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I had promised to restore their reputation from my run in the middle of the night. I hated lying, but neither was it everyone’s business what happened between us. Also, I wanted to protect them from ridicule, even from my friends. At least for the moment. We had a deal in place. Plus, I sort of liked them better than I had that night.
“I was out of my mind. Truthfully, I don’t even remember running away. Thank goodness they came and found me.” I hoped my smile was believable as I was a horrible liar.
Caroline squeezed me tighter. “Okay. I’ll take that for now. So glad you’re here. I don’t know what I’m doing. What will I do when I have an actual vision?”
She hadn’t had one yet? “Oh…”
“Caroline, there you are.” One of her husbands ran up, and Charles shook his hand. “Gus.”
As she let go of me, he took her hand. “Where did you go? Why did you run out the door? What happened?”
“I saw Sloane.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t aware I had to tell you anytime I wanted to step outside.”
Oh boy. Okay. They were handling some things between them. I snuck a glance at my men. Did I have to tell my husbands if I stepped outside?
Oliver took my hand. “Come. Let’s get you inside, get you fed, and then we’ll go see Judge. We’ll get all of that over with and then stop your vision from coming true.”
Gus and Caroline both looked at us. It was her husband who spoke. “A bad one? How many has she had? Caroline hasn’t yet experienced one.”
“A bad one.” Truett walked past him. “And you all died in it, so go collect everyone, will you? We need to have a strategy meeting in about two hours. We’re here to save you, and if your wife isn’t yet having the bad visions, consider yourself lucky. This is Sloane’s third one since we’ve been together. She doesn’t get a break.” He looked over his shoulder. “She’s polite, so she lied to you, Caroline. She ran off because we were assholes to her.”
I opened and closed my mouth. “Well, I wasn’t going to share that with everyone.”
“The truth is easier, and you stumbled through it, anyway. Your friend didn’t believe you. You’re no liar, which I appreciate. Besides, they all know us. We were total assholes, and she ran away. Tell everyone.”
Freddie smirked as he walked past me, but he took my arm, and Charles sighed. Truett did seem to like to make proclamations that left the others to deal with the repercussions. It must be the raised rich part of him. Oliver brought me inside, and I smiled at Caroline. I was glad to see her. She’d burst into my life, but she seemed integral to it.
With that thought, I abruptly stopped and turned to her. “They hurt. The visions. When you have yours, you’re going to need them to comfort you afterward. That’s just how it works, so I hope they’re being nice to you, and that you like them, because that’s what you’re going to need.”
Both Caroline and Gus paled. He looked away. I would bet he already knew but hadn’t really dwelled on it. The whole situation, the way we were set up in that ritual, it didn’t lead to easy relationships. We were strangers and then we were married with no ceremony or decision making.
“Thank you.” She smiled at me. “I can do this, right?”
It wasn’t as though she had much of a choice. “You can.” Sometimes, it was just important to say the right thing.
We stepped inside, and Oliver closed the door behind us before he pushed me against it. His body was hard, and I caught my breath. What prompted this?
“That was nice, what you just did for her. Not every wife can handle it. Some of them die from their visions.”
I stared at him. “From the pain?”
“Yes.” He smoothed my hair off my forehead. “But you won’t. I can tell that about you. You’ll survive, even if it’s agony. I want you to know you don’t have to hide it when it hurts. Not from us. Come to me if you need something you’re not getting. Don’t run off in the middle of the night again because I’m an asshole. Hit me over the head with a frying pan, but don’t leave like that. You’re a beautiful woman and mine to protect.”
I wouldn’t have seen it coming from him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He leaned over and kissed me gently on the lips. “Can’t let Charles and Truett steal all your kisses. Are you tired?”
That was an abrupt switch, since my mind still whirled from the kissing. “No. I slept on the horse. You must be more tired than me.”
He shook his head and squeezed my waist. “We’re more used to it, and we didn’t suffer your vision. Sleeping on Truett is not going to be great sleep.”
“Hey,” Truett yelled from further inside the house. “Don’t tell her that. I am the best napping place for her anywhere.”
Oliver ignored him. “Tell me if you get tired. And rethink leaving us. We’re fun. Maybe.” He winked at me and stepped back. “Sometimes.”
I sighed. If they acted like this the first day, I never would’ve left. But they hadn’t, so I had to keep in mind how they were sometimes that version of themselves, too. Mama had not been happy with how things turned out with my father. I didn’t want to end up constantly having to wonder if they were going to shift and become those guys again.
“Give me a few minutes to clean up, and I can go see Judge with you, okay?” I spoke to all of them and received some nods in return.
