You don’t forget that kind of love.
It’s planted in you in a way that never dies.
She slid her hands down his back, murmuring, “Baby.”
He pushed his face in deeper, tightening his arms aroundher.
When he felt she was having trouble breathing because shewas bearing all his weight, he shifted so he had it in his forearms, but hedidn’t take his arms from around her.
“Talk to your brothers,” she urged gently.
“I’ll talk to them,” he agreed.
“About helping us with Carlyle…and other.”
“Yeah,” he grunted.
She glided one hand up to his neck and gave it a squeeze.
He read her request, lifted his head and gave her his eyes.
“You’ll find your passion, Dutch.”
He wasn’t sure about that.
But he nodded anyway.
She took her hand from his neck, curled her fingers in andused the backs of them to stroke his jaw.
He took her warning and was glad he read it before sheasked, “Do you feel guilt you miss him so much when Hound gave you so much inhis stead?”
Christ, how was she driving to the meat of everything?
“Yes,” he answered.
“Hound was his brother.Do you think he wouldn’t have givenyou the same thing, perhaps not in those proportions, but in the way he couldeven if your dad had not died?”
Jesus, he hadn’t thought of it like that.
“No, he would have given it,” he told her.“They all did anddo.They did it with Rush.Tabby.With Cutter and Rider, Tack and Cherry’skids.Nash, Lanie and Hop’s boy.All of them.”
“It’s family,” she whispered.
Fuck, it was in front of his face.
It was what they fought for, what his dad died for.
And it took Georgie to point it out.
“Yeah.”
“You can’t drift away from family, honey,” she said, smiledand finished, “ever.”
“No.”
“No matter what path you take, they’ll have your back.”
His forehead dropped to hers a different way before he said,“Yeah.”
