“Because he fell for Nell,” Max continued. “Like how I got so much nicer after we married Rach.”
Rye snorted. “Sure you did. You got smarter because you suddenly had a leash.” Rye leaned against one of the fence posts that separated the barn area from the big pasture. “I’m sorry if I freaked out. Max is right. Nothing has changed except you’ll have some interesting stories to tell over a couple of beers.”
“Most of those stories are classified.” He had so much to worry about beyond the cartel coming after him. “My whole life before I came here was classified. I didn’t exactly resign from the Agency. I wouldn’t have been allowed to. I knew too much.”
There would have been too many consequences. He wouldn’t have simply been allowed to walk away back then.
“How did you get away?” Rye asked.
“Blew up a car. Faked my death.” He’d had help, but he couldn’t talk about those Special Forces soldiers who’d risked a lot to get him out.
“What kind of car?” Max looked like a kid at Christmas. “How did you blow it? Could you do the same to Mel’s old clunker? It’s a menace. When you’re behind it you get a little high off the fumes coming out of that thing.”
Rye nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. Mel thinks the fumes keep the aliens away. He’ll think they’re fighting back. We’ll totally get away with it.”
If he didn’t watch it, he would get pulled into all the twins’ plans. “I don’t think Nate would like it if we started blowing up things.”
Like he’d blown up his marriage.
He heard the door to the house slam open and then Rachel Harper was striding toward them, a baby on her hip and another in her belly. Rachel wore overalls, her strawberry blonde hair up in a ponytail and an expression on her face he couldn’t quite read.
“Uh, I might have texted Rachel the news,” Max admitted.
Damn. He liked Rachel and she might be about to tell him to get off her property.
“I’m sorry,” Max was saying. “If I hear something and don’t tell her, she gets all upset with me. I had to. I had to prove my worth.”
Rye frowned his brother’s way. “Damn it, Max. Did you think about the fact that Henry might not want everyone to know?”
“She has the boobs,” Max replied resolutely.
She also never held back her opinion. And she was from Texas, too, so Max was being super hypocritical there.
Rachel walked right up to him. “Is it true?”
God, he hated this feeling, and he was going to have it a lot in the next few days. “Yes.”
Rachel handed her baby off to Rye and then crossed the space between herself and Henry. He braced himself for the storm, but she simply wrapped him up in a bear hug. “Oh, Henry. I’m so glad you’re safe. Is Nell all right? Did she know?”
He stood there for a moment and then slowly hugged her back. Something eased inside him. Rachel was one of the hard cases. If she understood… “No. She found out today. I’m sorry I lied.”
Rachel pulled back and wiped tears from her eyes. “Well, of course you did. You couldn’t walk in and announce who you were. I’m sure that was classified, and honestly, even later you had to keep the secret or Max there would have bugged you about assassinating his enemies and Rye would have tried to put you on the payroll when he was sheriff.”
“Hey, I would have taken ex-CIA operative over Logan any day of the week,” Rye admitted. “Nate got so lucky Cam came to town or we would have the Farley brothers in khakis.”
“Is she okay?” Rachel had taken a step back.
She couldn’t possibly know how much that hug meant to him. That hug let him know it was still okay to be Henry. Henry was the man who got hugs, who people cared about, who had a place in this town. “No. Nell’s devastated, and I’m not sure she’s going to let me back in the house.”
Rachel’s lips quirked up slightly. “Well, I bet you know how to break in, superspy.”
There was nowhere Nell could run that he couldn’t find her, but there were problems with that scenario. “Shouldn’t I honor her wishes?”
Rachel waved that off. “Nah. She’s your wife. You can’t grovel properly if she won’t let you in. And honestly, I’ll be surprised if Nell locks you out of the cabin. She’ll be mad as hell, but she won’t leave you out in the cold.”
He wasn’t so sure about that. He could still remember how hollow she’d looked when she’d asked him for time. “She wanted to be alone for a while.”
“She’ll probably need time to process,” Rachel allowed. “Give it to her. And when she finally explodes, take it.”
“Nell is going to protest you,” Max agreed.
“Nell doesn’t really get angry. Not at her friends.” Rye settled his toddler daughter in his arms. Paige Harper laid her head on her father’s shoulder and seemed ready for a nice nap.
Rachel snorted. “Oh, I assure you, she will explode at some point.”
“She’s a forgiving woman,” Max pointed out. “She tells me that all the time. And then she tells me I have to forgive people too.”
“Yeah, it’s different when it’s the one person in the world who’s supposed to be safe.” Rachel turned back to Henry. “I don’t know how it is for men, but sometimes for women it’s easier to be angry with that person. You’re the person she never has to be fake with.”
“I don’t want her to be. I’ll take all the anger she has.” It was her silence that he feared.
“Good. And you need to understand that I’m going
