Page 58 of Wicked Healing

Erin leaned close, pointing at the two Mastiff mixes. “Be glad she didn’t fall in love with one of them.”

Luca laughed as Paul actually winced at the suggestion. “So true,” the older man said vehemently.

Erin led them to the guest room where they would be staying and allowed Paul to get settled.

“Come out when you’re ready.”

Luca wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they left the room, squeezing her to him.

Hope was sitting on the living room couch when they walked in, talking to Sophie. The little dog was curled up into a ball on her lap, loving being the center of attention. It was a beautiful scene and Luca was glad that the girl had connected so strongly with the animal. Wicked had gotten a stroke on the head as she’d passed him on the porch, but her attention had been on Sophie.

When Paul returned Luca offered him a beer from the fridge and they settled to the island bar. Erin excused herself to run out to the kennel for a bit.

“How was the aunt?” Luca asked.

“Old and bitter,” Paul said, shaking his head. “This was a great aunt I remember much more fondly than she remembered me. I thought it would be good for Hope to see that she has other connections, but I think it backfired. We were just in the way and not wanted, so we left. I didn’t want Hope picking that up.”

“Of course not,” Luca agreed. “Sometimes it’s best to let those connections go, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do, unfortunately,” Paul murmured.

For the first time Luca thought about his mother. What would she do if he was hired on as a policeman? It definitely wasn’t the safe California Realty job she’d had planned out for him. Dad wouldn’t mind, but his mother would see it as putting his life in danger again.

“Well, maybe next time you can just come down to see us,” Luca told him. And he told him about the conversation with the recruiter.

“Luca, that sounds like a fantastic opportunity,” Paul said, laughing and pounding Luca on the back. “And if they can take you as a pair that would be even more amazing. Do you think he can still do everything?”

“I have no doubt.”

Wicked seemed to sense that they were talking about him because his tail started thumping against the floor from where he lay. Luca couldn’t tell he had any existing trauma from being injured. For a while, he’d watched Wicked’s reactions to everything— loud noises, strange smells, other dogs, crowds— waiting to see a wrong response, but it never happened. Large groups of people put him on edge a little, but that could be Wicked’s response to Luca’s own anxiety.

Physically he ran as fast as he always did. They’d taken him in last week for a check-up with the prosthetic vet and they’d made a few adjustments but nothing major. Wicked’s leg was very basic compared to Luca’s prosthetic. The dog moved like he’d always had it though.

“So, what does that mean for you two?” Paul asked, and Luca understood that he meant Erin.

“I want to ask her to marry me,” he admitted.

Paul grinned at him. “I think you absolutely should, then. What’s holding you back?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve only known each other a few months, you know? And we didn’t meet under ideal circumstances.”

Paul made a face. “What’s ideal? I think if you’re in love it shouldn’t matter how you met.”

“Hm. Yeah, I guess.”

Was it really that simple? Was he overanalyzing everything? It had been less than six months since he’d been injured. Whether he felt it or not he wondered if he was level-headed enough emotionally to make major life decisions right then. It seemed stupid to wonder, but he did.

And he’d heard stories about veterans, mostly men, falling in love with their caretakers. Erin wasn’t really that to him, but she was definitely close, and she’d helped him out way more than anyone else had recently. He didn’t want to confuse gratitude and appreciation for love.

Luca frowned. Theoretically he would like to think that he would have pulled his head out of his ass eventually, but losing Wicked had been more devastating to him at the time than losing his leg. Then to be given the knowledge that he was alive. It was no wonder he looked on Erin as a fairy godmother, granting him his dearest wishes.

It wasn’t just that, though. There was a light shining from her that drew him more than any other woman had and they had so much in common. She’d taken care of Wicked when he hadn’t been able and yes, he appreciated that but he also thought she would have done it without knowing him. Even without his mother hiring the firm out of California, if Erin had known about Wicked she would have taken him in. And he loved her for that.

Paul was looking at him a little oddly. Had he said something? “Sorry, I was thinking.”

“Obviously. I was just saying that if you have a chance to find happiness you shouldn’t wait. You need to jump in with both feet, so to speak.”

Paul gave him an ironic look and Luca cracked up. “And you need to grab this dog with both hands,” he returned.

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