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Chapter 10
Connor
Connor walked down the hospital corridor, trying to be as stealth as he possibly could. He wasn’t sure he was allowed to visit on the holiday in the first place—but he had a pretty good idea that bringing in the turkey he had wrapped in foil and hidden in the duffel bag slung over his arm would be against the rules.
As weird as he felt about trying to stealthily sneak a full-size bird into a hospital room, though, it didn’t even come close to comparing to how bad he felt at the idea of Luna, Grace, and Serge having a solitary Thanksgiving in the hospital…not to mention their Thanksgiving dinner consisting of nothing but hospital food.
He reached the door to Serge’s room and knocked lightly as he stepped inside. He didn’t know exactly what he expected to see, but it was something along the lines of Luna and Grace huddled tearfully over a pale and weak Serge in the hospital bed, everyone barely hanging on and at the end of their rope.
That wasn’t what it was like at all.
Even before he was completely in the room, the sound of laughter hit him, which was a shock. It just didn’t seem to fit with the surroundings. Connor had been prepared for tears, but laughter threw him for a loop.
As he stepped through the door, all three of them turned to look at him. Luna’s face lit up when she laid eyes on him, which made his heart jump. He pushed his elation down as fast as he could manage.
Don’t get ahead of yourself, dude. You don’t know what she’s thinking. You don’t know what the future holds.
There was only so much he could control, though. His reaction to her was visceral, and always had been.
He lifted a hand in greeting. “Hey, there. How’s the patient?”
Grace rose up out of her seat and crossed the room to him in a few long strides, then wrapped him up in a warm and maternal hug.
Connor would’ve much rather it had been Luna who’d run over and thrown her arms around him, but a sweet hug from the lady that had been a second mom to him during his teenage years was a nice consolation prize.
“Aw, Connor, honey, aren’t you sweet, coming down to the hospital like this,” she said, drawing back and patting his cheek.
“Yeah, Connor. Thanks. It was sweet,” Luna agreed, and he noticed that a deep blush colored her cheeks. He felt a little hint of satisfaction at the sight. He liked knowing that he affected her, and every small reminder of that gave him a small thrill.
“Of course. And I didn’t come empty handed, either.”
He unzipped the duffel bag he carried and lifted the heavy, foil-wrapped turkey out by the disposable tray it sat in. The strong aroma filled the air and Connor’s stomach growled.
“Well, I guess you know it’s good. Or at least it smells good,” he laughed.
“Honey, did you cook that bird? What time did you get up this morning?” Grace exclaimed.
He shrugged, nonchalant. “About five.”
“That’s earlier than me, and I’m in the hospital,” Serge interjected as Connor set the tray containing the turkey on the table.
Grace patted him on the shoulder. “Go ahead over and visit, why don’t you? I’ll get this all ready to serve.”
“Thanks, Grace. There are paper plates and utensils and things in the bag.”
As Connor moved to sit in the vacated chair next to Luna, she gave him a shy but sardonic smile. “What, no side dishes?”
He chuckled. “Time got away from me.”
She put a hand on his arm, and her voice lowered to a sincere pitch. “Seriously, though, Connor. This was so nice of you, thinking of us on Thanksgiving.”
You’re all I think about all the time!
He stopped himself before blurting the sentence out. He was glad. That probably would’ve made the meal slightly awkward. But as for the sentiment, it was true.
“Did I hear someone say something about side dishes?”
Connor glanced toward the door of the room, which was where Genevieve’s voice had come from. She was there, along with Gavin. In fact, the other Valentine brothers were there, too, standing behind Gen and Gavin, along with their significant others.
