Flawless Surrender (The Surrender Trilogy, #2)(57)

Never again would Eve make her feel inferior, but never again would Zoey be able to hug her, or laugh over her crazy life. It was over, and now she and her men would return to Stone River so they could continue their lives while her mother lay in a box. The guilt was overwhelming.



*****



The funeral was like any other, awkward and somber. The reverend did his best to make Eve sound like a pillar of society, but everyone in attendance knew the truth. Zoey saw it on their faces, and felt it in their plastic offers of condolences.

A junkie didn’t deserve any better, and if Eve had been proficient at nothing else in her life, she was one hell of a junkie. Zoey looked around the masses of black but didn’t see her father’s tall, lean form anywhere. Knowing that he didn’t even bother to show up for Eve’s funeral made her feel like an orphan.

Thankfully, Rachel and her men had offered up their home for the luncheon after the service. Zoey wasn’t sure she could have handled having all of those people in the Keegan home when everyone was just finding out about her and the three brothers relationship. She could barely handle the curious looks right now with everything else.

By the time people started to trickle out of Rachel’s home, Zoey felt like she had been bulldozed a few times. Every muscle in her body ached—her head being the worst. Finding a quiet corner had been impossible, until she wandered into Juliet’s nursery. Just as she was beginning to relax, the little girl woke and began to fuss softly.

Needing comfort herself, Zoey scooped her up and held the baby to her shoulder, hushing her and inhaling her sweet scent deeply. “Shh, don’t cry. I promise everyone is leaving now, so you can rest, Jules.”

It could have been just a few moments, or it could have been hours that she rocked in the rocking chair with the baby in her arms, sleeping peacefully. All she knew was that for the first time since the phone rang with the news that her mother was in the hospital, she felt at peace.

She stared down into the angelic face of her best friend’s child, thanking God that Rachel had found her happily ever after, and that Juliet would never feel unwanted. She would grow up in a home with parents who doted on her, and wanted nothing more than her happiness. In that quiet moment, Zoey prayed that someday she too would find her own happily ever after. With children that she could dote on, and give all of her heart too. Hopefully with the Keegan brothers, but they hadn’t had a whole lot of time to talk since everything happened.

Like her thoughts had called out, Clint’s head poked into the doorway of the nursery. “Hey, angel, oh I’m sorry, angels.”

He dropped to his knees at her side and stroked his fingertip over Juliet’s tiny hand. Zoey’s heart clenched as the baby girl’s fist did. When her eyes met Clint’s he was smiling.

“Feeling any better after a time out?” he asked, and Zoey felt her eyes widen. “Oh yeah, we all knew where you were. Tanner has been guarding the hallway since you came in here, refusing to let anyone disturb you. I had money on Rachel if Juliet here started fussing because there is no way the Skipper is tough enough to take on that mama bear.”

“I was a little overwhelmed,” she agreed, returning his smile at the mental image of her petite best friend taking on her muscular lover.

Clint nodded, “Yeah, I figured. Everyone is finally gone, so we can head for home if you want.”

She wasn’t fast enough to hide her reaction from him, and he frowned at her in confusion. “What is it, honey?”

“Rachel’s mom went back to Oklahoma a couple of days ago. I don’t have to stay at the Triple T anymore if you guys need some space,” she said hesitantly. The instant the words left her mouth she regretted them. Clint’s face drained of blood and his mouth dropped open in confusion.

“Zoey, I thought—”

She shook her head, and fought to hold in her tears. “I don’t know. You guys have been so standoffish, and I’m so emotional, and I just didn’t know what you were thinking. Are we still a thing?”

“Oh fu-ck, angel. If we had known… Look at me, Zoey.” He stared deeply into her eyes, cupping her cheek, “I’m so deeply in love with you, that I don’t remember who I was before I fell for you. And I don’t want to. Yes, we are still a thing! In fact, we three guys want us to be a permanent thing, but that’s a conversation for another day when you’re not so overwhelmed. Today, you’re going to give me Juliet, and you’re going to go out and say goodbye to Rachel and her husbands, so I can take you home and put you to bed. You need rest, and time. Once you’re feeling better we’ll revisit this conversation, and I have no doubt Tanner will spank your ass for ever doubting how we feel.”

The tears that refused to fall for her mother in the last few days finally released as Clint followed through with taking Juliet and putting her in her crib before he enveloped her in a hug. She lost track of time, but when her tears finally slowed, Dalton and Tanner were both in the room too. All three of them held her as one, letting her fall apart and grieve.

“That’s it, kitten, let it out. Don’t hold it in, I know from experience it hurts even more if you do,” Dalton breathed into her ear.

Tanner’s fingers ran through her hair, petting her and consoling her as she soaked Clint’s dress shirt with her tears. Words began tumbling out of her mouth, and she couldn’t control them. “She never wanted me, but I loved her. She fu-cking stole money from me, lied to me, cheated me, ignored me, but goddammit, she was my mom and I loved her. I never wanted her dead, but now she is and I can’t do a damn thing about it. And the worst part is that I never got to tell her about you three before she was gone. The best thing in my life and she never saw it.”