“And then there’s the White family.”
His chest tightened. “Dean’s death wasnotyour fault. He was eighteen, and he made his own choices that night.”
“I left him at the party.”
“Hechoseto drink.Thenhe chose to get behind the wheel.”
“But his family—”
“Were hurting. It’s been thirteen years. They should see things clearly by now.” Or at least, he really fucking hoped they did. “Where are you staying?”
“I’m renting a place.”
“Where? I’ll come see you.”
“I’ll text you the address.”
He nodded, even though Bonnie couldn’t see him.
Footsteps sounded behind him. “Good. This isgood, Bonnie. I’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah. And Noah…thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not giving up on me. Seeing past my mistakes.”
“You’ll always be my little sister.”
He hung up and turned to see Indie a few feet behind him, a deep frown on her face. “That was Bonnie?”
“Yeah.”
Another step forward. “You said you’d see her soon. Are you going to visit her?”
“Actually, she’s here.”
Indie blinked, then her eyes flared. “Here? As in, she’s in Amber Ridge?”
“Yeah. Bonnie’s come home.”
CHAPTER 33
Half a dozen people were in Zane Merrick’s gym. All men, but that wasn’t because it was an all-male gym. Not many women had visited since opening. Half the men were hitting bags, two were in the ring, and one was warming up with a jump rope.
The place had enjoyed a constant flow of people since he’d opened. It was good.Beinghere was good. The fresh start he’d needed. Somewhere no one knew the shit he’d been through.
“You going to lunch?”
He turned to look at Stetson, one of his young employees. The kid was only twenty and not great in the ring or at a bag, but he was keen to learn. “You got things handled here?”
“Absolutely. Don’t need to worry about a thing, boss.”
He bit back a laugh. The kid’s enthusiasm was why Zane liked him. “Be back soon.”
The second he stepped outside, cool afternoon air ran over his skin. Fuck, it was cold here. But then, Billings, the town he’d come from, had been cold too.
As he walked, an elderly couple smiled and said hi as they passed. Another thing he was learning about small towns—people were friendly. The other day a couple had stopped andasked if he’d dropped a five-dollar bill. The week before he’d received threehellos along one damn street.
