Page 92 of The Moments You Were Mine
Silence settled in between us as she continued to frown at me.
“Where are Parker and Theo?” I asked.
“Eating dinner. Parker was going to bring you some, but I wanted to see how you were doing before you ate.” She waved her hand. “Scoot over.”
“When did you get so bossy?” I asked, but I did as she commanded, and she climbed in beside me.
Sweet memories flooded me of us doing just this many times in high school. I’d missed my best friend more than I’d let myself acknowledge. We’d spent our entire childhood twined together and then had college pull us in different directions. We still texted, called, and visited each other as much as we could, and we still shared all our deepest, darkest secrets, but it wasn’t quite the same as seeing each other nearly every day.
After she settled her back to the headboard, I leaned the unhurt side of my head onto her shoulder.
“What the hell is going on, Fallon?” she asked, but it was gentle and soft this time instead of harsh and upset. “First the tractor, and then the cabin, and now this?”
I’d barely texted her about the fire before the rumors had spread through Rivers. I was lucky she’d been pulling a double shift and hadn’t shown up. Now, I told her everything about the incidents and Wylee’s accusations. The only things I held back were Parker’s change of heart and the baby I was carrying. They still felt too unreal to share yet.
“Wylee has lost his mind if he thinks you’re involved. He needs to pull his head out and start doing his actual job of protecting you,” she snarled, but it dissolved into an unexpected smirk. “Although, with a Navy SEAL staying in your house, I’m not sure you need more protection.”
I shoved her shoulder.
“Too bad we couldn’t figure out a way for your mom’s room to be off-limits. Then, we’d have the perfect, one-bed, forced-proximity situation I love in romance novels.”
I laughed. “What would we do with Theo? Lock him in a closet?”
She smiled. “Kids sleep. How do you think married couples make more than one baby?”
We were laughing when a soft rap on the door was followed by Parker entering the room. He had a plate in his hands. “Did Nurse Maisey approve dinner?”
She grimaced. “I hate my name sometimes. Nurse Maisey sounds like a bad cartoon. Or like I’m going to go all Nurse Ratched and lobotomize someone for standing up to me.”
Parker chuckled.
He handed me the plate, and in response, my stomach growled at the scent of a perfectly toasted grilled cheese. He’d included a scoop of freshly cut fruit salad with it, but the sandwich was what I dove into. Every molecule in my body seemed to rejoice.
“Theo’s right. You do make a mean grilled cheese,” I said after inhaling several bites.
Parker’s eyes bounced between Maisey and me. “Would you like one, Maisey?”
She shook her head. “No, I ate before I left the house. Working in the ER, you never know if you’ll get a chance to breathe, let alone eat.”
“Do you have to get back?” He crossed his arms over his chest, darting a look at me that said he wanted to finish our conversation from earlier.
“I called off. I’m spending the night,” Maisey said, and I almost laughed at Parker’s barely masked disappointment. “No way I’m leaving Fallon here without a trained medical professional looking over her. She’d try to convince everyone she was fine and start baling hay.”
Parker chuckled, and it landed low in my belly as always.
“Okay, then. I’ll just leave you two to catch up while Theo and I do all the guy things.” He looked around the bed. “Do you still have Dog? He’ll never get to sleep without it.”
I pulled up the covers and found the stuffed animal tucked by my side. I handed it over. “Make sure he knows how much it helped.”
Parker stared at me again for a long moment, as if he wanted to say something else, but then headed back toward the door. “Let me know if either of you need anything. I sleep light these days.”
As soon as he was gone, Maisey whispered, “Holy hell. The heat vibrating between the two of you has grown in epic proportions. If I trusted you more, I’d leave you two to your own devices. But seeing as you’re both the strong and muscly type, your sex life would be way too active for your concussion. I’m doing you a favor by staying so you don’t end up prolonging your recovery and have long-lasting side effects.”
She was right. It was for the best—but for an entirely different reason than she’d given. I had to figure out a way to make him retract all his enticing offers without telling him the truth. And that wasn’t anything I’d ever been good at—keeping things from him. Or Maisey. They were the only two people on this planet who’d always seen through my pretenses.
I stabbed a piece of watermelon, and I’d barely put it in my mouth before my body objected. The grilled cheese had gone down fine, but even the smell of the watermelon had me barreling for the bathroom. I tried to go slow, but everything spun.
I landed on my knees by the toilet with Maisey right behind me.
