Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries #5)(47)

“I’m so happy for you,” Allye said. “And me. I’m scared to death about being a mother. I’m afraid I’m going to screw my kid up somehow. Knowing someone else will be having a kid not long after me is a relief.”

“I feel the same way,” Morgan reassured her. “I know I’m going to be super overprotective, and I’m going to need you guys to rein me in, okay?”

Everyone answered in the affirmative.

“What made you want to be a cop?” Harlow asked once the excitement over Morgan’s big news was over.

Everly had been enjoying not being the center of attention. It was inspiring to watch the dynamics between the friends. They were supportive without being judgmental, and it was nice to see they were able to talk about their past experiences openly and honestly, without feeling as if they had to try to pretend they were perfectly okay after what they’d been through.

She was especially interested in Morgan’s story. She made a mental note to see if she could find some of her speeches on the internet to show Elise.

“I’m not sure, really . . . No, that’s a lie.” Everly decided to be completely honest with these women. They’d made her feel more welcome than she’d ever felt before, and she knew without a doubt that they wouldn’t judge her. “I was seven, I think. My mom had been gone for at least a day, maybe more. I was in our crappy apartment by myself after school. I was hungry, and there wasn’t much to eat because Mom had spent what money she had on drugs. She burst into the apartment and slammed the door behind her. She was yelling for me to hide, and if someone knocked on the door, to stay quiet and not answer it. She shoved me into my bedroom and locked me in, for my own safety, she claimed.

“I didn’t know what was happening, but instead of being scared, I got mad. That very day in school, one of the kids in my class had a birthday party. Her mom brought in these beautiful cupcakes. They were professionally decorated, and we all sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ And I realized my mom wasn’t normal. I’d had my suspicions for a long time, but I guess that was the day it hit home more than ever. So instead of hiding under my bed like I usually did, I crept to the window and looked out.

“I stayed there for the next two hours, watching as the police did a raid on one of the apartments across the parking lot from ours. There were these two female officers . . . I’ll never forget them. They were right there when the doors were bashed in, and I thought they were so brave. Two men and three women were brought out of the two apartments, and even though one of them was handcuffed, he decided to fight. Was probably high. And those two females brought him to the ground so fast, I couldn’t believe it. They were so much smaller than he was, but it didn’t matter. I decided right then and there I wanted to be just like them.

“I knew what drugs were, and I hated that my mom did them. She’d promise to stop, but she never did. After they took the adults out of the house, they brought out four kids. Probably around ages two to four. They looked scared to death, and again, those two policewomen took control of them, and within minutes, the kids were smiling and happy because they’d been given little stuffed animals and glow sticks.

“I sat at my window long after the cops left, and things got quiet again. My mom unlocked the door and tried to pretend like nothing happened. That it was normal for a drug bust to happen across the way. I knew it could’ve just as easily been our apartment. I wanted to be able to kick the butt of any guy or girl who dared make fun of me too. I wanted to make those policewomen proud, even if they never knew how much they’d changed my life.”

There was silence after her story, and Everly thought for a second that she’d been too open. That she should’ve just gone with her original statement, letting them think she didn’t really know. She’d just met these women—they didn’t need to hear her sob story.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, when an arm came around her diagonally from behind.

She recognized it immediately as belonging to Ball, so she didn’t shove her chair backward and send him flying over her shoulder.

“You should’ve seen her out in LA,” Ball said, the pride easy to hear in his voice. “She took on two assholes who’d jumped me as if they didn’t outweigh her and weren’t easily several inches taller. We also went to her sister’s school a couple of times to try to see if we could get any leads on where Elise had gone, ultimately to no avail, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, Everly was easily able to gain the kids’ trust.” He kissed her on the side of the head. “I’d say you more than made those policewomen proud, Ev. You about ready to go? Elise will be home from school in thirty minutes or so.”

Surprised that so much time had passed, Everly looked down at her watch. “Shoot. Yeah, I’m ready.”

It took quite a bit of time to say goodbye to everyone. Unlike on the rare occasion when she went out with fellow cops, everyone wanted to give her a hug and have just a few more words with her. To tell her how lucky Elise was to have Everly as a sister. And to express how glad they were that she was a cop in their city. That she’d better get used to hanging out because they were going to bug the crap out of her to join them whenever possible, and they were looking forward to meeting and getting to know Elise.

The entire experience had been overwhelming . . . in a good way. It was no wonder she liked Ball so much; he had friends like these to keep him grounded. And yeah, he’d been an ass when she’d first walked into The Pit and met him, but she’d seen the aggravated looks his buddies had given him that day. They hadn’t condoned his behavior. Had probably even conned him somehow into going to LA with her . . . not that she was complaining.