That was how the next hour went. All our friends that were not at home with kids, coming and going, along with hisfireman buddies once they had finished cleaning up the fire that had hurt Huntley and scared the shit out of me.
Before Bronson and Lake left, I looked at my sister and she knew exactly what was going through my mind. Something inside me eased at her next words because I’d been fretting over walking out the door without Huntley.
“I know you have to stay. The kids are fine with us until you two get home.”
After they left, the nurses insisted on administering some pain meds because it was clear that he was hurting and had been stubborn about taking anything.
And then there were three.
Huntley officially introduced me to his mother. It seemed a bit odd since I technically had known her longer than Huntley when she first blew into my life, a force to be reckoned with when I was only seventeen. The way his mother studied me during the exchange put me on edge, but I shook it off and focused on Huntley.
I sat next to his bedside with his hand in mine. His mother stood on the other side and we both watched the man who meant the world to us start to lose the fight to stay awake.
“Sweet…heart,” his words slurred. “You should go home and…rest.”
As I shook my head vigorously, my messy knot on top of my head teetered and began to fall loose. “There isno wayI am leaving.” My stubborn voice held no room for argument.
“But—”
I held up my free hand, going into mom mode and stopped whatever was going to come next. “Don’t argue, I’m not leaving.”
His mother chuckled and I could feel her eyes on me as she listened to our exchange. What was she thinking?
A dopey grin flashed across his handsome face. “My fiancée sure is bossy.”
“Yes I am.” I gave him a stern look. “Now go to sleep.”
The poor guy didn’t get anything else out. He squeezed my hand and his eyes closed as he finally let himself fall into slumber.
Huntley was going to heal. He’d heard that the little girl he’d been carrying that fell from his arms was going to be okay, along with her mother. And he was coming home withme. I could do this. Somehow I could have a relationship.
Because of him.
I felt like I could breathe a bit lighter again.
Until I looked up and into the eyes of his mother.
Dizziness kicked in as my heart began to race.The time had come to address the past between me and the one person who was personally responsible for me being there at that moment.
Alive.
Soft hands cuppedmy tear-streaked cheeks.
“I can’t believe it’s you,” I choked out. “I mean I knew it was the second I saw you but it’s hard to wrap my head around it.”
Her touch, her voice, even her presence while bewildering due to the circumstances was a soothing balm to my soul.
She had the same effect on me as her son did.
The realization that Huntley was her child was shocking, but in some ways it shouldn’t have been. Both of these amazing people had implanted themselves into my life like others never managed to do and I’d never forgotten my angel. Just as I knew I’d never forget Huntley either.
“Sometimes things are just meant to be.” Val—a name Icould finally put with the face of my angel—looked over to Huntley laying in the bed and my gaze followed hers. “You and my son were destined to find each other just like I’d found you.”
I was never giving Huntley up again but what if the extraordinary woman in front of me thought I was not enough for her son? She knew some of my ugly even if it wasn’t every horrid detail. Or what if, after I spilled all the hideous facts about my past, he didn’t want to be with me?
Val softly gave my cheeks that were still cupped in her hands a tiny squeeze. “I can see the wheels of doubt spinning and you need to stop.” She flashed me a stern look just as I had done to Huntley moments before. “My son loves you; he’s been talking about you non-stop for months.”
She dropped her hands and let them fall to her sides but she didn’t take her eyes off me and they, like mine, were glistening with tears.
