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“This is West Hope, Opa,” Gabby sassed. “No one gets kidnapped in West Hope.”
The kid had a point, but Gunner still sided with Nova, who was now looking at him, her eyes asking the question.
“I would love to go wait in the parking lot,” Gunner mumbled, “but I don’t want to leave you alone in here.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said quickly.
“I know you will be ...” He didn’t know how to finish that sentence. He knew that Nova could handle herself. That much was obvious. But still, he didn’t want to leave her.
“Please,” Nova whispered. “I wish that I could leave. The next best thing would be to know that you and Gabby have escaped.”
“Youcanleave, you know,” he whispered back.
Her face fell. “I will, soon. I just keep thinking about what my mother would want me to do.”
He could relate. He often asked himself,What would Mom do?He stepped closer and then pretended to look at his watch, but he wasn’t wearing one. “If you’re not out in thirty minutes, I’m coming back in here after you.”
“Oh yeah?” Her eyes lit up with a smile that stayed off her lips. “Are you going to throw me over your shoulder like a lumberjack?”
He wasn’t sure what to say. She was obviously teasing, and this was a good thing. He wanted to keep the mood light, but he didn’t want to be insensitive either. “Maybe,” he said lamely, and then the smile appeared on her lips. She stood on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his, which made him feel extra good because it felt like it had been a long time since she’d done that.
He truly felt very patient when it came to the physical part of their marriage. He knew they had time, and his nerves helped him wait till the time was right.
But every night since their wedding night, Mona had freaked out and screamed until Nova climbed into bed with her. He couldn’t blame the kid, and he couldn’t blame Nova either. It was what it was. But still, he’d put a new bed in his bedroom and then put a purple comforter on it.
And then he’d slept in it alone.
SAFELY ENSCONCED INthe ancient van that Nova insisted she didn’t need to upgrade, Gabby said, “Thank you for marrying Nova. I know why you did it.”
He stopped breathing. He’d expected a story about lip gloss or hair ties—he hadn’t been expecting her to go straight for his jugular.
He hazarded a look in the rearview mirror and then nearly jumped when he saw her eyes boring into his. “You’re welcome, but ...” He needed to say more than simplyyou’re welcome, right? “I didn’t just marry her because of you kids. You were just a happy bonus.”
A furrow appeared in her young brow. It looked out of place there.
“Really,” he said. “I care about your sister a great deal. I wanted to marry her. She’s a wonderful woman.”
“But you’re not in love with her.”
He looked in the mirror again. Had that been a question? “No offense, Gabby, but I think I should probably tell Nova how much I love her before I tellyouhow much I love her.”
Her lips spread in a wide smile, and then she pretended to zip them shut.
Yeah, right.
“It’ll be our little secret,” she whispered.
Oh no. What had he done?
He looked out his window to avoid any more dangerous eye contact. A few times now, he’d had the urge to tell Nova that he loved her, but he’d held back. It had felt too soon. He didn’t want her to think that he didn’t mean it.
And honestly, he wasn’t sure that he did mean it.
Was he in love with her? He wasn’t sure. He didn’t know what love felt like. He didn’t know what it looked like. What he was feeling almost felt too easy to be love. Too simple. Wasn’t romantic love supposed to be this big dramatic thing with lots of turmoil? Because he hadn’t had any of that. Whatever he was feeling felt peaceful and warm, fun and sweet.
Yeah, it was probably love. And if it wasn’t, he still didn’t want it to end because it was pretty spectacular.
Chapter 36
