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“I think one of the neighbors. I don’t have all the details, Kellan, but given everything that has happened between us, I felt like I had to be here when you woke up so I can tell you I didn’t have anything to do with this. I swear.”
I give her a hard, cold look. “Why would I suspect you, Charlene? That was just a routine check of a suspected drug house.”
“Even so. With Avery likely to come back to work on my house, with the tension that is still ever present between us, and, well, given my history…” Charlene lets out a heavy sigh, pausing for a moment. “I just felt the need to tell you that. I mean well, Kellan, I promise. The past is in the past, and I don’t hold a grudge over what happened. You were just doing your job, and I was in the wrong. I see that now.”
Her hand rests on my shoulder. It’s supposed to be comforting, but all it does is add more tension to my already suffering body. I don’t know how to react, nor do I know what to say to her. I’d like to believe the words coming out of her mouth because it would make everything easier. But something doesn’t feel right. Something doesn’t click. It’s as if one of the pieces in the puzzleis damaged and won’t fit anywhere.
Avery comes in, and all the tension seeps out of me. “Kellan, oh, my—” she pauses in the middle of the room upon noticing Charlene beside me. “Charlene?”
“I was at the station when the call came in,” she replies with a vague smile. “I’ll get out of your way. Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay,” Avery says, but I can see the shadow of doubt darkening her wide eyes as her gaze darts between us.
“Leave,” I tell Charlene.
She nods once, then gives me one last squeeze on my shoulder before walking out with her head down. I don’t know what to believe anymore, but I do know I’m more at ease now that she’s gone and Avery is here. I turn my focus to her—what a sight for sore eyes this woman is, especially after what I have somehow survived. Damn, I’m one lucky SOB.
“What happened?” Avery asks, coming closer with slow, shy steps.
I reach out, and she takes my hand, so I pull her even closer, desperate to feel her touch, to smell her perfume, to see her clearer. “I got ambushed,” I tell her. “I don’t know the details yet, nor do I remember much at this point, but it’ll come to me. Where are my guys?”
“Your deputies? They’re all outside in the waiting room, worried sick about you,” she says. “Fallon called. He’s only a few minutes out. Luke is on his way, too. I just got a call from the hospital, they said you were here but didn’t tell me anything other than that.”
“I’m glad you came,” I tell my woman with a soft smile.
“Why was Charlene here?”
“I have no idea, Avery, I swear. She was here when I woke up.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay. The doctor said you’ll make a full recovery, but that you got banged up pretty badly.”
“Let me guess, broken ribs?” I ask, and Avery nods once. “I can feel that with every single fucking breath, dammit.”
“Three, to be exact. Luckily, none of them punctured your lungs, so all the pain aside, he says you’ll be okay, provided you get plenty of rest and time to heal properly.”
“I’ll be fine, Avery. I’ve recovered from way worse,” I say, trying to reassure her.
“I was so worried,” she says, moving closer. “I thought you… oh, God,” she shudders, bursting into tears. I can’t take it.
I pull her in and kiss her softly on the lips, tasting her sweetness, feeding on her kindness and letting her very spirit refill my frazzled soul. “I’m okay, Avery. I promise. It’ll be rough and painful for a while. You’re gonna have to be on top for at least a few weeks,” I shoot back with a playful smirk.
Avery chuckles lightly, wiping her tears as she begins to relax, her hand glued to mine. “I’m afraid to even hold you right now.”
“I’ll be fine. Fallon will make a whole lot of terrible jokes at my expense. Don’t take any of it seriously. We used to call him Nurse Ratchet back in the service. Great at giving first aid, terrible with moral support.”
“And Luke?”
“Oh, Luke is like Mother Goose. He will smother me and bring me hot tea. He’ll ask if I need another pillow, he’ll liaise with thedoctors. A micromanager, through and through.”
“Or a very efficient girlfriend,” Avery giggles.
“I’ve got you, though,” I say, trying to put the whole incident out of my mind, if only for a minute.
Avery glances back at the door, then gives me a worried look. “Do you want me to have your deputies come in? They really want to see you. I guess they have a lot of questions about what happened. I didn’t understand much when I first came in, but they said you were checking out a drug den?”
“I was actually there looking for a meth lab,” I tell her. “Just another day on the job, babe.”
“Who attacked you? Did you see them?”
