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The beauty of a small-town hospital is that we don’t get a lot of excitement. And considering that I know all of the people who have been in for a few days, I’m not sure why the motorcycle guy was here.
Then again, Calli wasn’t here to see a patient. I’m overreacting.
Making my way to Gram’s room, I sit on the edge of her bed and hold her hand. I guide her through a meditation when all of the sudden she comes to coherency.
“Aria, dear, you look different.”
Can I keep from blushing? “I…went for a swim. Didn’t do my hair and makeup afterward.”
“With those strapping new stepbrothers of yours?” Okay, Gram is fine now.
I suppress the full extent of my smile. “Yes, our dad and mom wanted us to get to know each other since they sprung the marriage on us right before announcing it to the whole town. You know us kids, we don’t just sit around and chat, we need something to do.”
“Hmm…You’re radiant. Maybe you should go without makeup more often.”
“I’ll consider that.” The full extent of what I have to consider plays through the rest of my visit with Gram. As usual, we chat about Gramps, which gives me the chance to ask how he knew they were soulmates.
“It’s all of the tangled feelings I got, and no matter how I untangled them, they always led me back to him. Everyone else in the world could have ceased to exist and I knew we would be fine. It was just something I knew, honey.”
If I take her statement at face value, then my brothers and I are soulmates. “Isn’t that just lust ornew love? How do you know it will stand the test of time?”
“By putting the work in. Now, are you going to tell me who we’re talking about? Is it the young man helping with your father’s campaign?”
I shake my head. “So you didn’t know Gramps was the one from the start?”
“How can anyone truly know something so big? I wanted him to bethe one. And if he was here, he would tell you the same. We worked hard to have the relationship we wanted.”
“So there’s not such a thing as soulmates?” I’m more confused than ever. Why couldn’t she just say to read tea leaves and see whose name is spelled out?
She pats my hand. “There is, and when you find him, he’ll be the one who will work as hard as you, and maybe even harder.”
Once I’m sure she’s stable, I glance at the clock. “Thanks for the chat. I better get home now.”
She grabs my hand as I get up from the bed. “That thing that I said about you looking different. That’s a pretty good sign that you’ve met someone special. If you want to bring him around, I’ll let you know if I see the same in him.”
I draw in a slow breath. Times three…that might cause another panic attack. What she and Gramps had wasn’t just pure and eternal, it was traditional. She’d align more with my dad being freaked out by seeing our neighbors in potential threesomes.
Eleven
Sebastian
Eachsecondtheclockticks closer to eight, and Aria’s not home, my heart sinks. Hell yeah, I want to finish what we started earlier, but after making a batch of chocolate chip cookies while I attempt to understand the bigger picture, I realize the nagging in my gut is from missing her, not just sex.
I’m pulling the last tray out of the oven when the front door clicks open and shut. It has to be her. My heart is light. Happiness washes over me. I want this every day.
“Who’s making cookies?” she calls excitedly from the entry.
“Your multi-talented brother.”
Klayton and Vance magically reappear, and not to snag cookies like when the first batch came out.
Aria grabs a cookie from the cooling rack. “These are delicious.”
All of my thoughts about missing her are justified. Her energy, the way the world brightens when she walks into the room, and the insane pull that I have to be near her, justify all of the thoughts. They also give way to the more immediate problem. My cock is hard and there are only thirty minutes before our parents get home.
She glances down when I hug her.
“Sorry about that. I’ve been missing you. Is Gram okay?”
