Chapter 2 #3
“All this time, I thought I’d done something wrong. That you were mad at me for moving in with Ghost and loving him. I knew how you felt about men. But I had it all wrong. You were protecting me.”
Mary nodded.
At that, Rayne shifted until she was sitting next to Mary and put her arms around her friend. Mary tucked her head into Rayne’s shoulder and held on for dear life. The familiar smell of Rayne’s favorite soap penetrated her senses and it felt like coming home.
“I’m sorry,” Mary said into her shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Rayne said. “I understand. I forgive you.”
Mary pulled back. “Just like that?”
“Just like that. I love you, Mare.”
She didn’t take her eyes from Rayne as she continued.
“But don’t do that shit again. If you get a fucking sniffle, I want to know about it. I love that you wanted to protect me, but don’t do it again. Hear me?”
“Yeah, Raynie. I hear ya. Please marry Ghost. You guys are perfect for each other, and I know without a doubt that he’d never leave you. Ever.”
“I know.”
“So you’ll get married?”
“Yes—on one condition.”
Mary rolled her eyes and wiped her face. “What?”
“You and Truck renew your vows with us.”
Mary froze, and the yearning that struck was almost painful. “I’m not sure—”
“That pact we made was bullshit. We both know it. I mean, there’s no way I would’ve put off marrying Ghost if you didn’t have a man in your life.
But you do…Truck. I see the way you look at him when he isn’t watching, and how he looks at you.
I thought if I held off long enough, you’d see what was right in front of your face and we could have our double wedding ceremony. ”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my marriage.”
Rayne waved her hand in the air in dismissal.
“I don’t care about that. I’m glad you did it.
It saved your life, so I can’t be pissed about it.
But…now that you are married, you can renew your vows with me and Ghost. You’ve got nothing to argue against. It’ll be just like we planned all those years ago. ”
“Things between me and Truck aren’t exactly husband and wifey.”
“Husband and wifey?” Casey asked.
Mary nodded. “Yeah. I mean…we aren’t…”
“Oh, shit, you haven’t slept with him?” Rayne asked in shock.
“Well, we’ve slept, but that’s it.”
“Holy shit,” Emily breathed. “I can’t believe it. Truck looks at you with such lust, we all thought for sure you were doing the nasty.”
Mary winced. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t as if we could get it on when I was sick. And now things are just…weird.”
“Do you want him?” Rayne asked. Then added, “And don’t lie.”
Mary nodded.
“Do you love him?” she pressed.
“I don’t know, Raynie. I don’t know that I know what love is.”
“Bullshit. You love me.”
“That’s different.”
“It’s not. Look. I get it. From the first time we met, we agreed that men suck.
But even back then I knew that for you, it wasn’t just something you were saying because you’d just had a breakup.
You truly believed it. Your bitch of a mom planted that seed when you were nothing but a kid.
But Truck is not those guys from your past. He’s not one of your childhood uncles.
I think he’s more than proved he’s with you because he loves you and not because he wants something from you. ”
“I know.”
“Then what’s holding you back?”
Mary bit her lip then looked at her best friend.
“I’m scared to let him see me. You know…
without…” She gestured to her chest. “But it’s not just that.
I mean, I know he has his own scars and if anyone would understand, it’d be him.
The last time I told a guy that I loved him, he dumped me the next day.
I’m scared to death that if I say it again, the same thing will happen. ”
“You’re selling Truck short, and that’s not fair to him,” Rayne said with conviction.
“I get it. It’s scary to open yourself up, both physically and emotionally.
But Truck is not that guy. If you told him you loved him, I have a feeling it would change both your lives. For the good. Give him a chance, Mare.”
“I’ll try.”
“Ooh…” Emily moaned from nearby, and both Mary’s and Rayne’s heads turned to stare at the pregnant woman.
“What? What is it?” Rayne asked urgently.
“I’m not sure,” Emily said, the concern easy to hear in her voice.
“Lie down,” Casey ordered, already helping the other woman to the floor.
Rayne and Mary moved to her side. Mary grabbed one of her hands and Rayne grasped Emily’s leg. “Deep breaths,” Rayne ordered. “Try to relax.”
“I think I’m okay,” Emily said. “It was just a twinge. I’ve still got two months to go. I’m not in labor.”
“Damn straight you’re not,” Mary said. “I am not delivering Annie’s brother in the middle of a bank robbery in this cave of a room.”
“You don’t know it’s a boy,” Emily said.
“It is. Annie wants a brother, so it’s a boy.”
Emily rolled her eyes, but quickly looked up at Mary. “Thank you for not distancing yourself from Annie. She loves you so much, and she wouldn’t have understood.”
Mary nodded. “Annie is my soul sister. She’s precious and can be snarky, just like me. Do you…will you forgive me?” Mary hadn’t ever been so unsure in all her life. Usually she didn’t give a damn what people thought about her, but this was too important to be flippant.
“Of course I do,” Emily said immediately. “I was upset because Rayne was upset. But I never hated you.”
“Thank you,” Mary told her softly.
“And I’m too new to even know what all the hub-bub was about,” Casey piped in. “So I forgive you too.”
Rayne laughed. “Girl, you never even took sides. In fact, you constantly bugged me to talk to Mary and mend our rift.”
“True,” Casey said cheerfully. “And now you have. I can’t wait to call Wendy, Kassie, and Harley, and tell them all is well.”
Mary grimaced. “I need to talk to them too. To explain.”
Rayne put her hand on Mary’s arm. “I’ll do it.”
“Thanks. But that’s not cool. Maybe we could both do it? Take them to lunch or something?”
“That sounds awesome. And we can call Bryn together too.”
Mary shuddered. “That woman. I love her, but jeez, you know she’ll analyze the situation to death and then get sidetracked and want to know all about my cancer, what it’s like to have no boobs, and what the doctors said…in detail.”
Everyone chuckled. They all knew Bryn, and knew she’d do exactly that. Her curiosity was voracious and typically their phone calls always went off on a weird tangent because of the way Bryn’s mind worked. But she was refreshing and didn’t have a mean bone in her body.
“How long has it been?” Emily asked, one of her hands resting on her rounded tummy protectively. “What do you think is going on?”
Mary looked at her watch. “About fifteen minutes. I’m gonna call Truck back.
” She stood and went over to the phone on the wall.
She knew it was a risk. If he was in the middle of doing his Delta Force thing, he wouldn’t be able to answer, and she could even take his attention away from what he was doing, but she needed to know what was happening on the other side of the wall.
Besides, she was worried about Emily. Even if the other woman thought she was okay, she needed to see a doctor to make sure. Mary hadn’t been kidding when she said that she didn’t want to deliver a baby.
She dialed Truck’s number and he answered on the second ring.
“Mary?”
“Yeah, what’s happening?”
“Are you guys all right?”
“Yeah. We can’t hear a thing though. And Emily’s having some pain.”
“Shit. The cops are clearing the scene now. We should be able to get to you guys in about five minutes. Will she be okay until then?”
“Yeah. I think so. She seems to be all right at the moment. She’s lying down. Clearing the scene? So everyone is safe?”
Truck’s voice lowered, his tone calming her again, just as it had earlier.
“Yeah. We got here at the same time as the cops, and luckily we knew them. They let us take point. Trigger’s team breached through the back door and we came in through the front.
Those assholes didn’t even resist, simply dropped their weapons when they saw they were surrounded. ”
“And all the customers?”
“They’re fine. Shaken up, but no one was hurt. The assholes were trying to get your manager to open the money vault, like you said. She was in the process of opening the vault when we rushed in. No one was hurt.”
“Thank God.”
“Yeah. Okay, four minutes and we’ll be there. I’ll get the code from the manager. You guys just stay back from the door. We’ll come to you. Tell Em to hang on, okay?”
“I will.”
“Mare?”
“Yeah, Truck?”
“Are you all right? I mean, you and Rayne haven’t exactly been getting along. Is everything okay?”
“Surprisingly, yeah.”
She heard Truck breathe a sigh of relief. “Good. See you soon, baby.”
“Bye.”
The endearment was surprising, but welcome. Truck usually called her Mare when he was being loving, but lately she hadn’t even heard that much. So hearing him call her baby made her heart swell.
She might’ve mended her relationship with her best friend, but she still had a ways to go with Truck.
She’d get there. She had to; the alternative was unthinkable.
She turned to the others. “Truck and the guys are on their way. They came in with that other Delta team and surrounded the robbers. They gave up without shooting anyone.”
“Yay!” Casey exclaimed, and everyone laughed.
“Emily, I know you heard me tell him that you were having some pain, so prepare yourself for going to the hospital,” Mary ordered.
“I wish you hadn’t said anything,” the other woman murmured. “I’m fine.”
“As if,” Mary said, rolling her eyes. “You’re going to the hospital and that’s that. Again, the last thing I want is poor Hank coming out in the bank.”
Everyone burst out laughing at the intentional rhyme.
Mary hadn’t felt as good as she did right this moment in months. She wasn’t sick, she had her best friend back, and she had a new mission…tell Truck that she wanted to change the nature of their relationship.