“I’m okay,” Cecilia replied hoarsely.
“Thank God. Come on, let’s move this party inside.”
I fell into step behind the row of women, Amy on one side of Cecilia and Callie on the other. The sight was enough to make it appear like Cecilia had just been welcomed wholeheartedly back into the fold—but I knew better. These older women, who’d been through hell and lived to talk about it—didn’t have the time or the inclination for petty bullshit. Cecilia hadn’t been worried about her reception with them.
“You did good,” Poet said, striding along beside me. I slowed my gait so he could keep up. While I’d never say it, the old man wasn’t moving like he used to.
“What?” I asked, watching Cecilia move further away.
“Goin’ to get her,” he said jerking his head toward the women. “Bad deal. Glad you were there.”
“Me, too,” I replied.
“I bet,” he said with a sly grin.
I shook my head.
“You’ve got a prime opportunity to make things right,” he said seriously. “Don’t fuck it up, boyo.”
“You just gonna leave us standing outside?” Eli asked, jogging up to us. “I see how it is.”
“Shit,” I muttered. I’d totally forgotten that my team was even there, I was so caught up in seeing the old crew and watching out for Cecilia. “Poet, this is Eli.” I looked up to see Forrest and Lu walking up behind him and introduced them, too.
“Welcome,” Poet said, shaking everyone’s hands. “Real grateful you took care of our girl.”
“Glad we were in the right place at the right time,” Forrest replied.
I spent the next twenty minutes saying hello to people I’d known forever, but hadn’t seen in years. It was wild to be in the same place with so many of the kids I’d grown up with and their partners. Hell, even Tommy had settled down, which I’d assumed would never happen. Okay, settled down wasn’t the correct term, I thought as I watched him pretend like he was humping his wife, complete with dramatic ass-slapping as she bent over to pick something up. When his wife realized what he was doing, she shot up straight, and from what I could see from across the room, it looked like she gave him a titty-twister in retaliation.
My gaze automatically strayed to Cecilia. She was still standing with her aunt Callie and Amy, but her mom had joined the group. They were cooing over Olive like they’d never seen a baby before, and the proud look on Cecilia’s face made me smile.
“Know that look,” Grease said as he came up next to me at the bar. “Think I’ve worn it myself once—or four times.”
“What look is that?” I asked, dropping onto a bar stool.
“The Proud Papa look,” he said dryly. He lifted his hand to stop me from replying. “Yeah, yeah, I know she’s not yours, and you and Cecilia haven’t gotten your heads out of your asses yet.”
“Jesus Christ,” I swore. “Does everyone have an opinion on this?”
“Nah,” Grease answered with a laugh. “My daughters-in-law don’t even know you.”
“From what I remember, none of you wanted us together in the first place,” I shot back.
“Shit,” he drawled, shaking his head. “It wasn’t that we didn’t want you two together, dipshit. We could all see Cecilia racin’ toward the edge of a cliff, and her obsession with you was bound to end badly. I always thought you two’d end up together eventually, but that girl needed to get her shit straight first.”
“Maybe if you’d done something to help her,” I ground out, anger boiling in my belly, “she wouldn’t have been racing toward the edge of anything.”
Grease shot me a look. “Before or after I got done buryin’ my youngest son and takin’ care of my wife’s gunshot wound?” he asked. “I get where you’re comin’ from, man, I do, but you’re barkin’ up the wrong tree with that shit. I loved Cecilia and supported her the best I was able at the time.”
“Shit,” I replied, reaching up to press my fingers into my tired eyes. “I apologize.”
“Nothin’ to apologize for,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. “I’da felt the same way if it was Callie. Just be mindful of who you go mowin’ down with righteous anger, yeah? We were all doin’ the best we could back then.”
As he walked away, I turned back to watching Cecilia.
“Got you some coffee,” Lu said, handing me a cup as she sat down beside me. “That old guy Poet is a hoot. He introduced me to literally everyone in the building. Hard to believe he used to be the VP around here.”
“Don’t be fooled,” I murmured. “He’s no angel.”
“Now that’s a life story I’d like to hear,” she mused.
“Don’t ask him,” I warned her. “Where’d the boys go?”
“Bathroom,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Apparently, they needed to go together.”