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“Yes, your majesty,” Jace answered.
Megan stuck her tongue out at the screen.
They ended the call when Dr. Verner entered the room dressed in his white doctor’s coat. With him was a man who had a hospital employee ID on his lanyard but wore a navy suit jacket, striped dress shirt, and tie. Dr. Verner introduced Dean Hodgkins, the friend of Erin’s friend.
Erin and Graham spoke with the dean while Dr. Verner examined Megan.
“She’s doing great, though she probably won’t remember much of this evening,” Dr. Verner promised them. “I’ll check on her in the morning. If she’s doing as well as I expect, she may be discharged early afternoon.”
The tension knotting Graham’s neck and shoulders abated as the family thanked both men.
The staff caught wind of Dean Hodgkins’s involvement with Megan’s case based on the VIP treatment stepping up another notch after the men left. A friendly nursing student brought in pillows and blankets for Reece only minutes after requesting them.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay too?” Sharon asked Megan. “You might need someone to help you go to the bathroom.”
“Reece will be here. He can sleep anywhere, and he’s seen me naked plenty of times,” Megan said with a groggy smile.
“That may be our cue that it’s time to go.” Graham got up, squeezed Megan’s hand, and kissed her cheek. He led the way to the elevator.
“I didn’t book a hotel since I planned to stay overnight in the hospital with her,” Sharon commented. “I’m not officially her godmother, but I’m the one who kept her while Bethann was in the hospital after Jace’s birth, and I came to help out during times while you were deployed.”
“That’s thoughtful, but I can understand her wanting her husband with her.” Graham didn’t point out Sharon had invited or inserted herself some of those times rather than Bethann asking for her help.
“Do you have one hotel room or two?”
A cold draft seeped under Graham’s collar and inched down his spine. “We’re sharing a room.”
“I guess I’ll get my own then. I thought it’d be nice to get to know each other better,” she said to Erin.
Whatever Sharon’s real motivation for asking, he wouldn’t let what she, or any of Bethann’s family, thought about his relationship with Erin ruin what they had. Not when it was clear that his daughter wanted Erin here over her aunt.
ChapterThirty-Three
“It’s pretty.”Megan did a turn in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom, wearing a coral, A-line dress with full tulle skirt.
“But too matronly?” Erin finished for her.
“Yes. It was one of Aunt Sharon’s picks. I ordered it to humor her. Take a picture for me to send her.” She smiled for the picture, then picked up the next dress and stepped into the bathroom.
Sharon had stayed with Megan and Reece for the weekend, not that she’d given them a choice. Reece invited Erin and Graham, along with Jace and Alex, for dinner both nights since wives from his team had brought over meals and to give Megan some breathing room from Sharon’s well-intentioned but smothering care. After dinner, the women surfed websites for dresses while the men watched baseball on TV.
It had been a few years since Erin went prom dress shopping with her daughters or had to try on fancy dresses herself, and both went a bit overboard ordering numerous dresses. After opening the packages with the dresses that had arrived today, the two were having a fun fashion show.
Next, Megan emerged wearing a jade green, off-the-shoulder mermaid gown. “This is the one Alex picked. What do you think?”
“That fit is perfect, and so is the color with your hair and skin tone.”
Megan smiled and did a slow turn. “I love it. Of course, it’s the most expensive one.”
“Reece isn’t going to complain. Especially with how amazing you look.” Erin took a video to send to Sharon and Alex.
“Your turn,” Megan declared and picked up the top dress from Erin’s pile. “The color is fabulous with your eyes, but it’s not fancy enough for the ball.”
“But it’s not slutty.” Erin waggled a finger and laughed.
Megan hid her face behind a hand. “I can’t believe I said that. For the record, I’ve never seen you in anything remotely slutty.”
“You were on painkillers. And this dress is for John and Elizabeth’s wedding.” She set the dress aside.
