Page 119 of Truck Stop Tempest

“SHE CALL YOU YET?”Tango dropped to his ass in front of me, finally dropping the football he’d been spinning on his finger for the past five minutes.

“No,” I grumbled, choking on the bitter taste of anxiety.

He laid back in the grass, using the pigskin to prop his head. “But you know where she is.”

“Of course, I do.” I’d pulled out all the stops to keep tabs. Traced her debit card. Her phone. My car. I’d even breeched Roger Caldwell’s privacy, knowing he was in constant contact with my girl. I owed that man. Owed him big.

“And?” He arched one brow, arms folded across his chest, waiting for my full confession. “It’s been three weeks. Why haven’t you gone after her?”

“Sometimes people gotta work shit out on their own.” I didn’t mention the fact that her last and only text had said, “Have a little faith in me.”

Easier said than done.

Fucking sucked. But I’d give her all the time she needed to clear the shit in her head. Come back ready to move forward. Hopefully with me at her side. And she was coming back. That I knew. The little green dot on my cell phone app told me she was close. What I didn’t know was whether she was coming back to stay or say goodbye.

Fuck. Why was I so goddamn nervous?

“She called Slade this morning.” He studied my face for a reaction. When I gave none, he continued, “But you knew that already. Didn’t you?”

I shrugged.

“She found her mother. You knew that, too.”

His words cut deep, but my chest swelled with pride, regardless. Tuuli had done that good deed all on her own. Hurt like a son of a bitch knowing she’d gone to Roger and the Feds for help instead of me, but those wounds were superficial. The endgame was all that mattered, and my little bunny had come out the victor.

Tuuli had slain her final beast.

“Is it ready? Is it ready?” Rocky barreled our way, stick in one hand, bucket of lake water in the other.

I tugged one last time on the ropes, checking my handiwork, then stepped back. “What do ya think? She look ready?”

He nodded, wide, green eyes blinking up at me. “Will I go high?”

“To the sky,” Tango threw in.

Rocky dropped his gear.

I grabbed his hips and hoisted him into the seat. “Ready?”

“Go high, Tito.”

I gave him a big push and the little guy squealed.

Slade and Aida made their way across the lawn, opposites in build, but equals in beauty. Slade wore a faded T-shirt that hugged her tits, and cutoff shorts that showed off long, lean legs. Aida wore a faded pair of overalls over a tank top that barely covered her ample chest and a pair of well-worn work boots.

I couldn’t hold back a grin, or a laugh. Shit. Seemed like only yesterday Aida wouldn’t be caught dead in anything other than designer heels, and now she sauntered my way with dirt on her face and a smile that would bring the devil to his knees.

“Yay! It’s done.” Slade jogged to my side and took over pushing her son. “Hold on tight, babylove.”

Aida pulled me in for a hug. “Guess what?”

“What?” I leaned back and wiped at a smudge on her cheek.

“I just signed the last check. The contractors will be out of here tomorrow.”

“God, Princess. I’m so fuckin’ proud of you.”

She grabbed my hand and walked me toward the shoreline. “We’re gonna do something good here, Tits. Can’t you feel it?”

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