“I have a reputation to uphold.”
I scoffed out a laugh. “I didn’t realize Go Fish could be cutthroat.”
“Anything can be cutthroat.”
A quiet laugh escaped my lips. “We have children present.”
Her lips twisted. “So?”
“So…should I be worried about my kneecaps?”
That garnered a laugh from her. She covered her lips with her cards, stifling a snort. “Thats actually not a bad idea.”
“Remind me to stay on your good side.”
“Wise call.”
“Any advice on how to do that?”
Her eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at me. For a moment her brown gaze captured mine. “My good side is a little out of practice, but…” She smirked. “You’re welcome to try.”
The invitation in her smile stole the breath out of my lungs. In one swooping moment I realized Iwantedto try, and that scared the shit out of me.
“Hello? Mom!”
I jerked out of my trance and Hollie finally looked away.
Nora was waiting. “Got any jacks?”
SEVEN
Hollie
At 8:25 p.m., we climbed into Jesse’s truck. Jesse held the passenger door open for me as the girls piled into the backseat with Cade, whose airway was completely trauma-free. I buckled into my seat, noticing for the first time little things about the interior of the truck. There was an empty ceramic coffee mug in the cup holder. On the floorboard was a man’s t-shirt and a huge, improperly folded map wedged between the seats.
Jesse hopped into the driver’s seat, and cranked the ignition. A soft, relieved smile rested on his face. Ever since the doctor gave us the all-clear, he’d been smiling.
I couldn’t help but smile, too.
In fact, my cheeks were hurting from all the smiling, but I couldn’t figure out why I was so happy. I told myself we were just a fun bunch, matched well for an evening of chaos. But my eyes kept drifting to the driver’s seat, admiring the way Jesse’s forearms flexed when he spun the steering wheel. His hat sat on the console between us, and theurge to grab it and take a long draw of its scent made my fingers twitch.
If he smiled, I did too.
If he laughed, so did I.
And if he looked at me, I looked right back.
This was the most carefree I’d felt in a long time. Was euphoria a post-adrenaline thing? I didn’t know, but it sounded legit. I hoped so. Then I could conveniently blame whatever I was feeling on my chemical make-up and stress response.
We didn’t eat at the hospital and decided to hit up a McDonalds on the way to Meadowbrook instead. Jesse took us to one with a gigantic play place and the girls werethrilled. They screamed with delight when we pulled into the parking lot. All three of the children were cooped up, ready to run, and absolutelystarving.
Once we missed the rehearsal dinner, our hurry completely vanished. I couldn’t speak for Jesse, but part of me wanted to linger here with the two of them. Once we arrived at the ranch, wedding festivities would tie us up and we wouldn’t get time again.
I didn’t wait for Jesse to come open the truck door for me even though he headed around to my side. I threw it open on my own, grabbed the inside handle and put my heel on the step rail.
But my heel slipped off the rail and crashed into the pavement. I yelped like a puppy and tears stormed my eyes. The two and a half foot drop shouldn’t have hurt, but I hit it just right—the impact jolting my tendons. I held my breath, feeling red flush over my cheeks, as I wrestled back a cry of pain.
Before I could blink, Jesse was there, reaching out to steady me with his hand. “Did you fall?”
