He held me tighter. “I can’t begin to imagine. I wish I had the right words, but everything I can think of is so damn lacking.”

I swallowed against the burn in my throat. “This is enough.”

Crosby simply held me, occasionally pressing his lips to my hair or rocking me back and forth. Soon, the tears were building again. This larger-than-life man was so incredibly tender under the façade of the carefree adventurer. It was that gentle tenderness that broke the dam.

The first tear spilled over, and then the next. They came faster and faster until my body was wracked with sobs so violent, I thought Crosby might lose hold of me for sure. But he just kept hanging on. Amidst tremors and tears and ugly, snotty cries, he held me.

“Let it out. You’ve been holding too much in for far too long. Let it all out. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

His words only made me cry harder. In my ugly, imperfect, broken mess, he was staying. People underestimated the gift of holding steady, of just being present. But I knew the truth. To stay was the greatest gift of all.

33

Crosby

“Stop tiptoeing around me like I’m going to shatter into a million pieces.”

“I’m not.” But that was exactly what I was doing. I’d been moving around Kenna’s kitchen this morning like any wrong step could send her hurtling across the point of no return. She’d broken last night. And as much as I knew that she needed to let all of that pain out, I never wanted to see the sight again. Never wanted to hold Kenna as her body convulsed against mine.

“I’m okay, really.” Kenna took a sip of her coffee as if that would prove the point.

I slid onto the stool next to hers and pulled her closer to me. “You don’t have to be fine, you know.”

Kenna’s lips pressed into a firm line. “A lot has happened over the past month. It was bound to bring up some hard memories.” She looked up and met my gaze, uncertainty in her eyes. “Thank you for staying with me last night.”