Page 63 of Saving Meadow

“You always have another option. Pull your head out of your ass and fight for her. Both of you are hurting. Love is not earned, it is given. You need to remind her your love is unconditional and without exception. Do not let her dwell on the past. It will eat her up until there is nothing left but ugly regret.”

I was stunned into silence. I couldn’t believe that my big badass uncles were standing in my living room talking about love and giving me advice about my woman.

“That sounds all too familiar,” Nolan chuckled.

“What does?” I asked.

“You think you’re the first man to have woman trouble? This is not our first rodeo, son. We all struggled, we all fucked up, we all needed the help of our brothers to help us see the beauty standing in front of us. We know we’re right because we’ve lived this. All four of us have needed the help of the others to get our shit straight. So, for fuck sake, you’ve given your woman enough time to lick her wounds. Now you need to go back in there, wrap her up and no matter what she throws at you, remember – you love her without exception. And I promise you what is on the other side of this is a beauty you cannot fully comprehend. Ride the storm, Nick. You’ve got this – we’ve got this.”

Nolan patted my shoulder, giving me a renewed strength. I didn’t realize how desperately I had needed my uncles, my family, until that moment. Damn, I missed them. Without needing any further encouragement, I walked down the hall, thanked Levi, and opened my bedroom door. Meadow was lying on her side, eyes open, staring at the wall. When the hinge creaked, her eyes came to mine, but she quickly averted them. She looked so fucking small curled up into a ball; I’d screwed up - again. I never should’ve left her alone in her misery. It shouldn’t have mattered what she said to me; I should’ve stayed and held her.

That was a mistake I’d never make again.

I crawled into bed behind her and pulled her back to my front and wrapped my arms around her.

A long while later she broke the silence. “I shouldn’t have said it was your fault. I didn’t mean it. It was rotten and mean and… horrible. I was just so embarrassed; I didn’t want you to see me like that. It was wrong, and it will never happen again.”

I kissed the back of her head and remained quiet. I’d let her talk if she needed but I only wanted to hold her, let her know that I was strong enough to shoulder the burden.

“Do you want kids?” she whispered.

“Yes.” Then I quickly reminded her. “We’ll adopt. There’s a child out there that needs us. You will be a mom.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I know you did everything you could to find me and I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you came when you did.”

“I was so scared,” I admitted. “The whole time she had you I was going out of my mind. The entire day, actually. Something didn’t feel right. Sally knew; she was pacing and on alert. When we pulled up to the alley and heard you screaming, she jumped over the center console, out the open driver’s side door and took off to protect you. I owe a dog a debt of gratitude I can never repay. She saved your life.”

“Do we get to keep her?”

“Bet your ass. She isn’t going anywhere.”

30

A thousand deaths

“Are you ready?” I asked for the twentieth time.

“Hold your horses,” Nick yelled back from the kitchen.

It had been four days, and Sally was ready to come home. Nick’s uncles left yesterday. I was sad to see them go. After some of the shock wore off from Beth’s attempt to kill me, it was nice to get to know them. They were every bit as protective as Nick was. It was easy to see the four men had raised Nick to be the man he was; caring, brave, and considerate. I didn’t know if you could teach someone to be good-looking, but if you could, they did that, too. Holy smokes Nick’s uncles were gorgeous. It was no wonder Nick had a baseball team full of cousins. We’d made plans to go to Georgia when I was fully recovered so I could meet the rest of the tribe, as Nick called them. I couldn’t wait.

Nick and I had spent a lot of time together over the last few days lying in bed talking, telling each other about our childhoods. He’d mentioned his mom, Stephanie, a few times but never elaborated much. I was shocked when he told me that Stephanie was married to his uncle Nolan and had an affair with Nolan’s brother, Nicholas, while Nolan was on deployment. Nicholas was also in the Army and had deployed soon after the affair was discovered. Sadly, he died when his helicopter was hit by a RPG two months later. Nick had never seen a picture of his dad until he moved in with Nolan when his mom was arrested on vehicular manslaughter charges. She was sentenced to two life sentences and died in prison of liver failure. Nolan and Reagan adopted Nick when he was twelve. He said he could barely remember a time when he didn’t have them.

“Okay, ready.” Nick walked into the living room and my mouth watered. Damn, he was sexy. It didn’t matter what he was wearing – a suit for work, athletic gear to go to the gym, or jeans and a tee like he was wearing now; he looked mighty fine.

“I forgot to ask, how did your conversation with Alexandra go?”

“Good. She completely agreed that Sally shouldn’t be separated from you. She’s going to pair Gabe with a new dog.”

I felt horrible that Gabe was going to have to wait to be paired with a new dog, but I couldn’t imagine Sally not being with us.

“But he’ll still get one, right?”

“Yes. Alexandra said she already has the perfect dog in mind. A retired Belgian Malinois named Dottie. Her handler’s wife is having twins, and there are complications. He’ll only let Dottie go if Alex can pair her with one of her vets. So, it’s perfect. Malinois require a lot of attention, especially one that is a retired working dog. Dottie will keep Gabe active, and that is one of Alex’s goals.”

“Knowing that makes me feel better. I hate thinking that Gabe would be without a companion.”

“Oh my God. Nick!”