Rocky did not even know how much he had missed his sister until he laid eyes on her in that room. Maybe deep down, he knew that Shelby was already in good hands, but that aside, Rocky was the only one who could truly understand it … the whoosh of breath that left his lungs when he saw her standing there, whole and alive.
No matter what, there was a small part of himself that held some doubt. He could not even bring himself to fault Ian on this, despite the many 'accidents' that Shelby had faced since marrying into the Thornston home.
The weight Rocky had been carrying… it hadn't fallen off all at once. It peeled away in pieces … the guilt, the dread, the sleepless nights wondering if she were buried in some unmarked place, if he'd ever see her again, if the last thing he'd said to her was that he loved her… if .. if … if.
