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April does her best scary laugh, which sounds more like a goat than a wicked witch.
Dakota squeezes in an opening and gets in on the hug.
“I like this,” she says.
“Me too, Kota.” I pull her in closer and squeeze everyone tighter. “I think we’ve found our home.”
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER
WYATT
I stop by Theo’s on my way home from work, tired but needing a break from the hospital.
It was a hard shift.
Jeffrey Franks, thirty-nine and with no health issues to speak of, was visiting Landmark for the first time with his wife and fell a good thirty-five feet while hiking. He’s in critical condition and his wife is, understandably, a wreck. I stayed past my shift and I’m not on call tonight, but I’ll be going back later to check on him, or calling in for frequent updates if he starts improving.
I start to back out of the driveway when I see Marlow’s SUV there, not wanting to intrude on the girls’ time, but then she steps outside, and I’m caught. I pause and pull back in, parking next to her. She puts something in her car and pauses when I get out.
“Wyatt,” she says cautiously.
“Hey. I thought everyone might be gone by now. Is everyone still trying on dresses?”
“Dakota and I are the only ones still here,” she says. “We’ll get out of your way soon though…”
I exhale, the weight of the day catching up with me.
Her features tighten and she shakes her head, saying something under her breath that I don’t catch.
“What was that?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes and mine go wide.
“Uh…did I do something to—” I start.
“I just never know what to expect with you,” she says, her hands landing on her hips. “But I’ve had the best day I can ever remember having, so I’m not going to let you ruin it.”
I stare at her, my brain failing to catch up. “Oh. What’s going on?”
“Why don’t you tell me? I thought we were past the weirdness, but you’ve been avoiding me for days,” she says.
I swallow. She’s right. I have. I’ve been all up in my head about her and as a result, I thought it’d be best if I just steered clear of her for a few days until I could be around her without wanting to reach out and touch her.
“I really like Dr. Emma and Dr. James, but you’ve gotta admit, it’s strange when you have them pass along messages for you. And when you see me coming and turn to go in the other direction.” Her voice rises and she takes a few steps forward, until she’s within a foot of me.
Her cheeks are flushed and she’s close enough that I could reach out and pull her against me with little effort.
“Dakota and I love it here,” she says, her voice cracking, and the next thing I know, her fingers are jabbing into my chest. “And we’re not going anywhere, do you hear me?”
Her face crumbles and before I know what I’m doing, my arms are around her and I’m holding her against me in a hug. I can feel her heart or mine, maybe both of ours, pounding out of control, and then I feel the calm that takes over when she relaxes into me.
“The last thing I want is for you to go anywhere,” I finally say, my voice gruff.
Her body feels like heaven, curves in all the right places, and the perfect fit against mine.
“Well, you could’ve fooled me,” she says into my chest. “I mean, I also wasn’t expectingthis…uh…whatever this is that we’re doing right now—”
