Page 76 of Cajuns. Love. Curves.

“That woman has turned my life upside down and inside out,” he says with a giant grin.

“Wouldn’t change a thing, would you?” I ask.

“I don’t know. I’m considering retirement a hell of a lot earlier than I ever thought I would. I got that beautiful woman waiting at home for me. Wanna put a baby in her belly. And then I just wanna be here, in Saddle Creek, and raise our kids like we were raised. I mean can you imagine our mother as a grandmother?”

“At Christmas? Think about that,” I say.

“She’ll put Mrs. Claus to shame.”

I take in a deep breath because I don’t really know how to say this next thing. “Hey, I know that you kinda followed in my footsteps in joining the SEALs and I loved that. But you don’t need to feel guilty that you’re still active. I don’t begrudge you that at all. So don’t consider retiring on my account.”

“I want to make a sarcastic remark, but the truth is, I think I needed to hear that. Thank you.”

We nod at each other. “I did sleep with Kelli. I’m not giving you any details though.”

“One time thing?” he asks.

“Fuck no. That woman is my forever and I’m pretty sure I knew that when I was eighteen; I was just too stupid to listen to my own heart.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?”

“Whatever it takes.” Mama sets the bag of warmed, powdery goodness on the table between us as well as two to-go cups of coffee. “I’m going to go over to her clinic and tell her how I feel, and then do what it takes to make her mine for good.”

“It’s about damn time,” Mama says. “You do things right by her, Wade. She offered you her heart once and you rejected it. Publicly. Make sure she knows now that you mean business.” Then she walks away.

And I know my mama’s right, I need to make sure Kelli doesn’t have any questions about how I feel.

chapterthirty-five

Kelli

Five minutes after waking up in my bed alone after the hottest night of my life, I sent an emergency text to Callie. This is how sad my life is. I don’t have any super close friends, because frankly I’m afraid of letting people get close. Between my parents and their shitty divorce, and then the high school rejection with Wade, and then my own marital failure and divorce… yeah, it’s safe to say that I don’t trust people.

Or maybe I just don’t trust my judgement of people. In any case, I texted the only person I knew I could discuss the situation with.

She’s waiting in the parking lot when I pull up. I’m sure I look like a hot mess today because I didn’t even bother with doing anything but a shower. My hair is still damp and thrown up into a sloppy bun. I’ve got no make-up on and I think I might be wearing two different tennis shoes.

Whatever.

This is why I don’t do anything but try to heal people’s bodies. Because the rest of people make me crazy and stupid.

She gets out of her car and meets me at the front door. “Hey, sweetie, you okay?”

I release a shaky breath. “I’m not really sure, but I’m very grateful that you came.” Once we’re enclosed in my office I look at my new friend. “I don’t want to be out of line in assuming that we’re sorta friends, right?”

A look of pure affection crosses her features and she grabs both of my hands. “Of course we’re friends. I mean I know that technically you’re my physical therapist, but I still feel like you’re someone I’d go to the movies with. It’s why I keep pestering you to join my romance reading book club at the library.”

“Oh, I thought you were just trying to recruit bodies.”

“No,” she shakes her head. “I like you, Kelli. And I like to think that you like me too.”

“Yes. Well, this is me,” my voice cracks. I clear my throat. “Going on out on the proverbial limb. I haven’t had a close friend in a long time. It’s a long boring story that I don’t even care about anymore. Suffice it to say, last night Wade and I slept together and I thought it was amazing and magical and then this morning when I woke up he was gone.”

She nods, but doesn’t say anything.

“What do you think?”

“Oh, was that the end of the story?” she asks.

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