He looks away. He kicks a pebble.
“I kept the grass cut,” he mutters. “Billy and Seth handled the inside. I handled the yard.”
I look at the front lawn. The grass is trimmed short. The edges are neat. The oak tree has been pruned.
They did this. All of them.
My throat burns. The headache fades, replaced by a warm, swelling feeling in my chest.
I have spent the last five years thinking I was alone. Thinking that when I left, I burned every bridge I crossed. I thought they hated me. I thought they washed their hands of me.
But they were here. They were mowing the lawn. They were dusting the shelves. They were looking after my father and keeping the home ready for a return they didn’t even believe would happen.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Tex shrugs. He looks uncomfortable with the emotion.
“It’s nothing,” he says. “Just… what pack does. You don’t turn your back on family. Even when they leave.”
Even when they leave.
I walk over to him. I stand on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck.
He stiffens, freezes.
Then, slowly, his arms come up around my waist. He hugs me back. It’s a brief, tight squeeze.
“Don’t cry, Sedona,” he murmurs in my ear. “Please don’t cry.”
I pull back and wipe my eyes.
“I’m not crying,” I lie.
He grins. It’s a lopsided, boyish grin that makes him look younger.
“Let’s get going,” he says. “Clara’s probably freezing.”
We climb back into the truck. Tex turns the engine over.
As we drive away, I look back at the house one last time.
It looks peaceful.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Tex
I sitin the passenger bay, the engine idling.
The air conditioning pushes out a weak stream of cool air that does little to combat the heat rising in the cab. My hands grip the steering wheel. The leather is warm, sticky against my palms.
I watch the sliding glass doors of the terminal.
It feels like I’ve been waiting forever. The airport is a beast of concrete and glass, swallowing people up and spitting them out.
Clara went in there an hour ago. Sedona went with her to help with the suitcase, to walk her to security.
The door slides open, and a figure steps out.
