“It wasn’t my wife who said anything. Stone called me last night.”
Mae closed her eyes, forcing herself to take a slow, deep breath.
Gunner’s hand rested on her shoulder. “He was beside himself, Mae. I don’t… I can’t imagine. And I’m sorry. You don’t have to be here, dealing with this. I can set up leave for you. Seb would approve it. No questions asked.”
“No! Absolutely not.” The last thing she needed was more people knowing. More eyes filled with sympathy she didn’t want. “I need to be here. I need you to not say anything to anyone.”
Gunner didn’t move.
“Swear. It.”
Finally, he nodded.
“Did you tell Lily?” she asked, her whole body tense as she waited for his answer.
“No.”
Mae released her breath. “Thank you. I already promised Stone I would talk to her, but I just…”
“I understand. She’d want to be there for you. But this isn’t about her. It’s not about any of us. It’s about you.” Gunner stood silent for a minute, and then he completely took Mae by surprise. His arms wrapped around her, and for a moment she just stood frozen. “I won’t tell anyone if you need to cry. As long as you don’t tell anyone I hugged you while it happened. Hate for people to know I have a soft, squishy side for my family.”
“I appreciate that,” Mae let herself relax for just a second before she was moving out of his embrace. “But I’m okay. I am. I just need to focus on work for now.”
“Okay. I’ll be in my office if you need anything. Let me know when you’re cutting out for the day and I’ll head out then, too.”
“You don’t need to stay… I’m?—”
“I know you’re fine. You’ve said it just enough times that I’m thoroughly convinced you are actually the complete opposite of that word. No matter what, I’m not leaving you in the office alone when we still don’t have answers about what happened to Stone. Got it?”
Mae nodded, watching as Gunner plugged back in the printer and the screen burst into a million colorful dots as it came back online.
“Thank you,” she whispered as he turned and walked out of the room.
Sixteen
Stone pulled the aluminum foil sheet out of the packaging and tucked it down over the baking dish. Mae always loved his lasagna, and if ever there was a day for the comfort meal, it was then.
He lowered the door on the oven, wincing as his sore, healing muscles pulled awkwardly as he lifted the casserole dish and set it on the wire rack. It had been nearly a week since her miscarriage, and Mae had become more and more closed off as the days passed. He was going stir-crazy. There were still a few days before his next appointment, and Stone was doing everything in his power to show he was ready to return to work.
If not in a complete capacity, because his memory still hadn’t returned, he could at least spend a few hours in the office. If he had to be trapped in the apartment for another goddamn day, he might just explode.
And Mae, she was the same way. Just a pressure cooker waiting to blow. He’d seen it every day when she’d leave for work, and every night when she came home. Stone had made the mistake of going down to the office the secondday after the miscarriage and Mae had turned beet red and nearly killed him with her cold stare as he made an excuse about needing to see Nash and bolted down the hallway.
Well, bolted was probably too strong of a description, but he moved like his ass was on fire. And he hadn’t made the same mistake since.
The door to the apartment opened and Mae’s heels clicked on the floor as she walked in.
“What’s going on?” Her brows pulled together as he leaned against the breakfast bar, watching her move around the living room, tossing her keys onto the small table he had by the door. Stone was going for a romantic movie night, but honestly, it looked more like a toddler sleepover.
“I thought we could just spend tonight together on the couch. Cuddle up. Watch some Dr. Quinn…”
She shook her head. “I was just going to take a bath and have some cereal before bed… but something smells so good. Did Lily drop food off?”
“I made lasagna.”
Her face fell. “You’re supposed to be resting. You were shot in the chest not that long ago.”
“You’re supposed to be resting too. And you haven’t been eating.”
