Page 101 of Guarded from Havoc

“Just like we were all so thrilled to hear Erik was dating you,” Hanna adds. “Erik’s such a great guy, and I just knew he’d findthe right woman one day.” She stops. Glances to her left to give Webb, another old Army buddy, a meaningful look. “Just like we’ll be happy for you whenyoufinally find someone.”

Webb makes an immediateno thanksface. “I’m good being single. Really. I have plenty going on already. With search and rescue, and the adventuring company, plus hiking almost every weekend…” He pauses. “Although.” A wistful look flickers in his eyes, but he quickly hides it. “What you guys are doing with B and A is pretty great, too.”

“That reminds me,” Hanna says. “Have you gotten much hiking in since you’ve been here?”

Tatum grins. “Yes. We did the Saranac Six. Not in twenty-four hours, like people do to complete the challenge. But we did three peaks yesterday, and three the day before. And we were thinking—” She glances at me, and I nod in unspoken agreement. “Maybe we could all go on a hike? The seven of us?”

Hanna brightens. “That would be awesome. Finn and I planned to do Whiteface before we head back to Sleepy Hollow, but it would be so much fun to have a big group hike. Maybe we could do Dix Mountain. It’s one of the harder High Peaks, but there are some great views from the summit.”

Enzo turns to Winter with a questioning look. “What do you think? Are you up for a hike?”

“Definitely,” she replies. “I’ve done a lot of hiking in the Green Mountains, but not much in the Adirondacks.”

“What about you, Webb?” I ask. “Are you up for it? Or do you think we’ll slow you down?”

Webb grins. “I think I can manage to slow my pace for you guys.”

As I look around the table, my chest warms.

I love my family back in Texas, but seeing these old friends is something special. And introducing them to Tate is even more so.

When Tate and I made our plans to come out to New York, I asked her how she’d feel about meeting some of my old Army buddies. She’d heard about all of them—Finn at the Sleepy Hollow branch, Enzo, who works for Green Mountain Guardians, out in Vermont, and Webb—a former Night Stalker who was stationed at Fort Campbell with me, and works as a search and rescue pilot in the Adirondacks when he’s not leading adventuring tours.

Ithoughtshe’d be okay with it, but I didn’t want to assume. With it only being a month since the incident at Enchanted Rock, she might not feel comfortable meeting a bunch of new people. She might have wanted to spend our vacation in relative privacy, ordering room service and taking quiet hikes through the woods.

But of course, Tate loved the idea. Because as overprotective as I am—and IknowI am, I make no apologies—she’s the strongest woman I’ve ever met.

“When are you guys heading back to Vermont?” Tate asks Winter. “Should we do the hike tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow would be perfect,” Winter replies. “We thought we’d stay in Saranac Lake through tomorrow night, then head to Lake Placid for a night before heading back to Bliss.” She pauses. “You should come visit us soon. We’ve got plenty of room.”

Tatum looks at me with her eyebrows raised, and I nod. “Absolutely,” I answer. “Maybe after the holidays we can schedule a trip.”

“Webb?” Tate asks. “Hanna? Finn? Does tomorrow work?”

Once it’s decided, the conversation shifts. “So, Tatum,” Hanna starts, “I heard you’re a teacher. Science, right?” At Tate’s nod, Hanna continues, “Since you’re staying in Texas, are you going to find a job teaching there?”

Tate takes a sip of her beer before replying, “Actually, no. I’ll always like teaching, but when I left it, I didn’t miss it as much asI thought I would. So I thought I’d try something different.” She takes a little breath before revealing the job change she recently decided on.

With a smile, she continues, “When we get back to Texas, I’m going to be working for Blade and Arrow. At the Bravo Team location, of course. I’ll be taking care of travel arrangements, helping with admin work… And I’m going to be the new liaison for pro-bono clients. So whenever we have someone new, I’ll help them out with finding resources like counseling, anything they need for the client apartment, activities…”

I hug Tate and kiss her cheek again. “Tate’s going to do an amazing job. Not just because she’s incredibly smart and hardworking, but she understands what the clients are going through. Not that all the women who live at the ranch don’t, but to have a designated person to help?—”

“That’s amazing!” Hanna exclaims. “I can definitely see how that would help. We have Maya helping with admin stuff, and we all kind of jump in with new clients, but having one person they can go to… someone who really gets it… I love it.”

“It really is,” Winter agrees with a smile. “And you get to work right from home. So that’s even better.”

Tatum throws me a quick, knowing look. She’s well aware of how happy I am to have her working from home. If she’d wanted to go back to teaching, or get a job nearby, I would have supported her. But it’s a huge relief to know she’ll be working at B and A, with reinforced fences and windows and a state-of-the-art security system protecting her.

When we brought up the idea to her—as a team, of course, that’s not something I would decide on my own—she was really excited about it. “I know what Blade and Arrow does,” she told us. “How important it is. And if I can be a part of it, I’d be honored to.”

So Tate’s happy. I’m happy.

Shit. My entire team is ridiculously happy.

It’s crazy to think about it, really.

After the accident, I couldn’t imagine my life ever being this full.

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