Chapter 33
Bonnie swiped the paintbrush across the stark white wall of The Pit.
Gray. Or dark gray, to be more exact. She’d argued for a pretty yellow similar to a sunflower, to brighten the place up, but Zane had been a firm no on that.
Well, actually, his exact words were, “The Pit is not having yellow fucking walls.”
He’d said it like it was a crime. Then, of course, he’d grabbed her and kissed her. It softened the no.
And it was his gym. She was just the help, much like her family.
She glanced around the room. At Noah and Indie. Ethan. Her cousins. Everyone’s partners. Even Pam had rolled up her sleeves to help freshen the place up.
The room was busy and noisy and filled with all her favorite people.
She paused, her gaze on Zane, who was deep in conversation with her aunt and Ethan. He was smiling, and Pam was touching his arm as she laughed. How was he so good at just slotting right into her family? Like he was always meant to be here. Like they were both meant to be here.
Indie came to stand beside her, a blob of paint on her nose from where Colt had gotten her a few minutes ago. “Penny for your thoughts?”
“I’m having one of those moments. You know, the ones where you just feel really grateful for everything.”
Indie rubbed her belly, her smile softening. “I have them a lot. Especially since you got back. It’s that feeling of things being so perfect you almost don’t want to move in case you disturb the world around you and it changes.”
That’s exactly what it was. A deep happiness combined with a slight fear of things being taken away.
Indie bumped her hip. “I heard the shelter reopened this week?”
“It did. We’ve got eight women and two children right now, and my new shelter manager is just beautiful.”
“Does she know what you’ve been through?”
“She does. And she was really pushing for me to work fewer hours with the same pay for the first couple of months, but I assured her I was okay.”
“She sounds great.” Indie’s voice softened. “You deserve to be happy, Bon.”
A strong arm suddenly slung over her shoulders. “What about me? Do I deserve to be happy?”
Bonnie laughed at Noah, while Indie just rolled her eyes and said, “Most of the time. Sometimes you deserve a swift kick to the midsection.”
“You’re lucky you’re pregnant, woman,” he said jokingly.
Two familiar figures passed the window outside, and the smile dropped from Bonnie’s lips. Indie and Noah’s gazes followed her own.
Noah’s arm dropped and he stepped toward the door.
“No.” Bonnie grabbed his arm. “I’ll do it.”
“Bon—” he started.
“I’ll be okay. I’ve actually been wanting to talk to them.” She needed to know if things had changed since they’d learned the truth. She wasn’t sure why. She probably shouldn’t care. But she couldn’t close the chapter on any of this until she at least spoke to them.
Her brother didn’t have a chance to argue anymore because she was already moving across the room. The skin at the back of her neck prickled when she felt Zane’s eyes on her. But she didn’t stop or turn.
Outside, she met them by the door.
Jane’s brows rose. “Bonnie.”
Bonnie wrapped her arms around her waist. “Do you have a second?”
The older woman swallowed. “Yes. We, um, were actually coming to see you. We’ve been wanting to talk to you for a few days now.”
“Okay. You can go first.” She wasn’t being easy on them. After everything they’d both put her through, they didn’t deserve easy.
“We’re sorry,” Carlos said, his tone softer than he’d ever used with her.
“For what?”
“Everything,” Jane replied, tears building in her eyes.
“The text I sent you. The way we both spoke to you and shamed you. We…we know what really happened that night, now. With Maisie, and then Damien not going to pick up his brother.” Her voice cracked.
“But even if it hadn’t happened that way…
we should never have put the blame for Dean’s death on you.
Maybe if we hadn’t, none of this would have happened. ”
“We were angry,” Carlos said quietly. “We needed someone to blame for our son’s death, and we unfairly targeted you because you were the easy option.”
“And not letting any of it go when you got back…it was wrong,” Jane added. “You being home dredged up our grief again, but that was our problem, not yours. We’re so sorry about what Damien did.”
“You’re right. It wasn’t my fault. And you shouldn’t have placed the blame on me. Not when I was eighteen years old and basically a kid. And not thirteen years later.”
The door to the gym opened and Zane walked out, his arm immediately slipping around her waist and tugging her against him. “Everything okay out here?”
Carlos straightened. “We came to apologize.”
“You think an apology is going to fix anything?” he asked.
Bonnie touched his chest before looking back at Jane and Carlos. “I appreciate the apology. I don’t want to hold on to any of this anymore. We won’t be friends anytime soon, but I also don’t want to be enemies. You’ve lost both your sons now. You’ve lost too much. We all have.”
More tears built in Jane’s eyes, and she swiped them away.
“This is my home,” Bonnie continued. “And all I want is to live in it peacefully.”
Carlos dipped his head. “You have our word that you won’t get any trouble from us.”
“Good.”
They were about to turn when Bonnie spoke again. “Have you heard from Maisie?”
Jane’s chest rose on an inhale. “Yes. Apparently—” She stopped abruptly, like her next words caused her physical pain. “Damien was quite controlling and abusive throughout their marriage. We missed it. We missed a lot.”
Carlos took his wife’s hand, and they walked away.
Zane stepped in front of her. “You don’t have to forgive that family for anything they’ve done to you.”
“I don’t want to hold on to any of it. Letting it all stay in the past is more for me than them. It will weigh me down otherwise.” She touched his chest. “And I think that them acknowledging they were wrong was the closure I needed.”
“Okay…but I’m not forgiving them.”
She cupped his cheek. “And that’s why I love you. Because you are my biggest protector.”
“Is that the only reason you love me?”
She pretended to think about it. “I also love to beat you in the ring. I get a lot of joy out of that.”
He growled before pulling her closer. Then, with one hand cupping her cheek, he lowered his mouth to her ear. “I love everything about you.”
A shudder rolled down her spine. “Even my overprotective brother and cousins?”
“Everything. You coming back to Amber Ridge was the best damn thing that happened to me.”
“It was a pretty good decision, wasn’t it?” She had a great family. A great job. And Zane. She had more than she ever thought possible.
“The best decision.” Then he kissed her.
She hadn’t just gained freedom from her past in coming here. She’d gotten an entire life.
The second Zane’s lips touched Bonnie’s, he felt it. The peace that came with knowing the woman he loved was his. The calm of knowing she was safe, and he had the rest of his life to love her.
He wasn’t sure what the hell he’d done to deserve Bonnie, but he wasn’t questioning it. He was accepting all her love for as long as she’d have him.
When she separated from him it was too soon, the yearning to pull her back so strong he had to physically fight it. But then he saw her smile. Wide and so radiant that he couldn’t look away.
“I love you so much, Zane Merrick.”
Air hissed from his throat. “I’m in love with you, Bonnie. Always will be.”
She sighed and leaned her head against his chest.
When they stepped back into the gym, he took in Bonnie’s family. People who had welcomed him with open arms. He’d come to this town with nothing. No family. No one to love. And fuck, he’d gained so much in such a short amount of time.
Bonnie squeezed his hands before returning to Indie and Clara and picking up a paintbrush.
Noah came to stand beside him, but Zane didn’t take his gaze off Bonnie. Because Clara had just said something to make her laugh, and with her head thrown back and that big smile on her face again, his gaze was totally stuck.
“I like it when you look at her like that.”
Zane’s lips twitched at Noah’s words. “Finally ready to admit you were wrong about me?”
Noah scoffed. “I wouldn’t call it wrong. I’d call it being cautious.”
Finally, he dragged his gaze from Bonnie to look at her brother.
“But,” Noah added, “I shouldn’t have thought I knew better. She’s an adult. Even if I remember her as a teenager. She can make her own decisions. And her decision to choose you seems to be a pretty good one so far.”
“I’m glad to have you on my side.”
Noah grinned at him. “You know you’re part of this big, crazy family now, right?”
Zane glanced around the packed gym. At Bonnie’s siblings and cousins and partners and aunt. “I’ve gained more than I thought I would, coming to Amber Ridge.”
Noah chuckled. “I did the same. There’s something about this town that does that.”
Jesse crossed the gym to them, phone to his ear. “Thanks, Claudia.” When he hung up, he looked at Zane. “Good news. Stetson’s out of the hospital.”
The last weight lifted off his chest. He’d been worrying about the kid.
Apparently, the morning Stetson was shot, Damien had shown up at his place, asking to do an early morning session at the gym.
Thank God Stetson was okay. With no reason not to trust his cousin, Stetson opened the building for him and got betrayed for his trouble.
Damien was behind bars without bail until his trial.
And the prosecutor had agreed not to press charges against Maisie in exchange for her agreement to testify against Damien, because it was deemed that she was acting under duress.
“You guys helping here or what?” Becket called from the far wall, paintbrush in hand.
Noah and Jesse grinned before crossing the gym.
Zane joined Ethan, who was pulling on his jacket at the desk. “Leaving?”
“Yeah. Told Ferris I’d come to his office to talk.”
Zane frowned. “The mayor of Deep River wants to talk to you?”
“Yeah. I’m guessing it will be another rant about Ward not doing his job as sheriff.”
Zane shook his head. “I can’t imagine having a town sheriff who doesn’t do his job.” Especially when they had such a damn good one here in Amber Ridge.
The problem was, no one had ever run against him, and the last election had been just before Ethan had gotten home, so he hadn’t had the chance to oppose Ward.
“Unfortunately for me, I don’t have to imagine,” Ethan said.
“I’m sorry.” Zane walked him out. “Thanks again for everything, Ethan. You’ve been a good friend these last few months.”
“Just these last few months?”
Zane chuckled. “I owe you. Anything you need, I’ll be there. I’ll even come to Deep River and search those mountains with you.”
“You could also come just for a visit.”
“To visit the black-and-white theater and the self-proclaimed psychic?”
“Hey, I hear Maureen accurately predicted Ward’s microwave lasagna starting a fire at the station.”
Zane scoffed. “That probably happens weekly.”
Ethan just grinned, because Zane was right.
“So…” he started. “Any more dates with that woman? What was her name? Nel?”
A muscle ticked in Ethan’s jaw.
Zane frowned as they stopped at his friend’s car. “What happened?”
“Nothing. I just…” He blew out a breath. “The day after our second date, I went to Bloom for coffee.”
The coffee shop was called The Wandering Bloom, but locals referred to it as Bloom. It was a combination coffee shop, bookstore, and florist. “And?”
“And…Polly was on the phone in the back. Her call was on speaker, and I heard…”
Shit. Ethan didn’t need to finish his sentence, because Zane knew.
Polly had been best friends with Maggie in school, probably still was, even though Maggie didn’t live in the town anymore.
And Maggie and Ethan had dated in high school.
Hell, they’d dated after school too, and done long-distance for a while… until she’d broken up with him.
The breakup had shocked the hell out of everyone, including Ethan. They were one of those unbreakable couples that you just assumed were a forever kind of thing.
“You heard Maggie,” Zane finally said quietly.
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “Her voice shouldn’t affect me so much. We broke up over a decade ago. I should be over her. But hearing her…dammit, I don’t know. It did something to me.”
“Maybe…”
Ethan frowned. “Maybe what?”
“Maybe she’ll return to Deep River.”
The reaction was subtle. A small flaring of Ethan’s eyes. A tiny twitch of his jaw. Then he shook his head. “No. Her aunt still lives there and she’s awful. Anyway, I should go. I’ll see you next time.” Ethan squeezed Zane’s shoulder before lowering into his car.
When Ethan was gone, Zane went back into the gym. Bonnie was the first person he saw. For a moment, she was the only person he saw. And Zane was reminded of just how damn lucky he was. Not everyone got their happy ending with the person they loved. But he did.