Brandon chuckled. “Robert and I already consult with each other and have since he and David sponsored my membership. I’ve spent time mentoring and also being a monitor there. I am looking forward to the day that Trace and I can take Rachel to the Lyon’s Den. We might take her to a social, first. But yes, I think we’d be interested in a dungeon closer to home.”
“Closer is much better than the trek to Houston,” Donny said. “I have early mornings through the week, and I don’t have every weekend off.”
“There might be other families who’d be interested in a private, local dungeon, too,” Damion said.
Rachel turned to her friends and grinned. “Now that sounds interesting,” she said. Then she looked at Iris’s baby belly. “How are you feeling? You’ve got, what, a month to go?”
“Three weeks and two days, but who’s counting?”
Iris’s husbands proved right then that, even though they were into their own conversation, they were aware of hers, too.
“We are,” Donny said. “Counting, that is.”
“Only we have it down to the hour. So it’s actually three weeks, one day and”—Rich looked at his watch—“nineteen hours.”
They settled down at a table close to their friends. Just moments later, Rachel was pleased she was sitting, because Emily Anne, Mel, and Connor came into the restaurant. Of course, everyone clapped, because this was the social debut of little Melissa Mae Richardson.
“She’s so adorable,” Rachel said. The moment she began to cuddle the newborn, Libby and Bonnie and even little Colleen gathered close. After she got her baby fix, Connor took his daughter, sat on a chair, and let any of the kids who were interested see her.
“Congratulations,” Emily Anne said.
“Right back at you.” Rachel grinned, because the day she got engaged was, of course, the same day Melissa Mae was born.
“So, you’ll be staying in Lusty?” she asked.
It was a question they’d been asked a few times. They’d simply affirmed that that was the plan and that Brandon’s career had taken a turn that meant he was likely going to be stateside for the foreseeable future.
Rachel didn’t want to dwell on that evening, a few days ago, when Brandon had told both her and Trace that, for security reasons, he wasn’t going to be deployed to Afghanistan or Iran again. She was grateful he’d be inside their own country, instead of someplace else where the bullets—or IEDs—would be flying.
But it scared her, down deep inside, to know that some nameless, faceless person had wanted to see him dead.
Chloe arrived with Grant, Andrew, and their twin boys. Rachel enjoyed snuggling with little James and Adam. Chloe had been her first friend from Lusty.
She thought again of the connections and how a community could grow. Because before Chloe had come to Lusty, she’d had a very close friend—Laci Sinclair. Laci and her then-husband had moved from Houston to Abilene, and then, after he’d died in a fire that he’d set to kill her, she’d fled to Lusty, and her good friend.
Rachel watched as Laci and her men—two brothers named Benedict—Lucas and another Trace, arrived with a baby carrier in hand.
She’d met little Zoe Diane, of course. Now, watching all these men with their newborn babies, she found another connection. The love and acceptance here that flowed as freely as the local rivers not only fed and nurtured. Those two commodities appeared to produce men unafraid to show their love and caring for their families. She’d never known there were these kinds of good dads in the world, and here she—and Libby—were surrounded by so many of them.
True heroes, every one of them. I feel so lucky to be here and so sorry for anyone who isn’t.
Chloe settled down beside her while eager grandparents scooped her sons. She’d already spoken to her and Libby about offering a “teen line” of baubles on her web site.
Libby and Bonnie came and sat down for a few minutes, and for a bit, they talked shop.
“We have a great mockup for the web page for the Fun and Glam line,” Libby said.
“I knew you two would get right on that! Fantastic. How about if we get together Sunday afternoon? Y’all can come over for supper.”
Rachel just sat and grinned. Oh, she had no doubt that this was partly business, pure and simple, on Chloe’s part, but it was also a kindness. Papers were being drawn up, because she was planning to take Libby and Bonnie on as “partners.”
Rachel could hardly wait to see what the girls came up with. The girls headed back to sit on their own. They spent a lot of time together, and Rachel believed their bond, in the aftermath of their abduction, had just grown stronger.
One guest at the party was unexpected—Clint Parrish, the sergeant with the DPS who had been in charge the day Libby and Bonnie Dorchester had been abducted. He arrived with his best friend, Ramón Estevez, an FBI agent, and their wife, Marcia.
Brandon greeted Ramón like an old friend. Adam, Jake, and Ginny joined them, and for a few minutes, they all simply chatted. Brandon had met the visiting triad previously—apparently they were members of the Lyon’s Den, too—but she and Trace had not.
Then Grandma Kate joined them. Rachel couldn’t help but notice that everyone felt genuine affection toward Kate Benedict, especially the visiting guests. Brandon got up and offered the nonagenarian his chair right next to Rachel. Kate’s grip on her hand was sure and strong.
“This is such a joyous occasion for me,” Kate said. “I can’t tell you how very happy I am that the three of you found each other.”
“Thank you, Grandma Kate. You’ve been a blessing in my life since I first met you, when Chloe was getting ready to open her spa.” Rachel blushed. “When I was in
