NOVA
Boone’s presence calmed me enough to fall into a weird stupor. My mind wandered. I started replaying what happened earlier, along with the shooting that nearly ended my life.
Noticing the way I trembled, Lyric held my hand in her lap as we drove home. Her bright eyes studied me.
“It’s okay, Mama,” Lyric whispered. “Shh. Don’t cry.”
I gave her a tight smile, but my head was back at the Baton Rouge grocery store. I still remembered the music playing over the loudspeaker. It was one of those pop country songs. Even now, I didn’t know the name of it, but I could still hear the melody in my head.
The girls were already in their booster seats. I heard them talking about “Bluey.” I’d nearly finished organizing the grocery bags when I heard the gunshot.
With my babies in mind, I attacked the gunman with a can from a nearby bag.
I kept smashing him in the eye until he dropped his gun.
I heard it go off again. My mind imagined the girls getting shot.
That’s when I started hitting the man harder.
His eye was bloody. He finally shoved me away and took off running.
My adrenaline spiraled as he fled. Suddenly, I was very aware of the pain and my blood-drenched shirt.
My legs gave out. I heard the girls calling for me.
Bystanders inched closer but seemed too afraid to help.
Finally, a woman ran to me and applied pressure to my wound.
I heard her yelling at people to call for an ambulance.
My hands had been shaking when I texted Dan and told him, “I think I’ve been shot.”
Everything went dark and quiet as soon as I hit send. I couldn’t hear the girls anymore. I imagined Dan arriving to save them. He would make everything better even if I were gone.
“I hate crying,” Elle said from the front seat, pulling me from my past. “My nose gets stuffed up, and my face looks bad. Why can’t I turn off this emotional crap?”
“You’re a human being cooking another human being,” Boone said, and his calm tone washed over me. “Your stuffed nose and blotchy face are temporary. Just let yourself cry.”
Hearing Boone speak shoved my bad memories back into the quiet place where they normally hid. I felt myself solidly in the present with Lyric holding my hand and the man I loved in control.
“When we get home,” Boone said, “you should take a shower and clean off. We’ll put Band-Aids on any injuries, even the ones on your butt.”
Lyric smiled at me. “I need a Band-Aid,” she insisted and showed me her hands. “They got hurt.”
“How?”
“I don’t know,” Lyric said, unable to think of a lie. “They have tiny cuts.”
“Skylar will be home soon. She can help us get bandaged up.”
Lyric nodded when she thought of her big sister joining us. We were so often the Three Musketeers. Skylar attending school had been jarring. Lyric and I could barely function for those first few weeks. Fortunately, our friends kept us busy.
Elle had been one of the people to distract us from missing Skylar. I reached into the front seat and patted her shoulder. She turned and smiled sadly at me.
“I didn’t realize those guys were our enemies,” she said in a small voice. “I thought they were just being assholes. I would have shot at them sooner if I knew they were dangerous like that.”
“This isn’t on you,” Boone said in a calm voice that I sensed hid his true feelings. “Tricky invited those jackasses into our town and his club. He gave them cover when they first started harassing you foxes. Today is all on Tricky, not you.”
When Elle didn’t respond, I sensed she was thinking about the shooting months ago. She felt tough most days, but pregnancy left her vulnerable.
Back in South Dakota, I’d been paranoid for the entire nine months I carried Skylar. Chris didn’t lash out randomly. I’d see a beating coming weeks ahead of time. On the day Chris was bound to lash out, I’d do my best to protect my belly whenever I was around him.
Stopping at a light, Boone glanced back at me. His dark eyes instantly erased my bad memories. The thought of carrying his child one day left me smiling.
Boone pulled my SUV into the garage. Lula quickly appeared at the door and hurried to help Elle out before turning to Lyric and me.
My sister-in-law’s hugs felt good. No one had ever consoled me after one of Chris’s beatings.
I had no friends, and my mom preferred not to hear about the bad parts of my marriage.
Elle hugged me next. Or maybe I was consoling her. Either way, we held on to each other while Lyric told Lula a slightly embellished version of what happened.
Ford, Shay, and Sutter appeared at the outside garage door.
“Mom?” Sutter asked in a fearful tone.
Elle smiled at me before hurrying over to her family. I watched them console her as she began to cry again.
“I’m so emotional,” she whined as they formed a hug circle around her.
Boone’s hands on my shoulders felt like a hot bath after a long day. I turned to him and sank into his embrace.
“Lyric went inside,” he murmured in his most tender voice. “You can tell me the truth. Are you hurt?”
Lifting my gaze, I shook my head. “I barely did anything. I thought I was tougher.”
“Those guys are trained killers,” Boone muttered and finally revealed his rage. “They should have never even looked at you, let alone put their hands on you.”
“They were mostly focused on the foxes,” I said and then whimpered, “I thought they were going to kill them.”
“Those Baton Rouge rejects thought joining the Jokers would fix their anger at the Black Rainbow. Now that it hasn’t, they’re like rabid animals.”
I understood the threat behind Boone’s words. Today wasn’t over. The three Jokers had bigger problems than their injuries. Zodiac and Dan had behaved too calmly at the grocery store, like they were putting on a show for the witnesses.
The reality was, I didn’t want to know what happened to those men. I never considered what Dan did to the shooter or even Chris. I’d dealt with enough ugliness in my life without adding more dirty details to my mental load.
“Will you stay?”
“Of course,” Boone said and stroked my cheek. “I have to help put Band-Aids on your ass.”
Snickering, I wrapped my arms around him and tightened my hold. I was relieved when Boone kissed me. Earlier, I’d felt powerless and trapped in a chaotic world. In Boone’s arms, I remembered everything good in my life and how I was willing to suffer to keep it.