Della
I opened my eyes and stared into Woods's eyes. He was already awake. The way he looked at me made me feel treasured. Like I was some precious jewel he wanted to protect. "Good morning," he said as his fingers continued to trace the length of my arm with a featherlike touch.
"Good morning," I said, smiling at him. "How long have you been awake?"
"You mean how long have I been staring at you?" he asked teasingly.
"Yes, that too," I replied.
"About an hour. I woke up and you were so damn gorgeous curled up against me I couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't want to sleep and waste time that I could spend looking at you."
My heart squeezed. "You have a way with words, Mr. Kerrington," I told him.
"You think?"
I nodded. "I know."
"Good, because I want to ask you about the past two weeks and I want you to tell me everything," he said.
"I thought you knew everything already," I replied, realizing it had to be Tripp he'd been talking to. Braden hadn't been with me for most of those weeks.
"I know what Tripp and Braden told me. I want to know everything that Della knows."
So they'd both been in on this. I couldn't be mad at them. Not now. I was in Woods's arms. They had brought me back here. They had made me face my fears.
"I almost didn't come back. I was scared to face you. I was afraid you didn't want me. Braden and Tripp talked me into coming back."
Woods smiled at me and reached over to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Sweetheart, I was coming after you. Your time was almost up. I had told Braden you had forty-eight hours. I had started packing my bag when I got the call from Tripp saying you'd be back in four hours. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you came home to me. But I wasn't going to stand back any longer. I'd given you three weeks. I wanted you back."
He had been coming to get me. That was why Braden was so insistent that I come back to him. She wanted me to be the one to come back. "I'm not sure what I did to score a best friend like Braden, but I'm so thankful I have her."
Woods kissed the tip of my nose. "There were a few times I considered locking her up long enough to get you and run."
Giggling, I moved closer to him. "But I came home."
"Yes, you did. And it was so damn sweet."
He wanted to know about all that had happened. I wanted to tell him about everything. "Do you know I was adopted?" He nodded. "Well, I met both of them. I even met Glenda's---that's my birth mother---family. She has a daughter and a son. Her husband was quiet but he seemed nice. I mostly watched her daughter. I wondered if I would have been so free and outspoken if I had lived her life. And I have my birth father's eyes. His name is Nile. He was the high school heartthrob. I can look at him twenty years later and tell that. He's handsome and I think he may still be a little in love with Glenda, which is weird. But I try not to think about it."
I continued to tell Woods all about meeting the people who gave me life. I hadn't told Braden much about each meeting and she hadn't pressed, but with Woods I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted him to know that Nile smoked cigars and Glenda used to sing. She wanted to be a country singer once.
By the time I had finished telling him about everything, he had sat up and leaned against the headboard and pulled me into his lap. He made small circles on the palm of my hand and stayed silent. So I talked more.