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And we headedhometogether.
ChapterThirty
BRINLEY
Rowan hadn’t leftour side but a few times over the last week.
And if he couldn’t be right there then one of the other guys was.
Since the accident, they hadn’t caught the man responsible. I’d found out they knew who it was by the name on the license plate that had burned its way into my brain. He was some pompous, abusive asshole named Michael that seemed to have it out for Rowan because he installed Stella, the wife’s, security system. The jerk didn't like someone else interfering with what he deemed was his.
Michael seemed like the name of a nice, ordinary person, but these days you just never knew. I cringed and my body shook just thinking of him. I’d forever shudder when I heard that name in the future knowing it would always bring back bad memories.
Although I was still scared and hurting, my priority was making sure my son was safe. God, I didn’t want him to be fearful of everything, and yet since the incident he hadn’t wanted to sleep in his room alone at all. If I was being honest, I hadn’t either. Having him by my side made me feel marginally better. And even better than that was the fact every night Rowan had been in bed with us.
I felt a smile lift my cheeks.
It had been hard to be happy and smile over the last week, but the image of the three of us cozying up together in my bed did the trick. I was hoping that the get-together and trick-or-treating that evening would be another.
Zander had been looking forward to the day for months, ever since he and Dexter started talking about their costumes. My son had always been with me for Halloween and this was the first time he got to celebrate with other kids. But he was hesitant and worried that someone would come for us.
This wasn’t fair.
He was a little boy. My son shouldn’t have been looking over his shoulder all the time. And although we could never predict when our time on earth would come to an end, the last thing I wanted was my precious baby worrying that his mommy was going to die. Something I knew he was doing because of the way he was acting, along with the nightmares he’d been having.
At least he had his father. He thought Rowan hung the moon and was some kind of superhero. So if his dad was with us, then he said we’d be safe.
I never thought Rowan and Zander would be together, but now that they were I couldn’t imagine them ever being apart. Luke’s mom, however, made it clear by her phone call earlier in the day before we left to take Rowan food and got run off the road, how she’d felt about it. A conversation I had to relive when I told Rowan about it.
Not pleasant at all.
In a nutshell, she’d called to bitch about the type of mother I was, going on about how Luke would have wanted more for his family than what I was providing for my son. Anger boiled inside me. She may be his mother but she didn’t have a clue what Luke had truly wanted because she only cared about being the best and having the best. Her son would have wanted Zander and me to be happy.
And Rowan was doing that.
Luke had always encouraged me to keep trying to get in touch and talk to Rowan, never once had he tried to pretend Zander and I belonged to only him. He was my best friend and, God, he would have loved Zander, but he’d always hoped one day Rowan and I would find our way together. Luke was an exceptional man.
Anyway, when I’d taken a deep breath and worked up the courage to finally tell Luke’s mom who Zander’s father was and that we were with him, she’d exploded. And then I matched her fire for fire. Always looking down on Rowan, who was not good enough for her son to be best friends with her choice of words and things to say about him was the last straw.
Needless to say, I don’t think we’d be hearing from her again and we were better off that way. But it still hurt for some reason as I replayed the things she said in my head.
“Mommy, lookie, I’m all ready.” Zander came running into my bathroom where I’d been thinking and getting ready to head to Braxton and Jurnee’s place.
Another smile lit up my face in just a few short minutes. Because the cutest little Army guy was standing in front of me, actually excited and fuller of life than I’d seen him in days. He looked great in his combat uniform and camouflage face paint.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it. Your dad did a good job.”
“Wait until you see him!” Zander shouted just as Rowan walked in behind his son.
When my gaze took in the man dressed to match his son, I was at a loss for words. I’d never seen Rowan in person in his uniform and it sent a jolt of desire racing through me. He looked like a sexy badass.
Suddenly I was feeling a whole lot better.
Between Zander in my bed, which neither of us would have changed, and my injuries, Rowan had made it clear there would be no whoopee. I cracked up laughing so hard at his choice of words, I’d let out another of my unladylike snorts, and I figured I’d set my healing back a day.
But it was worth it since it was one of the few times I’d laughed over the last week.
