“I asked.”
“You’re a good man.”
He held the door for me. “Only to those who matter.”
That wasn’t true, but I didn’t press the point.
We didn’t go right home, we made one stop. Mrs. Cooke’s house. I didn’t even wait for the car to stop before I jumped from it and ran to my mom. She caught me into a tight hug. We were both crying.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
“I missed you more.”
Mom released me and I reached for Mrs. Cooke’s hands. “Oh Mrs. Cooke. I’ve missed you. How are you with being back here?”
“I’m good, dear. The memories bring a smile not pain.”
“I’m so happy to hear that.”
Anton and Cam came strolling outside. “Finally,” Cam said as his arms went tight around me. “How you doing, sis?”
“Better now.”
“You must be tired,” Anton said as I moved into him and kissed his cheek. “I’m happy you’re home. I missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, Anton.”
“There are refreshments inside,” Mrs. Cooke announced.
“Thanks for letting us stay here.”
“Nonsense. It’s a big, drafty place that has gone too long without having life in its halls.”
Razor, Mic and Damian joined us and I knew this because my mom made a sound in the back of her throat, which had me wondering about her own personal hottie. “Where’s yoga man?”
“Inside helping the girls with dinner. Who is this?” Mom asked, but she was already offering her hand to Razor.
“My mom, Rosalie, and Miranda Cooke, this is Razor and Mic.”
“Just delighted to make your acquaintance.” Mom was batting her lashes, but it looked like she had something in her eye. Confirmed when Razor asked, “What’s wrong with your eye?”
Mom gasped, Mrs. Cooke looked flabbergasted and I roared with laughter. It was good to be home.
My smile was so big my face hurt when we stepped into the kitchen to see my two besties making dinner. As soon as they saw me they dropped what they were doing, screamed and ran to me. We hugged, jumped up and down and spoke in a language no one but us understood. And then they pulled me from the kitchen. “We’ll bring her back,” Kimber shouted from over her shoulder as Ryder dragged me upstairs.
“We have so much to catch you up on,” Ryder said as she dropped on the bed. The room was amazing, spacious with antique furniture, muted-gold papered walls and a fireplace.
I stood in the middle of the room and spun in a circle. “I can’t believe she let this sit vacant for so long.”
“I know. The place is amazing.”
I dropped down on the bed too. “How were things here? Any trouble?”
“No. None. We heard about Guy, we can’t really believe it.”
My happy glow soured. “I can’t talk about that right now. How’s Mom?”
“She doesn’t know.”
“That’s probably for the best because she would absolutely hunt him down.”
“That’s what your brother is afraid of,” Ryder said.
“So what’s up with Damian?” Kimber asked.
“It’s a long story, but he wants a lifetime with me.”
They both squealed so loud I was sure they heard it down the block. “Oh my God. He said that?” Ryder gushed.
“Yeah. It’s still there, what pulled at us when we were younger, but it’s so much more now.”
“I love that something good came out of all this shit.” Ryder was right about that.
I wanted to tell them about Amelia and the friends I had made, but I was exhausted and that was a conversation that would take hours, so I moved the subject off me. “How’s Derrick?”
Ryder released a breath, Kimber’s expression turned sad. “We split up.”
“Why?”
“It just wasn’t working.”
“Bullshit,” Ryder shouted and since she was sitting right next to me my ear was now ringing.
“What’s bullshit?”
Ryder pointed accusingly at Kimber. “They were working just fine until this one got cold feet.”
Kimber was studying the lines in the comforter. “Kimber?”
“I like…okay I love him. That scares the shit out of me, so I ended it.”
“You fell in love for the first time in your life so you broke it off with the man.”
“Yes. Coward.” This was clearly an argument these two had been having for a while.
“Sticks and stones,” Kimber said then stuck out her tongue.
“And how did Derrick take the breakup?”
“He hasn’t.”