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“Let’s go.”

Kai was holding out both of his hands. One had my phone in it, the other was clearly for me to take. I took it.

“Good-bye, Betty. I would definitely love to meet up with your reading group sometime.”

I could barely get those words out of my mouth before Kai was dragging me out of the Onyx offices. When we got outside, I winced. I desperately needed my sunglasses; the bright sun was already giving me a headache.

“Are you alright?” Kai stopped marching forward and placed his palm against my cheek.

“I’m fine. What’s the rush?”

“Never mind the rush. Are you okay?”

“The sun’s hurting my head,” I muttered.

His thumb brushed back and forth along my jaw. “Fuck, I should have thought of that. Your purse is in my truck.”

“No, it’s not. It’s in the hardware store parking lot,” I protested.

“Sweetheart, my truck is right over there,” he pointed.

I squinted and saw that Dave Draper was standing beside his truck, and Alice was standing next to a Prius. “Dave and Alice helped us out and brought my truck over here, so I could drive you to the hospital, or home, or wherever.”

“Home?”

Oh no. I hadn’t even thought about home. Kai must have seen the pain on my face. He pulled me gently into his arms. “Marlowe, it’s all going to be alright.”

“But I like my home.” My words were so soft I knew he couldn’t hear.

“I like your home too. And you will not have to leave it,” he whispered back to me. “That whole eviction thing is bull-doo-doo.”

I choked out a laugh. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

“Let’s get your sunglasses out of your purse and get you into my truck with the AC blowing. How does that sound?”

“Can we get dessert someplace? I deserve a treat.”

“Marlowe, you can get whatever your heart desires.”

This time, I kept my laughter inside. What would he say if I told him he was what my heart desired?

“Thanks, Dave,” Kai said as he held open the passenger seat door. Kai bent inside, grabbed my purse, and handed it to me. I fumbled with the clasp. The headache that Doc had warned me about was coming on strong and my fingers were all thumbs.

I shoved my purse at Kai. “Here, you find my glasses.”

He just held my purse and stood there like an ice sculpture. “Open it,” I prodded.

“Your purse?” he asked.

Dave grabbed it out of his hands, opened my purse, and plucked out my glasses, then handed them to me. “Don’t mind him. Bachelors are scared shitless of a woman’s purse. It took Alice five years to get me over my fear.”

Kai took my purse from Dave, who was laughing, and then Kai helped me up into the passenger seat and put my purse onto my lap. I slipped my phone into my purse and he shut the door. I saw Kai saying something to Dave, but I couldn’t hear it. Then Kai jogged around to the driver’s seat and came in.

“How bad is your headache?” he asked after he got the truck out onto Hwy 321.

“I need some ibuprofen and sugar pretty darn fast. I should have asked Betty if she had any. It was my bad.”

“Marlowe, no beating up on my girlfriend, okay?”