Bridget rubbed her temple. “While that may not have been the wisest choice, I still think it was a good one. I would have seen it anyway, sooner or later.”
“Yeah, but you could have been more prepared for it.”
Bridget frowned. She wasn’t sure she would ever have been prepared for that. Not in a million years, knowing what she saw. Bridget clenched her jaw and relaxed slightly into the couch. Eli was good for helping her out with this. She needed the calm, the steadiness of someone who was stronger than she was in that moment. Even through her fearful haze she could at least admit that.
“I don’t think I could have ever been prepared for that,” Bridget admitted. “All I’ve remembered about it have been tidbits here and there, sounds or smells. Never anything as full on as realizing if he’d been two more inches to the left I wouldn’t be here.”
“You almost weren’t with us.”
Bridget had ignored that fact as much as she could, and perhaps it was seeing the vehicle that reminded her that she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She had nearly died, and it was only by the grace of God that she hadn’t, it was only because of skilled hands and quick thinking that she had survived.
“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t.” Admitting that was harder than she’d ever thought it could be. She had died, and she’d been brought back to the land of the living only seconds later. She didn’t have some out of body experience like everyone talked about. She didn’t have a moment of clarity where she understood her purpose in life. Her near-death experience wasn’t even significant—at least not in the ways everyone thought of those
“I would have missed you,” Eli whispered, as though the words pained her to say. “And I’m so glad you’re not dead, Bridge.”
A fresh wave of sorrow filled her chest, and Bridget wasn’t sure what to do with it. She hadn’t thought her life meant anything to anyone, that anyone even cared for her beyond her job. Yes, she and Eli had been working on repairing their friendship—sort of. She had mostly ignored that too, but to hear those words from Eli’s lips shattered her.
“I’m so sorry,” Bridget answered.
“Don’t be sorry. It’s not anything you could control, but do know that I love you, and Mom loves you, and that you have family that would miss you if you were gone, and we’re so happy that you’re not.”
Bridget fought back a new wave of tears even as she embraced them this time. Those words were the most precious she had heard from Eli, and it was something she could never live without. She’d tried, and those few years had been absolute hell. She didn’t want to be alone again, not like that. It made her bitter and jaded in ways she couldn’t begin to comprehend, but she knew she didn’t want to be that person any longer.
“I’d feel the same way if I lost you,” Bridget finally said back. “So don’t be going and doing anything stupid on that ranch of yours, Eli, because I don’t want to take that call.”
Eli laughed lightly, obviously crying as well as she poured out her heart. “I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”
“Good.” They fell into silence, and Bridget felt as though she was far more grounded than she’d been when she called. “I’ll let you go, Eli. I’m feeling much better. Thank you.”
“Any time, Bridge. Please know that. I’ll answer your call whenever and wherever I am.”
“I know that.” A fresh wave of tears entered her eyes, and she pushed them away with her fingers. “Jerica will be home soon, and I don’t want to be a mess when she gets here.”
“Never,” Eli answered. “Go take a bath or something to get looking good for your girl. Oh, and Bridge?”
“What?”
“I’m serious that I expect to be in the wedding party when you two get married. I will continue to take credit for this match as long as humanly possible.”
“Shut up,” Bridget muttered, shaking her head. “If anyone deserves the credit, it’s Sonny.”
“Eh, you’re probably right on that one. Call me, though, if you need anything. Please.”
“I will.”
They hung up, and Bridget was once again cast into silence. She zoned out, thinking about her friendship with Eli until the lock on the front door turned and Jerica popped her head in, a brilliant smile on her lips.
“You have no idea how amazing it feels to come home and have you here,” Jerica stated, coming right up the stairs. “I’ve been waiting all day, literally, for this moment.”
She swooped in and planted a kiss right on Bridget’s lips. Bridget reached around the back of her head and dragged her down, deepening the kiss as much as she could. The stability of having someone there in the flesh was exactly what she needed, and while she used the kiss to distract herself, she knew she equally had to tell Jerica about her day and what had happened while she’d been gone.
When they parted, Jerica grinned at her. “How was your day?”
Well, they were going to get right to it then. Sighing, Bridget wrinkled her nose. “Not too great, actually, but it’s much better now.”
Jerica looked absolutely concerned, and Bridget reached over as Jerica sat on the edge of the couch and took her hand, squeezing lightly. “On the drive down, I had Eli take me by Jensen’s lot to see my cruiser. That might not have been my brightest idea, but I also think it was a necessary evil.”
“Wow.” Jerica’s eyes widened. “How bad was it?”