Page 73 of Every Beat of My Heart

“That’s sweet,” Claire said.

“If you think him punching us if we say anything about Sutton sweet—” Teddy began.

“You all are too much.” But Claire said it with a smile.

I nudged her shoulder. “You know you love us.”

“I’m having a great time. Thank you for inviting us.” Then she sobered. “We would have been eating our meal in front of the TV.”

“Watching football, I hope?” I asked.

Claire shook her head, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Probably not.”

“You have to watch football on Thanksgiving. It’s a tradition.”

“My parents weren’t into sports; therefore, I wasn’t either. I can’t imagine how Owen would survive with parents like that.”

I nudged her shoulder. “Good thing he has one that wants to give him that.”

She smiled. “I do my best.”

“You’re a great mom.”

Her cheeks flushed. “Thank you.”

Wes returned to the room, and most of us had finished eating and were sitting back in our chairs. “Sutton said the roads’ bad, but it’s too late to turn back now.”

“You think she’s okay to drive?” I asked him, my firefighter instincts kicking in. On a night like tonight, the fire department would be getting a ton of calls for cars that had slid off the road. I didn’t want to think about what Wes would do if that happened to Sutton.

“She said she’s close. But it sounded like she’s having a hard time keeping the car on the road,” Wes said, his jaw tight.

“You want us to go get her?”

Wes nodded.

I stood, letting my napkin fall to the floor. “We’ll take my truck. I’ve got some equipment in the back if we need it.”

“I appreciate it,” Wes said.

“Will you be okay?” I asked Claire.

Claire nodded. “Go get Sutton. We’re all worried about her.”

Not thinking about the consequences, I dropped a kiss on her forehead. I was surrounded by family who’d surely have something to say about it.

I squeezed Owen’s shoulder. “Behave. I’ll be right back.”

Even Owen looked concerned, but I was already in work mode, my mind running through the possible scenarios: Sutton’s car in a ditch or crushed against a tree.

I could see that’s where Wes’s mind had gone too.

In the cab of the truck, I reassured him. “Don’t worry. She’ll be okay.”

“How do you know that?” he asked, pulling on his seatbelt.

“Because she has to be.” Wes needed Sutton in his life. “She knows how to drive in snow. You made sure of that,” I said trying to soothe him.

Wes gestured at the windshield where ice had already formed. “This is ice. Not snow. You of all people know how dangerous it is.”

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