Gabe felt like her family now, even though he probably didn’t know that. She watched as he strode back inside the door, and then Tate moved beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. “Everything will be okay, Chloe. Let me take you home.”
She wanted to be at the ranch, the place where Gabe lived. For Chloe, it really was home. She nodded and let him lead her away from the county building, feeling enormous relief as she walked alongside her brother.
“What are they really up to?” Chloe asked softly.
Tate shrugged. “Settling things,” he answered noncommittally.
Chloe was silent, wondering exactly how things would be resolved. “I don’t want any of them in trouble.”
“They won’t be,” Tate said as he looked at her with a mischievous grin. “Blake’s a politician. He knows how to handle it.”
She didn’t doubt that Blake could probably keep himself out of trouble. He was great with bullshit, which was why he made an excellent politician. But Gabe and Zane were both hotheads when they were really ticked off. Zane’s temper was slow to ignite, but when it did, all hell broke loose. Gabe was very similar, and that worried her.
“Hey, don’t look so upset. Everything is going to be fine now, sweetheart,” Tate told her soothingly, tightening his arms around her shoulders as they walked toward his helicopter.
He’d set it down right in some open space of the parking lot. Strangely, there were no cars parked in the area.
She took Tate’s words to heart. It was necessary for her to believe that everything would turn out okay. If she didn’t, she’d go crazy.
“What were you thinking, Chloe? You know how much we all love you. I haven’t belonged to this family very long, but long enough to know that we stand by each other when trouble comes along,” Lara told Chloe tearfully as she hugged her.
Chloe was glad to be back at the ranch, but it was hard to face her sister-in-law and her mother, who had both just hugged the life out of her.
“I was thinking about how to stop my family from paying for my mistakes,” Chloe admitted as she untangled herself from Lara’s arms with tears streaming down her face. “I was so scared that all of you would pay for what I did.”
“Let’s get some coffee and we’ll talk. I don’t think the men will be gone for long,” Lara suggested. “I have a feeling I know exactly how they’re taking care of things. Tate’s going to be disappointed if they’re done when he gets back to pick them up.”
Chloe took a deep breath, relieved that she could busy her mind with the small task of making coffee and getting together some snacks. She loaded a tray and brought it out to where the women were still waiting. She looked around for the glass table that was usually in front of the sofa, but couldn’t find it. Finally, she just set the refreshments on a built-in shelf. She wasn’t really hungry, and her stomach was rolling too much for coffee.
Her mom and Lara each took a cup, Lara snatching up several of the snacks and tossing them into her mouth before she took a sip from her mug. “That’s good,” she said appreciatively.
The women all took a seat in Gabe’s living room.
Chloe swiped at leftover tears from the position she’d taken in a recliner, staring at her mom and Lara, who were seated directly across from her.
She’d always known her family was special, but maybe she’d never realized just how incredible they were until now. All of them had come to her side supportively and without judgment of the mess she’d made of her life. They just wanted to help her clean it up and be happy.
“It wasn’t your fault, Chloe, and you got out. You know you didn’t cause James to become a psycho,” Lara told her adamantly. “Maybe he was always this way, but he hid it. Sometimes an abusive relationship starts out okay and gets progressively worse. You two lived in separate states for over a decade. Natalie talked to you about how not to blame yourself for how James acts, right?”
Chloe nodded. “It was really bad once I came home to live in Rocky Springs. Before that, I guess I could just put it down to the fact that we rarely saw each other and it bothered him. He was pretty livid when I decided to do the extra residency for equines. Sometimes I did think it was me, that I needed to change. It took me awhile to realize that no matter what I did, he’d find fault just to hurt me.”
“I don’t suppose you called Natalie when he started blackmailing you?” Lara asked quietly.
“No. I didn’t have time, and I was too worried to say anything to anybody. I didn’t want to set him off and cause him to release the video. I couldn’t risk it,” Chloe admitted.
“Who’s Natalie?” Aileen asked curiously.
“She’s my counselor, Mom. I owe a lot to her and to Lara for hooking me up with help and giving me so much encouragement.” Chloe didn’t want to think about where she would be if it wasn’t for her support system. “Gabe has helped a lot, too.” That was putting it mildly, but she wasn’t about to blurt out details of her sex life to her mother. But the man she loved had taught her so much about herself, made her accept that she was a desirable woman without needing to change herself to make him want her.
“I told you that you’d know when you found the right one,” her mother reminded her smugly.
Chloe gaped. “I don’t know if he’s the right one.” Oh, she knew how she felt, but the agreement she had with Gabe was only temporary. And she was his employee.
“You know,” Lara disagreed, clearly of the same mind as Aileen. “Chloe, what are you afraid of? I know it might be too soon for you to really trust Gabe, but what Aileen says is true. Sometimes the guy is just…right, even if the timing is off. I knew Tate was the man for me pretty quickly.”