We clustered around them, and then Jensen lifted Min while I lifted Janet. There was more hugging then; Min hugged us all one by one and then went into Ian’s arms and stayed there, shivering, content not to move as he bent and whispered to her as she nodded furiously.
“She really likes him,” Jensen said, shoulder-checking me.
“The feeling’s mutual,” I told him and then turned to really look at him. “I thought she wasn’t getting here until later tonight.”
He nodded. “I have a plane.”
“Huh.”
“I flew to Mexico and then here.”
“That’s handy.”
“Yeah,” he said, shoving his hands into his pockets.
He was a handsome man. I wasn’t sure about the beanie inside, but I liked the Crossroads Gin T-shirt, the vintage jeans, brogue boots, leather jacket, and the chunky Pierre DeRoche watch. The fact that he paired the timepiece with beaded bracelets and a silver cuff on the opposite wrist was a bit too hipster for me.
“So,” I said, “you rich?”
He turned his head. “Yeah.”
“I thought you restored cars.”
“I do, but, yanno, for celebrities and on TV and stuff.”
I nodded. “Min wouldn’t care about that. The rich part, I mean.”
“I am aware,” he agreed.
I cleared my throat. “Not that I’m not glad you’re here, but… why are you here?”
“Because,” he said, his eyes on Min as he answered, “there’s going to be a moment when she’s gonna come undone, and when… that… hap… pens….”
She turned from Ian, took two steps, saw Jensen, and reached.
He was there fast, sweeping her up off her feet, into his arms, hugging her tight, and she cried into his shoulder, howled. She’d been a rock and put her faith in us because it had to be Catherine going, and me, had to be Aruna and Ian, not her. She was the general. We did what she asked; we were her minions. But now in her moment of need, of total breakdown, Jensen was there to pick up the pieces, and I had to give it to him—it was damn smart.
I stepped close and swatted his back as he crooned to his girl. “Did you meet her mother?”
“Nailed that,” he said, lifting his head and giving me a superior smirk.
Ass.
I would have to grill Min later about how much her mother, who hated me and Catherine, liked the man who looked like a bad boy but was, in reality, the complete opposite.
When I glanced over at Aruna, I realized she wasn’t paying any attention, and I quickly understood why. She was smiling at Liam and Sajani, who had come to the airport to see her.
Liam, who realized when Aruna was graduating from college that letting her go back to her family in Dallas would be a huge mistake, was still smitten with his wife. And Aruna felt the same about the six-foot-five lieutenant in the Chicago Fire Department. They had always been my idea of what a good relationship was, the trust, the communication, and the humor. I’d been so glad to share them with Ian.
“Let’s go eat,” Liam suggested, and everyone agreed that was a fantastic idea.
Jensen had rented a car, and between that and the Honda Odyssey Liam brought, we were ready to caravan for the second time that day. I was just happy we were all together.
Chapter 12
JANET WAS going to stay with Aruna and Liam for the foreseeable future; she could do her job from there just as well as she could from Georgetown, and now she would have lots more people to help her. She was also considering moving to LA to be close to Min, and since Min still owned her condo in Santa Monica, she could move Janet in there easy with, she said… her mother.
“Your mother?” I asked Min, horrified.
“What?” Min was defensive. “My mother would love it, and so would Janet.”
“Ohmygod, I love your mother,” Janet almost cried, “and she would love to take care of Cody.”
“Yes, she would,” Min agreed, smirking at me.
I looked to Catherine for help.
“Oh, I’m with you,” she said, hands up. “I’d rather be lobotomized.”
Jensen stuck up for Min’s mom, but she patted him and told him he didn’t have to work so hard. “They all know her, honey. Don’t worry about it.”
He was certain Catherine and I just needed to be more open-minded.
“Uh-huh,” I said, only to find Ian scowling at me. “What?”
“Min’s mother is lovely,” he asserted. “Jensen’s right. You need to give her a break.”
I glanced over at Min.
She coughed. “The last time Ian and I were on Skype, she was over, and they got to talking,” she explained. “Did you know Ian is, like, a Korean food savant?”
I turned back to Ian.
“What? I like Korean food. What do you think I ate when I was stationed in Seoul?”
“I’m outta here,” I announced, getting up from Aruna’s huge dining room table. “I’m leaving my husband here to do dishes.”