Remi looked like a pissed-off little hellion, her wild black hair waving in the wind and her eyes glowing green, her arms crossed over her chest. “The truth would be nice.”
“Honestly, I was hoping to sneak out of here before you saw us and text you to meet us in town for lunch before my flight after I had my suitcase all loaded up and you couldn’t trick me into staying.”
“Fair enough. Where are we eating lunch?”
Juno narrowed her eyes. That was way too easy.
“Uh, I was thinking the whole Crew could meet at Rusty’s Fried Chicken?” Rhett called. “For Crew bonding time that you’re always begging us to do.”
Remi’s dark eyebrow arched up. “Sounds great.”
“She looks mad,” Rhett said out of the corner of his mouth.
“Yeah, maybe we should go.” She lifted her voice to Remi. “Hey, best friend, want to meet us at noon?”
“Sure. How did you book a new flight if your app was down?”
“My boss booked a new one for me. He told me this morning.”
“Great. Fuck your boss.”
“Remi, you shouldn’t have hacked my account in the first place.”
“I didn’t! Ashlynn and Bash did! I was just the messenger! See you at noon!”
“Good God, woman,” Grim barked at Remi from his porch. “Did you get your fuckin’ period or something?”
“You shut your murdery mouth, Grim Reaper! Yeah, first and last name!”
“Those aren’t my real names.”
“You know nothing about friendship so you wouldn’t understand!”
“She’s going out on a breakfast date with the man she boned!” Grim yelled back, his eyes flashing yellow. “A friend would stop cock-blocking her.”
“What is happening?” Rhett whispered, his eyes wide and trained on Grim, whose face was all red and angry. Even his mohawk seemed to be spikier than usual.
“She doesn’t have a cock!” Remi shrieked.
“Vagina block then!” Grim yelled back. “Yes or no on your period because you’re acting like a psycho.”
“Takes one to know one, Count—”
“If you call me Count Psychopotamus one more fuckin’ time—”
“Rule number one! I’ll state it again because you are a stupid boy but, really, it should be common sense,” Remi yelled. “Just because a woman has feelings doesn’t mean she’s on her period!”
“So, yes?” Grim asked, looking smug. “Because Rhett’s been drawing little red raindrops on the Crew calendar every month, and this is day two of girly splish-splash time. I Googled it, and your moodiness should be at maximum—”
“We should leave now,” Rhett muttered, backing away from the screaming match.
“You can’t put a whole sentence together the entire time I’ve lived here, and now you’re an expert on my menses?” Remi yelled.
“I was trying to be sensitive,” Grim said with a shrug.
“Mission not accomplished. Rusty’s Fried Chicken at noon. Don’t sit by me.” Remi leveled Juno and Rhett with a fiery look. “In fact, no one sit by me!” And then she did an about face and slammed the door behind her.
Kamp had come around the corner of the house holding two bottles of beer in his hands. His mouth hung open as he stared at the door Remi had disappeared into.
“That’s all yours, man. Congrats,” Grim muttered, jogging down the stairs. He yanked an ax out of the wood-splitting log in his front yard and stomped into the woods.
“I’m gonna be late to work today,” Rhett called.
The answer “I don’t fuckin’ care” echoed back to them.
Juno was trying not to laugh, really she was, but that was awesome. She hadn’t seen her best friend that fired up in a long time. There was that passion she knew was in Remi.
Kamp glared at Rhett. “Man, fuck you for putting her in a bad mood. Now I have to sit by myself at the chicken place because I’m sure as hell not sitting by the rest of you.”
Juno snickered, imagining them all sitting around the restaurant in separate spots. This was Gray Back behavior. Total C-Team. It was awesome.
Rhett wrapped his hand around hers and tugged her toward the trail that led to the parking field, toting her heavy suitcase with his other hand.
“I thought I was gonna show up here and Remi would be in this delightful, polite Crew, and y’all are so messed up,” Juno crowed. She was in full-swing giggles now. “I think Remi will be just fine here.”
“She’s a pain in everyone’s ass,” Rhett muttered, but turned a smile on her. “That’s why I wanted her to stay.”
“Troublemaker.”
He wrenched his voice up an octave and repeated Remi’s words, “Takes one to know one.”
Okay, now she was dying laughing. None of this should be amusing. Normal Crews and families didn’t yell at each other about their periods first thing in the morning. Or drink beer? She hadn’t even thought to ask Kamp what he was doing with beer this early. And they didn’t all try to kill each other every night, but for some reason these people felt familiar. Not like she’d met them before, but familiar to her heart.
As soon as they were in the truck, Rhett turned on an old country station and started singing along. He kept looking over at her as they drove down the mountain with an encouraging smile until she gave in and was singing along with him. The sunshine had broken through the clouds this morning, and all the new snow was sparkling like God had floofed the world in glitter. The sunrays were filtering through the window, saturating the light on Rhett’s profile. Goodness…his smile when he sang. He kept sneaking her glances, too, and his eyes were dancing, sunlight highlighting his white T-shirt so brightly he looked like an angel.
As short as she lived, she was going to remember this. It was bigger than life. It was special.
It was happiness.
Rhett slid his hand over Juno’s thigh and drove with one hand resting on the steering wheel of his old Chevy, never breaking in their car karaoke until he pulled up to a pancake shack. They left her suitcase in the back and got out, chattering all the way inside and to their table. And then they chattered all through breakfast, which was two matching stacks of pancakes big enough to fill their insatiable shifter bellies, complete with slabs of thick-cut bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns.
“I’ll never be able to eat again,” Juno said, leaning back in the chair as Rhett paid the tab. Okay, that was a total lie. She would be hungry again by noon.
Juno frowned when the waitress brought a bag of to-go pancakes to the table. “A snack for later?”
Rhett handed the check to the waitress and told her to, “Keep the change,” and then he stood and offered Remi his hand. “Nah. These are for Sara.”
Juno slid her hand into his and let him pull her up. He leaned down and kissed her lips. He tasted like syrup, and her bear was purring like an overgrown housecat. After he eased away, he said, “Do you want to meet my sister?”
“I would really love that,” she whispered.
Oh, she knew this was a big share for him. He hadn’t exposed Sara to the limelight the entire time he’d been in it. He’d kept her hidden and safe from the chaos of his life. But for Juno…he was letting her in.
The drive to the Safe Oak Rehabilitation Facility was a short one, maybe ten minutes. He held her hand the whole way, and she was glad he’d made the rule that they should act like today wouldn’t end. She was reveling in his touch. But as they pulled up to the rehab center, it hit her that her hours here were very numbered. And such an overwhelming sadness washed through her.
She didn’t want to leave.
“Come on,” he murmured. “I’ll have to do a session with her and her doctor first, but she might be ready to meet you right after.”
“Okay, don’t worry about me. I can just wait in the waiting room and catch up on emails.”
“Ha. I bet you have four thousand in there.”
“You’re probably close,” she muttered as she followed him through the front doors.