And maybe, just maybe, Cora and Bosco would stay around for a long, long time . . . After everything, Slider almost couldn't believe that thought had originated in his own brain, but it didn't make it any less real . . . or less terrifying . . .
Slider sat next to Sam so he could pet Bosco, too. "This is the older dog that had Cora asking that question at dinner the other night."
"So he'd be Cora's, but we'd get to spend time with him, too?" Sam asked.
Nodding, Slider gave the old dog a scratch behind his ears. "Yeah. Would that be okay? She's sorta fallen in love with him."
"Sure you can stand the competition?" Sam smirked.
Slider nailed him with a stare. "Just for that, you get to clean up any accidents in the house for the next week."
Grinning, Sam smirked harder. But then he pressed his face to Bosco's and closed his eyes. "If he could live with us, I would totally do that." Sam's expression grew more serious. "Cora should have a family, and Bosco could be that for her."
"You mean like when my teacher calls her cat her fur baby?" Ben asked, hugging Bosco next.
Sam nodded. "Something like that." He peered up at Slider. "I think we should get him for her."
Cora should have a family.
Damn if the boy's words didn't hit Slider square in the chest-and unleash a strange longing inside Slider that was as scary as it was strong.
An hour later, they'd completed all the paperwork and sprung Bosco from the joint, and Sam's words were still pinballing around in Slider's head. Still, he could barely contain himself with the excitement of surprising Cora. But first they had about a hundred things to buy at the pet store-something that thrilled the boys to no end. They didn't see a single toy or treat in the whole place they weren't entirely convinced Bosco had to have.
Four hundred dollars later, Slider found himself glad he owned a pickup truck. While Ben climbed in the cab with Bosco, Slider and Sam loaded up the bags full of treats, toys, bowls, collars, and leashes, not to mention the giant dog bed and a fifty-pound bag of food.
They'd even had a name tag engraved for him:
Bosco T.L.B. Campbell
Slider had had to explain that to the boys, but he hoped Cora got it right away.
"Dad?" Sam asked when they'd loaded everything up.
"Yeah, buddy?"
"We just need to make sure we don't mess anything up." He ducked his chin. "You know, with Cora."
Guilt sloshed like acid in Slider's gut. He hadn't been responsible for Kim's cancer, of course, but their marriage hadn't been everything he'd thought it was, either. Which meant, somewhere along the way, Slider had messed up in that relationship, hadn't he? But what was important was making his son know nothing like that could ever be his fault. He crouched down so he could meet Sam's gaze eye to eye. "Why would you think anything would get messed up? Or that you'd have anything to do with it?"
Sam gave him a troubled shrug, but nothing more.
"Well, I'll promise you this. If Cora and I didn't work out, that could never be your fault. But I'm going to do everything I can not to mess up. Because I'd like Cora to stick around a long while." Maybe . . . maybe even forever.
Nodding, Sam said, "Okay."
"Look at me, son." Sam's brown eyes finally met his. "I want you to know that you can talk to me. I know I probably wasn't here for you the way I should've been the past two years, but I'm here now. Anything you need. Anything you just need to get off your chest. You come to me. Always. Understood?"
"Yeah, Dad."
Slider couldn't stand the distance between them for one more second. He hauled Sam against him, the first hug they'd shared in so long it hurt. And, Jesus, when Sam hugged him back, it felt like Slider had been on a journey on foot over impassable mountains these past years, and now he was finally home.
But Slider played it cool. "Now what do you say we go surprise Cora?"
Smiling up at him, Sam nodded.
And then they were on their way, and Slider wasn't sure which of the males in his pickup was most excited to be going home.
Rattled after Sheriff Davis's visit, Cora had picked up Haven to go shopping with her, and they'd bought out the home departments in at least three stores with all kinds of things for Slider's house. And even a few things for her own bedroom. Cora had appreciated the company, even though Haven immediately wanted to alert the entire club about Cora's unexpected visitor.
Cora had convinced her that it could wait until they were home, and now that they were again, Haven was giving her the look.
"Wait," Cora said, needing a minute before five badass bikers potentially filled Slider's living room. "Before I do that-and I promise I will-I wanted to talk to you about some things first."
"Okay," Haven said. Leaving all their shopping bags in the living room, they made their way to the family room and sank onto the comfy couch. "Is this about Slider?" she asked, a sly smile on her face.
Cora chuckled. "In part. And, yes, we're, uh, dating."
"Dating? Officially?" Haven's bright blue eyes went wide.
"Yeah," Cora said, warm with the excitement of it. "Slider's actually telling Sam and Ben today." Which was why she hadn't wanted to disturb him with the news of Davis's visit. She suspected he wasn't going to be happy with her waiting, but it wasn't like Davis had done anything to her, or even threatened her. Though there was no denying how ominous his parting words had sounded.
"Wow, Cora. He's seemed so much better lately. I think you must really be making him happy."
She smiled, and butterflies whipped through her belly. "I think we're doing that for each other. Assuming the boys don't mind."
"Pfft." Haven waved a hand. "They aren't going to mind. I'd put money on them being thrilled. I know I am. Can you believe how much good we've found here? And when I think of how scared I was of the Ravens at first . . ." They both laughed.
"It is hard to believe, isn't it?" Cora mused. "And I guess that's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about." Because she didn't feel like she could embrace the future while she was still holding onto any part of the past. And it was time to end that. Now.
Haven shifted closer, as if she sensed not all Cora's news was good. "Something's been going on with you, Cora. I've asked before and you've always played it off. Please tell me what it is."
Nodding, Cora took a deep breath. Haven wasn't wrong. Cora hadn't always done a perfect job at hiding how her father's attack had left her feeling, especially in those earliest days when she vacillated between being a zombie and screaming awake with nightmares-both of which she played off as the stress of their flight, and then their kidnapping by the gang. And even after that, she'd found reason after reason to keep her pain to herself. "So, something happened before we left Georgia. And, I'm okay now, but I wanted you to know."
"Oh, God. Okay," Haven said, taking her hand and shifting closer until they were sitting knee to knee.
"You know that I always wanted to help you get out of there." Silently, she said a little prayer that her best friend wouldn't be mad for all she'd been holding back.
"Of course," Haven said. "We talked about it so many times. Made plans and discarded them. Dreamed of where we might go and what kinds of lives we might have when we got there."
"Yeah," Cora said, her heart kicking up in her chest. "But there was a reason I was so set on finally trying to run when we did. Three nights before I slept over at your house so we'd be together to go, my . . . my dad . . ." Haven squeezed her hand harder, and Cora met her best friend's troubled gaze. Just say it. Just be done with it. "He raped me, Haven."
The admission almost made Cora a little dizzy. It was as if she'd held on to the secret so long that it'd developed its own weight, and now she was finally lighter and free.
"Oh, Cora. Oh, no. I'm so sorry," Haven said, her blue eyes filling with tears. "That bastard. What happened? Can you talk about it?"
So tired of holding on to this secret, especially from her best friend, Cora told her everything. She recounted every detail. Every memory. And answered every question. Like a purging of poison from her system that slowly but surely made her well again. "It was only that one time, but no way was I ever letting it happen again."
Haven pulled her into a hug, both of them crying, but Cora was done shedding tears over her past. She was all about her present and her future now.