I nodded.

He looked to the women on his deck. "Who's got the keys?"

Bessie lifted a hand with the keys dangling from it. Ty let me go, walked to her, grabbed them with a muttered, "Thanks," and walked around them to and down the stairs, pulling his phone out of his back pocket.

My eyes went from where he disappeared to my girls to see they were all looking at me. This boded bad things. Not many women on this earth would miss watching Ty move, even if it was just to walk down some stairs.

"Um..." I mumbled.

"Get that white booty o' yours in the house," Ella snapped, "now."

I knew her tone. I was in trouble.

Therefore, I didn't hesitate because I'd learned it was better when you were in trouble with Ella to face it fast, get it over with, accept your penance and move on. I walked into the open door and they followed.

Then I headed to the fridge while declaring with more hope than certainty I'd get away with the stall, "We'll start with drinks."

"We... will... not," Ella countered and I turned around to see them all in, the door closed and they were huddled at the island opposite me. Honey had her hands on it. Bessie had her hands on her hips. Ella had her arms crossed on her ample bosom. All their eyes were on me.

"Explain," Ella ordered.

"It's cocktail hour and you guys just got " I began but stopped when Ella's arm snaked out and she slapped the counter of the island with her open hand.

"Explain!" she shouted.

"Ella," I whispered but said no more, words clogging in my throat as they always did when she got that kind of pissed at me, be I thirteen or thirty-four.

"How on sweet God's earth are you married to a brother I've never met?" she asked.

"It's a long story," I told her.

"Well, lucky you, your three girls got the next two weeks off so you got plenty of time," Ella shot back but my heart skipped happily.

"You guys are here for two weeks?" I asked.

"Alexa Anne," Ella said warning low.

I sucked in breath and took in their angry eyes. Well, Honey looked curious, not angry but Bessie and Ella were ticked. And this was because they knew why I might keep a secret from Honey but I had no good reason to keep a secret from them. Or lie to them. And doing either would draw the wrath of hellfire down on me. We were tight, Ella the only mother I knew, Bessie closer than a sister. They had my back and I had their love and I returned both.

So I had a lot of explaining to do and the only hope I had of doing it without hurting feelings was giving it to them straight.

I walked to the island and put my hands on it.

Then I said, "About two days after I left, I picked up Ty from a correctional facility in southern California. He'd just got done doing a nickel for manslaughter."

Bessie closed her eyes and looked away. Honey's eyes got huge. Ella's head dropped to look at her hand on the island.

I kept talking.

"It was an errand for Shift." Bessie and Ella's eyes snapped back to me. "He wasn't forthcoming about this errand. I thought he wanted me to pick up Ty and take him somewhere but he didn't. He was presenting me to Ty as payback he owed. Ty needed a wife and that was me."

"Girl," Ella said low.

"No, listen to me," I whispered. "He didn't do it."

"That's what they all say," Bessie hissed and my back shot straight.

"Well he didn't," I fired back and she blinked at my fierce tone. "You're here two weeks, you'll see. He'll show you and his friends will show you. He got framed. I'll explain that to you when we have cocktails but right now, that's a part you need to know. By the time you leave to go home, you'll feel it tearing at your heart like I do, that he got targeted because he's got color and got in the sights of a dirty cop to go down for a crime he didn't commit. But you'll also leave knowing he's a good man and I'm in good hands."

"You met him a month ago," Ella reminded me and my eyes slid to hers.

Then I replied gently and cautiously, "Spent a lot of time with bad, Ella, I know the feel of good."

I watched her clench her teeth. It wasn't a low blow, it was the truth and sometimes the truth hurt.

I pulled in another breath. "It started fake, a deal, me being his wife and he was going to get me free from Shift. Something happened and now it is far from fake. Now, we're starting a life. It's good. I'm happy. I have a job and he has a boatload of friends who care a lot about him and brought me into the fold the second I stepped foot in that door." I swung an arm out to the door behind them. "No joke, the second we walked in they gave him a welcome home bash and mingled it with a wedding party. They didn't know we were fake and by then, it had only been a few days, but we weren't anymore. They don't know what you know and I'd appreciate you didn't tell them when you meet them. But what you need to know is I care about him, a lot. I'm trying to help him adjust to being out which isn't easy most especially because of why he was in. And we're starting something, something good, something I never expected I'd have and I'm going to do everything in my power to keep it and keep it good. Everything in my power." I pulled in yet another breath, slid my eyes through a trio of women I loved and finished softly but with emphasis, "Everything."

They looked at me and I let them.

Then Ella asked, "He got targeted because of his color?"

"He's half-black and the local Police Chief is not a big fan of color and when he needed a fall guy and he lost big to Ty in poker, he chose him to take the fall," I answered.

"Local? I thought he did time in California?" Bessie asked.

"It's a long story that requires alcohol but the cop business is a family business and he's got a cokehead brother in California who needed a problem solved. Against his will, Ty solved it and he lost five years of his life doing it," I replied.

"That's just terrible," Honey whispered.

"Yeah, it is," I stated firmly. "Unimaginably terrible. Crushingly terrible."

"You're in love with him," Ella said quietly and I looked to her then I held her eyes.

Then I whispered, "Yes. Falling in love, yes, I am, Ella. Fast. He bought me diamonds. He bought me a wedding bouquet. He bought me a Treasure Island snow globe." I pointed to the sill, her eyes followed my finger then I dropped my hand and her eyes came back. "He took me to Moab. He brought me to this house. He gave me his friends. He gave me his protection, dragging me out from under Shift. He gave me freedom from that. The air I breathe now is clean. Fresh and clean. And its air I share with Ty. He gave me all that and it took over a week for me to make him laugh." I leaned forward, "Over a week."

Ella closed her eyes slowly and opened them. She knew what this meant. I was funny and I was funny because she taught me how to be. The Rodriguez family might never have had much but they always had a lot of laughter.

I kept going. "I've been with him nearly a month and he's laughed full out three times. Only three. He gave me all that and I've managed to make him laugh three times. This is what I'm dealing with. He's generous, he's gentle, when he talks to me soft it's like a gift, when he calls me 'baby' or 'mama', I feel it in my heart, my belly. So yes, I'm falling in love with him. And you give him a shot, you will too."

"I'll give him a shot," Honey said instantly, because that was Honey. She wasn't bright but she was loving, she was open and she'd give anyone a shot, sometimes when they didn't deserve it.

But Ty did so I looked to her and smiled a grateful smile.

Then my smile wobbled when I looked at Bessie. "Bess?"

"I got your back whatever," she muttered but then her eyes locked with mine. "That said, I do not like bullshit phone calls. I get this was serious shit for you and your head was probably all over the place. But I do not like bullshit phone calls. I'll make that point now, expect you to let that shit sink in and we'll move on long's I got your word that shit has sunk in."

"It's sunk in. You have my word and I'm sorry for the bullshit," I replied quietly.

She held my eyes. Then she jerked up her chin.

And that was Bessie. She was a bright bulb, always had been. She'd learned early to withhold her trust until it was earned and to say it like it was so no one could mistake where she was coming from. But once you had her trust, her loyalty and devotion were worth every effort it took to earn it. Except, of course, as it was with many girls, when it came to her love life. With that, as it was with many girls, she was all screwed up.

I looked to Ella.

"Ella?" I whispered.

She looked away and licked her lips.

"Ella?" I called, still whispering.

She kept her eyes averted and leaned heavily into her hand in the island.

"Ella, please," I begged.

She looked back at me.

"Moved on. My baby's moved on," she said quietly, her voice trembling. "And the last thing my son gave to you before you moved on was the need to take flight and do somethin' flat out crazy to get out from under the garbage he left you. Last thing you had from Ronnie was all you ever got from him. Garbage." She pulled in breath and wet glistened at the edge of her eyes. "That stings, precious," she whispered.

"I know," I whispered back. "But it isn't true the only thing he gave me was garbage, he gave me more and there was a lot of it that was good. And in the end, the garbage he gave me also led me to Ty and as you can tell, I'm not complaining."

"Yeah, that's the reason I'm not blubberin'. 'Cause you look like I've never seen you look, standin' in your fancy-ass clothes that are fancy even bein' shorts and a tee, in a kitchen nicer than many I've seen that's in a house a whole lot better than many I've seen lookin' like you belong here. And you always looked like you belonged to the likes of the man I saw outside. And last you look happy which is somethin' I've never seen, not happy like you got right now, the quiet kind which is the best kind. So that's why I'm still standin'. 'Cause I know my son taught you bad but I know you're my girl so I trust you to move onto good."

She got fuzzy because my eyes filled with tears. Then I felt my way around the island. Then I was in her arms. Then Honey's arms came around us. Then Bessie's. We held on tight without laughter and swaying but with some hitches of breath and a couple of quiet sobs.

Then we got it under control and let each other go.

Then Ella strolled to a stool, hiked her ass up on one and announced, "Now, I'll take a cocktail."

All out offensive a success, I felt relief so I moved a grin through my girls then I moved my body to where we kept our booze. I took the bottles down and something caught my eye. My head turned left and I saw my heart of petals hanging in the kitchen window. I hadn't etched "Ty and Lexie, Las Vegas" in it because I thought that was cheesy but I had etched some curlicues and I thought it looked good. Out of place but I knew what it was, Ty did too so it was in the exact right place for us and that was all that mattered.

Then I felt the still warm, early evening sun beating on my skin through the glass. It was bright. Colorado was bright. I'd never experienced so much sunshine in my life.

And that's when I knew. It had happened. What just happened was only placing a stamp on it, making it official.

That warm sun shining on my skin, its brightness filling my days the shadow of Ronnie was gone. Even with Ty's business in the background, nothing encroached, not even to throw a little shade.

My life was filled with brightness.

And thinking that, I left the bottles where they were, muttered vaguely to my girls, "Just a sec," then walked to the backdoor, put one foot out of it and yelled in no particular direction, "Honey! If you're avoiding the house, drama over, it's safe to come inside. It's all about cocktails and camaraderie not tempers and tantrums!"

Then I stepped back in, shut the door and hit the liquor bottles, ignoring Honey's audible snicker.

I got them their drinks. I got myself a beer and they were all lined up on the stools, me at the side of the island, my hip leaning against it when Ty came up the stairs from the garage. He jerked up his chin to my family, hit the fridge and got himself a beer.

Then he settled, hips against the counter at the side wall, reached out a long arm, tagged my hand, yanked and I scuttled toward him, falling into his body where his arm wrapped around my waist and my head tipped back.

"Wood, Tate, Jonas and Deke are on their way. You're gonna have to direct traffic and provide payback in the form of pizza and beer," he told me.

I smiled up at him. "I can do that. Pizza place in town deliver?"

"Yep," he answered. "Head's up. Reconcile of Maggie and Wood means they're attached at the hip unless he's under a car. Tate says that you told Laurie we got good patio furniture so he warned me she's itchin' for a look and will probably find her way in his truck. So you order, order big 'cause Tate says Jonas alone can eat a large all to himself."

"He's a growing boy," I explained.

"He's a growing Jackson," Ty returned. "Tate ain't exactly small and Jonas is the spittin' image of his Dad."

I looked to my girls who were all observing us. Honey with a happy smile. Bessie with an assessing stare. Ella with her head tipped to the side but her expression shuttered.

I ignored all this and told them, "Wait until you meet Ty's friends. They're all white but they're all seriously hot."

"Heard word of women, they hot and taken?" Bessie asked.

"Except Deke," I answered.

"Then what do I care they're hot?" she shot back.

"They're taken but they're still fun to look at."

"Girl, I got an eyeful right in front of me. More might make my head explode," she returned.

She wasn't wrong about that so I had no reply. Luckily, Honey giggling covered it.

Ty's reaction to this compliment was to take a tug on his beer then set it on the counter beside him. I watched his hand do that then I watched it come toward me then I watched it until I couldn't anymore because it cupped my jaw and tipped my face up to his while he curled his body slightly enough to give us a hint of privacy, not enough to be rude.

When my eyes caught his, he whispered, "You good?"

There it was. That was why he didn't react to Bessie's compliment. His mind was on me.

I grinned. Then I nodded.

His gaze roamed my face.

Then he nodded back, his hand dropped, he curled away and grabbed his beer.

I looked to my girls. Honey was smiling her happy smile. Bessie was looking away, blinking and I knew this was to hide it while she fought tears and Ella's expression wasn't shuttered anymore. Her face was soft, her eyes were lit with her sweet momma light and they were on me.

"I love you guys," I blurted.

This caused Bessie to hop off her stool and mutter, "Bathroom."

"Your right, door by the livin' room," Ty said quietly and Bessie hustled away.

Honey smiled happily.

Ella took a sip of her cocktail.