Page 36 of Pieces of You

At least they knew exactly where they were heading now, and Shay wasn’t going near danger. We’d see him in Mclean soon.

I yawned again and looked out my window.

Even better, we were landing in DC, which meant Cullen would go home and face our mother alone.

I smiled to myself.

Almost home.

EPILOGUE

Lane Madison

It had been over a month since we’d seen the Tenleys.

Once it was all over, of course, Shay had realized his recovery was just starting.

He’d accepted an invitation to stay with friends in Washington state for a while, obviously with River and Reese too. Shay wanted to close himself in a bit. Understandable. I couldn’t even imagine what he’d been through. When we spoke on the phone, he didn’t say much about it. But then he’d stammered a little—which was so unlike him—and he’d wondered if Ty and I could fly out to see him.

I’d never booked tickets so fast in my life.

“I think it’s this turn here.” I pointed to the dirt road veering right.

Ty made the turn, and we drove straight up into the mountains.

Deep breaths.

Everything was so green here.

I clutched the book that Mr. West and I had worked on. Everyone had contributed, and then Mr. West and I had added the final touches with design and printing.

I hoped Shay liked it.

“It’s gonna be a good week,” Ty said, his voice quiet but confident.

I slipped my hand into his. “I still feel a little bad for pretty much forcing you to take time off work.”

He chuckled and kissed my knuckles. “I need this too, darlin’. I think we all do. Reese even promised me the best seafood dinner the West Coast has to offer, so my expectations are up there.”

I grinned.

Fuck, I was nervous. My stomach was a mess.

On the flipside, I sort of knew what to expect. I’d FaceTimed with Shay two days ago, so I’d seen some fading marks and yellowing bruises. I knew where he’d been injured. His brothers had given me a heads-up too; they’d FaceTimed every day since Shay had returned to the US. Shay would see them soon. He just had to prioritize his recovery, which everyone had patience for. He couldn’t handle too many impressions.

I knew what that was like.

According to the GPS… No, wait. It was stuck again. We had no reception here.

“Um.”

“Don’t worry, I got it from here.” He gave my leg a squeeze. “Fourth turn from where the road gets narrower. We just passed the second one.”

Okay, cool. Phew.

I didn’t wanna get lost up here. I was used to palm trees and marshlands, not maple trees, Douglas fir, cedar, hemlocks, and dogwood.

I had Googled on the plane.