Page 110 of Sycamore Circle

“It’s a long story. All that matters is that I’m here now.”

She searched his face. “Are you okay?”

He was floored that she could think about him at that moment. But maybe that was why he’d liked her from the minute she’d run into him at the diner. Chloe was different than most girls. She was sweeter, kinder, prettier, and more talented than anyone he’d ever met.

Every time he was around her, he wanted to be better too. He wanted to have goals like she did and have big dreams. He wasn’t sure what his future was going to be like, but he was pretty sure he at least had a future now.

He was very thankful for that.

“You can go on back now, Bo,” Kate, Chloe’s grandmother, said. “Joy’s asking for you.”

Bo had been hovering near the door, waiting his turn. When the nurse had come out into the waiting room, she’d announced that Joy could only have two or three visitors. Kate had asked Bo if he wouldn’t mind waiting to see Joy until after Chloe and she had had their turns.

While he’d waited, he’d shaken Tony’s hand and promised to stay in touch. Tony had already arranged with Kate to take Chloe to his house the next day so Joy’s mom could nurse Joy for the first day or two after she got home from the hospital.

After Tony left, Bo had hugged Seth and Lincoln, shook hands with about six other guys, and promised to check in the next day. Then, he’d sat down, picked up a bottle of water someone had left him, and downed half of it. At long last, his body and head seemed to adjust to his new reality. Joy had been found, she was in recovery, and was going to be okay. She also loved him. He’d also told both her ex-husband and her daughter that he loved Joy.

He could hardly believe it. After a lifetime of looking for a future, he’d finally found it while standing in line at a coffee shop. The Lord certainly had a sense of humor.

“Bo?” a kind-looking nurse in a pair of pink scrubs called out.

He stood up. “That’s me.”

She smiled at him. “Joy’s been asking for you.”

Bo swallowed a lump in his throat as he followed the nurse through a pair of metal doors and down a hallway.

“We’ve already got her room ready. If you’d like, you could chat with her for a moment, then walk by her side while we wheel her from recovery to her room. What do you say?”

“I say that sounds like a real good idea,” he murmured.

She grinned as she pulled back a curtain, revealing Joy, two machines, and a whole lot of tubes and blankets. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Bo was barely aware of the nurse leaving. All he could see were Joy’s pretty brown eyes gazing at him.

“Hey,” he said as he walked closer. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss on her brow. It looked to be one of the few places on her face that wasn’t bruised or cut.

“Hey.” She swallowed. “I... I heard that you saved me.”

“What? That’s not what I heard, girly. I heard you were well on your way to saving yourself.” He brushed his lips against her brow again. “All I got to do was do a last-minute assist.”

She giggled before wincing. “That sounds like you.”

Unable to stop touching her, he carefully brushed a strand of hair off her brow. “What does?” he asked gently.

“Never taking credit. Never wanting to be in the spotlight.”

“I don’t know if that’s the case or not. But, ah, maybe I don’t need to be,” he whispered.

She frowned. “Why?”

“I’ve got you, Joy Howard. Being with you is all I want. Honestly, it’s more than enough.”

Joy smiled just as the curtain pulled back.

“Bo, are you ready to see Joy’s new digs for the next couple of days?”

“Absolutely,” he replied. He stepped out of the way as an orderly and another nurse appeared. All of them checking the various monitors and hooking and unhooking things so they could wheel Joy down the hall.

---