Page 97 of Star-Crossed
Lyra considered her sister’s words, her gaze drifting toward the window as she recalled the connections she’d made—with Vee, Myrtle, and even Larry and the kittens that had wormed their way into her heart. She couldn’t deny that something within her had shifted since coming home. And then there was her recent ASD diagnosis, which had shed new light on her own self-understanding.
She hadn’t realized just how much she’d changed until Gemma pointed it out. She’d become more open, kind, and empathetic—qualities she’d never imagined herself possessing, let alone using.
“Lyra,” Gemma said, her voice gentle but insistent. “Are you in love with Cy?”
The question slammed into Lyra like a freight train, forcing her to confront emotions she’d been trying to ignore. “I don’t know if I’m in love with him,” she admitted quietly. “I love things about him. The way he smells. The uneven gait as he walks. His smile, his skin, and the sound of his voice. I look for him in town all the time, wishing we’d run into each other randomly like we used to.”
She threw her head back against the pillow. “Know what’s pathetic? I almost fucking called him the other night. I mean, who does that? Only monsters do that.” She looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them as she thought about Cy’s strong grip, the warmth of his skin, the way his laughter rumbled through her. “God, give me a second and I’ll do all the desperate things I used to make fun of other women for doing,” she continued. “Like surprise him with breakfast in bed or leave cute notes in his pockets.”
Gemma’s eyes widened as she grinned at her sister. “Lyra, I hate to tell you this, but that sounds exactly like love.” She sobered slightly. “But does loving him mean picking between Townsend Harbor and Denver? Would you have stayed if he asked you to?”
Lyra’s heart clenched at the question, and her mind raced with possibilities. She knew that choosing between her career and her newfound connections would be no easy feat. But the mere thought of leaving Cy behind sent a sharp pang of longing through her chest.
“I think—”
The thick white privacy sheet was batted aside, and Cy appeared as if summoned by their conversation. He stalked in with a wild look in his eyes, a beautiful mess of rumpled clothes and an expression of frantic determination.
“Wha—” Lyra’s voice caught in her throat as she gazed at him, her heart racing in tandem with the monitor beside her. His dark hair, damp from the shower, clung to his forehead, framing those wise, soulful eyes that had haunted her every thought for days. The strong lines of his face seemed even more pronounced, giving him an air of vulnerability that only intensified her attraction to him. His broad shoulders seemed to bear the weight of the world, and she longed to reach out and touch the taut muscles of his arms, to feel their reassuring strength once again.
“Damn, that rumor mill went fast, even for Townsend Harbor,” Gemma remarked, eyeing Cy with a mixture of amusement and concern. “How’d you get in here? This is supposed to be a secure ER.”
“Slid in through an automated door after a doctor left,” he replied, not taking his eyes off Lyra. “Saw her name on the board, and I just… I had to see her.” His skin hung a little looser from his bones, as if he’d lost weight from worry, and he moved like he was in pain, favoring his left leg.
To Lyra, he was devastatingly handsome in his disarray—a beautiful mess of concern and vulnerability. She realized just how much she’d missed the details of his face—the way his expressive brows danced when he spoke, the creases at the corners of his eyes when he smiled, the strong curve of his jaw that she loved to trace with her fingertips.
Cy turned his attention to Gemma. “What happened? Is she okay?”
“Lyra fainted while helping a customer,” she explained, her tone serious yet laced with humor. “But don’t worry, her vitals are fine. They’re just running some tests.”
“Did they say what might have happened to her? Is she going to be okay?”
“Sheis right the fuck here,” Lyra snapped. She might be confined to a hospital bed, but she wasn’t about to let Cy talk about her as if she wasn’t in the room.
“Lyra, I—” he began, his voice catching as he stepped closer. He looked like he wanted to gather her up in his arms, but the tangle of vital monitors and IV lines held him back.
Lyra reached out and took his hand, feeling the rough calluses beneath her fingertips that spoke of his connection to the earth.
“I went to your shop to find you,” Cy confessed, his dark eyes filled with concern. “I realized you were right—Iwasbeing a coward. When I saw you being carted away in the ambulance…” He broke off to force himself to breathe, apparently.
Damn, he really was worried.
Lyra was touched by his admission—and frustrated that she couldn’t offer him more in the way of medical reassurance. “Cy, I’m sure it’s just something weird.” she tried to soothe him as she squeezed his hand. “I had an insanely stressful job before coming back, and things haven’t exactly been a walk in the park since I’ve been here. Maybe I just need more iron or something.”
Cy’s brow remained furrowed, his anxiety etched deep into his handsome features. “We…we can’t leave things the way we did, Lyra,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “You were right. You were right about everything. I’ve realized something important, that the walls I built around myself had become a prison. No one ever really tried to climb over them, but dammit, Lyra you were the only woman stubborn enough to do it…”
He glanced up at the monitor displaying the heart rate elevating at his every utterance.
The intensity of his admission left her breathless. A tidal wave of emotions crashed over her as she struggled to put her own feelings into words.
Just as she was about to respond, the door to the room swung open and the doctor strode in, frowning first at Cy and then at her chart.
“Ms. McKendrick,” he said before pausing for a moment as if considering his words. “It appears that your syncope was caused by a relaxing in blood vessels due to…” He caught himself, eyeing Gemma and Cy as he asked, “Do you want to receive this medical information privately?”
Cy’s grip nearly cut off the circulation to her fingers, but he visibly bit his tongue.
“It’s okay. You can say it in front of them.”
“All right. Well, Miss McKendrick, the only variant I can see in your blood work is hormonal, specifically caused by pregnancy.”
