Page 19 of Deserving Lara
Owl could only continue to stare at his friend in surprise. Through all the years he’d known him, he’d never been this…He didn’t even know what the word was. Supportive? Intuitive?
No, that wasn’t fair. Tonka was probably always this way, he’d just been dealing with some pretty heavy shit in his head, just like all the others.
“Thanks,” he said after a moment.
“You’re welcome. Now, this fence isn’t going to build itself. And I have it on good authority that women like when their men are all sweaty and testosterone-y.”
Owl burst into laughter. “Testosterone-y? That’s not a word.”
Tonka shrugged. “So? It’s true. It’s that lumberjack fantasy or something. You go back to your cabin shining with sweat, maybe with your shirt off, and Lara won’t be able to resist you.”
Owl rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, smelling like cow shit, covered in dirt, and dripping bodily fluids all over the floor…so attractive.”
Tonka grinned. “You’ve got a lot to learn. Come on, help me fit this post and we can get started on the next hole.”
As Owl reached for the post, he thought about what his friend had said. All of it. He wasn’t sure where he and Lara would end up…but for once, he had a small sliver of hope that maybe he might have a chance with the woman he was madly in love with.
But on the heels of that came the knowledge that Carter Grant was still at large, and as long as he was free, he’d want to get his hands on Lara.
No way in hell was Owl going to allow that to happen. Lara had been through enough; he’d die before he’d allow her to go through that horrible abuse and torture ever again.
* * *
Lara smiled at her friend. They’d spent a quiet and relaxing morning at Owl’s cabin, chatting about easy topics that kept Lara’s mind at ease. Now they were in the cabin Cora shared with Pipe, expecting Alaska, Reese, Ryan, and Luna to arrive in about fifteen minutes. They were going to sit up on the rooftop deck and enjoy the first semi-warm day they’d had in quite a while.
“Pipe and I want to have a simple ceremony here. Upstairs on our deck. Nothing fancy, just us and our officiant.”
“That sounds beautiful. You don’t want something like Henley and Tonka had?”
“No. I mean, their reception in the barn was awesome, but no, being the center of attention like that gives me hives. Remember what a basket case I was when I only had to walk across the stage at graduation? I barely made it throughthat.”
Cora wasn’t wrong. She had such a bad case of stage fright. Even though all she had to do was walk up three stairs, take five steps, shake the principal’s hand, and go down some stairs back to her seat, it was a miracle she hadn’t tripped and fallen on her face.
“True,” Lara said with a wide grin, remembering that day.
“I’ve missed that,” Cora said.
“What?”
“You. Your effortless smile.”
Lara pressed her lips together in consternation. “I’m sorry,” she blurted.
“For what?” Cora asked.
“For getting mad at you. For yelling. I know you weren’t jealous of me, you’ve never in our entire lives been envious of anything I’ve had. I was a horrible friend, and I don’t deserve you. What you did…selling your stuff, going to that auction, telling off Eleanor Vanlandingham—although I wish I could’ve seen that part. I can’t ever repay you.”
Cora walked over to where Lara was standing and immediately pulled her into a hard hug. Cora was five inches shorter than Lara, but she simply yanked her forward, into her arms, and held on fiercely. “You don’t need to apologize. Like always, I should’ve been more tactful. I knew how much you liked Ridge, I just didn’t trust him.”
“I know. I should’ve listened to you. And for the record, not that it mattered, I did already have my doubts about our relationship. My rose-colored glasses were fading. I just…I thought that maybe if I went to Arizona with him, if we got away from DC and all the stress I thought he was under, he’d realize how amazing we were together. I never meant to leave for good. It was just supposed to be for a little while.”
Cora pulled back and held onto Lara’s arms as she stared up at her. “I’msorry.”
“What on earth doyouhave to be sorry for?” Lara asked with a frown.
“That it took so long to get to you. I met with the police and your parents, and they didn’t believe me. I even spoke with some private detectives, but I obviously don’t have the right connections because they all felt like scammers to me. Wanted payment up front…and I’m not gullible enough to fall for that. When I read about the guys from The Refuge, and researched them, I had a feeling they were your best chance. There was always the risk that they wouldn’t want to get involved. I mean, it’s not like they were hiring themselves out to track down kidnapped girlfriends, but I was desperate.”
“You did good,” Lara told her best friend. “But I’m still mad at you,” she said as sternly as she could.
