I glanced around the room in confusion. It took me several moments to get my bearings.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said, still trying to catch my breath. “I had a dream, and it seemed so real.”
“Tell me about it,” he said and scooted closer to me.
I wiped the sweat from my face and took a few sips of water before I started telling him about the dream.
“I can assure you, I only have one niece. And what happened with her wasn’t my fault or yours,” he said.
“I know. I’m not sure why it rattled me so much,” I admitted.
“After everything that’s happened over the last few days, you’re probably subconsciously waiting for something else to happen and it’s manifesting in your dreams. But nothing else is going to happen. We’re safe, and we have Kalen. It’s over.”
24
GAME
After a week at the clubhouse, Blakely was more than ready to go home.
“It has nothing to do with the club. Everyone here has been great,” she assured me. “But I miss sleeping in my own bed, and I really do need to get back to work.”
It wasn’t quite the same for me. I was used to bouncing back and forth between my place and the clubhouse, and I didn’t have the same attachment to my rental house that she did to her grandparents’ house. But I understood where she was coming from.
The doctor told her she could increase her activity as tolerated. Other than moving a little slower than usual and being very careful when lifting Kalen, she was up and about almost as if nothing had happened. I knew she’d be okay at home, but I didn’t want her to go. Unless I went with her.
“Do you think one of the guys could drive us over to my house?” she asked. Even though we were both recovering well, neither one of us had been cleared to drive yet.
“Us?” I asked.
She stopped gathering her belongings and turned to face me. “I guess that was kind of presumptuous. I just assumed you’d come with me. But you’re probably sick of me by now.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be sick of you,” I said honestly.
She smiled shyly. “So, does that mean you’re going to stay at my house for a bit? At least until you’re healed?”
“Or until you’re sick of me,” I teased.
“That won’t happen,” she promised.
A few hours later, Landon and Spazz picked us up at the clubhouse and drove us to Blakely’s house. I felt like a chump standing there watching as they loaded our bags and all of Kalen’s things into the back of Spazz’s truck. But they wouldn’t have let me help even if I tried.
Once we were loaded up and on the way, Landon turned in his seat to talk to Blakely. “I have something to tell you, but I want you to remember two things—this was beyond my control, and I’m just the messenger.”
“Understood. What is it?” Blakely asked anxiously.
“Nana and Papa are on their way home. They’ll get here sometime tonight.”
“What?” she asked in surprise.
Landon nodded. “Nana called me this morning. She said she thought something was going on because she hadn’t talked to you as much as usual and felt like you were being vague when she did. Then, she checked the cameras and saw that you haven’t been at Stuff It for the last week.”
“Did you tell her why?”
“I started to, but she stopped me. She said she’d wait to hear it from you, but she wanted me to tell you to be ready to explain yourself,” he said.
Blakely groaned. “This is going to be a long night.”
“Yep,” Landon agreed. “For both of us. She told me in no uncertain terms that I had to be there too.”
