Page 174 of Renard's Deliverance

“Feels like old times,” Opal joked.

“Don’t joke about it,” Lilac said in a raw voice.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t holding herself together as well as Opal had thought.

“When we saw you in the hospital, I thought it was bad,” Ryleigh said. “But now . . .”

“It’s worse?” Opal said dryly.

“Oh no! I didn’t mean it like that.”

Renard was scowling as he walked into the bedroom with two chairs which he set down by the bed. “What’s going on? Why are you all upset?”

“We’re fine,” she reassured him.

“None of you look fine.”

“Sorry, it’s just a shock,” Ryleigh whispered.

“We’re all good,” Lilac told him. “Well, other than the fact that you wouldn’t let us see her until now.”

“Lilac was ready to storm the castle,” Ryleigh told Opal. “She was prepared to break in if she had to so we could see you.”

“You were the one researching how to break a lock,” Lilac said.

Opal smiled at them both. She would have felt the same if one of them had been hurt.

Renard just grunted, shaking his head at her friends. “Opal, you sure you’re good?”

“I’m sure,” she told him. “We’re all good.”

He pointed at her. “You get upset; I won’t be happy. Two of you, sit. Don’t upset her. And you can’t stay long.”

He strode out of the room.

“He’s such a sweetheart,” she said on a sigh.

Both Lilac and Ryleigh gaped at her.

“Renard? That guy?” Lilac questioned. “A sweetheart?”

“Yeah. He just brought you both chairs so you’d be comfortable and got all worried because he thought we were upset. A sweetheart.”

“He seemed grouchy to me,” Ryleigh told her.

“Nah, that’s just his personality. He expresses his concern with scowls and grumbles. Trust me.”

“Are you sure you’re not on the good drugs?” Lilac asked her.

Opal grinned. “It’s not that.”

“Oh my God,” Ryleigh said, leaning forward. “You love him?”

“What?”

“You have to love him if you think that his grumbling is sweet. You love him,” Ryleigh said with a grin.

“Or she’s on the good drugs and totally delusional,” Lilac added.

---