Page 13 of Returning to Everton

“Oh, that’s great. That’s always been my dream job. Anyway, I don’t know what time we’ll get there. Want me to just text you when we get settled in at Quinn’s?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. See you Monday. I’m lookin’ forward to meetin’ you, Rowen. Drive safe.”

“Thanks, Declan, you too, and I will. Precious cargo, you know,” she laughs, then they hang up.

“Well, that went well,” Kayden says. “Now, how long after she gets here do we have to wait to see her?”

“We can’t all bombard her at once, Kay,” Hudson says. “It would probably be best to just wait for her to come to us. Hopefully, that won’t take too long.”

“I did make her promise she would see y’all and talk to you face-to-face,” I say.

“Well, that’s good to know,” Nate says. “At least we know she won’t try to hide from us. Well, not for long anyway,” he chuckles.

“Yeah, she does tend to keep her promises… Well, except for her last one. When she promised to come home to us,” Kayden mumbles.

“You know she’s really worried y’all hate her because of that,” I enlighten the guys. “I think that’s one of the reasons she’s put off coming home since Harris died. She knows a lot has changed, and you can’t go back to how y’all were before she left. I try to assure her that y’all don’t, in fact, hate her. That I’m sure everything will be fine once she talks to you, but she’s been beaten down a lot these past ten years. She has next to no self-confidence left.”

“Okay, then it’s decided. We’ll wait for her to approach us,” Hudson declares.

“And if she asks, do I tell her we’re friends? Or that you’re the one that owns the bakery?” Declan asks Hudson.

“I don’t want to lie or hide anything from her. If we’re starting over again, I won’t have anything get in our way. So, if she asks you anything, just answer honestly,” Hudson answers.

“Okay, good idea. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page,” Declan agrees.

“Trust me when it comes to getting Rowe to be ours, we’re all on the same page,” Hudson replies, and the others all confirm their agreement.

“Alright, well, I gotta get home. Y’all start working on whatever plan you have to win her over. Though I don’t think it’s going to be too difficult. Everyone knows she loves all of you. I still have no idea how she ended up with Harris. I’m starting to believe it wasn’t exactly of her own free will,” I reluctantly admit.

“What do you mean? Do you think she was spelled? For that long?” Ayden asks.

“No, not for the whole time. You know Rowe. Once she was married, there was no way she was going to leave him. Then she had Violet. He would have only had to have her spelled until he convinced her to marry him. Then she was stuck after that because of her own principles,” I tell them.

“Damn it! You’re right. She never would have left us like that without even talking to us for any other reason,” Nate growls.

“This changes things. Why are you just now telling us this, Quinn?” Kayden questions me.

“Look, I didn’t start to suspect anything until after they were married, and by then, it was too late. I just noticed he was behaving differently after the wedding. It took me a while to figure out he just dropped the act,” I sigh. I should have known something was wrong. “I tried to talk to Rowe about it, but… let’s just say it didn’t go well. She’d always just say ‘He doesn’t have any magic, Quinn. How would he have had me spelled? And besides, why the hell would he want to?’ So I finally stopped trying. I kept trying to get her to come home, though. I could never give up on that. I didn’t think it would do any good to tell anyone my suspicions. She made it clear that she would never leave him, so I thought it would be better to support her after he’d already taken everyone else away, rather than argue about it.”

“Well, I’m glad you did, Quinn. She needed someone in her corner. Even if it couldn’t be us,” Hudson says. “But now that she’s coming back to us, we’re going to make up for lost time. She’s used to one husband that didn’t give a shit about her. She won’t know what to do with five guys who actually care about her and aren’t afraid to be affectionate.”

“Oh yeah, we’re gonna spoil her and that little girl of hers rotten. I hope Rowen gets used to it fast because I am going to want to touch her every chance I get. Whether that’s just holding her hand while we walk or holding her in my arms while we watch tv. I’m not letting go of her this time, guys,” Ayden declares.

“I think that’s how we all feel, bro. Well, except maybe Declan. But that’s just because he’s never met her. Give him time, he’ll get there, too. Rowen is just too amazing not to completely fall for,” his twin chimes in.

“Okay, Quinn. Thanks for droppin’ by. I know you need to get ready for your house to be invaded for a few days.” We all chuckle when Declan says that. “If you can think of anythin’ important we should know about or anythin’ you think might be able to help, let us know, okay?”

“I’ll help in any way I can, guys. I want my best friend back. I want the old Rowe, and y’all were a big part of that. So I'm gonna make sure she gives you a chance. Good night, guys.” I get up and wave goodbye as I walk to the door. Hudson follows me out.

He stops me at the door. “You really think this can work, Quinn? You think she’d be open to being with all of us? I mean, I know it’s not unheard of, but it’s far from common. And like I said, it’s a big change from what she’s used to.”

“I think it’s going to take some time. Don’t expect to jump right into her bed on Tuesday.”

He cuts me off after that. “Of course, we don’t expect that! Damn, Quinn. We want to get to know her again. We’re not in this just for a quick fuck. You should know that.”

“As I was saying…” I glare at Hudson. “I think she’s been in love with you four since middle school. I don’t think she could ever choose just one of you. It’s always been all or nothing with her. Sadly because of dickhead it went from almost all to absolutely nothing. And now she’s gotta start over. I do know damn well y’all don’t just wanna get your dicks wet. If you wanted to do that, you could have any girl in this town. Or any other. Whether that was for a night or life. Y’all are hot and you know it. But you don’t want another girl. You want Rowe. And now that she’s coming back you can finally have her. I’m just saying... maybe lower your expectations. Give her time to adjust to being home and everything that entails. A lot is changing for her with this move, not just seeing you again. So be patient with her. That’s all I’m saying, okay?”

He sighs, “Yeah, okay. We can do that. Sorry, Quinn.”

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