And if he made enough of them, he’d eventually get to where he wanted to be.
Drake and Adria each gave Shelby a hug and said goodbye to her and Eliza.
Chase gave Eliza a quick kiss on the head, then glanced at Shelby. “I’ll walk them out, then come back and help you with Eliza’s bath.”
“Take your time.” Shelby smiled at Drake and Adria once more and walked with Eliza down the hall.
Drake put his hand on Chase’s shoulder. “You look happy here.”
“I am.”
“Maybe next time we see you, you’ll have good news to share with us. Something that will include wedding bells,” Adria hinted.
“We’ll see.” He hoped so. It felt like things were heading in that direction, but they had a little ways to go. Especially him. Before he and Shelby had a real shotat forever, he needed to be sure he had his shit together and he’d never hurt Shelby the way he had the other night.
She forgave him. She understood.
But if it happened again... He couldn’t expect her to keep going through that and letting it slide.
He was wholly responsible for his actions whether he was conscious of them or not. And if he thought he was a threat to Shelby or Eliza... He didn’t want to think about what he’d have to do to keep them safe, because all he really wanted was to be with them.
But maybe that wasn’t possible.
He didn’t want to go there.
Remmy nudged his nose into Chase’s palm. Chase immediately got out of his head and patted the dog’s head.
Drake lifted his chin toward the dog. “He’s doing his job. Work with him. Let him help you. Pretty soon, you’ll notice that you’re calmer, because he’ll stop you from going down the rabbit hole in your head.”
Chase stared at Drake, then down at Sunny sitting right next to him. He nodded. “I can’t thank you enough for... everything.”
“I’ve got your back. You’ve got mine. That didn’t end when we came home. Remember that.” Drake held the truck door open for Adria and Sunny to climb in, then shook Chase’s hand and walked to the driver’s side door. “I’ll see you soon.”
Chase heard the order in the goodbye. “See you soon.”
Before Drake closed his door, he added, “It gets better, Chase.”
He hoped so. It was up to him to do the work to make sure things didn’t get worse.
Chase waved one last time as Drake drove away, then squatted and stared into Remmy’s brown eyes. “I need your help. If I start having bad dreams tonight, you need to wake me up and keep me from hurting Shelby. Okay?”
Remmy let out a soft woof.
Chase stood and headed back up to the house, Remmy beside him and, he hoped, a better future in front of him.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chase came up behind Shelby in the kitchen and kissed her neck. “Morning, sweetheart.”
She reached up and slid her fingers through his hair. “Sleep well?” She didn’t really need to ask. The last five nights had been a transition from Chase waking from a nightmare several times a night to him barely twitching in his sleep last night.
The new medication combined with the relief he clearly felt after talking to Adria and Drake, plus having Remmy, had helped.
She turned and stared at Chase and wanted to cry with relief that he’d slept the entire night and looked like it.
The dark circles under his eyes were gone. He smiled, bright and open with real happiness shining through. “I did. My back isn’t even aching this morning.”
The exercises she’d taught him had been working as well.