Chapter 20 #2
After he watched Bree hurry down the hall toward their room, he sat back against the couch and closed his eyes.
A few days ago, this moment seemed almost impossible.
And now, he was home with the woman he loved, she wasn’t broken or even all that bent.
She was a miracle. His miracle. And he’d spend his life working his ass off to make the rest of her days a hundred percent better than the last week had been.
Bree was nervous. She wasn’t sure exactly why.
Maybe it was because she desperately didn’t want anyone to treat her any differently than they had before she’d been taken.
Or because she was worried Julie and Fiona would blame her for what had happened.
She didn’t know. All she knew was that what seemed like the best idea ever a while ago, now seemed like a mistake.
“Relax,” Smiley ordered as he grabbed her hand and led her toward the door to Aces Bar and Grill.
Bree stuck her tongue out at Smiley behind his back and quickly shifted her expression to a smile when he suddenly turned to look at her.
He grinned. “Did you just stick your tongue out at me?”
“No,” she lied.
When he chuckled, Bree actually relaxed. She loved being able to make this man laugh. He didn’t do it enough so when it happened, it felt like a major victory.
She didn’t have any more time to stress about what was to come because Smiley was opening the door.
For a moment, silence greeted them when they walked in—but then it felt as if the entire room exploded in greeting.
It was overwhelming, but a warm feeling filled Bree’s heart at all the people who’d come to Aces. Who were there for her.
Remi was the first person to get to her, and she hugged Bree hard. Then she was passed from person to person, as everyone wanted to make sure she knew how much she’d been missed and how worried they’d been.
Surprisingly, the mood of the room was celebratory instead of solemn, which was a relief.
The last thing she wanted was to have to recount what she’d been through, or for people to feel sorry for her.
She was alive, and she was well aware that many women who’d been in her same situation hadn’t been so lucky.
Then the moment she’d both been dreading and looking forward to happened. Julie and Fiona approached, both looking as nervous as Bree felt.
To cover up her unsteady emotions, Bree said, “You two look like someone stole your last Christmas Tree Cake or something.”
They looked startled for a moment—then they both lunged at her at the same time.
Bree went back on a foot to keep her balance. Thankful Smiley hadn’t left her side, and he braced her with a hand on her back.
Then all she could think of was how close she, Fiona, and Julie had come to never seeing each other again.
All three burst into tears. For Bree, the emotional release was a combination of relief, delayed fear, and pride that she could call these women friends.
Fiona was the first to pull back, but she didn’t remove her arms from around Julie and Bree. “Don’t you ever do that again!” she practically yelled in Bree’s face.
“Yeah, that wasn’t cool at all,” Julie agreed.
To her amazement, Bree found herself smiling. “You would’ve preferred that I sat back and did nothing as we were all shipped away?”
“You could’ve died!” Fiona snapped.
“And you were hurt because of us!” Julie added.
Bree sobered, looked from Julie to Fiona, then said, “If I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a damn thing. You two were there because of me. There was no way I was going to allow you two to go through the worst experience of your life again.”
“We weren’t there because of you,” Julie insisted. “We were there because of an asshole who thought he had the right to take away our freedom.”
“If something happened to you, if you had disappeared, or had to go through what we did…” Fiona’s voice cracked but she forced herself to continue. “I think that would’ve been worse than what happened all those years ago.”
Bree was appalled. “Fiona, no.”
“Yes,” she insisted. “That was one of the most unselfish things I’ve ever seen in my life, and I can’t decide if I want to hit you or hug you again.”
“I choose hugs,” Bree told her.
And then the three women were once again huddled in a three-way embrace.
“If I may,” a deep voice said from behind Fiona.
She pulled back, and Bree looked into Cookie’s eyes.
His lips were pressed together as he stared down at her. Then he said, “I’d like to give you a hug too…if that’s okay. If it won’t cause you any angst.”
Bree practically threw herself at the older man, her nose buried in his chest as she hugged him. His tight hug hurt her ribs, but she didn’t complain. One of his hands rested on the back of her head, and he lowered his lips to her ear and said, “Thank you.”
It was just two words, but they settled deep in Bree’s soul.
“My turn,” another deep voice said.
And before she knew it, she was engulfed in Patrick Hurt’s embrace. He too thanked her, with deep emotion swirling in his words.
Bree was beginning to feel a little embarrassed by all the attention. She truly believed she hadn’t done anything the other two women wouldn’t have done themselves, if they’d had the chance. She was just the one who’d been let out of her cage first.
“Right, so…I think we all know why we’re here!” Turning toward Jessyka’s voice, Bree found herself once more in Smiley’s arms. She snuggled in, feeling content to be with him and all her friends.
The owner of Aces was standing behind the bar, addressing the crowd.
“Tonight, there is no chicken on the menu, for obvious reasons.”
Bree laughed along with everyone else. She shared a look with Julie and Fiona, who both wrinkled their noses at the same time, making Bree laugh even harder.
“There’ll be trays of hors d’oeuvres carried around for a few hours. If you want something different…too bad.”
Everyone laughed again.
“Champagne is on the house as well, everyone grab a glass from the servers and let’s raise a toast. To Bree, Julie, and Fiona being home. For our SEALs being the best of the best. And…to Tex!”
Bree blinked, twisting her head to look in the direction everyone else was looking.
Standing alongside the far wall was a man she’d never met.
But she’d know him anywhere. For one, he was wearing shorts, and it was easy to see his prosthetic leg.
But also, he gave off confusing vibes. Fatherly and pissed off at the same time.
Without hesitation, Bree headed his way.
She felt Smiley at her back, but she only had eyes for the man who’d gone out of his way to help her.
Who’d helped so many others in his lifetime.
It was him she had to thank for doing the legwork to find out they were in Ensenada.
And even though Smiley’s tracker had failed, she had no doubt he hadn’t slept while he tried to discover where they’d disappeared to while in Guayaquil.
Not to mention his role in the plane ride home, and the passport for her that Kevlar had pulled out of his pocket after they’d landed.
She’d heard the larger-than-life stories about this man, and it was almost surreal that she was about to meet him. From Remi to Wren, Josie, Maggie, Addison, and Kelli…this man had played a part in all of them being happy and healthy today.
The first tear fell as she approached him, and they didn’t stop as she practically fell into his arms. Tex held her as she completely lost her composure. How long she stood in his arms crying, she had no idea, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable holding a hysterical woman he’d never met.
When she finally got control over herself, Bree eased out of his hold.
“Hi,” she said a little sheepishly, as she wiped tears off her cheeks. Her makeup was certainly ruined, but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment. She had so many questions, but couldn’t remember a single one.
Tex smirked. “Hi.”
“I…you…Dang it!” Bree complained, hating her inability to speak.
“I’m Tex,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“I’m Bree.” It seemed a little surreal to be introducing themselves to each other when they were both more than aware who the other was.
Suddenly, all the things Bree wanted to say came back to her at once, and she tripped over her words trying to get them out.
“Thank you. And please thank the women you work with too. If it wasn’t for you…
I don’t know how Smiley would’ve found us.
How did you know where the boat was going to dock?
Which city and port? Were you tracking me all the way from Ensenada?
I’m sorry the tracker Smiley gave me got taken away, that must’ve made your job a lot harder.
Fiona and Julie told me all about you. I already knew about you from Remi and the others, but we had some time to chat on that truck, and they told me how awesome you were when they were taken the first time, and what you did for Fiona…
calling her every four hours even though you had your own stuff going on.
And I don’t know how you got a copy of my passport, but I appreciate that too. And the plane ride home. I just—”
“You’re welcome,” Tex said, interrupting her and effectively stopping her word vomit.
Then he pulled her into a tight hug once more.
As he let go, he said, “I need to get home to my wife and kids. And dog. And I need to figure out why the hell Smiley’s tracker failed.
I’ve got his underwear in a plastic bag in my suitcase—I’m sure that’ll look weird as hell if someone searches my luggage.
But I hate when technology fails me. I’ll figure out what happened, even though it’ll mean having to touch Smiley’s fucking dirty underwear. ”
Bree couldn’t help it, she laughed. Hard. She’d expected this man to be…stiff and nerdy. But he was anything but. He felt like a favorite uncle. Someone she could tell all her secrets to and know they’d be safe.