Lost & Found (Possessed 3)

“When do you have to go back?” Ace asked, his voice even.

“About that.” She looked away briefly. “I quit my job, gave up my apartment, and am having James sell anything that I told him held no meaning. Everything I own is in my little Jeep sitting outside the courthouse, right now. So, technically, I don’t have to go back at all.” Her words were rushed as she confessed what she’d done, her eyes shy and hesitant as if they might reject her.

“You’re going home, Pepper.” Disappointment colored her green eyes, dimming the light until he said, “With us.”

She flew into their arms. Wrapping one arm around each of their necks. “I missed you both so much.”

“Yeah, baby, we missed you, too.” Nick kissed her cheek, placing a hand on her back. The feel of her in his arms something he’d never take for granted again.

“It’s not the same without you here, baby,” Ace said, smoothing her hair down her back.

Having Pepper in his arms made Ace never want to let her go. Seeing her in that courtroom had been a huge shock. Waking up that morning, he had been prepared to walk out with some sort of criminal record because the fucking mayor had an axe to grind with them for whatever reason.

As his beautiful girl had explained her emotions and feelings, making everyone close their eyes to get a better picture, her soft voice carried through the room. He had felt all of her pain and had wanted to rush to her side and hold her.

Never in his life did he want her to feel anything but their love again. It was a goal he intended to achieve. Now hearing her tell them she’d left everything behind to be with them made him the happiest man in the world. He still didn’t believe he was worthy of someone who loved so wholly, but he’d make it his life’s mission to earn her adoration. He would be everything she needed from him, no matter what he had to do.

“How’s Roxie?” she asked, pulling back just enough to look them in the eyes.

“Sad,” he told her.

“Misses her mistress,” Nick smiled.

“I miss her, too. Is she doing okay?”

“She’ll be just fine as soon as she sees you,” his cousin admitted.

“Let’s go then!” She preceded them from the room, bursting through the door with more enthusiasm than he’d ever seen from her.

Leaning towards Nick as they walked, he murmured, “I think we’ve just caught a glimpse of the old her.”

“I’ll take her any way I can get her.” Ace couldn’t agree more.

“Tami!” they heard Pepper call. “Follow us in my Jeep!”

A clattering followed. “Damn it, Pepper, why do you do that?”

“Because it’s fun?”

Those two were gonna be a handful.

As they walked through the courthouse doors, Tami was bent down under a bench searching for what he figured were Pepper’s Jeep keys. Rushing towards them, she asked, “Ready to go home?”

“Hell, yes,” they both said at the same time.

After getting Tami set up with GPS in case she lost them on the way, Pepper settled in the front seat of the SUV as Nick drove them home.

“I missed this,” her voice was wistful. “The snow, the mountain air. I missed it.” He watched as she leaned her forehead against the cool glass of the window, eyes closed as they drove the thirty minutes home.

Watching Pepper gave him the chance to see her, the real her. She’d lost weight in the month since everything had gone down. Her eyes had sunken in a bit, and he was willing to bet she hadn’t been sleeping since she woke up. Her tanned skin, even though still dark, looked pale.

It had been only a few minutes into the drive before she slumped into the window, asleep before they even left town.

“You think she has nightmares?” he asked Nick quietly.

Nodding his head, he replied, “And I think she hasn’t been eating, either.”