“Oops, let that slip. Sorry, should have said my friend.”
Rory put his arm over Gale’s shoulder. She was sitting next to him on the couch. Ford and Clay in kitchen chairs.
“More than friends.”
She put her head on his shoulder. “I don’t want you to let this weigh on you more. I’m worked up.”
“It’s not. And you wouldn’t be human if you weren’t worked up. Gale, someone is trying to hurt you because of me. Until now I wasn’t sure how much you understood that.”
“Oh, I understand it. The fear is there, but the anger is overriding it. It’s better that way. Right, Clay?”
“I don’t want that for you,” Clay said. “Never. We are all feeling this and not happy about it.”
“And between the four of us, we are going to get our answers.”
“I just hope it’s sooner rather than later,” Rory said. “Because time is running out on my patience.”
34
ALL OVER AGAIN
Gale hadn’t wanted to cancel her meetings and take the day off, but she knew it was the thing to do on Friday.
“I won’t be long,” Clay said. “Just come back and get me.”
She’d run upstairs to her condo with Clay and Rory, let her brother in, made him show her where the cameras were going to be so she knew, then she and Rory took her brother’s truck to pack up the rest of Rory’s belongings. His time there was almost up and there was no reason for him to renew it now.
As much as she’d like him to stay longer than his original month, it couldn’t be where there had been verbal and now actionable threats on his life.
“I can carry it all,” Rory said.
“Don’t argue with me,” she said, laughing. If she didn’t interject some humor into this situation she was terrified she was going to break.
Her nerves were frayed, not just from the chaos of the past few days but from the truth pressing at her chest. Her heart was tipping, teetering, spinning and ready to fall for the man standing in front of her.
A man who didn’t even know his next step. Was he staying or going?
No. That wasn’t the question. It waswhen.
And when that moment came, could she hide the hurt? Could she swallow it down while he drove away leaving her behind?
For once in her life, she wasn’t so sure. When she was used to voicing her thoughts and opinions, this time she kept them locked behind a steel door.
“I’m learning there isn’t a chance I can win even if I wanted to,” he said. “I wasn’t positive your brothers were going to agree to this, but I feel bad because I know it’s got to be hard for you to have cameras around like that.”
She’d valued her privacy as a teen in a house full of men. More when she was an adult.
Being watched over now was everything she’d fought so hard to break free of and yet it was happening all over again.
It didn’t feel like caving though, it felt more like wisdom.
Being smart was going to keep them safe and in turn catch whoever was doing this. Would it be Rene’s killer? She still didn’t know.
“I’ll get over it,” she said. “Just like I did for years before.”
“Did Clay put a camera on his truck too?”
She turned and winked at him. “You betcha. He’s watching everything.”
