Page 116 of Vicious Arrangement
Gramps tells me about work and his neighbors. “How’s my boy, Angus?”
“He saved the day,” Noah says.
Gramps frowns and winks at me. “Of course he did. He’s a very smart dog, young man.” Then he leans in. “Thanks for saving Aria.”
“Of course. I’d do it each day every day, too,” Noah mutters.
The door opens again as Katie and Asher come in. He hands me a drawing. “That’s you.” I look like a stick princess. There’s a giant next to me and a smaller stick figure. “The giant is Noah, and that’s me.” He grins. “Joshy wanted to come but… I didn’t want to traumatize him. Or the staff.”
It’s a part joke but there’s a truth there, and I wonder if his wife was sick and in hospital when she died. Maybe Josh had nightmares, but I don’t ask, and then I narrow my eyes as it hits me.
Asher and Katie came in together.
I choose my victim. “Is there something I should know?” I ask Asher, who turns beet red, and Katie bursts out laughing.
“You’d never make a spy, Ash,” she says.
“Katie,” I ask.
She holds up her hands. “Okay, okay, we’re seeing each other.”
“I knew it,” Noah says triumphantly. “It explains why you were so busy.”
“We’re happy for you both,” I say, squishing Noah’s hand in mine as Gramps laughs and gives Katie a hug.
“Both my girls are happy,” he says. “I’m happy. As long as you two young men keep them happy, hear?”
Noah and Asher placate Gramps, and he basks in it. But he finally checks his watch.
“You’re not going?” I ask.
“Got work to do, Aria.” He gets up and kisses my cheek. “No more adventures like this, okay?”
“I promise.” I turn to Noah. “Can you walk him out to his car?”
He hesitates. “I don’t want to leave you?—”
“Noah,” I say, “no one’s coming for me and nothing’s happening to me. Besides, I’m in the hospital, and Katie and Asher are here. I’ll be fine.”
He gets up and follows Gramps out.
Katie glances at me. “What gives? Gramps doesn’t need an escort.”
“I wanted to talk to you for a moment.”
“Should I step out?” Asher asks.
“Nope,” I say. “Katie’s a sieve. What I tell her will go to you.”
“It’s true,” she says. “I have a low secret threshold, and I’m full up.”
I suck in a breath. “I don’t know what to do. My feelings for Noah are real.”
“Um, tell us something we don’t know,” Katie says.
“But I’m scared because I don’t know where I stand with him. He said he loved me at that hotel, but adrenaline was high, and… what if he said it to keep me from going? What if he’s exaggerating his feelings to get me to stay?”
“That’s bullshit,” Asher says. “I know him better than you at this point, and that’s not Noah’s style. I’ve known him since we were young, and I’ve never, ever seen him like this over a woman. Ifhe says he’s got feelings for you, Aria, then he does. He wouldn’t bullshit you.”
