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Neither man spoke.
She slapped her palms down. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“It’s a pattern I would look into further,” Dean said.
She jumped out of her chair. Wes caught her arm. She yanked away from him. “I just need to move.” Bailey paced the small room, feeling like she’d just been thrown off a boat in rough waters. She couldn’t quite get the feel for walking.
Wes said something quietly to Dean. She couldn’t make it out. Nothing made sense.
“I’ll touch base with you later.” Dean pushed away from the table and left the study room, quietly shutting the door behind him.
“Bailey.” Wes stepped in front of her and gripped her biceps. “Baby, give me your eyes.”
She stopped but shook her head. If she looked up at him and he didn’t say this was an awful joke, she might get sick. His thumbs smoothed over her arms.
“Wes, what is happening?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But we’re getting answers. We’ll figure it out.”
“Did Ryan die because he knew something about Natalie? Does that key have to do with all the digging I did into her cold case?” If so, that meant Bailey had set in motion what killed her husband. “I’m going to get sick.”
“Sit down.” He coaxed her into a chair and placed a trash bin by her feet. “Slow down your breathing. In through your nose. Slower. There you go. Like that. In through your nose, and slow, out through your mouth.”
She pinched her eyes shut.
“Deep breath in. Nice and slow.”
Bailey tried. It was a losing battle. Wes crouched in front of her and gently cupped her cheeks. Only then could she slow her breathing. In and out, until her gasps steadied and tears spilled down her cheeks. Wes swiped them away until she was done.
“You didn’t cause anything that happened to Ryan. If someone hurt him because they were hiding a crime, that’s on them. Not you.”
“But—”
“No, baby. No buts. You can’t control the world. You can’t stop the ugly and the bad. The nightmares. As much as I know you wish you could; this isn’t on you.” He folded her into his arms and let her cry again until she had nothing left.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The last thing Wes wanted was Matt to see Bailey, red-eyed and swollen. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again. He couldn’t change the past, but damn if he didn’t want to ease her pain. “You know what would make all of this a little easier?”
“A time machine?”
He chuckled. “I was thinking more of channeling my inner Matt. How about ice cream?”
She managed a weak laugh. “There are worse things to do before lunch.”
“There’s that beautiful smile.” He tugged her to her feet. “Why don’t you go to the bathroom and splash water on your face? I’ll find Matt and Grace. What do you think about asking her to join us?”
Bailey nodded. “Maybe Alicia too?”
“Lunch is going to be rowdy fun.”
They left the study room with his arm over her shoulder. Wes kissed the side of her head, wishing he could promise that everything would be okay. Instead, he waited for her outside the bathroom. It didn’t take Bailey long. A close look would show she’d been crying earlier, but the cold water had helped. “Better?”
She walked into his arms. “Better.”
He locked her in his arms, and they fell into a kiss as she tipped her head back.
“What are you doing?”
