Welcome to the final arch of this story! I hope you enjoy it and forgive me for gearing up for the conclusion of this story with one last full length story. Without further ado, Part 3 of 3.

Work was a pleasant haven from all the chaos of Jess's mind these days. The dogs didn't expect anything more from her other than to love them and keep them all safe, and her co-workers seemed to have forgotten already that she'd been through hell and back, so they treated her fairly normally.

That was nice. Normal somewhere felt good.

It was her first week without anyone staying with her at the house while Bravo was spun up and Scott was gone. So far she was managing ok . Not great, but ok.

Alright, maybe ok was a stretch, given how bloody exhausted she was and how paranoid she was when she was alone, but it could be worse!

"Hey, look! " Bethany, one of her co-workers, breathed. "Luna's 'uncle' is dropping her off today!"

"The cute one?!" Rachel squealed softly, poking her head around the corner.

Jess looked as well, curious. There were so many Luna's at the daycare, so she couldn't figure out who it would be.

Much to her surprise, it was Trevor Bailey dropping off her Luna.

"Yaaassss!" Ashley said reverently. "He always brings snacks and coffee when he drops off! Did he bring snacks and coffee?!"

"I don't care if he did or not," Bethany said as she peered around the edge of the wall so she could see through the window to the front. "He's so nice. I heard he's single!"

"He's way too old for you, Beth," Ashley laughed. "He's closer to Jess and I for age, I'll bet. Not my type. I just want coffee."

And with that Ashley walked straight for the doors and threw them open, drawing Trevor's attention and sending the watching girls scurrying to pretend they hadn't been.

Jess was the only one who didn't go into hiding. Instead she spotted the box of pastries from her favorite coffee place and all shyness was chased away by the intrigue of possible food. Food was good. Scott would approve of food and she hadn't actually eaten today yet.

It drew her out and she followed Ashley at a slower, more hesitant pace. She was just going up to grab Luna. That was all.

And a pastry.

And coffee.

"I wondered when you would be out!" Melony laughed as Ashley came to the front,turning back to Trevor and exclaiming. "See? I told you!"

"I think that's record time!" Trevor said brightly, setting the tray of coffee down and pushing it toward Ashely. "I think I got everyone's order right this time. Hey! Luna! Look who it is! Your favorite person!"

Luna gave a hound howl and whine when she saw Jess, dancing on the end of her leash with excitement.

"Hi Luna!" Jess grinned, slipping into her 'dog talking voice' without thinking. "You ready to go, sweetheart?"

Trevor let her off the leash as Jess opened the gate and the dog came flying toward her, so Jess made a proper fuss over her for a second until Trevor set the pastries on the counter next to the coffee, saying, "Well, I better get to work. You ladies have a great day! See ya later, Jess! Have fun with Luna!"

Missing the way that Melony and Ashely exchanged a look, Jess smiled and waved a little awkwardly as Trevor left, calling, "Thanks for the coffee and treats!"

He looked back over his shoulder and grinned, "Ah, I'd be in trouble if I didn't bring stuff in for all of you! Have a good one!"

As the doors closed, Melony pulled one of the coffee's from the tray and held it out to Jess with a weird smirk.

"I was told this one is yours."

Jess took it and smelled it, perking up the second she realized it was her usual.

"Oh wow! That was a lucky guess on his part!" Jess chirped happily, flipping open the box and diving into the pastries. Over half were ones she liked and there were at least two of her favorite blueberry ones. "That was so nice of him! Come on Luna!"

This was sure to get her through the morning until class. She needed the energy.

And…and then maybe she would play some computer games and not sleep. Again.

Guilt made the pastry turn in her gut a bit when she thought about Scott and their last conversation.

He would not be happy when he found out how bad she was doing on her own, for real. So far she'd managed to convince him she was mostly ok and that he didn't need to ask Rob to stay with her.

"Can't burden everyone forever," Jess told Luna as they went outside for the dog to pee before entering the play group. "And I need to work this out. Right? No worries. I'll sleep eventually and I mean…nightmares can't hurt me."

Luna gave her hand an affectionate lick before leaning adoringly on her leg, listening to her.

"Hey! Jess?" Rachel was poking her head out the door now.

"Yeah?"

"Bruno's mom is wondering if you can take care of him, sort notice, for a few days?"

"Like, big Bruno?"

"Yeah. She has to leave town really suddenly."

"Sure!"

"Ok, great! I'll let her know!"

Looking down at Luna, Jess smiled a little.

"See?" She said, "That's just want I need. A big scary looking dog to keep me company at home. I'll sleep just fine tonight and then Scott won't know how bad it got."

She hoped.

It was late in the evening when he finally got home. He'd opted out of going with the team for drinks. It was Jess's first time staying by herself since her kidnapping and Metal wanted to make sure she was doing alright. They'd been gone for just over a week and things for Jess were still so fresh, he'd felt guilty leaving her.

Still. She promised to call Rob if she needed someone to come be with her. He had to trust her to do what she needed to be ok. So far she hadn't asked for him to come, but he knew the man had stopped by a few times to check on her. Jess herself had talked to him when they were on off hours during the mission, satisfying Scott's need to know how she was doing.

Overall she'd been ok, but admitted to being jumpy and having one or two panic attacks.

Poor kid. She didn't need that.

Exhausted, jet-lagged and ready to crash, Metal wasn't at all expecting the greeting he had when he came in the door. With the lights peeking through Jess's curtains, he knew she was still awake, then the lights on in the living room too gave away that she was up and moving.

He stepped through the door, not trying to be quiet for fear of scaring Jess if she didn't hear his truck pull in.

He froze when he heard a deep, throaty snarl just up the hall from him.

Slowly, Metal lifted his head, eyes tracking to the source of the noise.

The dog that stood growling at him was only a little smaller than a great dane and looked like a mutt of some kind. Mastiff, rottie, lab, and maybe a little shepherd judging by the brindled fur, but then again Metal wasn't an expert at guessing dog breeds. The head was massive.

"Jess?" Metal called cautiously, not moving or taking his eyes off the dog.

"Bruno, stay! It's ok!" Jess appeared around the corner, stepping between the dog and him. "Hi! Your back! Um, so…I'm looking after another dog for a few days? We hadn't talked since before I got the gig and then I kept forgetting to text you and…yeah…"

"Heads up would have been nice." Metal told her honestly, still remaining like a statue by the door.

"Sorry!"

"He gonna rip my leg off?"

"No, he's a big old sweetie and, like, the nicest dog ever!"

"He looks mean."

"He's not!" Jess dug in her pocket and held out a square of dried liver to him. "Here!"

"He's a lot bigger than that other dog," Metal told her dryly as he accepted the liver treats.

"He's really nice, I promise!" Jess told him earnestly.

Metal lowered his bag slowly as Bruno trotted up to him cautiously, sniffing his feet and legs with stiff, wary posture.

"Good boy!" Jess moved forward and gave the dog a good pat. "See? Scott's not a big scary man, it's ok!"

The big dog circled him slowly, sniffing and letting out the occasional rumble before lifting his muzzle and gently touching the hand that held the liver treat with a wet nose.

"Good boy," Metal murmured, slowly opening his hand and letting the dog have the treat.

Bruno gave a slow tail wag as he accepted the offering delicately and then bumped his head under Scott's hand, inviting an ear rub.

"Awww!" Jess brought her hands to her chest and cooed. "He's never done that before! He likes you! Wow! He usually doesn't really like men!"

Metal lifted a wary, unimpressed eyebrow at Jess and she smiled innocently.

"What? I knew it would be fine. You're not just anyone. Bruno's smart!"

Taking in the deep, dark circles under her eyes and the way her shoulders looked too angular for her shirt, Metal decided any life in the girl was good to see and let any irritation he might have been feeling slide.

"You know he could have taken me down, right?" He said instead, not overly serious but still meaningfully. "He's massive."

"He's a good boy," Jess insisted. "He wouldn't have unless you were a bad person. He lets smaller dogs bully him even though he could kill them in a single bite and is so good with young dogs. We call him the babysitter dog because he likes puppies and is a bit protective of them."

"Hm."

"His family got called out of town really suddenly. Not sure all the details but something about the woman's mom had a stroke and lives in another state and she needed to go right away, so I said I would take him- hope you don't mind?"

Metal gave another hesitant scratch of the dog's ears and Bruno grumbled happily when he hit the right spot, tail wagging more and his posture loosened up.

"Yeah, I think it's alright. Trust your judgment," Metal started further into the house, planning to ignore the dog and give it space if it wanted, but the animal was hot on his heels with a bouncy trot.

"Hey…" Jess was still standing by the door, arms limp at her sides as she watched after him unhappily. "No hugs?"

The dejection was evident and Metal stopped short, turning around.

"Sorry, kid. Get over here."

Still chewing her lip and suddenly looking like she was about to cry, Jess came into his arms with a soft thump. A shiver rolled through her and Jess whispered, "Missed you."

"Missed you too. Have you even eaten or slept all this time?"

A small sob worked it's way out Jess's mouth and she shrugged helplessly.

"I tried to, and I felt bad calling Rob in the middle of the night so then I didn't and-and I probably should have because i was so tired this afternoon I nearly ran a red light-"

"You what?"

"I…nearly ran a red."

"Ok. This can't happen again. You need someone with you when I'm gone so that you actually sleep ."

"Scott, it wasn't that bad!"

Metal pushed her out of his arms and held her at length, staring down at her with barely controlled emotion. Car accidents were a hard one for him when it came to little sisters, even if they were only a near thing.

"Why didn't you tell me when we were talking last?" He demanded with more force than he meant to.

Bruno rumbled at their legs, watching the exchange with wary interest.

Again, Jess shrugged as she wiped her eyes uselessly.

"I didn't want to worry you when you have enough to worry about with your job and stuff!"

"Jess, I seriously just always worry about you. Talk to me next time, ok? This can't happen again. Period. You look worse than I do, and that's not supposed to happen. I'm old enough and beat up enough to have one foot in the grave, not you."

Clearly frustrated and annoyed that he was right about her being more tired than he was right now, Jess bit out, "I can't just hide behind people forever, looking for them to save me from stupid traumatic experiences!"

"Jess? Please."

Bruno sat down with a grumble and scratched his neck, still watching them and Jess's lips trembled as she whispered, "I am really tired."

"I can see that."

"I think I slept, like…four hours, maybe?"

"All week?!"

"No, like, a night."

"Shesh, don't scare me like that." Metal turned and headed for the kitchen. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you haven't eaten dinner yet?"

"I tried. Felt sick."

"Hm." Metal dug out some soup cans and a pot. Damn it the kid was going to be death of him. "How have classes actually been?"

"Good. I wasn't lying when I told you about them."

"And work?"

"It's been good too. Luna's mom is away and Trevor's been taking care of her, so he brings in coffee for us alot and treats."

"Bailey?"

"Yeah!"

"Huh." Metal half listened as Jess rambled away about the different dogs and cute little stories while he heated soup for them and then he tossed bread to her and pointed wordless at the toaster, indicating that she help out. Jess didn't pause in her stories, she just complied and kept talking.

"And then there was scrap, and I knew it would happen, but no one listens to me and I had to break it up all on my own."

"Sounds like a good way to get bit."

"Oh, I'm fine. It's mostly noise."

"Just keep your hands out of the way and if it's your or a dog, make sure it's not you."

"I'll be fine," Jess yawned. "Hey, were you serious about that whole, 'teach Bravo how to ride' thing you mentioned when we were chatting?"

"Yup. Why?"

"Cause I could make that happen at pretty short notice. I talked to Pauline already."

"I'll message Jason." Metal told her seriously about the whole thing. Bravo needed it and Jason needed to get his head on straight. Maybe this would help.

When then sat on the bar stools at the island to eat, with Bruno panting at their feet hopefully, Jess leaned into his side briefly, saying softly, "Thank you…I'm really glad you're home."

"Me too, kid. Me too."

Metal just thanked the stars he could honestly say every member of Bravo was ok, despite the near misses. Last thing he wanted to have to tell Jess was that one of them was dead.

"Oh dear heavens. Ok. No. NOPE! Off. Everyone get off now."

The group of seven men all pivoted in their saddles to look at the short, agitated girl standing on the ground in the middle of the riding arena with her palm to her face.

"Why?" Jason asked, almost offended.

Jess made a soft, whimpering sound and dropped her palm, saying with great patience, "Because you all look so awful I'm gonna cry. Everyone off. Now. Except you, Brock. You look great. Go have fun. The rest fo you? Get off."

"Hey I'm not that bad!" Jason protested.

"Yes you are." Pauline agreed from where she was sitting on the fence, laughing. "You heard her. Off."

Grumbling, they all worked at getting off and standing next to their horses, while Jess lectured them.

"Ok." Jess took a long, deep breath and began. "Rule number one. If you let your shoulders round forward and slump in the saddle, you are going to fall off. If you don't keep your heels down , and you don't sit up and tall, you are going to fall on your ass-"

Metal was still trying to get off and he practically fell off the horse, making Jess pause with a look of utter disbelief. She still looked like hell and she still looked tired, but it was good to see life and fire in her right now.

"What was that?!" She exclaimed.

"Got big feet." Metal grunted. "Foot got stuck."

"Geez…take your feet out before you start swinging your leg over, are you stupid?!"

"Jess, you're…you're kinda mean!" Ray said with surprise. "It's taking me back to basic!"

"It's great!" Trent cheered. "Keep being mean. Maybe we'll actually learn something."

Crossing her arms, Jess stated blandly, "I've been around you idiots enough to know you only listen when someone is giving you shit…and I don't cry at the barn it upsets the horses, so that's out of the question for getting you to listen."

"Tears aren't a fair weapon to use, Jess, we've talked about this!" Sonny whined.

"I'm not crying, dumbass! Now, first off, what did I tell you all about how to get on the horse?"

"You said be nice to them."

"No. I said check your girth and make sure the saddle won't slip but don't make it too tight that you hurt the horse. I also said face the bum when you go to swing up. Like, literally all of you were struggling to get up when it should have been an easy swing up."

"Jess, you're forgetting we are all old and broken-"

"No excuses! Now get up again, and this time do it properly. It'll be better for you and the horses. Get this wrong and I'll make you all use the fence because I feel bad for your poor beasts!"

Metal shook his head and smothered a laugh.

Bossy Jess was a refreshing change and good to see. He was glad Jason suggested they go riding at the barn and refresh a thing or two about horses. Truth be told he probably needed it.

"Ok, so now that you're all up there- No. No. Just. Sonny? No. Don't sit like that."

"Why? It's how all the cowboys do it-"

"You aren't a cowboy and she's not a bronco. Stop."

"You are no fun there, drill sergeant."

Ignoring him, Jess started walking around the pen, stalking with an eerily familiar gait as she looked them all up and down with a critical eye.

"As I was saying, let's start with a walk around and see how bad that goes. Can't be any worse than- ok. I was wrong. Pauline?!"

The other girl sitting on the rail was still killing herself laughing as she drank her mug of coffee and stayed bundled in the cold morning air.

"This is your dog and pony show, Jess. I'm just supervising."

"Pleeeeasssseee?"

Pauline rolled her eyes and slipped off the fence. "Oh, fine. You take half, I'll take the other half. Ok, first thing, Trent is you can't point your toes down. Weren't you listening before? This isn't' soccer. Sink your weight into your heels! There! Yeah!"

Metal dutifully directed his horse around the ring. The large gelding plodded along with a good nature, though his gait was choppy and he felt like he was going to fall off at any second.

"Why are your feet all the way out here?!"

"Thought you said keep them away from the sides-"

"Not that far! You're going to hurt yourself!"

"I think I already have."

"You just need to relax!" Jess told him.

"That's my line," Metal griped.

"I'm serious! You're so tense up there, in fact, I don't think I've ever seen you so tense! Trust the horse, move with the horse. Your low back is too tight and you need to let your hips move more."

"I am not a dancer-"

"Fine. Fall off again." Jess snarked lightly in response to his disgruntled attitude. "I heard from Trent it was what, twice? Riding in the mountains I think he said?"

"That was a tactical dismount."

"Right. It's ok, Scott," Jess shot a shit eating, sweet smile up at him. "Not everyone can be good at everything."

With that she walked away and Metal found himself experiencing that age old competitive side of himself surfacing. Damn it. She found the right button.

The lesson crawled along. Jess and Pauline nitpicked and scolded until they were satisfied. Then, and only then did Jess drag out Charlie and take them for a longer hack out to the trails nearby.

That's when the real fun began.

"Well, Jess," Pauline called up from behind the group, gleeful as the reached the top of a field. "They're all looking so good do you think they'll be up for a faster pace?"

The boys waited, sore and tired but not about to admit it when the girls were both without saddles.

"Yeah, we could do a little canter!" Jess called back. "Ok, like I told you in the ring, guys! Sit up tall, don't reef on your horse's mouth, heels down, and don't let them take off too hard. Ready?"

"We've got more experience with this stuff than you think, heartland!" Sonny said with just more than a little attitude.

Jess gave him a look and then a slow smile spread over her face as she said, "Awesome! Then you won't mind if I up it to a gallop then. Ready?"

"No- Wait!- JESS!"

Sonny immediately regretted his words as Jess's horse gave a happy squeal, half rearing as he sensed what was coming. The other horses jumped about with excitement too as Jess pushed Charlie into a fast canter.

"Damn it, Sonny!" Clay yelled as the rest of the horses broke into a dead run after the girl.

Pauline's cackle sounded from behind them.

Sitting as tall as possible and struggling to keep their seat, the boys took the situation as an opportunity to really practice.

Jess was long gone and Pauline passed them on her long legged horse, sitting the gallope she'd put her horse into like it was nothing. The girl was entirely too smug about it.

"JESSS!" Sonny hollered. "SLOW DOWN!"

Far ahead, Jess turned off the path and checked the horse's speed, but instead of circling back round to return to them, she headed for a series of logs and ditches.

"Son of a bi-" Jason visibly braced himself as they watched Charlie leap over the jumps, bucking a little after each one and tossing his head.

If they weren't all still working so hard to stay on their own horses, they might have worried more that Jess was about to get tossed hard.

The only not worried was Brock.

"Yeah! Go Jess!" He hollered, riding along effortlessly and happy as a pig in mud.

Pauline cheered as Jess cleared the last incline jump and finally the girl came back to them.

"Come try!" Jess called to Brock. "They're just little and Duke is a great jumper!"

"Nevermind that!" Sonny huffed as his horse kept cantering past. "Why won't this damn nag stop!"

"Because the barn is that way- SONNY!" Pauline yelled. "Pull her in a circle! Sit up!"

Metal thanked the high heavens when his own horse slowed to a walk as it approached Jess and Pauline's. Next to Sonny's, his had been the fastest and he had not enjoyed the ride.

Clay and Trent came up with Jason, laughing now as Sonny struggled to make his horse stop.

Only then did they notice that Ray wasn't with them.

"Where's Ray?"

All head's craned around to hunt for the last member of the group only to find the man walking toward them on foot, leading his horse. He was covered head to toe in mud, like he'd slide in a muddy puddle.

"You ok?!" Jess asked, trotting Charlie back toward him.

"Yeah, I'm good," Ray answered. "Bubbles was kind enough to stop when I lost my seat and fell off. Even slowed down when she felt me falling."

"Awwww, good girl, Bubbles!"

"Why did Ray get the nice horse!" Sonny whined as his horse continued to hop in a circle, clearly having fun and still refusing to stop.

"Because you said you could ride!" Pauline exclaimed, gesturing with her hands dramatically. "Geez, Hidalgo, you're really letting him have it though!"

"I told you he had murder in his face!" Sonny huffed, out of breath and sighing with relief when the horse finally stopped. "All horses are evil."

"You know, he could have killed you instead of just running away," Jess told him frankly. "And besides! I thought you have so much experience with this kind of thing?"

Swearing under his breath and indiscreetly adjusting himself with a groan of pain, Sonny didn't answer.

"Anyway!" Jess smiled brightly, ignoring the Texan. "There are little jumps up here, you guys can try them if you want. It would be good experience, probably. OH! And Brock wanted to learn the ride by pick up, so Pauine, you wanna demo that with me now?"

"Ahhh, let's let them tire out a bit more first. Maybe let them jump and then we can try it?"

"Sure!"

Jess trotted Charlie over and stopped him by Metal, grinning from ear to ear and looking like she was on top of the world.

"You ok there, big guy?" She asked cheekily. "You look a little white."

Metal shook his head and laughed a little, not too proud to admit it.

"I thought I was going to eat it."

"You didn't though! I saw your form when you were slowing down. It wasn't so bad! You weren't flopping all over the saddle like Trent was!"

"I held it at the start better." Trent mumbled.

Jess's smile faltered and she grew more serious with some anxiety creeping in as she said to Trent, "I'm teasing you…you all actually did really good!"

"Don't let him prey on your sympathy, Jess," Jason snorted. "They're all fine."

"Speak for yourself," Ray laughed as he worked at getting back on his horse. "You didn't slide on your face through the mud."

"I'm just a better rider than you."

"Yeah? Well let's just see about that."

And with that, Jason and Ray decided they needed to have a competition over all the small jumps that Jess indicated they were allowed to use.

Neither won. The horses were the deciding factor and it was evident they had no confidence in the abilities of their riders, so they refused the jumps, sending both Ray and Jason over their heads onto the ground.

This in turn forced Jess and Pauline to climb on instead and take the horses over the jumps several times just to make sure they didn't get any bad habits.

In the end, all of Bravo made it over at least one jump.

Metal managed alright but he was never going to be in love with riding. He did have to admit that he hated it a little less than he did before though and Jess's pointers were paying off.

Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

"Well, Jess," Jason said as they finished up at the barn, hooking an arm playfully around her shoulders. "You've once again proven you're better than Bravo Team at something. Hopefully the next time we have to use horses we remember your lessons."

"You better," Jess grumbled. "That was painful to watch. I'm survived you all managed in all your gear on horseback!"

"How much did you hear about that one, anyway?" Jason asked curiously, an alertness creeping into his voice that Jess nearly didn't catch.

"Not a lot. Trent said you were crossing over some mountains during a mission and needed to move fast, so you borrowed some horses and Scott fell off a lot, and Sonny struggled a lot."

"Yo, Jase! You coming out for drinks?" Sonny called as he got ready to leave.

Jess had to hide a laugh because he was walking like a cowboy from a cartoon.

"Yeah, I'll be there!" Jason called back, releasing Jess and adding, "Thanks for the day, kid. We'll see you later, ok?"

"Going to the Bulkhead?" Jess wondered out loud.

"Yeah, and maybe a few more," Jason answered, unthinkingly.

Scott joined them as they neared his truck, catching the tail end of the conversation and commenting gruffly, "Again?"

"What do you mean again?" Jason asked, an edge lining his words.

"Nothing. Just seem to be going out a lot and I'm not invited, that's all."

Jason rolled his eyes and got in his own truck, stating crisply, "You're always invited, Scotty. See ya, Jess!"

And with that he drove off.

"What was that about?" Jess asked, climbing into the front seat and doing up her seatbelt.

"Don't' worry about it." Scott answered with that absentminded growl that meant it was more than he was letting on and he just didn't want to upset her.

"You know that doesn't work anymore, right?"

"What doesn't?"

"That tone. I know it's something."

"And I'm telling you not to worry about it. Doesn't affect you."

"Are you going out with them?" Jess asked, watching the face of the other closely as they pulled out of the yard.

"Nope."

"Why?"

"It's fun now and then, but I'm looking for that right now. I'm good and someone has to stay sharp."

"Is…Jason not?"

Jess had been around them enough now to read between some lines.

Scott stayed tight-lipped for a while and Jess figured the conversation was over, but then he said quietly, "Jason carries a lot on his shoulders. He blames himself for more than he should, and when you operate as long as we have, things start to catch up to you. The kind of stuff you can't ignore forever. I think he's getting to that point."

Staying quiet for a good mile, Jess finally asked, "How can you tell?"

"Signs." Scott answered almost shortly. Then he sighed and added, "Sorry, kid."

"It's ok. Not my business-"

"No. But you're around enough that you may as well understand a little," Scott shifted in his seat and rested an arm on the window while adjusting his hat. "Signs are things like not sleeping anymore, drinking too much, getting so stuck that you can't accept change in any form. Blaming yourself for shit you shouldn't, like a mission gone bad and things happening to the people you love. Not only that you see a lot more hotheaded behaviors and stubbornness."

"So what happens then?" Jess both wanted to know and didn't all at once.

"If he's smart he'll find a way to face his own shit. If not, he'll crash and burn. But no one can do it for him and he'd be pissed that I'm mentioning any of this, so don't you breathe a word of any of this, got it?"

"Got it."

"That and…well, Bravo's had some rough waters in the past. I came onto the team the last time things were falling apart and, I'll be honest, I've been around enough to be a little concerned we're headed for some turbulence again as a team. Basically, whatever goes down in the next while between anyone , it's not on you, you don't have to worry and we all still love you. Just stay out of it as best you can and don't let it get to you."

Worry turned Jess's stomach.

"You're making it sound like they won't be talking to each other anymore."

"Sometimes they're a bunch of bitchy little girls." Scott muttered darkly. "Can't get their shit figured out and dance around things instead of facing them. Drives me nuts."

Settling into her seat and drinking in the warm of the heat, Jess nodded seriously and murmured, "That's fair."

"You good?" Scott glanced at her.

"Hey."

"You sure?"

"I don't like conflict."

"I know. That's why I'm warning you."

"Thank you."

"Uh huh."

"Can we get sushi?"

"Sure."

"Two weeks and I get to bring home my puppy."

"That soon, huh? I never would have known." Scott answered dryly at her random announcement. A smile flickered around his mouth so Jess didn't feel upset by it.

"I still don't have a name for her."

"You'll think of something."

"They all did seem kinda off today."

"Who, the boys?"

"Yeah. Ever since you got back from…well, I heard Clay mention it to Trent and I know I wasn't supposed to hear, so I won't say-"

"Serbia. It's fine, kid. Just don't go posting it to social media and tellin all your friends."

"I would never do that!"

"I know. That's why it's fine."

"In the same conversation that was totally not meant for my ears…Clay mentioned an explosion?"

"Don't worry about it. We're all in one piece, that's all that matters."

Feeling small, Jess had to accept it with a quiet, "Ok."

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"I promise it'll be ok. Won't let the knuckleheads fall apart."

Jess smiled wanly and nodded, not bothering to hide the face she was still anxious.

"Should I have laid off with all the teasing and stuff today?"

"No. You're fine. It was good for them. Good for the team."

"Ok."

"So what about Cora for your dog?"

"Cora? Hmm…maybe. I don't know. Maybe I just have to get her and see who she is first!"

"Fair enough."

"Two weeks!"

Scott smiled without looking at her and it pleased Jess for some reason that he was so happy about her getting a dog.

He wasn't wrong. She really needed one, especially if she was going to master staying home alone again.

Hopefully.

It might take more time than she liked to admit and Scott was right. She needed someone with her when he was gone.