Page 43 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

“In my defence, I didn’t have a say in the matter—”

Something hard smacks into the back of my head, and I turn around to find a glaring Ella getting ready to launch another shoe at me. Yasmin laughs.

“I thought we discussed this, and you weren’t going to keep bringing it up!” She throws her missile, but I can see this one coming and step out of the way.

“Jesus, woman, would you stop? You’ll hurt yourself. If you’d let me finish, I was going to say, in my defence, I didn’t have a say in the matter, but I’m glad I didn’t because I am now the luckiest man on earth.”

“Suck up,” Yasmin says and distracts me long enough for Ella to throw the remote at me this time, hitting me square in the back.

“What she said.” Ella pokes her tongue at me.

I walk over and smash my lips against hers, quickly shutting up anything else she was going to say. This kiss is perfect. They all are. It’s the only thing we’ve done for the last six weeks. We’ve kissed and held each other while she heals.

“Ugh, you two make me sick,” Yasmin interrupts us. I turn around to face her, placing Ella in front of me so I can wrap my arms around her and rest my chin on her head.

“You’re the one who barged in here.”

“You weren’t making out when I walked in. Anyway, I want to talk to you. I just got back from the endocrinologist. Know how to use one of these?” She holds up a smallish orange box.

I recognise it. “Is that a glucagon kit?”

I had to get one from my locker last year to use on her when she passed out in class.

“Got it in one. They’ve officially diagnosed me with hypoglycaemia on top of the type 2 diabetes. Apparently having both means I’m really lucky.” Her voice is laced with sarcasm.

“No, it just means you need to be a little more cautious. You have your sensor, and we all still receive the alerts. You’ve got this. You haven’t had a hypo in weeks.” I try to reassure her, but it’s not working. Releasing Ella, I head towards Yasmin and wrap her in a hug. “I’m sorry, Shorty, I know it sucks. But we are all here for you. We’ll get you through it.” I squeeze her tight and feel her relax.

“Where’s Chase?” I know he wouldn’t let her go to the appointment alone.

“In the garage. I told him I’d be down soon . . . I just wanted to fill you in.” She steps away and sits on the couch.

“Why don’t you hang with Ella for a little bit? We don’t need to leave for half an hour. I’m going to go see Chase.”

Ella gives me a small nod and moves to sit next to Yasmin, wrapping her in her arms to comfort her.

I fall a little more for my wife in that moment.

Leaving the girls to chat, I head down to the garage and find Chase rubbing a panel on the Chev he’s working on. The music is deafening—he’s clearly lost in his head and takes a few moments to realise I’m there.

He turns the music down as he speaks. “Did Yasmin find you?”

I look at my best friend and realise just how run down he looks. The apprenticeship has been kicking his ass recently, but he keeps telling me it will be worth it in the end.

“Yeah, I left her with Ella for a bit. I was planning on taking Ella to the beach house in Briar Bay tonight after her appointment with the specialist, and as much as I would love to have her to myself for the weekend, I think we all need a little getaway. You think you can get everyone together and wrangle Monday off work? I’ll organise Giselle to fit the girls in tomorrow to get dresses, and we’ll go somewhere fancy for dinner so they can show them off.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. Doc knows what has been happening, and I’m sure he’ll be happy to see me take a few days. I fucking need it at the moment. I hate seeing her so upset. I’m really happy you are you again. I know I’d be fine getting her through this, but it’s easier when we’re all together. What about the kids?”

“I’ll call Ralph now and get him to bring Julia, Millie, Mumma Nat, GW, and Hayden to the beach house. Do you think Yasmin would want David there?”

Yasmin has a rocky relationship with her dad. Her sister, Millie, is currently living with Chase’s mum at the moment while their dad learns how to be a dad again. Last I heard, though, they were making some progress.

“I have no clue, but mum said he’s been hanging around a lot more, and Yas mentioned Millie has been talking about him a lot, so it might be worth a shot. The house is enormous enough that we can avoid him if need be, but it might be time to see his progress for ourselves.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to Ralph and let Mumma Nat decide. Are you guys right to meet us there? I’ve got Shamus taking us to the hospital, then I’ll get him to drive us to Briar Bay. I’m not sure how Ella will be after the appointment.” Chase gives me a warm smile. Like he knows something I don’t. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

“Because I never thought the day would come that I’d see you like this. Sure, you are like this with all of us, but you are so much more protective of Ella. You have her wrapped in your bubble. But it’s funny as hell to see her push back at you. We’ve always just let you do what you want because it was easier, and you always had our best interests at heart. With her, though, you do the same thing, but she makes you work for it. It’s nice to see.”

I let what he says sink in and then flash him a smile. He’s right . . . her challenging me on almost everything has cemented the fact that she is, without a doubt, the girl for me.

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