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TWENTY-SEVEN
“Okay, Ms. Dawson,” the detective taking her statement said. “I believe we have everything we need from you for now. We’ll be in touch.”
Eden shivered and pulled the blanket the EMTs had given her tighter around her body, glancing over as Terry Ross was loaded into the back of a waiting police car, his right arm in a sling, courtesy of the EMTs who had shown up shortly after the police.
Their eyes met briefly and the anger and pain she saw there made her shudder once more. She understood loyalty to your family. As much as hers sometimes drove her crazy, she also knew she’d do anything in her power to protect them. But her idea of “anything” was quite different from Terry Ross’s. Taking protectiveness to those extremes was not okay. And in the end, it had just meant that both the brothers would land behind bars.
Which reminded Eden of something. She stopped the detective, who was walking away. “What about the Jeffrey Ross trial?”
With everything else that had happened today, her testimony had fallen to the bottom of the list. Terry’s arrest brought it to the forefront again.
The detective looked back at her. “Oh, don’t worry. The judge rescheduled your testimony for next week. The trial is on hold to give the court time to talk to his brother Terry here and get him arraigned as well. Looks like you could be doing double duty on the witness stand, Ms. Dawson.”
“And I’ll be there to guard her when she does,” Chandler said, walking up to stand beside her, apparently done giving his statement as well. Once the detective walked away, Chandler looked down at her. “Ready to go?”
She felt like one of the rescue mutts the local shelters brought in for her and Lena to clean up—sore, scared, and straggly. But Chandler was looking at her like he couldn’t bear to pull his eyes away. Her stomach twisted with anticipation of the talk they were going to have—needed to have. She could only hope it went better than the conversation they’d had in the police station parking lot.
Her best friend’s words repeated in her head.
Things tend to look different when you’re not fighting for your lives.
Could Lena be right? Could they fix what was broken in their relationship and move forward?
Eden wasn’t sure she had the energy to try at that point, but she forced herself to nod. “Yes.”
“Okay.” Chandler helped her down from the back of the ambulance, keeping his arm around her waist when she wobbled slightly. Eden was glad for the support. It was all she’d ever wanted. To know someone would be there if she needed them. Not to provide coddling, but to shore her up with concern and caring. Carefully and slowly, they made their way over to one of the uniformed beat cops who’d been tasked with driving them back to the courthouse so Chandler could get his car.
The ride there was quiet. With every pothole or speed bump, Eden hissed slightly. The EMTs had said nothing was broken, which was good. She was just bruised from the manhandling and from bumping around in the trunk of the car while Terry drove way too fast. Her scalp still ached, too, from where he’d hauled her around by her hair. Asshole.
A couple times Chandler glanced her way, silently asking her with his gaze if she was okay. She didn’t bother saying anything. She wasn’t okay, but she wasn’t hurt in a way they could fix, so there didn’t seem to be any point in bringing it up.
Finally, they were back at the courthouse and in Chandler’s car. It felt like a million years had passed since they’d sat here, though it had been only a few hours. She guessed that’s what trauma did to a person. Slowed things down and speeded them up all at once. With a sigh, she buckled her seat belt and closed her eyes, leaning back against the head rest. Some of the tension left her body and her shoulders drooped.
At least until Chandler asked, “Will you come back to my house with me? So we can talk?”
She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
When they arrived at his home, Chandler was nothing but solicitous, helping her from the car, getting her settled on his sofa, making sure she was warm and comfortable, even making her hot tea and bringing her a heating pad for her aching muscles. She hadn’t been pampered like this in forever, and it felt great, even if she sensed it was the calm before the storm in their relationship.
Finally, after they were both sitting on the sofa, Eden on one end, Chandler on the other, he set his own tea aside and gave her a grave look. “I’ve got some explaining to do.”
She sipped her tea, looking at him over the rim of her mug. “Go on.”
A tiny muscle ticked near his tense jaw as he glanced away. “Look, I know I acted like an ass the other night in the parking lot. I said a lot of things and left you feeling hurt and rejected. I’d like to clear things up now.”
“Good.” She wasn’t going to make this easy for him, even if she was dying to reach over and pull him into her arms and never let him go.
He took a deep breath and continued. “The reason I pushed you away was because I was scared.”
“Of what?” Eden frowned. “You’re a trained SEAL. There’s nothing you can’t do.”
Chandler snorted, the sound raw and derisive. “Right. Nothing except give you what you need.”
“What I need?” She set her tea aside, tucking her legs farther underneath her, clutching the heating pad to her middle like a shield. This was exactly what she didn’t want. People assuming they knew better than her what she needed. “I’m the one who decides what that is, Chandler. And I’m the one who knows whether I’m getting it or not.”
“I know.” Cringing, he stared down at his lap, then glanced up and met her flat look. “I do. I just…I let the ball drop on this case because I cared so much about keeping you safe—and I felt like I was failing. Shutting down my emotions seemed like the best way to get the job done. I needed to prove to myself that I could take care of you, both on the case and off. When Ross took you today, it forced me to face some hard facts. For my whole career, my whole life really, I’ve tried to compartmentalize everything, keeping my work and my emotions separate. Then you came along and messed it all up. I wanted you to trust me to protect you and take care of you, but how could you when I didn’t even trust myself?”
Eden reached across and took his hand, ducking her head to catch his gaze. “Listen to me, Chandler Ruthven. Up until our fight, you had been there for me every step of the way. And despite our fight, there is no one I trust more than you on this earth. No one. The only way you could ever let me down is by walking away from what we have together. Everything else is nonsense. Understand?”
