Atlanta looked at him, wondering why the hell Jessup would say something like that, when he locked his eyes on the back of a woman standing by the railing, holding a clipboard and talking to a waitress. He would recognize that body anywhere.
“Oh, my God,” Freeman said.
At that moment, Nina turned around and gasped. Atlanta knew instantly she hadn’t sent them the message but, rather, someone who knew they loved her and were looking for her.
She covered her mouth and cried as Atlanta, Freeman, and the others hurried to her. Freeman pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. They were all touching her as she stepped back.
“What are you doing here? How did you—”
She stopped, and she laughed as if she knew who it was, but Atlanta didn’t care. They’d found her.
Corona kissed her and then held her in his arms. One by one, they each hugged her then kissed her deeply.
“You look gorgeous, baby. My God, we’ve been so worried about you. Why did you run? Why did you leave us and hide?” Atlanta asked her.
She looked around them and knew they were drawing people’s attention.
“Cassy, if that problem is resolved, I’ll be leaving for the day. I’ll see you Monday,” she told the young woman she had been talking to before. Cassy waved, and then Nina looked at them.
“Let’s walk down here.” She started walking.
Jessup took her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed her fingers.
“You look gorgeous, Nina. I’ve missed you so much.”
She smiled.
“I missed all of you, too,” she said as they made their way down the path and to the long dock before the gazebo.
When she got there and turned around to face them, Corona began to speak.
“Before you say anything else or try to push us away or continue to hate us because I was so stupid for what I did, please hear me out,” Corona stated.
“We’ve been practicing this and going over what we would say to you when and if we ever got to see you again,” Jessup teased, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
God, her breasts looked fuller than Atlanta remembered. She must have read his stare because she uncrossed her arms and then placed them over her midsection.
“Please hear me out.”
“Hear us out. We’re a team,” Freeman stated.
“Hear us out, Nina. We were so stupid. So caught up in trying to be strong and not be affected by the time we shared with you in Salvation, in our home. It was easier to push you away and think you deserved more than what we thought we could give you,” Corona said.
“But then we realized that nothing mattered or was more important than you and how much we love you,” Jessup interrupted.
“I wasn’t trying to pay you off when I sent that money. I was trying to ensure that you were safe and wouldn’t have to worry with everything going on with your brother. It was stupid, and I wasn’t thinking because you’d already messed up my head since I’d fallen in love with you,” Corona added.
“So this is my fault?” she asked.
“No,” they all said in unison.
She uncrossed her arms.
“Damn, you guys are fucking this up,” Atlanta said and moved between them. He took Nina’s hand and held it in his own. He stared down into her eyes and knew he loved her with all his heart.
“What we’re trying to say is that we love you, baby. We can’t live without you. We’ve been searching for you, trying to find you so we could let you know that nothing else matters to us but you. That we changed things in our lives to let you see how committed we are to you and the love we have for you. We’ve retired from the service.”
“What?” she asked.