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He tucked her head into his neck. In one arm he cradled her like a baby, his other hand splayed across her lower back, holding her close.
After several more moments like that, she pushed away from him. “Where’s my phone?”
She spotted it on the coffee table and nabbed it, quickly placed her call. Her voice was gritty when she spoke. “Hey, Minty…. No, it’s okay….” She glanced at him. “I think so…” She looked at him again, then asked, “Minty wants to know if you’re staying?”
“I’m staying,” he affirmed, his gorgeous hazel gaze steady and sure.
She dragged her eyes away from him, uncertainty and need at war on her face, “Minty… do you think so? … okay, yes, call Junie… if he leaves, I’ll call you both… right... Love you, too… Minty?” her voice broke on a tiny sob, “thank you… mm-hm… goodnight.”
She closed the phone and he pulled her back into his arms before she started second-guessing herself some more.
“I have to text them both occasionally.”
“You have good friends,” he said, and she felt his voice rumble up from his deep chest.
“The best,” she agreed.
She took a deep breath and settled further against him as he shifted down on the couch, taking more of her weight against his chest. He held her lightly now and drew soothing circles on her back. Pressing his lips to the top of her head, he tangled his other hand in the back of her hair and massaged her scalp. Her body slowly went limp and heavy against his and she slept, the drawstring of the little bag looped over her finger.
When she woke, she found herself alone once again on the couch and heard the low rumblings of male voices at her front door. She closed her eyes once again and drifted in and out of sleep, the deep murmurings soothing in the background. The next time she woke it was to see Zale bent deep over her on the couch, his hand gently stroking her hair.
She sat up in alarm and he quickly shifted back to avoid her swinging limbs. “Where’s Mara?”
“Mara’s fine, sweetheart,” Zale’s mellow voice soothed. “I understand you’re not doing too well.” Zale tucked her hair behind her ear and hunkered down so that they were eye-to-eye. “You want to come home with me?”
Barrett stood behind Zale, his brows low over his eyes. He did not look pleased. Her eyes skittered from Zale to Barrett then back to Zale.
“No, Barrett is here.”
Zale’s eyes crinkled at the corners, and his deep, smooth voice teased gently, “Caught ya.”
Willa snorted out a laugh, Zale grinned, and Barrett relaxed.
“We’re just friends,” she protested.
Zale turned to lift a brow at Barrett who shook his head with a small, slightly exasperated, grin.
Zale bent and kissed her head. “Call if you need me. Anytime.” He turned to face Barrett, and ordered, “Call or text if she needs me.”
“Will do.”
Zale left and Willa immediately regretted his absence. She needed someone to check the bathtub and it wouldn’t be the first time Zale had done it, although it had been years since she’d exposed this soft underbelly to either him or Mara, not wanting to cause them worry or distress.
The picture was not as vivid in her head anymore but with her nerves strung tight, she was too tired to fight the compulsion. Finally, the call of her bladder was too loud to ignore. She reasoned to herself that if she was going to spill her secret to Barrett anyway, what did it matter if he also knew she was a tiny bit crazy?
He walked back through her kitchen after having seen Zale out, dwarfing the compact space with this presence.
“Um, Barrett?”
“Willa,” he answered.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” her face flamed, “I need you to check the bathtub for me and tell me if you see anything in there.”
His eyebrows rose slightly as he studied her embarrassed face. “You going to fill me in on what that’s all about after?”
She nodded. She could give him this, she would give him all of it. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. And then if you want, I’ll call Minty to come back and you can go.”
He stood and held out his hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”
