Lucas felt his eyes narrow. Something about Dwight just didn’t sit right. Maybe Bo deserved Dwight’s scorn. Lucas had watched the younger O’Malley act like an ass, but it just didn’t fit. “He was very helpful. He taught this city slicker a thing or two.”

Bo snorted. “Hell, you know a lot about ranching.”

“His brother is our new boss,” Dwight pointed out. “You know, the one you curse on a regular basis?”

Bo flushed, but Lucas had to laugh. “Hell, I curse Jack regularly, too. I worked for the bastard for a year, and every summer while I was in law school. I cursed him just a couple of hours ago. You should know that he’s in town.”

Bo’s eyes were on his boots. “I just didn’t want to change. My dad did things a different way.”

“I understand,” Lucas replied. “Change isn’t easy. Your brother is proof of that. He wasted years of all our time because he wasn’t ready to change.”

A loud shout slammed through the room with the power of a fist hitting flesh. It was a masculine scream for help, and then Lexi’s voice cut through the wail.

“Lucas!”

Lucas took off running. He burst through the bedroom door. Lexi had Aidan in her arms, trying to shake him awake. He was caught, seemingly in a fever, his body shaking, pulsing as though it was being hit over and over.

“Oh, god, he’s dreaming about it again.” Bo turned on his heels and left.

Lucas didn’t have time to worry about Bo, though it pissed him off that he would leave when his brother was in distress.

“He needs to take his damn pills.” Dwight stared down at Aidan with a frown on his face.

Lexi had tossed on Aidan’s shirt, but Aidan was tangled in the sheets. Aidan was talking, but Lucas couldn’t make out what he was saying. He was pleading with someone to stop.

“Stand down!” Aidan said it over and over.

Lucas tried to shake him awake, hating both the way his Master was vulnerable and the desperate look in Lexi’s eyes. “Aidan, wake up. Wake up!”

“If only he took his pills. You’re his—whatever the two of you are,” Dwight started, sounding disgusted with the whole thing. “Make him take his pills.”

“Maybe what he needs is to remember what happened to him,” Lucas said resolutely. He couldn’t go on like this. Aidan was fighting invisible monsters. He needed to push past his mental block and figure this out.

There was a loud bark and then that enormous dog, Ike, was bounding into the room, Bo following after him. He jumped onto the bed. Lucas started to pull him off.

“Don’t,” Bo said. “Ike is the only one who can calm him down.”

The dog whined a little and licked his master’s face. Aidan’s eyes almost immediately came open. He blinked, his hand coming up to pet the dog. He looked around as though trying to remember where he was.

“I was dreaming again.” Aidan’s voice sounded gravely, as though the shouting had done damage.

“Yes,” Lucas said, his heart calming down.

Despite Lexi’s stubborn claims that everything between her and Aidan was sex, she was clutching him to her breast, talking to him in soothing tones. Aidan wasn’t trying to be macho. He let Lexi hold him.

“You’re a good boy,” Lexi said, patting the dog.

“The dog was with you in Iraq?” Lucas asked. He’d heard stories of soldiers bringing back the dogs they found.

“Yes,” Aidan said. He held on to Lexi like a lifeline. “He was the squad’s little mascot.”

Dwight stood at the back of the room, looking a little out of place.

“Have you told him absolutely everything you can remember about that day?” Lucas asked, his eyes narrowing on Dwight.

Dwight’s brows came together in consternation. “Of course. What would I hold back? Our whole squad got cut down by insurgents. We only survived because I dragged him to cover. I thought he was dead, to tell you the truth. I was surprised when the medic said he’d survived.”

“I had something to live for,” Aidan murmured.

“Will you let me call Leo?” Lucas asked, his mind whirling with possibilities. Aidan obviously had some form of post-traumatic stress. “He would know something about this. Julian says Leo is an excellent therapist, and he served in Afghanistan. He might be able to help.”

“I’ve been seeing Leo for a while,” Aidan admitted. “Julian wouldn’t let me in The Club without Leo’s okay. Leo wants to get me under hypnosis. I didn’t think it was a great idea, but I seem to be getting worse. And I hate those pills. They make me groggy all day, Dwight, so don’t mention them again.”

“I was just trying to help. I can see you don’t need me now. I’ll get back to work.” Dwight slid out of the room, his boots quiet on the floor.

“Come on, Ike,” Bo said, slapping his hands together. The dog was reluctant, but Bo pulled out a stick of beef jerky. “You know you want it.”

Ike gave up his precious master in favor of flavored, dehydrated beef. A wisp of a smile traced over Bo’s face.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, brother.” Bo’s smile turned distinctly wolfish. “And it was really nice to see you again, Lexi. All of you. I mean, you are really looking fine, darling. My brother is not good enough for you.”

Lucas glanced down and snorted a little when he realized what Bo was talking about. “Baby, you should pull that shirt down. You don’t have any underwear on.”

“Oh, my god!” Lexi shouted. She pulled the covers up and tossed a pillow at Bo’s fleeing body. His laughter rang through the room as he opened the door to allow both him and the dog out.

He turned back one last time. “I am younger than him, you know. And way prettier.”

“You’re going to be way deader if you don’t stop looking at my girl!” Aidan shouted the warning, but there was a lightness to it. He was playing with his brother, and from the look on his face, Lucas could tell it made Aidan happy.

“Everyone got a glimpse of my cootchie today,” Lexi grumbled.

“Naw.” Aidan pulled her back down and snuggled against her. “Just me and Lucas, and your mom, and Karen, and Sam and Dwight and Bo. That’s all. Jack was taking care of the kids. So not everyone. Oh, and yesterday it was everyone at The Club.”

Lexi slapped at him playfully. “I am going to be fully dressed from now on.”

Lucas wasn’t going to allow that to happen. He tossed his sweaty body right in the middle of the bed, covering both Lexi and Aidan.

“Lucas, you smell so bad!” Lexi tried to get away, but he and Aidan held her down.

“He smells like a working man, angel. Get used to it.” Aidan seemed to be on the same wavelength as Lucas.

“Besides, we have a few hours before we meet your mom and stepdads.” Lucas leaned in for a kiss. “We can all take a shower.”

“After,” Aidan said, his hand pulling Lexi’s shirt off.

“After,” Lucas agreed.

* * *

Lexi walked across the fair grounds, the neon lights playing through the night. Blues and pinks and greens twinkled all around her. The smell of funnel cakes frying tickled her nose. Lucas and Aidan had wandered off to grab hot dogs. Olivia shouted her joy about everything. She loved the games and the food and the rides.

Lexi followed her family, feeling strangely out of place. She was intensely aware of everything moving around her. The world was flowing and changing, but she felt stuck in place. She’d spent the entire afternoon in Aidan’s arms. While she was there, she hadn’t thought about it. She’d just let herself be. But now she was back to reality.

He’d left her. He’d walked out on her, blaming her for things that weren’t her fault. Aidan had been gone long enough that he’d changed in almost unfathomable ways. And when he came back, he’d done it under false pretenses. How was she supposed to forgive that?

And how would she ever tell him what had happened to her while he’d been off figuring himself out?

“Alexis?” Her mother slowed down to walk beside her. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and made her best attempt at a bright smile. “I’m great.”

“I want to ride the Ferris wheel!” Olivia motored by, making a beeline for the rides.

“I want to ride the bumper cars!” Sam yelled, winking at his wife as he ran after their daughter. Jack was more leisurely, walking with Josh on his hip. Lexi looked away from the sight of her baby brother.

 Her mother’s mouth was tight as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you going to be able to forgive Jack?”

Lexi sighed. That wasn’t the biggest question of the day, but she knew how much her mother was worried about it. “I can forgive him, Mom. I don’t want to cause trouble between the two of you.”

“He did that all by himself,” Abby said. “He’s not perfect, you know. His instinct is to protect.”

“By tricking me into getting involved with a man who ripped my heart out?”

Abby stopped, and she stared at the ground for a moment. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this, baby. You’ve been lost since Aidan left. My first instinct was to get really mad at Jack for bringing him back into your life. You’ve been with Lucas. But I’ve been fooling myself. I think I’ve seen what I wanted to see. I told myself that you and Lucas were happy.”

“We are happy.”

“Oh, baby, you’re not functional.” Her mother’s hazel eyes held a sheen of tears that threatened to rip Lexi’s heart out. “You and Lucas don’t work without someone like Aidan. I know the rest of the world doesn’t get how this works, but some people have two soul mates. Could Jack and I have been happy without Sam? Maybe, but we wouldn’t have been complete. Sam and I would have been lost without Jack. I only know that I was lucky enough to find both of them. You and Lucas have been fumbling. I know you weren’t making love, and that’s so important. You are now, and I think Aidan had something to do with it.”