Ruston sighed in exasperation. “Seriously, babe, the matchmaking can wait until you’re feeling better.”
“Doesn’t seem like I have to do anything at all,” I noted with a smile before turning serious. “How are Ryland, Linc, and Tank? No one got hurt?”
“Everyone’s good. Tank and Dallas are at home, Linc too. Ryland’s at the club. He’s convinced Pike has some information on Alice and has been working him on that.”
“We need to help him find her,” I pressed.
He looked at me with that familiar note of pride lighting his gaze. “We will. When you’re feeling better,” he repeated. “We need to make sure you’re out of the woods in terms of infection.”
For the first time, I thought of my wound, reaching up to touch the bandage. “Will it be an ugly scar?”
“Nothing about you could ever be ugly,” Ruston growled as my pop grunted in agreement.
“You’ll have a scar,” my mom shared as she handed me a cup of coffee. “But the doctor said it should be small. I’ll check it again after breakfast.”
“How long are you two staying in town?” I asked her.
“At least another night, then we’ll see how you’re doing.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” I murmured, the reality of Ruston and my father under one roof a bit surreal as my mom bustled around preparing breakfast.
“We are too,” Pop replied, reaching out to cup the crown of my head in his large palm.
“Once I get Grace settled, I’m going to head out for a bit. Have something to take care of,” Ruston declared as we sat down to eat.
He and my father shared a look, a mutual understanding of what Ruston had to take care of passing between them.
“We’ll hold down the fort,” my pop assured him.
* * *
“It done?” My father’s voice stopped me in my tracks as I was en route for a late-night snack after falling asleep early.
Ruston had been gone all day, with my dad making himself busy with calls to Hawthorne and projects around the house he’d found. My mom and I had spent the day watching movies in between taking calls from both clubs checking on how I was holding up.
“It’s done,” Ruston’s deep voice confirmed, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself from eavesdropping as he continued. “Had to be done. Thought it would give me more peace of mind though. It’ll haunt me. I didn’t protect her.” His tortured tone nearly had me moving forward, wanting to comfort him. But my pop beat me to it.
“Same thing happened to me. Years ago, when Scarlet and I were just starting out. Her ex got a hold of her—when she was pregnant with Grace. Took years off my life. And his death only soothed a small part of me. I knew I’d spend the rest of my life doing everything I could to ensure the dark part of this life didn’t touch her or my family.
“But there’s light too. At times, we walk a razor’s edge, it can be a lot to carry. Sometimes too much if you don’t have a strong woman at your side. Luckily, you and I both do. And the thing is, we chose this life—we just have to acknowledge that our women did too.
“Grace is strong like her mama. She’ll heal. And she needs you. I see that now. There was no other life for her. And watching you with her, I couldn’t have chosen better.”
There was a poignant pause before Ruston spoke. “Thank you. I’ll spend my life doing right by her,” he vowed as I crept back to bed, forgetting my hungry belly.
When Ruston came in a short while later, getting into bed and pulling me into his warm strength, I knew many might consider his hands dirty after his business with Pike.
But I’d never felt more clean.
Chapter 24
GRACE
“You haven’t worn that since high school!” Emmie laughed as she, Ginnie, Frannie, Layla, Olivia, and Wren helped me pack up my house in Hawthorne a week later.
My wound was healing well, and it hadn’t taken much to convince Ruston that we should still make the trip. We’d had a lovely Thanksgiving at my folks’ house the night before, and now it was time to pack.
“It’s cute though,” I defended, holding up the dress in question.
