Chapter 27 Patience
Chapter Twenty-Seven
PATIENCE
It was going to be hard to say goodbye.
The following Saturday after Dusty had saved me, we were all saying our goodbyes—well, she didn’t leave until the following day—at Braxton and Jurnee’s house. The ladies decided we should send her off with one of our famous gatherings, just as we had welcomed her into the group when she arrived.
I wished she was staying.
When I heard the guys had basically told her she could have a job with them—even before she kicked some guy’s butt to save me—I tried to convince her to take it. I could see a bit of interest but, like Jett, she still had a lot to work through.
Dusty’s parents were also having a hard time letting her go again—anywhere.
Even coming to see Jett, they’d looked scared, she told us.
But I also knew from our conversations that she wanted her own thing and didn’t want to live in the small town she’d grown up in again; she had no desire to be a farmer.
Maybe in time she’d find her place. If it was back in Portland or anywhere near us, I’d be happy.
I loved being around Dusty; she was a wonderful person and an amazing new friend.
I owed her for everything she’d done—possibly my life.
Although she was just like Jett and would hate to know I was thinking that way.
Those two, like all the men and women in our group, did what they do because they’re the best kinds of humans in the world.
“What do you think, Patience?”
I shook my head slightly to clear it, and immediately regretted it. It had been five days since I’d been thrown into the wall and manhandled, but I was still feeling the effects.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jett was in front of me in a flash, touching my cheek. “Do you need to sit down for a bit?”
He’d been watching me like a hawk, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he zeroed in on me at that moment, but I couldn’t help the flutter in my tummy just knowing that he cared.
Not thinking, I almost shook my head again to answer but caught myself at the last second. “No, I’m okay. I just moved my head a bit quickly, but I’m fine.”
Arching his brows, his gaze assessed me.
“Really,” I said softly.
His shoulders relaxed. “Okay, but let me know if you need anything.”
There was that damn flutter again. “I will.”
I could handle things, but it felt good that Jett wanted to take care of me. And when he smiled at my admission that I’d let him know if I needed him—those heart-stopping dimples making an appearance—I was even happier that I’d agreed.
Jett leaned in and kissed my forehead, pulling a stream of soft sighs from those around us. Then he pulled back and flashed all the women a charming smile. “Ladies,” he said before walking away.
“Wow,” London said in awe. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night. Which would explain how he was over here in a split second when he thought you weren’t doing okay.”
“I always knew it would happen one day,” Ruby said—or should I say my sister-in-law—while looking straight at me and smiling.
“Yup,” Capri agreed. “That man is head over heels.”
“Always has been,” Teal stated.
The ladies all nodded, looking like a bunch of bobbleheads. Just watching the motion almost had my head start hurting again.
Having the spotlight on me was odd, so I tried to deny what they were saying was true, even though Jett had said basically what they were. “He’s just being nice after what happened.”
Alley scoffed. “Girl, stop being such a numpty.”
Everyone looked confused, but nobody had time to question Alley before a small head popped up between us.
“Did you just say a bad word?” Embry asked, staring straight at Alley.
“No.” Alley shooed her away. “Go sneak up on the guys, and you’re bound to make a load of money.”
I could practically see dollar signs flashing in her eyes as they lit up with that possibility, and she took off.
“Can your daughter pay off your mortgage yet?” Summer jokingly asked Jurnee, causing everyone to laugh, except me. I somehow managed to hold it in so I didn’t jar my head again.
“She must be getting close,” Jurnee replied with a proud smile on her face.
Dusty looked around the group. “I’m sure gonna miss all this.” Then she pointed at Alley. “What the heck is a numpty?”
Alley glanced at me with a sheepish grin. “I was saying, stop being an idiot. Numpty just sounds nicer.”
I mocked-gasped, knowing she was kidding—well, sort of. After all, it was Alley we were talking about. She liked to call it as it is, and honestly, she was probably right. But I still had to harass her. “You called me an idiot?”
She rolled her eyes. “I meant it with the utmost love when I said it.”
Trying not to laugh or shake my head at the woman was almost impossible, but I restrained, and just mirrored her eye roll.
“Where in the world did that word come from?” Lake asked our crazy friend.
Alley laughed. “An author friend of mine from the UK, Michelle Dups, dropped that one day when we were talking, and it stuck in my head.”
Brinley snapped her fingers. “Oh, I have some of her books in the shop for sale.” She fanned her face dramatically. “Those are some hot bikers on the covers.”
A throat cleared from across the room, and we all turned to see Rowan’s eyes on his wife as he mouthed the words, behave.
“He’s just jealous of all the man candy I get to look at every day.” Brinley giggled. “I’ve got J.E. Parker’s hunky firemen, Michelle’s hot bikers, and we can’t forget Alley’s badass military guys.”
“And they’re good educational tools too,” River added.
As we all burst into laughter, Dusty looked at us, confused.
I wasn’t at the sleepover when they gave River some books, telling her she could learn a lot about sex from them, but I’d heard about it. River relayed the story to Dusty, who then hooted with laughter too.
When Bree, River’s teenage daughter walked up, we all sobered. The girl was on the quiet side, but the more time she spent around us, the more she opened up. However, I don’t think any of us were expecting her to call us out on our conversation.
“You all know you’re really loud, don’t you?” She shook her head as if we were clueless. “Besides, why do you need all those books when you have all that right in front of you?”
All the ladies stared dumbfounded at the teenager.
She rolled her eyes, then pointed to all the guys.
“Fireman, military, and Landon rides a motorcycle. Maybe Alley should write about cute lawyers and sexy doctors since you all have those around too,” she stated before walking off toward her brother Lennon, who was playing a game with some of the kids.
“Did your daughter really just say all that?” Gemma asked River.
“Umm, yup. But I think I need to erase that from my memory,” River answered.
“Please,” Gemma said. “Your girl is right on the money. Just look at them. It’s like a smorgasbord of hotties. And Huntley’s mom is dating the doctor now, so that just got added to the mix.”
We stood staring at the guys for a second before Dusty jumped in and said, “It reminds me of that song, ‘It’s Raining Men” by… shit, I don’t know who sings it.”
I loved music, so I had the answer. “It’s The Weather Girls.”
Then, like someone possessed—since I tended to be more on the quiet side too—and unable to control myself, I began singing the lyrics to the song Dusty was talking about.
When all the ladies joined in, yelling about how it was raining men, hallelujah, I was pretty sure the guys thought we’d lost our minds.
Once we settled down, Dusty repeated her words from earlier, telling us how much she was going to miss all this.
“You’re welcome to join us any time you want,” Alley told her. “You have been awesome and opened my eyes to new possibilities.”
“Oh yeah?” our newest friend questioned.
“Yup,” Alley said, popping the P. “I love my bat collection, but after the ass-whopping you gave that guy, I’m thinking of starting a cane collection.”
I swear I almost peed my pants laughing. Dusty had heard all about Alley’s bat collection, but since Dusty had used her cane to beat on the man who’d attacked me, Alley—and everyone else—had mad respect for her.
“Maybe I’ll start a bat collection, and we can compare next time I’m in town,” Dusty told her.
Alley grinned. “Sounds like a perfect plan.”
It did too.
Just hearing Dusty talk about coming back made me happy. I looked over and smiled at her, getting one in return.
Something in my gut told me that she and Jett would both be okay eventually.
Cocooned in his arms like a warm blanket, I murmured sleepily.
“It sucks that Dusty leaves tomorrow.”
The gathering had been awesome, but we finally called it a night around eleven. We had to get to the airport by ten in the morning and all needed some sleep. I’d been waning for hours before that, and Jett insisted it was past my curfew—everyone got a kick out of that.
What had them roaring with laughter was our banter that followed.
Being a total smart-mouth—maybe channeling my inner Alley—I replied, “Okay, Dad.”
Jett raised his brows, then with a smirk on his gorgeous face said, “There is nothing fatherly about the way I feel about you.”
I must have been really tired, delirious even, or that bump to the head was affecting my brain more than we thought, because I didn’t usually act the way I was—especially in front of people.
But this new thing between Jett and me had me changing right before my own eyes.
So I couldn’t resist egging him on even more.
“Does that mean we can skip the date then and just get to the—”
My husband stopped my words by quickly reaching out and placing a finger over my lips. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
“Yes, please don’t finish that sentence,” Ruby said. “This is my little brother.”
“Hate to break it to you, girl,” Alley butted in. “Little brother ain’t so little anymore.”
Jett shook his head. “Trouble. You’re all trouble,” he said as he let his finger fall from my lips and walked over to the couch to pick up a sleeping Griffin.