“Well, Eastern’s barely let me move, so rest has been kind of mandatory. Hell, he’s been carrying me around the house like I’m incapable of getting around myself.” Not that she minded being pressed against Eastern’s chest. “Plus, I’ve been on a strict pain medication schedule.”
Harper, Tilly and Elle had also been paying her regular visits, always with food and treats and coffee. There was also her grandmother, who sometimes visited multiple times a day, and again always with food. She was surrounded by a community she hadn’t expected when she’d come back to town, but man, was she grateful for it.
“Good,” Harper said with a smile. “And what about your grandmother? I know she wasn’t doing too good after she found out about everything that happened.”
“She’s still worried. Every time I mention coming back to work, she refuses to let me.”
Tilly’s eyes softened. “Not a surprise. Twice you were attacked in that store.”
“Yeah, I know. And I wish I didn’t even have to tell her. I’ll ease my way back into work eventually.” She tickled Avery’s side. “We went in yesterday though, didn’t we?”
Avery giggled. “Yeah, and Sadie got me a double chocolate chip cookie.”
Tilly’s eyes widened. “Double chocolate chip?”
Avery nodded. “Yep, and we bought more for tonight, but Daddy says I have to wait until after dinner to have one.”
“What a party pooper,” Harper said with a grin.
Sadie looked over to Eastern again, her heart doing a little skitter in her chest. His head was thrown back and he was laughing at something Jace said. It appeared Jace was definitely the joker of the group. Not a huge surprise. That job usually fell on the little brother, didn’t it?
When Eastern’s gaze found hers, his smile softened and he winked. Even now, her pulse went into overdrive at every small gesture from him.
“Bet he’s glad you came back,” Tilly said softly.
She looked at the other woman. “I’mglad I came back. It’s kind of crazy, but the morning I was supposed to marry Scott, I justknewI should be somewhere else. It almost felt like I had this other life waiting for me. I didn’t understand it at the time…now I do.”
Tilly squeezed her shoulder. “You were meant to be here.”
“It definitely feels that way.”
Avery looked up at her. “Sadie, I’m cold.”
“I’ll get your jacket from inside.” She kissed Avery’s head and was about to shift the girl off her lap, when Avery gave her that cheeky grin of hers.
“Actually, I think a hot cocoa might warm me up.”
Sadie’s lips twitched. The sneaky kid. She lowered her mouth to Avery’s ear. “Just don’t tell your dad.” Because hot cocoa probably fell into the same category as cookies, right?
“Thank you, Sadie. I love you.”
She’d never tire of hearing that. “I love you too, baby girl.”
They both stood. Avery took her seat as Sadie moved into the kitchen, all the while knowing just how incredibly lucky she was.
Eastern sippedhis beer as he watched Cody work the grill. Jace was telling them some long-winded story about a teammate who’d passed out after a night of drinking and woken up with no clothes and all of his shit stolen. Eastern was sure some of the story was being embellished, but then, that was Jace, always ready to make people laugh.
His attention shifted to Sadie. She sat across the yard with the women, Avery on her lap. He’d woken every night during the last week, having to remind himself that the two people he loved most were alive and safe. That they were right there with him.
Sadie’s ribs would take a while to heal, and he’d been making sure she took the time to rest and barely lift a finger. When her gaze found his, he smiled and winked at her. Pink tinged her cheeks. Damn, she was beautiful.
“Looks like you found a good one while I was away,” Jace said, pulling Eastern’s attention back to his brothers.
“We’ve all found good women,” Eastern said, lifting his beer to his lips. It wasn’t a lie—Sadie, Harper and Tilly were the best women he’d met.
Kayden nodded. “Damn straight. Sadie doing okay after everything?”
“Yeah, she’s strong. Stronger than me, anyway. But I can’t get past how close I came to losing her.” His fingers tightened around the neck of the bottle.
