I glanced back down at her. “Yeah, they knew to call her.”
Blaire let out a soft laugh so as not to disturb Addy. “I’d be hurt by that if I wasn’t so happy to see someone as sweet and kind as her holding on to your hand like you were her entire world. I like seeing that.”
She made everything right.
“You gonna tell her about this? About why you’re in here?” Blaire asked. There was the flash of sisterly worry that I expected. But what exactly did she know about why I was in here?
“What do you mean?” I asked, watching her closely.
She leaned forward and held my gaze. “Do I look stupid to you? People do not just get shot in this town. Something else is happening here. You go away to Dallas and meet Mase and Reese. A man who deserves to die threatens Reese, then ends up dead himself. After that, you come here. I’ve thought about it, and something is off. You don’t look or act like a man who wants to work in the restaurant business. You look like a man who knows how to handle a gun. So you getting shot in the leg doesn’t add up with what you’ve been telling me. And just to be clear, you don’t have to tell me anything. I just want you to know that I know something is up with you. Your past is sketchy. We don’t know much about your adopted parents, and you don’t talk about them. So yeah. Are you going to tell her the truth, at least?”
I nodded. Because I was, but that was all she would ever know.
Blaire smiled and stood up, then walked over to me and put her hand over my empty one. “Good. She’s the one person who needs to know you. The real you. To make this work, you can’t keep secrets. Trust me, I know.”
“Thanks. I agree with you.”
Blaire smiled and squeezed my hand. “If you need anything, call me. When you’re ready, I want to bring Nate up here to visit. I’d stick around, but I think you have all the help you need, and you probably want some alone time with her, too.”
“Yeah, I do,” I said.
“It’s going to be OK. She loves you,” Blaire assured me, then turned and left the room.
Once she was gone, I turned my attention back to Addy as she slept. It was morning now, and although I knew Addy well enough to know she had everything handled with Franny, I was still concerned about the girl waking up to her mom not being there.
Soon she’d have both of us there every morning. She would also have her own room, and I’d drive her to school every morning. I wanted to make up for all those years I’d lost with both mother and daughter.
Addy
I heard deep voices talking quietly as I slowly opened my eyes. I could feel the warmth of River’s hand as it enclosed mine. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep, but when I woke up, I discovered his sister, Blaire, had been there. I’d never met her, but before River had figured out who I was, I had seen her visit the restaurant before.
Now it sounded like he had more visitors. I felt River’s hand tighten over mine.
“Good morning,” he said raspily.
I blinked and focused on him. “Hey,” I replied, hoping I didn’t look a mess.
His smile softened even more, and my heart did a little flutter in my chest. “You need to crawl up here beside me next time you sleep. You’re going to be stiff and achy now.”
I straightened up and stretched. “I’ll be fine. You needed your sleep. I would have bothered you.”
He shook his head. “No, you would have felt so damn good I would have probably slept longer.”
I felt my cheeks warm, and I wanted to lean up and kiss him.
Someone cleared their throat behind me, and River’s mouth turned into a smirk as he lifted his eyes to the other people in the room. I’d forgotten they were there.
“Addy, I’d like you to meet some friends of mine,” he said. I turned around, surprised to see a man with a woman beside him. Her long dark hair was in stark contrast to the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. She was holding the man’s arm, and a kind smile was on her face. The bump under the sundress she was wearing made it easy to see that she was pregnant.
“Hello,” I said, with a smile in her direction.
Her face broke into a pleased grin as she held out her free hand to me. “Hello, I’m Reese. It’s so nice to meet you,” she said, then turned her gaze back to the man beside her. “And this is my husband, Mase.”
Husband. Oh, I liked that even better. River had married friends.
Mase was tall, with dark hair just long enough to keep pulled back in a low ponytail. His worn jeans fit him nicely, and the plaid button-down shirt he wore was long-sleeved, but he’d rolled them up to his elbows.
“Glad this one found a woman who can put up with him,” Mase said.
My back stiffened, and my smile vanished. I decided I didn’t like this Mase guy very much. “Excuse me?” I snapped, ready to defend my guy.