Timing (238 page)

fuckin’ proud of you. You were so strong, and you were so brave, and

you never gave up.”

“It was just survival instinct,” she sobbed. “That’s all. I’m not––”

“You’re amazing,” he assured her, “and I knew it all along, but

it’s even clearer now. Goddamn, woman, you’re a lion!”

I was so pleased with him, so touched watching Ben hold my best

friend, that I didn’t realize that Rand was speaking to me for several

minutes. “What?” I asked softly.

“Thank you.”

I smiled up at him, into the dark eyes, before he moved to go to

Charlotte and Ben. As I watched the three of them, I understood the

magnitude of what my best friend had done. She had exorcised all her

demons, had come clean to the two most important men in her life, and

now she was ready to be married the following night with no secrets,

nothing hanging over her. It was a triumph for her, and I was so proud

and so happy, even though I knew our relationship had just changed

forever.

Because she had told Ben and Rand, I was no longer the caretaker

of her secrets, no longer her champion. Her husband was taking my

place as her safety net, and while that was the way it was supposed to

be, I had no job if I wasn’t the person in Charlotte Holloway’s life who

reassembled the pieces after she broke. If I didn’t ride to the rescue,

what use was I? When I slipped from the room, no one noticed.