Page 48 of Waiting in Wyoming

Finally, it was evening. Meyra wasn’t entirely certain where she was going to end up at. Charlotte was with her friend Madison and the chief of the TSP. Something about documenting all the forensic evidence they had gathered so far. Meyra looked at Brandt after Charlotte texted her to see if she was okay. Again.

“I need to find a place to stay tonight. Or, I can wait here, and Charlotte can pick me up when she’s finished, but it will be really late.”

His blue eyes practically glowed when he stepped closer. They were in the lobby again. But it was almost deserted. “You can stay with me.”

Her stomach tightened, and Meyra suddenly had a hard time breathing. He was looking at her likethatagain. Like hehad that night they’d stayed together before. “Where? I mean, Charlotte...wants to know where...I’ll...be.”

That was all she wanted. To be held by him. To hold him so that he knew he wasn’t doing this all alone.All Meyra wanted was to be with him.

It was more than just sleeping together for her. It always had been. Even though they hadn’t made love yet, it wasmorethan that for her. Deeper than just sex.

“I have a suite at the Barratt, little one. It’s the family suite. Top floor. Mac and Alex are heading back to Alex’s place. He lives next door to Heather and Cara. But I’m staying at the Barratt. I sold my condo a few months ago.” His hands wrapped around her waist. He pulled her closer. He leaned down until his mouth was right by her ear. “There are two rooms, sweetheart. I’m not going to pressure you into anything, but I know which room I want you in tonight.”

Meyra pressed her face to his hard chest and nodded slightly. “I’d like that very much. I want to be with you tonight.”

Those words sealed her fate, she thought. She wanted to be with him. No matter what.

It just felt like that was exactly where she was supposed to be.

40

Meyra lookedat the man in the lobby of the Barratt and just blinked. Brandt’s hand tightened around her elbow, and he pulled her closer. She could still smell him almost on her skin despite the shower she had just taken. Of course, he had been in that shower with her. It was the first she had ever done that with a man. It had been really fun. She definitely wanted to do that again someday.

Nothing had felt like last night with Brandt. She looked up at him. “I’m not sure why they are here.”

No one had told her they were coming either. Not even a text.

“Let’s go find out.”

“I want to stay with you.” He wasn’t going to be able to go back to Masterson soon. His father was out of the hospital now, but his sister’s fiancé was still in the ICU and wasn’t going anywhere for a while. Gunnar was going to be okay, and so was his friend Daniel McKellen, and Heather should be getting out that afternoon. But Brandt was staying to help his parents. And watch over his sister. He was very protective of her.

But that was Meyra’s father and stepmother right there. And they had seen her. She couldn’t hide or anything. She wouldn’t anyway—she wanted to know why they were there.

Her father came over. He reached out—and shook Brandt’s hand. Rhea was already coming toward Meyra. “How are your family, son?”

Rhea came to her. Meyra reached for her stepmother’s hand. She always felt comfortable with Rhea. She’d never replace Meyra’s mother or what she remembered of her mother, but Rhea felt like another parent. Rhea’s late husband had been her dad’s best friend in the entire world—she had known Rhea her entire life. Rhea loved Meyra and her sisters—and she definitely loved Meyra’s father. She was already talking about when Meyra and Marin gave her grandchildren, too. And Bentley utterly adored her. “Sweetheart, you gave your father fits, taking off the way you did.”

“I needed to be here with Brandt.” She’d made sure her family knew where she was going and why. They understood, and it had been the right decision. But she wasn’t stupid—if she’d waited and told her dad, they would have argued. It would have just wasted valuable time. “He needed me.”

“I understand completely, baby girl.” Rhea squeezed her hand and then let go.

“My father got out yesterday afternoon. Gunnar will still be in for a while,” Brandt was saying. “We’re on our way back to the hospital now. My brothers have prepared a statement for the press. I’ve been elected to give the interview. They ganged up on me.”

Meyra slipped her hand into his without thinking, just like Rhea had her father’s. Her father looked down at Meyra’s hand. She saw surprise in his face. It took her a moment, but she figured it out. He hadn’t realized she and Brandt were getting involved.

She’d thought Miranda or Marin would have told him. Apparently not.

Meyra suspected her father would be asking her questions later. “So why are you here, Dad?”

“I’m here in case you need me, young lady. Where else would I be? And I am here to help Brandt, if I can. Joel and his people are trying to get ahold of him.” Her father was close to Brandt, she knew that. She suspected it was because Brandt had been there that day Marin had almost died—Brandt had tried to protect her sister that day, after all. And her father respected him and how hard Brandt worked toward his goals. Her father had said that before.

Her father had been making a huge effort to be a part of Meyra’s and her sisters’ lives since he had retired to Masterson County. Sometimes Meyra was still getting used to having him around—his butting in could get annoying. She and Marin both agreed on that. She had grown up depending on her grandmother, aunt, sisters, and cousins. Her dad had always been assigned somewhere as a diplomat; she and her sisters had grown up with their grandmother.

She really wasn’t used to her father having much of a say. She loved him, and would listen to his opinions, but she was an adult. She made her own decisions. Especially about men.

Brandt was talking to her father now—and the desk clerk. He was upgrading her parents’ room to a suite one floor below his family’s.

Brandt was tired. She could see it in his eyes. But she suspected he would never let that stop him. He was trying to be strong for his family, but she had seen how worried he had been. Especially for his sister. He loved his family very much.