Page 92 of Love Me Gently

He was right.

I hadn’t given him much of anything, but how did I tell the man who’d always meant everything to me how dirty and worthless I’d become?

I didn’t waste time pondering it. There was no point. He knew enough, and he didn’t look at me with the same look of disgust I gave myself. Cole was better than me. Always had been.

Quickly scrambling out of bed, I hurried to the closet and pulled on a pair of fleece-lined leggings and a red sweatshirt with batwing sleeves, all clothes Valerie had sent with Cole when they brought me here. They weren’t our normal designer brands and styles, much more casual, and as I tugged the sweatshirt over my head, realization struck.

Cole had been at the hospitalhoursafter I’d gotten there. I know I saw him. I remembered that in the haze of drugs and pain. And a day later, I’d woken uphere, with nothing but a suitcase of clothes, packed by Valerie, and every single one of the things she sent with him were casual. Warm and wintery. They were cozy and stylish, but they weren’t flashy, and they weren’t name brands that were so common in our circles in Georgia.

I trailed my hand over the closet full of sweatshirts and sweaters and Levi jeans and fleece-lined leggings, warm wool socks.

Sheplannedthis. How long was the question, but there was no way she was able to gather this amount of clothes in the time she had, all of them washed without tags, all of them sent for warm, winter living. And somehow, when disaster struck, not only was she there, Cole dropped everything to be there for me in the middle of the night.

And he’d been there every day since.

“Shoot,” I whispered, as I realized how long Valerie had been waiting for this moment for me. How she planned everything. How she worked to get me somewhere safe. Somewhere where someone could help keep me safe.

How long had she planned to send me home?

Tears sprung and I quickly fought them back while I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and ran a brush through my hair so I looked halfway decent for whoever was waiting for me upstairs. Not only the men, but I couldn’t scare Cole’s girls this early in the morning, either.

I’d call Valerie later and get some answers, but man…I was really lucky to have such great friends looking out for me when I’d been incapable of doing it myself.

Deep, rumbling, and gravelly voices filtered from downstairs, so I headed up, figuring if there were men who showed up to help me, Cole had undoubtedly invited them in for coffee or something.

It was just the kind of guy he was.

Good. Honorable.

He was the kind of man I could trust with everything, and he wouldn’t use it against me, he wouldn’t berate me for it.

He’d love me through it.

Thirty-Two

Cole

She was different as she appeared at the top of the stairs. I’d seen Trina with a variety of looks over the last few weeks and in all the years I knew her before. This was something striking, beautiful, even as she appeared without makeup and barely having time to brush her hair.

She was gorgeous like she’d always been, and she still carried herself like she was one step away from stepping on a model’s runway, but this morning, there was a shimmer in her eyes. Something lighter. Something more peaceful surrounded her presence as she came straight to where I was in the kitchen, coffee carafe in front of me and five empty mugs.

“Hey,” she said, and leaned against me.

Me. She put her weight againstme. It felt like I had won a gold medal.

What made it even more beautiful was the lack of tension in her body. She was relaxed, pressing her shoulder against my bicep.

“Hello,” she said, and it took effort, lots of it, but I tore my eyes off Trina’s soft profile to where she was facing the men across the counter from us. “I’m Trina.”

“Know who you are,” Jim Bower said, the same guy who’d driven the van to take us to the airport. “You’re looking good. Well healed.”

Trina’s frame tightened, and I settled my hand at her lower back. “Jim helped get you out of the hospital.”

“Oh,” she whispered. “Thank you, for that.”

“My pleasure.” He dipped his chin. “Would also be my pleasure if he showed up in front of me so I can show him exactly what I think of a man who does that to a woman.”

So much for Trina’s relaxed stance next to me. She was now so tight it was like she’d stitched her body together, and one tiny move would split all her seams.

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