Page 35 of Shattered

She looked like she was about to cry, as though the thought of leaving her grown babies behind was just too hard to face. But she braved it out, waved one last time and walked toward the check-in desks.

Once she was out of sight they all piled back into Ethan’s truck. Sawyer slid into the back beside Carm and reached for her hand. She twined her fingers through his and laid her head back against the headrest, closing her eyes with a sigh. “Oh, God, I thought she’d never leave,” she moaned.

Ethan chuckled from up front. “What, you didn’t love living with her for the past two-and-a-half months?”

Carm opened her eyes to glare at her brother. “No. And thanks a lot for offering to have her for a few weeks to give us a break.”

Marisol turned to face her from the shotgun seat. “I wanted to have her, to give you guys a break, but she wasn’t having any of it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carm said with a wave. “I’m just glad to have our space back.” She closed her eyes again. “I’m so having a nap when we get home.”

Sawyer perked up at that. Naps were awesome. Because when done together, they often led to even more pleasurable things. “I could totally go for a nap.” And bonus, he and Carm could be as loud as they wanted in the bedroom now, because there was no one else at home to hear them. He loved it when Carm lost control, her moans and cries filling the room.

“Only a couple more months until she comes back for the wedding,” Carm murmured, almost to herself. “You guys can split the hosting duties with us,” she added to Ethan and Marisol.

“Hey, you could always elope and avoid all the hassle,” Ethan said as he merged onto the highway and headed back into town.

“Not gonna happen,” she said. “But at least now it won’t be nearly as big a production.”

He wasn’t sad about that.

Over the past several weeks Carm and her mom had scaled the wedding plans back drastically. Now it was going to be a small, intimate wedding with the ceremony taking place in the parish church Carm and her family had attended while growing up back in Miami. Also, instead of a lavish reception at some hotel with two hundred people to feed, it would be a catered dinner in Mama Cruz’s backyard with just close family from her side, and Sawyer’s teammates if they could make it.

Although he doubted Schroder would come. Doc had pulled away from everyone big time.

“It’s a big relief, actually,” Carm continued, breaking him out of his thoughts. “I was getting way too carried away before with everything. This will be so much better.”

Sawyer had already told her he was fine with the original plan, but Carm had been adamant that this new arrangement was what she wanted. She’d told him the scare of nearly losing him had put everything into perspective, and she didn’t want him to be uncomfortable on their wedding day. Seizing on his good luck, he’d just said thank you and kept his mouth shut after.

Carm covered a yawn with her hand. “When are we supposed to be at Tuck and Celida’s again?”

The whole team had the week off and were going there for a cookout tonight. They needed to hang out and unwind together with everything that had happened. A few members of Gold Team might show up too. They’d stormed the cabin in Georgia the day after the crash, taking the male suspect into custody and safely getting the rest of the family out, including the dead teenage daughter. “Six, right?” he said to Ethan.

“Yeah. I’m bringing the beer. You guys are supposed to bring a dessert.”

“Right.” He shot Carm a wicked smile. “But it’s okay if we’re a little late.”

She snorted a laugh. “I said nap. As in sleep.”

He had total faith in his ability to change her mind, and planned to do just that.

“Is Schroder coming?”

At her question Sawyer glanced at Ethan. “You talked to him about it?”

At first when Doc had been sent home from the hospital, the entire team had taken turns going over to visit him. Bit by bit he’d withdrawn from them all, even DeLuca, until he’d finally flat out asked them not to come. Sawyer and the other guys still called him, but nothing they said lifted his spirits any. Tuck and Cruzie were the only two who kept going to see him, though Schroder made it plain he just wanted to be left alone.

“Talked to Taya this morning. She tried to convince him to come by even for fifteen minutes. No go.” Ethan shook his head. “He’s in a real bad spot right now. Taya’s a bit better. It’s helped a lot that all the women have been reaching out to her.”

“Yeah.” Sawyer couldn’t imagine what his friend was going through. Losing your sight was a catastrophic blow that changed life completely. And Schroder and Taya had a baby on the way, too. “I wish I knew how the hell to help him.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ethan said in a voice heavy with regret. “We all do.”

Chapter Thirteen

The sportscasters were offering an analysis about some play or other that had just happened in the football game.

Nate’s favorite team was playing New England, but he wasn’t even listening to the audio. Didn’t give a shit about the game whatsoever as he sat in the leather recliner across from the TV in the living room. It was merely a habit he’d gotten into over the past few weeks, leaving the television going to fill the empty black void around him with sound so he didn’t lose his mind.

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