Chapter 14
She was back in the compound, even though she had protested how she was perfectly capable of going to the clinic. Instead they’d hauled her straight back here. Nancy had called in Jimmy to take her spot, giving the briefest of explanations. Now Alfred appeared to be in his element: fussing over her. Ice had cleaned the wound, determined it didn’t need any stitches, but, because it would look ugly if it wasn’t closed properly, she popped in a couple while Louise watched.
“You’re very good at that.”
Ice smiled. “I probably have more field experience than you have clinical experience.”
Louise nodded. “Sometimes life is like that, isn’t it?”
“You did good,” Ice said. “Happy to have you on my team any day.”
Louise smiled, feeling the warmth of friendship she hadn’t expected. She hadn’t really expected to find any of this actually. She’d spent the last five busy years building a business. After she had completed her education, it had seemed like a natural progression. But she hadn’t imagined that progression to take every waking moment of her day. Between staffing issues and building new clients who came and went, she’d found herself working all the time.
Until she saw the camaraderie and friendships that had formed at Levi’s compound, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted more of that in her life. And how much else she might have missed out on because she’d been so focused on work. As much as she wanted these people as friends, she didn’t want them to look at her and always see a woman in need.
She said as much to Ice.
Ice looked at her in surprise and chuckled. “That’ll never happen. We are a fully vibrant, dynamic unit. Everybody here has a place. We don’t knock Bailey because she doesn’t want to go out on a mission because her mission is in the kitchen, and we are all delighted to eat her efforts. Everybody here has a place, and everybody here revels in doing what it is they are good at. They have to learn a lot of things they aren’t good at too,” Ice said quietly. “It’s part of living in a compound that has been under attack before. We all have alarm stations to go to. We all have things we do in emergency situations.” She smiled, stood and said, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll fit in just fine.”
Louise wasn’t sure what that meant. But Rory stepped around the corner and smiled at her. “Ice said I could come in.”
He held a wiggling puppy who, even though she was full of energy, was also fighting off sleep. It was the nature of a young animal. They played and played until they dropped. Louise wondered if it wasn’t the nature of all the animals here. She reached out her arms for the puppy. As soon as the puppy was transferred to her, she dropped her head and just cuddled her.
“This is Rose,” Rory said.
Louise raised an eyebrow. “It’s probably not a good idea to name them.”
“Too late,” Rory said. “As far as I’m concerned, this gal’s mine.”
“Only if Levi lets you keep him, right?”
“Well, there are six of them. Michael wants one, and he’s got his own place. Of course Flynn and Anna have their own place but don’t need any more animals. Alfred is insisting on two. A couple of the guys who will live in the apartments want to have one. I highly suspect not one of these pups will leave this complex.”
She shook her head. “Then we better get them fixed and fast.”
He chuckled. “Exactly.”
She handed the big-bellied Rose back to Rory and said, “Interesting that you chose her.”
“Oh, why?” Rory asked. “I’m not sure I chose her as much as she chose me.”
“That’s the thing, isn’t it? I was there that day you arrived. She’s the one that waddled over to you as if she already knew you would be a sucker for her.”
He gently cuddled the sleeping pup in his arms and said, “I didn’t realize how prophetic that day would be. But now that I look back on it …”
She hopped off the gurney. Even though Ice had given her some topical anesthetic, her arm was stinging pretty good. She focused on him and tried to keep any evidence of pain from registering on her face. She titled her head at him and raised her eyebrows.
“Because that’s also the same day I met you,” Rory said. “I didn’t understand Levi’s words at the time. He said something to me after you left about me fitting right in, and I might as well just get used to it. And I’ve come to realize what he meant.”
She stopped and stared at him, now with a frown crinkling her forehead. “Explain?”
“Everybody here is paired up. Everybody here has met somebody very special in their life, most of them while they were working at the compound. I didn’t understand that’s what he meant at the time, but I do now. Because he’s right. I do fit in. And he’s right in another way. I will get used to it.”
Suspicious now, she narrowed her gaze and said, “What’s it?”
“Having you in my life,” he said quietly. “Having a relationship with you and seeing where it goes. Seeing if we can find the same magic everybody else here has already found.”
She smiled, the corner of her lips tilting up. She hadn’t dared hope he would have the same kind of feelings she had. That he appeared to was almost beyond believable. She felt truly blessed.
“What’s that smile for?” he asked. “You know, when a guy starts talking about his feelings, you are supposed to at least reassure him or give him the cold shoulder, so he knows where he stands.”
She chuckled. “I’m glad you finally told me where you stand.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” he protested. “You haven’t told me yet where you stand.”
She shook her head and wrapped her good arm around him. “Sure I did, when I invited you into my shower last night.”
“But that wasn’t …” and then he stopped and said, “Oh, that’s why it took five years.”
She nodded. “Exactly. I don’t love lightly. But, when I do love, I love deep.”
With Rose tucked into his arm, he closed the other one around Louise and held her close. “In that case I’m doubly blessed.”
She whispered against his heart, “And so am I.”