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“Are you telling me that you’ll be mine to pamper twenty-four hours a day?” I was glad for a chance to lighten things up.
“That’s right.”
“I’ll make you soup and stuff.”
“No, thanks.”
I glared at him. “You’re in a hospital bed. How can you be mean even now? Besides, when you’re sick, soup is good for you.”
He was getting groggy, but he still managed to wink. “Other things are good for me too. Things at which you’re very talented.”
I gave him a kiss, which was meant to be soft and quick, but then Will’s good hand went to the back of my head and he deepened the kiss before pulling me under him. Typical Will. He took over no matter what.
He fell asleep a short while later, courtesy of the pain meds. When I left his room, I was surprised to find that Val, Jace, and Hailey were still there.
“He’s asleep,” I told them.
“We wanted to talk to you,” Val said. “About his care for the next weeks—”
“I’ve got it covered,” I assured them. “I’ve been living with him anyway.”
Jace grinned big, nudging Hailey. “Told you.”
Hailey took a phone out of her bag. “I’m going to call Landon. He was already talking about hiring a nurse. I’ll convince him not to come back from the vacation, though knowing him, he’s probably on a plane already.”
Jace pondered this. “Don’t call Landon, call Lori. Have her make those puppy eyes at Landon and ask that they don’t come back from Hawaii. The puppy eyes work.”
Everyone stared at Jace. He shrugged. “What? They work on me.”
Val gave him a thumbs-up. Hailey whistled cheerfully. “Finally you admit it, brother. And your strategy just might work. I’m going to call Lori.”
Hailey stepped a few feet away, phone at her ear.
“But look, if you do want help at some point, call me at any time, okay? I’m actually getting better at working remotely, so I can stop by,” Val said.
“Val, you’re worse than Landon sometimes.” Jace patted my shoulder. “Paige here said she can handle it. Stop micromanaging everything.”
Val gave him the stink eye. “Okay, I’ll try. But just so you know, Will can get grouchy when he’s sick. Like, very grouchy.”
Her mother hen tendencies were adorable. She projected an inner warmth and quiet strength that made me feel at ease, even though I suspected she was just good at not letting her turmoil show. She was so different from Hailey, who was boisterous and currently talking to Lori on the phone. I could see why she was good at managing PR crises.
“I’ll let you know, Val,” I assured her. Jace groaned. He seemed blasé, but he kept massaging the back of his neck, as if he’d spent the past hours in a state of constant tension.
“Please don’t. That’ll just fuel her micromanaging tendencies. If my brother does try to impersonate the Grinch, let me know, future sister-in-law.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I grinned. I really liked Jace.
Chapter Thirty
Paige
Will was discharged two days later, and he was an excellent patient... in the beginning.
There were moments when he looked at me as if fearing I might burst into tears at any moment, and I regretted crying in front of him at the hospital. After a few days, grumpy Will made his appearance. Not being able to use his arm wasn’t helping with the grumpiness in the slightest. I tried cheering him up by using my trusty techniques of seduction, but they only seemed to work half the time. I thought that maybe Will needed some space, and I was being overbearing. It turned out I had some mother hen instincts myself, as my repeated attempts to poison him with my soup showed.
But I couldn’t exactly give him space because I had to be at the inn daily, and Will came with me, even though I didn’t let him do any work. I’d set him up in the one bedroom that hadn’t been converted into a classroom yet, and had also brought a lounger outside in the yard so he could lie in the sun, but Will had a mind of his own. He rarely stayed put.
“Will, you’re still recovering,” I said one morning.
