“And he barely has his life,” she replied. “I don’t have a fraction of what he does, but I know my life is more important than my wallet.”
“I need to rethink our security here,” I said. “I can’t let you, Lucas, or any of the volunteers leave at night when there is a higher risk. We need to do the buddy system. And as much as I hate it, everyone needs to be prepared to defend themselves. This situation just seems to get worse. Our lovely neighbors are getting bolder and more desperate.”
“You’re the one that stays late,” she reminded me.
“True, but I usually have Kona,” I said.
“Kona doesn’t have thumbs. Or fingers. She can’t call for help.”
I laughed at the idea. “True, but she’s got some fierce teeth.”
“If only that was enough,” she said. “What about that security company that came by a couple of months ago?”
“That’s so expensive,” I groaned.
“Now you sound like Reese,” she scolded. “You can’t put a price on human life. You got that big donation. Instead of doing those upgrades, you could invest it in security. More lights out front. Better cameras and a drive-by from a rent-a-cop is better than nothing. The idea is to show the assholes out there you aren’t alone. Show them they aren’t going to be just attacking a single person. They will get caught.”
“I’ll look into it,” I said. “You’re right. It’s too risky not to. I’m going to put up a bulletin in the break room. People have to take this seriously. We’re never going to get people in here to adopt if they fear for their lives.”
“We’ll get through it,” she said. “We’ve been through worse.”
“Reese is a big guy,” I said. “He took a beating. I’m not sure any one of us could take it. His ribs are black and blue.”
“When did you see his ribs?” she asked.
I didn’t want to hide it. I was actually very happy with our situation. “This morning. In the shower.”
She groaned and dropped her head. “Oh, Thea. I knew you were going to fall back into your old bad habits.”
“It’s not like that,” I said. “I’m not some naïve little girl going into something without knowing exactly what I’m getting into.”
“But he’s your one,” she said. “He was your first. There’s always going to be that connection. That doesn’t mean it’s a healthy connection. From what I’ve seen, he hasn’t changed. He’s back in your life because he made a total disaster of his. He needs you to save him from his own bad choices. What happens after you’ve saved him? He goes back to sleeping with half the country and you’re left brokenhearted again. You’re not like him. You don’t do light and unattached. You fall hard.”
“I’m not like that,” I argued. “Not anymore. And he has changed. He’s the same, but he’s grown up a lot. He has apologized for the past. It was genuine and I believe it. He knows he screwed up. What he did was awful. I’ve forgiven, but I have not forgotten. But we do enjoy being together. He’s been good to me thus far. It’s not like we’re in a committed relationship. We’re just having a little fun together. We’ll see where it goes. I might decide he’s not for me.”
“Too late,” she said. “You’re already crazy about him. You know you never stopped loving him.”
“I have love for him, but I’m not in love with him,” I corrected.
“What does Rich have to say about this?” she asked.
“Nothing, because he doesn’t know,” I said. “We’re not going to tell him. I wasn’t going to tell you either, but well, here we are.”
“You just made me a party to your lie,” she said. “You can’t lie to your brother. It is going to blow up in your face. He’s going to find out. Then what?”
“I know Rich was understanding the first time, but he made it pretty clear he didn’t think Reese and I should be together. They managed to stay friends, but it was strained for a while. With everything going on with our dad and Reese dealing with some family stuff, they need each other. They are like brothers. I don’t want Rich to find out and end up losing his best friend. This is not the time. Besides, I’m a lot older and a lot smarter than I was back then. I can handle this.”
“I hope so,” she said. “But you need to tell Rich. You guys are close. It will hurt him to find out you’ve been lying to him.”
I knew she was right, but the thought of telling my brother was a little terrifying. “I know, I know. I need to text Reese and make sure he’s good. Plus, I got the number of the people that saved his life. I forgot to give it to him.”
“You met them?”
“They went to the hospital,” I said. “They knew me. Apparently, they adopted a dog from us. Actually, can you look them up in the computer? I want to send them a thank-you gift as well.”
I gave her the name while I quickly tapped out the text to Reese. I wanted to make sure he reached out to them. After sending him the information, I checked the notifications on the real estate app I was watching like a hawk.
“Anything?” Ally asked.