Page 48 of Dream Mates
“He thought she was dead.” Wes’ voice went rough.
“Yeah, he did.” Which had devastated him, I was sure. He’d lost one mate, then almost lost Grace, too.
“What’s for dinner? Spence, do you have something planned? Should we go out? Get takeout? Order food and grill?” Jett asked as we made our way across the lake back to the house.
Yeah, that feast had been delicious, but I was hungry again.
“I have something planned. It will take time to prepare though,” he stroked Grace’s hair.
Okay, I’d take care of Grace so that Spencer could cook and Bren and Jett could ‘nap.’
Grace’s eyes opened with a start. “Where’s my phone?”
“It’s in your room,” Spence replied, rubbing her back.
She relaxed. “Okay.”
“Peaches, we were considering staying here for a few more days, does that sound good to you?” Wes asked.
Grace nodded. “What about Ri?”
“Lexi’s going to bring her here tomorrow afternoon,” Wes said. “We should probably place a grocery order.”
Grace nodded and her eyes closed as she settled back into Spencer.
“I can do that. Any requests?” I asked.
“Ice cream,” Grace told me.
Spencer stoked her hair. “We still have some.”
“Marshmallows for roasting,” Jett suggested.
Giving my fishing pole back to Wes, I spent the rest of the ride back making an order. Finally we headed back. Wes and I hadn’t caught a single fish. When we docked, Spence carried Grace inside. Brennan and Jett went straight upstairs.
Spence came down the stairs and went into the kitchen. “I’m going to get dinner started. Grace is in her room.”
“I’m going to go make sure everything’s set so that I can stay a few more days,” Wes said.
“I’ll cuddle Grace. Join us when you’re done?” I gave Wes a kiss.
“I’d like that.” He grinned, showing off a dimple.
Grace lay in her little room, buried in pillows. But she wasn’t sleeping, she was on her phone. Tears pricked her eyes. Pain shot through our bond.
“Is everything okay? Do you want privacy or a cuddle?” I asked from her doorway.
She held out her arms and I kicked off my shoes and joined her in her bed, getting snuggly. Still holding her phone, she started to cry.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I squeezed her to me.
“I left myself written notes on my phone,” she sobbed. “I haven’t read them all yet–and there aren’t notes for everything. But already the memories are becoming clearer–especially the final ones before he did the stabby-stab to make me forget again. I really did almost get sent away for good.”
I covered us with a blanket, so we were inside it, like a fort. My purrs filled the room, and I held her tight.
Again. Shit.Stabby-stab.I caught that needle to the neck as he took her.
“You’re here where you belong,” I soothed. “You don’t have to talk about it right now. But we all really would like to know what happened. It might be better to do it before Riley comes tomorrow, too.”
