I propped myself on my elbow to better see his face. It took a second or two for him to glance my way. “If you leave me, I’m hookin’ up with Stone on your desk in your office. He’s packin’. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“How do you know he’s gay? I’ve seen no evidence?” Dash said, not with accusation, only genuine curiosity. I leaned in further and gently kissed his lips. “He watches your ass too long. I can’t blame him. It’s a great ass.” We shared that look of understanding that close couples did all the time. “I think I’m done sports climbin’. For the whole trip, I missed my family. And I like a real bed.”
“Hmm,” Dash murmured. “I missed you.”
“Again, you’re lyin’,” I said and dropped back to my pillows. “From the second I left, you grew sicker and sicker. You were down almost immediately.”
“Remember when you used to take everything I said at face value?”
“No, I don’t remember that time,” I answered honestly. “I believe I knew you were full of it from the start.”
Dash’s hand tightened around mine. “Hmm. You sure made me work for us from the beginning.”
“Stop bein’ chatty. Go to sleep, reserve your energy. I’ll handle us until you’re back solidly on your feet.”
His fingers threaded through mine. “Thank you.”
“You made me repeat in sickness and health twice during our vows. I think you had foresight that you’d needed double the care than me. As my attorney, doesn’t that mean false pretenses?”
He softly chuckled, echoing me. “I remember you saying in the hospital that we could have more children. Maybe three more.”
In my mind, I thought ofababy, meant one. I let it ride for now. Not too much longer, he fell asleep.
The following day
Of course, Dash didn’t hesitate to overdo it, again. The sigh that left my body was a full-length deal that ended with an exhausted groan. That man might honestly be the most frustrating human being on this planet.
It was hard to assess whether he had regressed from all the activity yesterday, but he sure hadn’t gotten any better. I began to draw lines with him, and since I had to help him move around the house, it actually worked.
I left Dash in bed as I followed my mom, Carter, and Kailey out the front door so we could talk. Those tasked with watching Dash, namely, all our children, and dogs, and Amelia were set straight on the importance of following my instructions and not Dash’s. But getting outside with these three gave me a quiet chance to give my sincere appreciation to Carter without adding my emotionally overloaded husband to the mix.
I stood a couple of feet from my mom and Carter who were in a tight embrace. Kailey stood beside me, seemingly as uncomfortable as I was. “Do they do this a lot?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, taking her cell phone from her back pocket. She lived an easy, sheltered life, but she was also getting old enough to become a real human being. Meaning, she played age-appropriate games on her phone. “But you and Dash do that stuff longer than they do. It’s all kind of gross. I don’t like the idea of exchanging spit. I’m not going to be that way.”
I chuckled at the truth of her tone. We’d see what happened. “I felt that way too when I was young. I wanted to be a fisherman on TV. Scott and I planned to have our own show.”
She smiled at me. “You’re close. Dory told me that you and Uncle Scott had a YouTube channel that got lots of views. Maybe turn that channel into a fishing channel. Put cameras on the boat and make TikTok videos too.” She shrugged like it was the simplest thought. And it was. Scott and I had done a few small videos for advertising on Facebook, but we were missing most of the social media that the world watched. Huh. Maybe the kid was onto something.
“Bye, Kailey,” my mom said, coming to her, worry and fatigue on her face, as the private car turned into the circle driveway. “I’ll see you here on Thanksgiving then we’ll all travel home together. Be good for your dad.” Her tears sounded in her tone. She should be going home with them, I’d tried to get her to go, but she’d insisted on staying until Dash truly began to be better.
He required a lot of work from all of us right now.
“But you get to be with Beau,” Kailey said, her brows knitting together at her mom’s tears. “You miss him all the time. I don’t understand why we haven’t moved closer to him. This is where you grew up, Mom. Dad goes everywhere to work. I could go to school at the one the girls go to.”
“You’re right, baby,” she said, gathering Kailey into an awkward hug, squeezing her body tightly. Her one arm went one way, the other another way, and her upper body arched into mom’s. None of those positions appeared natural. “Talk to your dad about all that, okay?”
“She still hugs me the same way so get used to it.” I winked at Kailey, always aware of the connection she and I shared, the one our mother created and nurtured to remain sure and strong. My arms crossed over my chest, holding in the warm feelings these two always created inside me.
“Mommma, stop! You’re pulling my hair. We’re gonna be back next week.” I didn’t blame my sister, I’d have knocked out of that hold seconds ago. And our mom didn’t care or release Kailey until the back door of the car opened. As a group, we meandered toward Carter.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done,” I said, sticking out my hand to him. He took it, but shook his head no at my appreciation.
“This is what family does, Beau. Dash and I are incredibly close. And you’d be there for me in the same way.” His words interrupted my genuine appreciation, winding us back a few years when Carter hadn’t been my favorite person. My grin beamed my truth. “All right, Dash would take care of me in the same way, and he’d insist you be there with him.”
“That I can agree with,” I said, chuckling lowly. Carter drew me into a hug. “You’ve come in and saved the day several times for us. If not for you, Dash would be a used car salesman. Thank you for his life, mine too.”
Wow. Where had that come from?
