“For always being here.” I grin at her and feel tears well up in my eyes.
“Stop! No crying. I’ll see you in, like, two weeks.” She strolls over to Josh, who pulls her in for a hug and whispers something in her ear, making her grin.
“Hurt her again and I’ll be your worst nightmare.”
“Right,” he smirks. “You’re a tiny little thing.”
She raises her eyebrows and mutters, “Toes for teeth.”
“Point taken.” He laughs and nods. “Don’t worry, Jilly.”
“I always worry.” She shrugs and waves as she saunters back to the driver’s side of her car, ready to pull away from the departures lane at LAX.
“See you soon!” I wave and follow Josh into the airport.
“You know I hate to fly, right?”
“You do?” I ask, surprised, and join him in line.
“Yeah, I do.” He drapes his arm over my shoulders, pulling me against his chest.
“I miss Jill already.”
“So she’s moving home?” He kisses my hair.
“In a couple weeks, yeah.”
“It’ll be here before you know it.” He kisses my head again. “Your hair always smells so good.”
I smile softly, enjoying the feel of his hard chest against my cheek. “I’m glad you like it.”
We move quickly through the line, check our bags, and make our way through security. We finally make it to our gate and sit as we wait for boarding to begin.
“Are you ready to go home?” I ask.
“Very ready.” He pulls me against him again. He has barely stopped touching me since he showed up in my bedroom at Jill’s condo yesterday.
“How is Seth doing?” I trace my finger up and down his thigh, content to lie against his chest for as long as he’ll have me.
“He’s good. They’re home now. He just has to take it easy.”
“Poor kid. I feel so bad.” I sigh deeply. “If I hadn’t let him talk me into going fishing . . .”
“Stop that.” Josh pulls me back to look him in the eye and grips my chin between his thumb and fingers. “It was an accident, Cara. I’m sorry if I ever gave you the impression that I thought otherwise.”
“I know it was an accident, but I still feel badly about it. Poor guy.” I frown as I recall the conversation Seth and I were having right before he fell.
“Josh, I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“With everything that happened, it completely slipped my mind.” I recap my conversation with Seth and watch Josh’s eyes grow colder and harder with every word. “I wouldn’t normally betray a confidence, but as a teacher, it’s my job to tell you. I think you should talk to Zack about putting him in some sort of counseling. There are a few I can recommend.”
“I’ll tell him.” Josh sighs deeply and pulls me against him again. “That poor kid.”
“I know. My heart breaks for him. Thank God he’s not with her anymore.”
“Never again,” Josh agrees with conviction.
* * *
“Cara.” Josh’s soothing voice wakes me up. I fell asleep in his truck on the way home. “We’re home.”
I blink and frown as I realize that we’re at the ranch.
“But we didn’t stop at my house so I could get my things.”
“You have your suitcase. I’m sure you can make do for a little while.”
He grins happily and pulls himself out of his truck, strides around to open my door, and helps me down from the cab.
We grab our bags, and just as we get to the front door, he leans down and whispers in my ear, “Welcome home, baby.”
We move through the front door and I stop in my tracks. “You invited your family?” I whisper to him in shock.
“We wanted to welcome you home, sweet girl.” Nancy smiles from the kitchen as she mixes up what looks like a pasta salad. “Besides, you’ve got to be hungry.”
Zack and Jeff and even Ty are sitting on barstools at the kitchen island, grinning at me.
“We’re about to put some steaks on the grill,” Zack announces.
“Cara!” Seth calls from the couch. I abandon my suitcase and hurry over to him. His leg is propped up on pillows. He has soda and snacks, the remote, and comic books nearby on the coffee table and his dog lying on the floor by his side.
“Hey, buddy!” I hug him close and kiss his hair. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. Did Uncle Josh apologize for being a jerk?”
“Yeah.” I laugh and ruffle Seth’s hair. “He did.”
“Good.” Seth smiles and then something on the TV catches his attention. “Holy crap, the Undertaker is gonna kill the Miz!”
I laugh as I leave him to watch television and join everyone else in the kitchen.
“Wrestling?” I ask dryly.
“The kid has good taste.” Ty laughs and steals a black olive out of the pasta salad, earning a slap on the hand from Nancy.
“Welcome home.” Zack stands and hugs me to him, rocking back and forth. “And thank you,” he whispers in my ear.
“Hey, get your own girl,” Josh growls, and pulls me out of Zack’s arms, making us all laugh.
“Hi,” Ty murmurs, and kisses my forehead.
“Hi.” I offer him a smile and pat his arm gently.
“Better?” he asks.
“Much.”
“Okay, he can live then.”
“Are you done?” Josh asks with a scowl. “You also need to get your own girl.”
“Hey, why didn’t you tell me that Jilly was planning to move home?” I ask Ty, and glare at him as Josh passes me a Diet Coke.
“Jilly’s moving home?” Ty asks, surprised.
“Yeah, in a few weeks.”
“Awesome.” He grins.
Josh and Zack exchange a look, and Ty notices.
“Are we going to have a problem?” Ty asks Zack.
“Only if you make it a problem,” Zack responds, his face perfectly serious.
“She’s gonna live with me for a while,” I inform them all, trying to lighten the mood, then take a long sip of my soda.
“So she’s gonna live—”
“At Cara’s house in town,” Josh cuts Seth off quickly.
The men and Nancy exchange small smiles.
I’m lost. “Am I missing something?”
“Nope.” Josh shakes his head, grabs a large platter of steaks, and takes my hand. “Let’s go throw these on the grill.”