Page 175 of You Found Me

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Page 175 of You Found Me

Elyse took a deep, shuddering breath. “That’s good news. That’s…”

She glanced at Dad. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “It’s a relief. Glad to hear it, son.”

“You had time to talk to the cops but not us?” Mason asked, sounding a lot less like a teenager and more like someone’s judgmental grandfather.

Ward had a whole list of reasons why he hadn’t called. He’d been bleeding out, for one. In surgery, for another. The first people he’d seen when he woke up were state troopers. After that, he’d known he was fine, and it hadn’t seemed important. He figured he’d tell his family all about it when he saw them.

Staring down the barrel of their collective worry, he realized that had been a bad call. “I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s been a distracting couple of days. No excuse.”

“I’m just so grateful you’re all right.” Elyse put her arms around Ward and Samantha.

“Well, I’m not,” Mason said.

Heads swiveled in Mason’s direction.

“Mason.” Elyse’s stern tone made Mason stand a little straighter.

“Not like that.” Mason rolled his eyes. “I’m glad he didn’t get dead. I just don’t think that’s a good reason to let him off the hook. He said things would be different. When he brought his so-called girlfriend here to meet us, he said he wanted to fix things. That he’d been thinking about us and wanted to spend more time with us, but what he wanted was a place to hide his pop-star client. It wasn’t about us at all. That I-want-to-be-part-of-the-family bullshit was just a fucking lie.”

“Mason…language,” Dad said, but it didn’t have any bite.

“It’s not a lie.” Ward held up a hand. He wasn’t ready to have this conversation, but he had to admit his brother had a point. A lot of things had changed, and some of it had to be said out loud.“When I brought Lucy here, itwasjust a job. At first. But that changed. I fell for her. I shouldn’t have, but I did. And because I did…she helped me realize what I’d been missing. This place. This town. All of you. I lost…I lost my mother. But I didn’t lose you. So things are going to change.”

He glanced at his surly kid brother. “You can be as mad at me as you want, Mason, because I’ll be around for you to be mad at.”

“You promise?” Sam said, sounding delighted. “Will Lucy—I mean, Della—be here too?”

“Good question.” Elyse’s hopeful smile reminded him so much of his mother’s that it nearly did him in. “Will she?”

“If I have anything to say about it.” Ward glanced out the window. “She should be here in five minutes. You can ask her yourself.”

“Good,” Mason said, sounding a little choked. He coughed to clear his throat. “She’s definitely the coolest thing about you. Besides,” he shot Ward a pointed look, “I want to thank her again for that guitar.”

The irritation that surged through Ward was the kind only his brother could inspire. “Ibought you that guitar, you ungrateful little shit. Not her.”

“Ward,” Dad said. “Language.”

“Uh-huh,” Mason said with a smirk. “Because you know so much about music.”

“I know more than you think—” Ward’s tirade was cut off by the sound of tires crunching on the driveway.

The entire family abandoned the argument to crowd at the window. Ward felt like a teenage boy about to go on a first date, but it didn’t stop him from joining them.

The delivery van from Sunny’s Flowers and three SUVs filled with extra security were right on time.

His heart tripped in anticipation.

Della was here.

“Well, that’s a sight,” Dad said. “All that for our Lucy?”

“Did you order flowers?” Samantha asked, frowning.

Ward grinned. “Sunflowers, actually.”

The three SUVs opened and security spilled out. They swarmed the area like ants, setting up in a standard formation Ward recognized as one of his own. Diggs was a fast learner. He’d already translated the initial training Ward had given him into boots-on-the-ground protocol.

Not bad.




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