He’d take anything at that moment. “Okay, I can do that. I’ll text you my number if you need me before.”
“Okay.”
“Tessa, I love you more than you’ll ever know. I’d rather face a faction of insurgents than lose you.”
“Sometimes love isn’t enough. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Wait,” he yelled, but she had already hung up.
He took a moment to calm down before he turned and handed the phone back to Brylee.
“Thank you.”
Brylee wiped a tear from her eye. “You really love her?”
“I don’t know how much your daddy loves you, but I’m guessing you’re his world.”
“You’d be correct,” Gage said.
“I feel that way about Tessa. She’s the other half of me. Let me take care of her, please,” Nate said.
Gage squeezed Brylee. “Tell him, princess.”
“She told me she was going home.”
Nate’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, Lord. The house she grew up in?”
“I think so.”
“It was sold a few days ago. That was the main thing stressing me out. I didn’t want to tell her that her childhoodhome was gone to another family. I knew it would break her heart.”
“Oh, no,” Brylee said.
“I’ll take care of it. I’ll head there now.” He didn’t care that it was the middle of the night. He needed to be with Tessa.
Gage nodded.
The three walked back into the room, and Nate got their attention and told them what was going on and that he was going to get her.
“Do you need any backup?” Cole asked.
Nate shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’ll call you later to tell you about our plans.”
“Good luck,” Blake said.
“Thanks, I’m going to need it.”
Chapter Twenty
The next morning, Tessa’s grip slipped again on the plastic bags she was carrying. She never realized how far it was to the grocery store if you had to walk there, and she hadn’t had the energy to walk miles to begin with.
But she needed food and toilet paper. The furniture and other stuff would come later.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked through the back door and into the kitchen. She set the bags down, turned, and screamed.
“What in the world are you doing here, Gary? How’d you get in here?”
She pressed her hand against her chest, where her heart raced.