If I convinced Margery to move in here, I’d have to move in with Boone.
Or go to his office, but that was overstuffed and cluttered and didn’t have a bathroom anywhere close.
And with the amount I had to get up to pee in the middle of the night, I didn’t want to add any extra time to that if I didn’t have to.
There was also the room full of fishing equipment, but I could just see myself snagging my face on a hook in the middle of the night.
There were also two other bedrooms that shared a bathroom, but they were on complete opposite sides of the house and I didn’t think I could be that far away from Boone…
As I tried and failed to go to sleep in my own bed again, I considered his words.
What would be the harm in pretending for now?
Margery didn’t have much time left on this Earth.
Why not give her one of her dreams while I still could?
Though, that wasn’t why I slipped out of bed and tiptoed down to Boone’s room.
No, I went to him because there was no way in hell that I was sleeping in this house without him.
I could sneak in while he was dead asleep with him none the wiser.
At least, that was what I told myself.
I slipped into Boone’s room and then into his bed.
I pulled back the covers and slipped inside, curling up to his broad back.
And never once did I question how he scooted over to give me more room.
Or how, three hours later when I got up to use the bathroom, he shifted the covers off of me to help me get up. Or when he pulled me back in tight, how he didn’t seem all that surprised to find me in his bed.
Twelve
You complete mess.
—Boone to Nettie
Nettie
It’d been three weeks of crawling into his bed every night after he was asleep that our first doctor’s appointment came up.
“What did you tell the staff why you weren’t there today?” I wondered.
“Doctor’s appointment,” he answered stiffly, his eyes roaming around the office space like something was about to jump out and murder him if he didn’t keep his eyes moving.
I crossed my arms over my chest and wiggled lower in the seat next to him.
The last time I was in this office, it was when I was being told that I was no longer pregnant.
This office gave me hives, but literally it was the only one I was willing to go to.
“Antoinette Wheeler?”
I stood up and latched hard onto Boone’s hand like it was a lifeline, yanking it out of the pocket he’d just shoved it in to do so.
He didn’t complain when I practically cut the blood circulation off to his hand.
