Was he… was Boone… flirting?
Or just giving me some sort of pity compliment?
Either way, I didn’t know how to respond.
So I stood and started gathering dishes.
“Not done yet,” he said, picking up his spoon again.
Oh.
I hovered—unsure what to do. Flat out ask him to leave? Wash my bowl? Hide in my room until he went away?
“Do you mind keeping me company while I finish?” he asked, offering a third option I wouldn’t have come up with on my own.
Yes, I minded.
He was scary. He was stirring the graveyard inside my chest, and I wanted to hide.
But he’d rescued me, and I couldn’t even make myself say thank you.
So, I sat back down—perched on the edge of the chair, ready to bolt into dish-clearing the second he was finished.
“So,” he said, “I was sent here on a mission by my nephews—your daughters’ mates. That’s what our kind calls husbands. Sort of. How much do you know about their situation?”
A little. Not enough.
I really did need to find my phone.
Also—our kind?
My face must have done something, because he nodded. “Okay. I’m going to assume not a lot. Not everything.” He watched me. “Want me to call your girls’ mates? Tell them you’re okay now, and let them explain everything?”
“No!” The spoken word suddenly burst out of my mouth. “Please don’t!”
He paused mid-bite. Then grinned. “There you are.”
Yes, there I was, too terrified to stay silent.
“Please don’t tell them you found me like this,” I said. “I don’t…”
My voice gave out. I couldn’t explain why—not even to myself. But I couldn’t let him call Holly’s and Noelle’s mates. “I don’t want Holly and Noelle to see me this way.”
“Bell.” His voice gentled. “Don’t worry. I’m not in this for them anymore. I’m here for you. If you don’t want me to call them, I won’t. Just tell me what you want to do.”
Tell him what I want….
I thought. Then said it out loud.: “I want to heal. Wait until the bruises fade. Then I want to go to Canada to see them. On my terms. On my timeline. But definitely before the wedding.”
He considered that. “Good idea. I’ve got my truck downstairs. We’ll drive to Bear Mountain whenever you’re ready.”
We?
“Oh. No, no.” I shook my head. “You don’t have to keep helping me. I can take care of myself from here.”
“I’m sure you can,” he said.
Then he went back to eating.
