Page 61 of Mended Hearts

“Whatever you say, babe,” she says, pacifying him.

“I say it was a bear, and he wanted to eat me!”

“Okay, okay. Inside voice, please.” Lynsie goes into mommy mode on him.

“Man, that’s funny.” I needed a bit of a pick-me-up. I should’ve known I could count on Dax to deliver.

“So did you have to put a certain man to bed last night? Or should I say ‘to porch?’”

I can practically hear her eyebrows wagging through the phone.

“I heard that,” Dax says, in a hushed tone, taking heed of Lynsie’s instruction.

I sigh. “Actually, no. He literally took me to the couch.”

“Say what?”

“Yeah, I guess I passed out right after y’all left, and I woke up on the couch.”

“And with no Dustin beside you,” she says with disappointment.

“No. But he must have pulled an all-nighter finishing the porch. Since Dax was, you know, deadweight last night.”

“Classy, Echo. Classy.” Dax’s voice booms through my phone like he’s speaking right into the microphone.

“Love you, Dax,” I say.

“Mmmhmm. I can feel it.”

I proceed to tell Lynsie what I overheard at the diner, feeling like I now fit in perfectly with the rumor mill. Lynsie tells me how Mrs. Adams can be hard to deal with because, in her mind, she just wants what’s best for her boys. She’s stuck in her ways and believes what she thinks is the way it should be. But Lynsie reassures me that she can be just as amazing. It’s just an adjustment getting to know her. Lynsie, of all people, would know with what took place at Dax’s ceremony.

“Dustin just doesn’t take her shit,” Lynsie admits. “And she can’t stand it. He thinks that it’ll put her in her place if he doesn’t allow her to run over him, but I have a feeling it might do the opposite.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“Dax has already mentioned letting Dustin stay in the garage apartment if shit hits the fan at his parents. It’ll probably happen sooner rather than later.”

Chapter Forty-One

DUSTIN

More than anything, I wanted to lie next to her and watch her sleep all night. I wanted to at minimum lie on the floor next to the couch to protect her. But seeing the ring on her finger sobered my mind, bringing me back to reality before my head was too far in the clouds. So instead of staying close to her, I stayed up finishing the porch and left before I could get my hopes up even further. Yesterday was perfect, which is the problem when the situation at hand is anything but.

I know Lynsie told me to be whatever Echo needs, but there’s too much on the line for me to keep tiptoeing around. There are far too many unknowns. I’ve kept my distance all day, which has proven to be extremely hard when you naturally gravitate toward someone. I drove two hours one way just to be intentional with the space, but as I’m pulling back into town, I drive straight to the person I’ve been avoiding.

I have to know.

It’s time to pull the Band-Aid off.

I knock on the screen door.

Echo walks up, smiling like she’s been waiting all day to see me…which I'm sure she has. “Hey you,” she says, pushing open the door. “Hey you,” she says.

“What happened that night?”

Her smile falls from her face as I catch her off guard.

“Which night?”

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