me—I tried to convince her to take it. I could see a bit of interest but, like Jett, she still had a lot to work through.
Dusty’s parents were also having a hard time letting her go again—anywhere. Even coming to see Jett, they’d looked scared, she told us. But I also knew from our conversations that she wanted her own thing and didn’t want to live in the small town she’d grown up in again; she had no desire to be a farmer.
Maybe in time she’d find her place. If it was back inPortland or anywhere near us, I’d be happy. I loved being around Dusty; she was a wonderful person and an amazing new friend. I owed her for everything she’d done—possibly my life. Although she was just like Jett and would hate to know I was thinking that way.
Those two, like all the men and women in our group, did what they do because they’re the best kinds of humans in the world.
“What do you think, Patience?”
I shook my head slightly to clear it, and immediately regretted it. It had been five days since I’d been thrown into the wall and manhandled, but I was still feeling the effects.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jett was in front of me in a flash, touching my cheek. “Do you need to sit down for a bit?”
He’d been watching me like a hawk, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he zeroed in on me at that moment, but I couldn’t help the flutter in my tummy just knowing that he cared.
Not thinking, I almost shook my head again to answer but caught myself at the last second. “No, I’m okay. I just moved my head a bit quickly, but I’m fine.”
Arching his brows, his gaze assessed me.
“Really,” I said softly.
His shoulders relaxed. “Okay, but let me know if you need anything.”
There was that damn flutter again. “I will.”
I could handle things, but it felt good that Jett wanted to take care of me. And when he smiled at my admission that I’d let him know if I needed him—those heart-stopping dimples making an appearance—I was even happier that I’d agreed.
Jett leaned in and kissed my forehead, pulling a stream of soft sighs from those around us. Then he pulled back and flashed all the women a charming smile. “Ladies,” he said before walking away.
“Wow,” London said in awe. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night. Which would explain how he was over here in a split second when he thought you weren’t doing okay.”
“I always knew it would happen one day,” Ruby said—or should I say my sister-in-law—while looking straight at me and smiling.
“Yup,” Capri agreed. “That man is head over heels.”
“Always has been,” Teal stated.
