Page 37 of Tru Blue
“Yes,” she said sternly. “He killed a man to protect his shitty-ass mother and his younger brother. He went to prison because he was protecting his family, but in a sense, you’ve both spent time behind bars. You grew up in a gated community you rarely left, you were guarded twenty-four seven and forced to do things you despised. Which is worse? Being imprisoned in a life you hate by your parents, or being imprisoned because you stopped a man from possibly killing the only parent and brother you had?”
“It’s not the same,” Gemma said lamely.
Crystal drew in a deep breath, and her eyes turned serious, the way they did when there was no room for kidding in their conversation. “No. Nothing is the same as being the person who drove a knife into the man who was raping your mother. Imagine living with that for the rest of your life.”
Tears filled Gemma’s eyes.
“Now,” Crystal said softly, “imagine raising the babies of the woman who sent you to prison.”
A tear slid down her cheek. “Is it wrong that I like him so much? It feels like he’s so good. He stopped us from fooling around to tell me what he’d done. He could have slept with me and told me later. Or not at all. But he said he wanted us to be honest about everything.”
Crystal turned onto her side and faced her. “That tells you so much about him, doesn’t it? It’s not wrong that you like him so much. You see in him what you’ve never seen in anyone else. Something worthy of that big heart of yours. In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you shed a tear over any man.”
TRUMAN LAID LINCOLN in the playpen and sat down in the lawn chair beside it. He glanced at Kennedy, sitting on Bear’s lap with her head on his shoulder. Bear had come to the shop earlier in the afternoon to get some work done on a motorcycle and had stuck around for dinner. They’d grilled burgers and had been shooting the shit ever since.
“I just wish Gemma would get here.” Truman ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair.
Kennedy lifted her head. “Gemma?” The fire’s glow cast dancing shadows across her sweet face.
“No, princess,” Truman answered.
Bear kissed her cheek and gently guided her head back down to his shoulder. “She’s not coming, man. It’s a lot to deal with. You might not ever see her again.”
“She’s got to pick up her car at some point.” Truman had hoped to catch a glimpse of her when she arrived. “I just want to know she’s okay.”
“She’s not okay. How can she be? The dude she likes just admitted to being in prison for killing a man. Regardless of the chivalric reasons, to a girl like Gemma, you’re the Big Bad Wolf.”
Truman leaned his elbows on his thighs. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Bear rubbed Kennedy’s back as her eyelids grew heavy.
Truman’s hands felt too empty, like the rest of him. “You ever think about having a family? Before these two, the thought never entered my mind, and honestly, before Gemma, I never wanted a woman in my life, either. But now I can’t imagine a day without them.” And I miss the hell out of her.
“It has entered mine plenty.” Bear looked thoughtfully at Kennedy. “Someday I want what you stumbled into. I love kids. I love family. But I also love variety. You know me.”
“Yeah, I do.” He chuckled at the term variety, but he knew how loyal Bear was. “You saved me, man. Too many times to count.”
“No I didn’t. No one can save anyone else. You know that. You saved yourself. You dragged your ass on that bus and got yourself here, and you dragged your brother here. Man,” Bear said, “even as a teenager you worked harder than half the men I know.”
Truman smiled, remembering the thrill he’d gotten from learning and accomplishing whatever task he’d been given. “You gave me a chance to get out of that hellhole I grew up in. You taught me what it was to have a sense of pride.” He got up and paced as headlights beamed down the driveway. His pulse sped up.
“That her?” Bear asked.
“Who else would come around this late? I’ll be right back.” He’d put a note in Gemma’s car for her, but he wanted to see her face when she read it.
