“Why does Landry need to see me?”
“I would assume for the same reason everyone in my family needs to see you. To confirm that you’re alive and unharmed. Or, well, uninjured. Wrong words. Not shot.”
“I wasn’t harmed or injured. Why didn’t those words work?”
“I’m sorry. I ... you have been harmed. Maybe not physically. But emotionally. I didn’t want to gloss over that.”
She blinked a few times. “Do you suppose Granny has any eye drops?”
“Probably.”
“I should have asked Aunt Carol if she had any in her Mary Poppins medical bag. I think she could do surgery out of that thing.”
Mo chuckled. “I’m just glad she didn’t try to make us stay home today.”
They drove in silence for a few more minutes. “Mo?”
“Yeah?”
“Never mind.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I mean, this isn’t the time and place.”
Mo tapped the armrest, then twisted in the seat. “No. I don’t like this. We need to not do this. If you have something to say, say it. And I’ll do the same. We can’t move forward into ...eh ... anything good if we don’t communicate.”
“It’s not anything bad. I started to say it and then thought it would be better to say it when I’m not driving. You know, face to face.”
“Maybe it would be, but now that you’ve started...” He let the sentence hang, and she caved.
“Fine. I wanted to say thank you for taking those bullets for me, and for calling your parents, and for ... letting me cry on you. You’ve been very kind to me. Thank you.”
In her periphery, she could see Mo relax in his seat. “I’m not sure what to say to that. ‘You’re welcome’ seems a bit out of place. ‘My pleasure’ makes it sound like I jump in front of bullets on the regular or that I think crying women are fun.” He held up a hand. “To be clear, you can cry on me anytime. In fact, if you’re going to cry, I think itshouldbe on me. No one should cry alone.”
If he didn’t stop being so sweet, Bronwyn was going to be in serious trouble. They were friends. Good friends. Right? Or, whatever.They were becoming something. But ... she realized he was waiting on her to respond. What had he said? “I can’t promise that, but I’ll do my best.”
“Fair enough.” Mo fiddled with his phone. “While we’re saying thank yous, we need to discuss how you tried to take a bullet for me first. Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you ranatme when what you should have done was hit the ground immediately.”
He glanced over in time to see Bronwyn narrow her eyes at him. He kept going before she could respond. “Thank you for trying to protect me. For talking to me and for trusting me to protect you. I’m even feeling glad that you made me call Mom and Dad, because you were right. If they’d come home and then Mom saw me like this?” He pointed to his face and grimaced. “I might not survive the tongue-lashing that would surely be coming my way.”
They continued the ride in silence. Bronwyn didn’t think it was awkward, but what if Mo thought it was? How did anyone know if a silence was truly awkward, anyway? What were the rules? At what point did it go from comfortable to awkward?
She was happy to simply be with him. Despite the chaos and turmoil in her life, she felt safe and ... complete. Yes, it was a corny sentiment, but it wasn’t like she was going to tell him he completed her. He didn’t. It was more that this resolution of their drama felt like a decades-long wrong had finally been righted.
Which was good. Because she didn’t think she could manage multiple dramas at once, and her family would be a nightmare.
She pulled into the driveway and turned to Mo. “Are you okay? How’s your head?”
He tapped it. “Hard as usual. Don’t move.” He hopped out of his side of the Jeep, then walked to her side, opened the door, and extended his hand. She took it.
“Thank you, kind sir.”
“You’re welcome, good lady.”
They were both snickering like children when they walked into the house.
Papa and Granny were in the kitchen, and they turned when they entered. “Lawd have mercy.” Granny flew at Mo and hugged him tight, then turned to Bronwyn and pulled her close. “Oh, my precious girl. I’m so glad you’re home safe.”
