“Me, too.” The breeze picked up. In her tiny little shorts, Lex had to be cold. “I’ll follow you to Mom and Dad’s house.”
“Okay.” She opened the door but stopped before getting in. For a second, she looked down and kicked at a rock on the dirt road. “I’m scared, Drake.”
I pressed in closer and kissed her jaw. “Me, too. But… I would risk it all for you.”
She wrapped her arms around my waist; it felt so fucking right to have her in my arms. I wanted to lay her down and make love to her underneath the Alaskan sky the way I had so many times before. But we needed to take things slow.
And we needed to figure out who the hell did this.
Sweetly she murmured, “You’re worth it all, too, Drake.”
I closed my eyes as I held Lex, relishing her words.
Chapter Six
Drake
We were almost to my parents’ place when my phone vibrated.
Moochie: Glad things are working out. I’ll let you know when we’re having the next card night.
Me: Great. I’ll be there.
We pulled up to my parents’ place out in the country, about fifteen minutes from town. They had a large spread. My two brothers and I each had a hundred acres my parents had given us. The only stipulation was that if we ever wanted to sell it, family got to make the first reasonable offer.
It was heaven on earth.
In Alaska, you could go from a populated area to dense forest in the space of a quarter mile. Summers were beautiful, but winters were brutal. It took a strong person to survive this place.
As I got out of the truck, I checked for my brothers’ vehicles, but it looked like they were gone. They’d been there earlier to help Dad load some furniture. Mom had probably shooed them away when I texted her that I was bringing Lex out to stay with them.
Mom came out on the front porch as I hurried around the truck to open Lex’s door for her. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”
When I got to her door, I saw the warmth in her eyes that had always been there. There was no doubt that Lex owned me, body and soul.
Before I took her hand to help her out, I checked the back seat and the bed of her truck. There was nothing. “Do you have any bags?”
“Oh, no! Everything is at Teagan’s. I need to run over there and get some clothes.”
Lex started to climb back into her truck, but I put my hand on her elbow. I could tell her mind was going in a million different directions. “I’ve got something you can wear, or Mom will. We’ll get your stuff sorted tomorrow.”
“Alexa, oh, I have missed you so.”
I should have known Mom wouldn’t wait for us to get to the door. She pushed me to the side and had Lex in her arms in a bear hug in a nanosecond. It was the best fucking feeling in the world to see them together. Lex’s hug was just as fierce as they held on and whispered to each other. They’d been close. Really close. Lex had been the daughter Mom never had. And in some ways, Mom had been a mother figure for Lex.
To be honest, I liked Irene just fine as long as she didn’t meddle in my and Lex’s business. But Lex and her mom were different. They didn’t see eye to eye on much of anything. There had been many times I’d shown up to catch Irene criticizing Lex for not wearing enough makeup or dressing up enough. It pissed me the fuck off. Lex was perfect as she was. No changes were necessary.
Did Irene write the letter?
I hoped it wasn’t her. But I couldn’t rule her out. Too many times, she’d made insinuations about Hollis and Lex in front of me.
Mom ushered Lex toward the front door. “Come on in. I hope you’ll stay with us until you find a place. This place needs more women.”
“I’d like that. But I don’t want to impose.”
Mom reached the top of the stairs first and turned around with her hands on her hips. Oh man, I knew that look by the cock of her head. I’d received it many times growing up here.
“Alexa Marie, get that thought out of your head right this instant. You are family and will always be family.”