Page 104 of Love Me Boldly

I hadn’t been alone in a really long time. I had friends. Good ones who’d banded around me and supported me. I’d had Caroline and Paul my entire life, even when I fought against them. Cole was doing what any good friend would do.

“You’ll like him,” I said. “He plays and coaches hockey and teaches high school.”

“I know. Already ran a background check.”

Another laugh burst from me. I’d always wanted a sibling, and now I was sensing this was what happened when girls had older brothers from better families. Shameful that it took me so long to see what I had, but my eyes were opening.

“If you ran a check, then why do you still look so suspicious?”

“He took off when you needed help the most. Doesn’t say much about him.”

“Cole…” I stood from the chair and walked toward him. He had to know that wasn’t the truth, not if Trina told him everything. “We were young, and I didn’t let anyone tell him anything. That’s not his fault.”

I considered bringing up that he didn’t exactly chase Trina down when she left town either but didn’t think that would help his mood.

“Fine.” I sighed when he kept glaring at me. “He’s taking Jonah ice skating on Friday. If you’re off duty, we can do something after. Happy now?”

“I’ll change my shift. You guys can come to our place.”

“So you can torture him in the hidden room of your basement?”

A wicked gleam sparked in his eyes. “Only if he deserves it.” Finally, a smile broke out. “Don’t be mad that you have people around you who care. Maybe I want to meet him and check him out, but Trina seemed pretty certain he’s special to you. Robbie and I just want to welcome him to town.”

“He’s not…it’s…” My fears started to spiral. He was leaving. This was six weeks. Graham didn’t need a welcome wagon when he was leaving.

But he loved me. He alluded to it anyway. And I was working on this whole new thing called trusting someone.

“Okay,” I finally said. “I’ll talk to him.” I shoved a finger to his chest. “But no gun belts or taser guns or full SWAT gear allowed.”

“You take all the fun out of everything.”

I laughed. “That’s exactly what Jonah says.”

Cole grinned. “If he’s as good as you say he is, then there shouldn’t be any torture required. See you Friday.”

“Wonderful,” I grumbled, but I didn’t say it to Cole. I said it to his back because he was already walking away.

Man…realizing I had a crew of friends around me who truly cared was great, but if they could be a bit less protective, that might be nice, too.

“Miss Jones?”

I braced myself for who I’d find in the doorway this time, only to smile at Annie. “I’ve asked you a hundred times to call me Holly.”

She gave me a look that said her mother would smack her across the back of her head if she tried. “You have a visitor. Want me to send him back here? Or do you want to take a break and eat with him?”

It had to be Graham…I grabbed my phone. “I’ll come see him.”

Before heading out to the front, I did a quick check on everything in the back. We were in the middle of prime prep time, and the kitchen was busy with prepping everything for dinner.

It didn’t surprise me in the least that this would be when Graham would show up, but as I pushed through the metal doors and immediately found him at the hostess stand waiting, the men with him did surprise me.

Eli and Tanner were huddled close. A grin broke out on my face despite the fact that the last time I saw Eli I wasn’t in a great state of mind, and he had at least had an inkling on my medical issues. Tanner, I hadn’t seen since college, at least not in person, but I saw pictures every once in a while posted on Tracey’s social media feed and from texts.

More friends. It was wild to me how I’d never truly realized how quickly my circle had grown and how it’d been filled with so many good and decent people. All people who knew my past, knew how I’d been raised and how I grew up and cared about me anyway.

It was the wonder of it all, the beauty of it and the shame at how I’d missed it for so long, that had me sliding up to Graham and slipping my arm to his lower back and snuggling in tight to his side.

His arm immediately draped around my back, and his hand rested at my hip. His hand squeezed, getting my attention. “You okay?”

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