When We Met (Fool's Gold #13)(88)

“We miss Taryn,” Olivia said.

“Me, too,” he admitted.

There were no guarantees, he thought suddenly. No promises. There was only this moment and what he had accomplished so far in his life. If he were to die right now, he would regret not telling Taryn that she mattered to him. He would regret that he didn’t admit what had been so obvious all along.

“We need to get to the parade,” he told the girls. “Now.”

He passed out wreaths. When Chloe handed him the ninth one, he sighed once, then stuck it on his head.

They went to the start of the parade and got in their place. The music began. Angel walked with his girls but searched the crowds on the side. Whatever had happened, Taryn wouldn’t miss this. He was sure of it. She would be here and he would get his chance to talk to her.

He wondered how much he’d hurt her. Why couldn’t he have figured this out sooner? That she was so important to him. That somewhere, when he hadn’t been paying attention, he’d fallen in love with her, too.

He heard a loud whistle and saw Ford and Isabel. Ford gave him a thumbs-up. “Looking good, big guy.”

Angel smiled. He would get Ford back tomorrow—in the gym.

He saw a lot of people he knew. Parents of his Acorns, families from town. Montana with a couple of service dogs in training. The lady from—

The back of his neck tingled. He swung around, searching. Taryn was here. He couldn’t see her yet, but she was here. He studied the crowd lining both sides of the street, then spotted Kenny, Jack and Sam and knew he’d found her.

“Come on, girls,” he said, breaking from the rest of the groves and heading to the sidewalk. All eight Acorns scampered along with him.

As he approached, the three large football players formed a protective flank. Angel knew that together, they could do a lot of damage, but he wasn’t concerned. Taryn might have three football players watching her back, but he had eight Acorns and he would bet that heart beat brawn anytime.

He stopped in front of the guys. They all stood with their arms folded across their wide chests. Their expressions were menacing. At least until Chloe smiled and gave a little wave.

“Hi, Kenny.”

The tallest of the three smiled back, tentatively. “Hey, munchkin.”

Taryn pushed her way through the phalanx. “It’s okay,” she told the guys, then looked at him. “Angel.”

He hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks. She was pale and there were dark circles under her eyes. She’d always been thin, but he would guess she’d lost weight she couldn’t afford to lose. Her eyes were wary; her mouth trembled at the corner.

In that moment, he saw what he’d done to her and he was ashamed. Taryn had been nothing but an unexpected gift and he’d emotionally brought her to her knees. What had he been thinking?

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “Taryn, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Incredibly wrong. When I lost Marie and Marcus, I kept telling myself that if I’d been there, I could have saved them. What I didn’t realize was that while that was true, it wasn’t real. I could never be there every second.”

A muscle tightened in her cheek. Otherwise, there were no changes and he didn’t know what she was thinking. Around them the parade went on. Music blared from speakers, and friends and family called out to their FWM girls as they walked by. Except in their little corner.

“I felt guilty and lost,” Angel continued. “I loved them. They were my family and then they were gone. I didn’t think I could go on. But I did. I made my way here and I started to heal.”

He took a chance and reached for her hand. She let him, but he continued to wonder what was going on behind those blue-violet eyes of hers.

“Then I met you.” He smiled. “You’re amazing. Smart and determined. Strong as...” He stopped as he remembered the Acorns listening intently. “Really strong. I was intrigued and impressed. I thought we would be good together. But I never thought I’d fall in love again. You see, I learned the wrong lesson from loving Marie and Marcus. Instead of learning that love is a gift to be treasured for as long as we have it, I learned that I hadn’t kept them safe. So I could never keep anyone safe.”

He heard a sniffle from behind him. Before he could turn and figure out who was upset, Kenny pushed past him and dropped to his knees.

“Munchkin, what’s wrong?”

“I’m okay,” Chloe said, sniffing again. “Sometimes I miss my dad. But Angel’s right. I loved him and he loved me and that’s like a gift.”

Kenny pulled the little girl to him. His hands were huge on her narrow back, but she clung to him fiercely. Kenny shot Taryn a “for God’s sake, help me” look, but she turned back to Angel.

“You kept me safe,” she told him. “You saved Regan and Chloe and me.”

“I know, and it scared me. That I could have lost you. That I was there. When you said...” He paused, aware of their audience. “You know what you said.”

“Did you tell him you love him?” Olivia asked. “My mom says men have trouble with that sometimes because they’re emotionally immature.”

“Gee, thanks,” Sam told the girl.

Taryn’s mouth twitched. She looked back at Angel. “When I said I loved you, you freaked out.”