A breath of air I’d been holding, causing more pain in my chest than what was already there, whooshed out of me at his words.
“As for your family, they were told right away and are anxiously waiting to hear from you.”
The ache was back, and I slowly moved my hand to rub the spot over my heart. I never wanted them to worry, and yet I knew they would do nothing but that. I was glad someone let them know quickly.
God, I wanted to talk to them. I longed to hear Patience’s voice, but I didn’t know if I could. Yet I knew I shouldn’t deny her or my family the ability to hear for themselves that I was alive.
But…
How was I going to explain to them that a part of me was dead?
Chapter Three
PATIENCE
I woke, a strangled cry ripping from my lungs.
“Jettttt!”
The images of him being tortured sent my pulse beating overtime and my skin slick with sweat as I jolted upright in bed.
This wasn’t like the dreams I’d had of him over the years when he’d been gone. No, those had been sweet or filled with heat.
What had awakened me was a nightmare.
I tried to calm my pounding heart with the knowledge that Jett was alive. They’d found him.
He hadn’t died.
But in my night terrors—ones I’d been having since we heard of his capture—things didn’t work out that way. And even still with the knowledge that he was safe, the images when I fell asleep at night were full of horror, sorrow, and heartbreak.
I didn’t know the ins and outs of what happened to Jett, but my mind conjured up a lot of frightening scenarios filled with gruesome details, along with an ending where I neversaw the most important person in my life—besides my son—ever again.
“Come back to me,” I whispered to the empty room.
Falling back onto the massive pile of pillows on my bed, I sucked in a deep breath just as the door burst open and my son ran in, jumping onto the mattress next to me.
“Momma, why are you screaming?”
I pushed myself up to a sitting position, my back resting against the headboard.
A figure in the doorway caught my eye, and I glanced over taking in the sight of Ruby, her head tilted as she watched us. Her tired gaze took me in with a sympathetic look causing guilt to settle in the pit of my stomach. She didn’t need to be worrying about me when I knew the concern for her brother was eating her up inside.
Her, Gramps, and even Lyric welcomed me with open arms when Jett brought me and my six-month-old son into their fold. They hadn’t blinked at making a home for me at eighteen when my mother and stepfather washed their hands of us.
Jett had been my savior, and his family had mirrored his enormous heart, changing my life in ways I could hardly formulate into words.
Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Don’t give me that look.”
I drew air in through my nose and let it out. She, along with all the ladies in our lives, were as intuitive as the men. No doubt she was reading my mind.
Griffin climbed onto my lap and placed his little hands against the sides of my face, studying me. “What look is she talking about, Mommy?” He squished my cheeks, and tilted his head much like Ruby had been doing seconds before. “Is it the sad one because you miss Daddy?”
Both Ruby and I pulled in a sharp breath simultaneously. Once Griffin had called Jett Daddy for the first time thatnight we’d received the news of him missing, he’d latched onto it and never let go. Every time me, Ruby, and the others heard him address him that way, it still surprised us a bit.
But not as much as it had for Jett. The first time he’d finally talked to Griffin on the phone after being rescued, my little guy had said, “Daddy, when are you coming home?”
The phone had been on speaker and a deep gasp had echoed through the room. Tears had pooled in my eyes and dribbled down my cheeks, while my heart broke for both boy and man.
