My brow rose. “They said that, huh?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Seems to me those two need to stop gossiping like a bunch of girls,” I muttered under my breath.
Frankie Leigh made a horrified sound. “Gossip girls? Auntie Nikki loves Gossip Girl.”
Could this conversation spiral any faster?
“You don’t love girls, Uncle? I’m a girl. I ’fought you love me?”
Yes. Yes it could.
A sigh pilfered free. How was I supposed to dig my way out of that one? “Of course, I love girls, Sweet Pea. Girls are the best. I just don’t love my best friends who act like the gossiping kind.”
“Likes my daddy and Uncle Ollie?”
“Exactly.” I ruffled her hair. “And you know you shouldn’t say that word.”
Her eyes doubled in size. “What? Mopey?”
Rynna suddenly appeared in the doorway, holding Ryland to her chest.
“You made it.”
“Of course, I made it. Where else would I be?”
Rynna gave me a look that said I was full of shit, all mixed with a load of sympathy. “We haven’t seen you in weeks. We weren’t sure you were going to be able to make it.”
Her tone held a distinct undertone of concern.
I settled Frankie Leigh on her feet and shoved a nervous hand through my hair. “Been busy.”
That sympathy twisted on Rynna’s mouth. She knew full well what my definition of busy meant.
I’d thrown myself into work in an attempt to forget.
It was exactly like I’d done all those years ago. But this time, shoving it all down, hiding it in that secret, dead place, didn’t seem to work.
It only seemed to emphasize the hollowed-out vacancy that throbbed inside me.
A festering wound that didn’t get any smaller the more time that passed.
It just gaped and yawned and expanded.
Growing bigger each day.
Six weeks had passed since I’d sat down the street from Hope’s house and watched Evan’s homecoming. Thing was, I couldn’t help but seem to torture myself. Thinking about them constantly. My car automatically slowing every time I drove by A Drop of Hope because I was desperate for just a glimpse.
To see Evan whole and healthy.
To see the joy etched on Hope’s face.
Every patient I saw only reminded me of the brightest smile, those adorable bug eyes blinking at me from behind those thick glasses, fingers flying with silent words that hit me like the sweetest sound.
Didn’t know what was worse—that or the nights I spent tossing and turning through the loneliness. Waking up aching, body straining and hard, wanting Hope in a way that was almost depraved.
Desperate and hopeless.
Seconds from sending me over the edge.
“Come on. Everyone’s already out back. Oh, and you’re officially on uncle duty,” Rynna said. Without a whole lot of warning, she was passing Ryland off to me.
I took him in my arms.
My chest grew tight at the feel of him.
Squeezing and pressing and prodding.
Instantly, he calmed, brown eyes staring up at me like he was trying to figure me out.
Mesmerized.
Or maybe that was just me.
It was amazing the way this tiny thing immediately trusted me to protect him. To take care of him. Always do right by him.
I gulped around the shards of glass that raked my throat.
I wasn’t sure I knew what that meant anymore.
“You do have the magic touch, don’t you?” Rynna asked over her shoulder as she turned and headed around the patio that wrapped around to the back of the house.
Lillith, Brody, Nikki, and Ollie were already hanging out around the patio tables.
Rex at the grill.
I was struck with how similar it felt to that day all those weeks ago. Yet, every-fucking-thing was wrong.
All wrong.
Ollie grinned at me from where he sat at the table, sipping a beer. “Well, well, well, look who’s here. Here I thought you’d forgotten all about us.”
I sent him a death glare. “So I heard.”
Asshole was worse than a nagging mother, getting all up in my business like he belonged there.
But I guessed the dude had earned a free pass since he’d been the one who’d shown up at the police station in the middle of the night to pick up my pathetic ass. He had driven me straight back to the hospital so I could get to Hope and Evan.
The whole way, he hadn’t said a word. He’d just allowed me to be silent in my grief, his voice grating with sincerity just as I’d been jumping out the door. “So fuckin’ sorry, man. Know what they mean to you. What Melody meant to you. Know what you’re going through right now. If you need me, I’m just a call away. Don’t hesitate, brother.”
I’d given him a tight nod before I’d bolted out.
Because Ollie got it in a way I didn’t think anyone else could.
I took a seat under one of the umbrellas and snuggled Ryland against my chest, lightly rocking him. The kid was out cold in about three seconds flat.
Rynna passed by behind my chair, reaching out to touch my shoulder as she went. “I’m really starting to get a complex over that, you know?”