Page 41 of All the Missing Pieces

“And you. You gave her a home,” Colt said softly.

God, I'd thought his rasp had my body doing stupid things. But the rasp had nothing on Colt’s soft tenderness. I swallowed hard, as if that would clear away the buzz of attraction humming beneath my skin.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

He reached out, scratching underneath Tater’s chin. “You landed on your feet, huh? Three of them anyway.”

Tater purred for a moment and then bit into Colt’s hand.

“Shit. Ow.” He snatched his hand back, glaring at my cat.

“Don’t be a baby,” I said, grinning. “It’s just one of her tooth hugs.”

Colt stared at me, jaw going slack. “Tooth…hugs?”

I nodded. “It’s how she shows affection.”

“That seems unhealthy to me.”

My lips twitched as I fought to hold my laughter in check. I lifted my gaze to Colt’s face. Dark shadows rimmed his eyes, and I hated the part of myself that wanted to know what had caused them. Colt didn’t deserve my concern, and he sure as hell didn’t want it. “What did you want, Law Man?”

He took a step back, those dark eyes swimming with something unreadable. “Your sister went missing.”

My body stiffened, the only reaction in the past fifteen minutes that made any sense. “You know, bartenders are supposed to be like priests or shrinks or something. There’s a confidentiality that's supposed to be sacrosanct.”

“Don’t be pissed at Trey. He was trying to stop me from being such an asshole.”

One corner of my mouth tugged up. “An asshole, huh?”

Colt kicked at a rock, sending it flying. “I was trying to look out for Emerson.”

I made a sound in the back of my throat.

“Okay, I was looking out for myself too. I hate going back there. Remembering what it stole from her.”

“And what it stole from you,” I added. Because it had stolen from Colt. It had changed him. There was no way it couldn’t have.

Colt’s gaze lifted to mine. “And you know what that’s like.”

“I do. Your whole view of the world shifts, like the twist of a kaleidoscope. You can’t look at things the same way because you aren’t the same person.”

Colt was quiet for a long moment, but he didn’t look away. It was as if he was trying to read beneath my words. “Not sure I realized just how much it changed me.”

An ache settled in my chest. Because the moment you woke up and realized that you’d changed was the same one when you realized nothing would ever be the same. “It’s your choice how it changes you.”

Those dark brows pulled together. “Not sure that’s true.”

“It is,” I challenged. “I won’t say it’s easy. I battle it every single day. Gratitude is a choice. Just like looking for the sun.”

“Looking for the sun…” he parroted.

I shrugged, letting my fingers sift through Tater’s fur. “Sometimes it’s finding those actual rays. Just looking up, closing my eyes, and remembering it’s still there. Every day it rises. Sometimes it’s looking for those glimmers of light elsewhere. The amazing hazelnut latte I got from Ezra. The kindness Trey showed to me when I needed it. The run that reminded me I’m still here and breathing. Those glimmers are all around us; you just have to open your eyes and truly see.”

A muscle along Colt’s jaw fluttered. “Think I’ve been looking for the opposite lately. The shadows. Feels like it’s all I see.”

“Time to rewire your brain. Challenge yourself to see the good. Pick three things every day and see what happens.”

One corner of his mouth kicked up. “You some sort of new-age life coach?”

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