Defending Raven (Mountain Mercenaries #7)(86)

“Everyone else is gonna be there too.”

She huffed out a laugh and shook her head. “Care to elaborate on who ‘everyone’ is?”

“Allye, and her and Gray’s son, Darby. Chloe, Harlow, Everly, and Morgan, and her and Arrow’s daughter, Calinda.”

“Is that all?”

Dave shrugged. “Barbara Ellis, the owner of the dance studio Allye works at, Nina Scofield and her mom, Noah, one of the bartenders at The Pit. Maybe Carrie, Julia Sue, Melinda, Ann, Lauren, and Bethany. Wouldn’t be surprised if Loretta Royster and Edward showed up as well. Oh, and of course, Elise, Everly’s sister.”

Mags couldn’t help but shake her head again in exasperation. “Seriously? Am I supposed to know who all those people are?”

“No,” Dave told her as he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back. “Just warning you that there will be a crowd. I kinda left town pretty fast when I found out that Zara knew you.”

“So they’re here for you,” Mags said softly. “Because they admire and care about you.”

“I suppose,” Dave admitted. “If it bothers you, let me know, and I’ll get you and your parents out of there so you can talk with more privacy.”

Mags shook her head. She was touched that so many people were coming out to support her husband. Yes, they were probably glad she was all right, but they didn’t know her. They knew Dave. He was important to them, and they wanted to make sure he knew how happy they were for him. For them. How could she get upset about that?

Dave held open the door for her when they got to the building, and she took a deep breath. She’d dreamed about this moment for ten long years and could hardly believe it was actually happening.

They walked up a flight of stairs, and Dave held open one more door. They entered the small airport, and Raven had to smile at how big David’s eyes were. He was soaking in everything silently and with the beautiful wonder of a child. She couldn’t wait to bring him to the Colorado Springs zoo. And the Children’s Museum of Denver. And an aquarium. There were so many things he’d been deprived of in his first five years, and she couldn’t wait to make it all up to him.

Dave had told her on the plane that he thought David was gifted. He thought he was extremely smart for a kid his age. Didn’t even sound like a four-and-a-half-year-old. Mags pretty much already knew that . . . and had worried about it in the past. David had no trouble learning both English and Spanish and was saying words around ten months old. He’d soaked up everything she’d taught him about numbers, colors, and anything else she could think of to entertain him on their days together. She’d been proud, but also worried about what that would mean for him in Peru.

Any thoughts about her son flew from her head as soon as she saw the large group of people waiting for them on the other side of security. Walking slowly, she was suddenly nervous, and she almost asked Dave to get her out through a back door so she didn’t have to deal with the welcoming party.

But then she caught a glimpse of a gray-haired woman in the crowd. She was standing next to a tall, older man. He had his arm around her shoulders, and they were staring at Mags as if she were a ghost. Tears coursed down the woman’s face, and she looked both devastated and elated at the same time.

And just like that, her reticence faded away.

“Mom?” she whispered.

Pulling away from Dave, she walked faster, her eyes glued to her mother. Tears formed without her noticing, and she broke out into a jog as she got closer and closer. Her mom stepped away from her dad and held out her arms.

Mags ran straight into them. “Mom!” she sobbed as the familiar lavender scent of her mother surrounded her, just as her arms did.

They were both crying, and Mags couldn’t stop. She was really here. In her mother’s arms. She hadn’t died while Mags was gone. In fact, she seemed stronger somehow. Mags felt like the weak one.

Her mom pulled back and put her hands on Mags’s cheeks. They were about the same height, and as Mags stared into her mother’s eyes, she realized how much they looked alike. “I love you, Mom,” she whispered.

“Let me just look at you,” Justine Crawford cried as she held her daughter’s head in her hands.

“Stop hogging her,” John Crawford complained as he nudged his wife gently with his hip.

Mags laughed and looked up at her dad, and saw that he had tears in his eyes as well. She hugged him tightly, inhaling his familiar scent of smoke. He only smoked when he was stressed, and she supposed he’d probably been very stressed recently. Her mom hated the habit and gave him hell every time she caught him.

“Hey, Magpie,” he said softly as he hugged her.

“Hi, Dad,” she returned, closing her eyes in contentment when she heard the nickname her dad had always used for her.

Seeing them still together made Mags smile. She’d always known they had a good relationship, and after everything she’d been through, she wanted that kind of marriage as well. Unable to help herself, she looked behind her for Dave.

The second their eyes met, he came forward. He’d been standing nearby, ready to interfere if needed, just as he’d promised he would.

“Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet my son, David.”

“Oh my word,” Justine said under her breath. “He looks exactly like you.”