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“They’re gone,” she said. “They left a few hours ago, right after you came in here and slammed the door.”
Ugh, God. I didn’t want to remember those particular moments, but they all came rushing back to me anyway. I remembered the sound of Boone’s voice and the look on his face when he saw me standing in the doorway, when he realized I’d heard everything.
I remember running to the house and almost knocking my uncle over as I raced up the stairs.
“Is my uncle here?” I asked, suddenly wanting to be near him, too. Or at least to apologize for nearly flattening him. And for having so little patience with him lately. I needed to be better at that.
“He’s out taking care of the cows,” Becca said. “Do you want me to go get him?”
She was already half-standing before I shook my head and motioned for her to sit back down again.
“Not right now,” I said. “Thank you, though. I just don’t want either of you to go anywhere yet.”
“We’ll stay right here as long as you need us,” Daisy Lynn said, reaching out to brush my hair back from my face.
They were good friends, and I was lucky to have them. I had so much in my life to be thankful for, and yet… it seemed like the worst moments always took up the most space in my head.
“We’ll stay as long as you need us, too,” another voice added.
My breath caught in my throat, and I scrambled to sit up, only belatedly realizing that I shouldn’t be excited. I shouldn’t be hopeful. My brain realized it, but my heart was still living in a fantasy land.
“You came back,” I said, smiling in spite of myself as Boone and Cade stepped inside my room.
They were dirty and they looked exhausted, but they were there. And I was glad to see them, even though I probably shouldn’t have been.
Daisy Lynn and Becca looked even more surprised than I had been, and I could tell from the looks my friends were giving me that they weren’t sure if they should stay or go.
“It’s okay,” I said, still smiling. “I should probably talk to these guys alone. We have some things to discuss.”
The girls nodded and both gave me a hug before slipping out the door and closing it behind them.
“I didn’t think you’d come back,” I said once the three of us were alone together.
“We’ll always come back,” Cade said, frowning. “But… did your uncle not tell you?”
“Tell me what?” I asked, shaking my head. “I haven’t seen him since… well, since I ran past him and came up here. Becca said he was out in the pasture, but I honestly don’t know.”
Cade and Boone exchanged a look, and then Boone spoke. “We didn’t want to leave, Janessa. Especially not like that. But we had an emergency. There was a fire at our ranch.”
“Oh, no!” I was up out of bed and in his arms before I’d even finished speaking. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been acting like a spoiled brat while you guys were out dealing with that? I didn’t mean…” My voice trailed off as I realized what I was doing. I took a step back and let go of Boone. “I’m sorry. We probably need to have some sort of boundaries now, I guess.”
“No,” Boone said. “I don’t want boundaries.” He reached out and grabbed me by the waist, then pulled me close to him again. “Fuck boundaries.”
Cade hadn’t said much so far, but I could see him grinning from the corner of my eye. He was clearly on board with Boone’s new feelings.
I was, too.
I just didn’t know what those feelingswere, exactly.
“We found out while we were back home that we weren’t the only ones,” Cade said. “There have apparently been fires and poisonings spreading up and down the state.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, my body trembling in spite of the fact that Boone was still holding me tightly.
Cade looked over and Boone shook his head. “It means that someone is waging war on Bliss.”
* * *
Things almost felt like they were back to normal as the night passed, but after we’d all had dinner and everyone had gone to bed, there was still one thing left for me to do. There was still one important issue that we’d left unsettled.
