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Without any hesitation at all, she collapsed back into his arms.
The only real surprise to Mary was that he whispered into her ear, “Oh, thank god, I was afraid I wouldn’t find you again.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Hey, you’re shaking. Are you okay?” Halo bent to speak in her ear so she could hear above the continued applause for the rescue team—so well deserved.
No, actually, Mary realized she wasn’t okay. She shook her head with a frown.
“Come on,” he reached for her hand. “I know what might help. Why don’t we go find Max, and you can get some dog medicine?”
As Halo led her out of her room, Mary turned and caught Deidre’s gaze so she would know what was going on.
Deidre gave her an exaggerated wink and two thumbs up.
Mary turned to make sure that Halo hadn’t seen that. Luckily, he was giving his own signal to the team.
As they moved away from the noise into the lobby, Mary asked, “Where’s Max?”
“In my room. Nutsbe had a meeting, so he was doing dog-sitting duties.” He stopped to look her in the eye. He did that a lot, Mary thought. It was like he was trying to read her expression and not just listen to her words. It felt intimate.
It felt …
Yeah, Mary had spent a lifetime speaking into the wind, hoping her then-husband was paying any attention at all. Invariably, she’d bring up a conversation, and her ex would gaslight her, saying she was crazy and that they had never talked about X, Y, or Z.
But Halo, Halo was fully present.
“If you’re uncomfortable in my room, we can figure something else out.” He reached for the elevator button, and the door slid open.
“Quiet is better, I think.”
Flashing his keycard in front of the panel, then pressing the sixth-floor button, Halo said, “Max was devastated that you left without him when you got in the cab.”
“Sweet Max.” And that was the last they said until Halo tapped the door before swiping his card. The silence between them had been easy.
A man stood up from behind his computer. “Mary!” He looked over to Halo. “You found her.”
“She happened to be downstairs.” Halo moved over to the crate, where Max pawed at his latch. “Are you done with your meeting? We can leave.”
“Good timing, I just got off the call.” The man nodded toward Max. “He just used the toilet.”
“Good job, Max.” Halo opened the door, and Max pushed through, bounding over to Mary.
She immediately plopped down to let Max wiggle and kiss his way into her lap.
“My teammate, Nutsbe.” Halo said with a hand toward the other guy.
“Hi there!” Mary got a hand free to offer a wave.
Nutsbe was gathering his things into a computer bag. “Hey, listen, I just got word from the hospital, Mary. The two boys were released and went home with family. They’re perfectly fine.”
Mary wavered, she was the heat rising from the desert highway, just a shiver in the air.
Halo wrapped his arms lightly around her waist, holding her steady. She felt him mouthing, “the mom?”
“The mother is in intensive care but they project a full recovery. They will all live. The building was all but destroyed. But there were no deaths.”
“Whew.” Mary looked up at Halo then took his hand so she could sink to the floor, using the bed for a backrest. “Whew,” she said again.