Page 101 of Forever in the Country

Gratitude.

Strength.

Love.

It’s almost too much to handle—to accept.

“All right, everyone, back to work,” Vincent says with a subtle wink in my direction. I owe so much of my life to him—my freedom and recovery and peace of mind—not to mention he taught me how to perfect that particular wink.

Bet he didn’t plan on me using it on his daughter though.

“We’ll talk later,” Miss Thelma calls after me with a wave and her clipboard, and I nod as Mama races over and hugs me tight.

“I just love you so much and we’re so proud of you.”

“Love you too, Mama.” She holds me a beat longer before releasing me with a watery smile.

“I’ll meet you inside?” Rhea asks and I wish I could just take her away from here right now. I’d give almost anything to get lost in her for the next few days with zero interruptions.

Watching her ass sway in her cutoff shorts, I mentally start clearing my schedule to do exactly that.

“What did I miss?” Tanner asks as he jumps out of his car and jogs toward me.

“A lot, brother, but,”—Otto comes out of Vetted Paws and wraps my business partner in a bear hug—“Otto will fill you in.”

Tanner glares at me but lets Otto drag him through the front door as he talks a mile a minute.

Bodhi gives them a wide berth and meets me at the truck. I haul two bags onto my shoulder and he grabs the remaining ones. “For what it’s worth,” I start and wait until he looks at me, “you’re safe here. You won’t find a better place.”

“I know.”

Shaking my head, I let my lips tip up a little. “You don’t—but you will.”

He snorts as we linger in the parking lot. “Mason is practically ready to let Flora read him a bedtime story he’s so at home.”

He means it as a joke but I can hear the longing in his words. It’s something he won’t allow himself because he’s always been Mason’s protector. It’s the same reason that even though my sister is grown and married, I still lost sleep over not being able to keep the moon hung for her.

“It’s what keeps our hearts from turning black.”

“What?”

“Their innocence.” Bodhi’s lips press into a thin line as I continue. “We lost ours a long time ago, and even though they’ve seen things we wished they hadn’t—they still burn bright.”

“So much better than us.”

“It’s why we crave their light. Makes us feel like we could have it too.”

“But how do you find normal? Where the fuck is the balance?”

My mind drift to the Thayers, my sister—to Rhea.

“You let them in and if you do stay,”—I smirk—“this town will demolish the fuck out of your walls.”

“That sounds terrible,” he says but his expression isn’t so tight.

“Get ready, man, because it’s comin’ at you faster than Miley Cyrus on a wrecking ball.”

“Who are you?” he asks in disbelief and it almost makes me smile.

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