Kiss My Boots (Coming Home #2)

I can see the alarm in the older woman’s eyes—the bright green eyes that mirror those of the woman I love. Her raven-black hair that appears to be as thick and lustrous as Quinn’s, only streaked with tiny hints of gray.

“She looks just like me.” Quinn steps forward and I let the door shut behind us, not willing to stay far from her. “In all the years I imagined what she would look like, it was never like me.”

Her mama starts to shake her head, the heart monitor showing an increase in speed. I don’t want to rush Quinn, but if her mama continues to get agitated, I don’t think Quinn is going to be allowed to come back anytime soon.

“You know who I am,” Quinn tells her mama in a clear, halting voice. “I used to dream about you, you know. I would conjure up these beautiful stories where you would speed back into town and grab your children in a warm hug and tell us how much you missed us, but you had somethin’ so important to do and you got back as soon as you could. Spent years and years dreamin’ that, thinkin’ I needed you to be complete.” She stops talking and points over her shoulder. Her mama’s eyes follow her movement. I don’t relax the expression of harsh judgment on my face and she flinches. “That man filled me right up and completed every single jagged piece your abandonment created inside me. One day I’m gonna beg him to marry me, then I’m gonna give him babies, and then, Mama, I’m gonna love him and those babies until the day I die and there won’t be a soul on earth that could tear me away from them. I forgive you for being selfish enough to love yourself more than your family, and I even thank you for runnin’ off, since your actions gave Clay and me our brother. Even with a mama that only loved herself, my brothers and me know how to love others, and we definitely can’t thank you for that.”

Done with her speech, Quinn turns and looks up at me with shining eyes. I look away to see her mama wide-eyed and starting to get even more upset. I glance at the screen showing her vital signs before looking back down at Quinn.

“You got everything you need to say out?” I mutter to her.

“I did.” She nods and takes a breath. “It’s over.”

“Make sure you got nothin’ left, baby.”

She looks back at her mama, seein’ the distress in the woman’s face. “I hope you find the peace you need, even if it isn’t until after you’ve left this earth. Good-bye, Mama.”

I watch the monitors while Quinn talks, and the second she finishes speaking, I reach up and press the red button the nurse told us to hit when we were done. We’re out of the room and down the hall before the nursing staff has even left their station to settle Mrs. Davis.

“You okay?” I ask Quinn, pulling her under my arm and tight to my side.

She glances up, nods, and finally smiles back at me. “I’m perfect.”





26


QUINN


“Circles” by Jana Kramer

- -

“Do you want to call your brothers?”

I turn from the window I’ve been gazing out of since we got back, focusing on nothing, just staring down at the busy street below us while my mind wandered, and look at Tate. He’s sitting up in the middle of the bed, pillows all around him, looking like some sort of sex god.

We returned to the hotel about thirty minutes ago, and the first thing both of us did was kick off our boots. He went a step further and yanked off the button-down he was wearing, leaving him in just a plain white undershirt and his dark denim jeans. His crossed legs were the only thing I could see reflected in the window and before he spoke, I was trying to figure out why I thought his feet were so damn sexy.

“I can think of a million other things I would rather do right now than call them.”

“They’re gonna worry about you, darlin’. They know what time we were goin’ to be there for our appointment, and they’re not gonna wait much longer for you to let them know you’re okay.”

I roll my eyes, but I know he’s right. I’m shocked that they actually haven’t called yet, to be honest. “Do you know where my phone is?”

He nods and points to the other side of our suite, where the small living room area is. I walk over, see my phone, and nab it off the coffee table, dialing Clay quickly before I can let myself avoid making the call any longer. It isn’t that I don’t want to call them—I’m just still processing everything. But Tate’s right; knowing my brothers, it’s taking everything in them not to hop a plane right now and come after me as it is, so I owe them an update.

“Are you okay?” Clay says rapidly in lieu of a greeting, the phone not even ringing once before I hear him coming through the line.

“Hello, Clayton, how are you?” I smile, glancing at Tate with a roll of my eyes.

“Quinn, fuckin’ swear to God,” he fumes under his breath, his worrying getting the best of his normally calm and cool demeanor.

“Chill, Clay. I’m okay, big brother. More than okay, actually. I feel like a rock I didn’t know was attached to my leg, weighin’ me down with each step, has finally been cut off.”

A loud exhale comes through the line. Hearing that noise, I realize how wound up he’s been about all this and I’m glad that Tate pressed me to call sooner than later.

“One day, when you’re ready, you’ll come for yourself and see what I mean, Clay.”

Clay’s tone hardens. “That day’ll never come, Quinny. Don’t set your heart on that shit. I don’t need that and I never will. You’ll only end up disappointed if you’re waiting for it to happen.”

“Clay—”

“Not now, sugar. A fight for another day, okay? I won’t bend, but you’re welcome to go at it until you’re blue in the face if it makes you feel better. You promise me, Quinny, you’re really okay?”

I continue to hold Tate’s gaze across the suite, him still watching me intently, and smile. “I’m not feelin’ like I’m missin’ her anymore, Clay. I’ve got everything I’ve ever wanted right here in front of me. I’ve moved on from the fantasy of her I held onto, and I’ve got my heart back. I’m a little sad, but I’ve let somethin’ go today that needed to be let go so I can finally move on with my life and get nothin’ except beauty for the rest of my days.”

Clay clicks his tongue before humming a low sound of agreement.

“I’m gonna call Mav now and tell him the same thing, big brother.”

“He’s right here, sugar, so not necessary. He’s probably breathin’ a whole helluva lot easier now that he’s finally heard your voice, though.”

“When I get home, we’ll sit down and talk so you guys can see for yourselves that I’m fine, but right now, I’ve got a doctor that needs a checkup.”

I hear two groans coming from the other end of the line, and I feel my smile amp up a few more notches closer to insane happy levels. They make it too easy.

“I love you guys,” I tell them, putting them out of their misery, still smiling like a loon.

“Love you back, Quinny,” they say in unison.

“I’ll come over when we get home tomorrow, okay?”