Grandma blinks, then looks at her wrist that definitely doesn’t have a watch on it. “Look at the time. Let’s let you two love birds settle into your new nest. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Six a.m. sharp. Best get to bed early tonight, directly after dinner, I’d say. The bedroom is ready. Early to bed. Early to rise.”
Henry snickers behind me, and I slap his flat stomach lightly with the back of my hand.
He clears his throat. “Right. I’ll have zero trouble rising to the occasion.”
“I don’t need to know the details. I’m just telling you what worked for your grandad and me,” Grandma Miller says.
I choke on my own spit.
Henry makes a quiet, almost inaudible, retching noise behind me. “This family has too many meddlers.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Bronwyn says.
“Which is why I said ‘too many.’ One is enough,” Henry says.
Bronwyn shakes her head, then lifts her hands. “Bring it in, Henry, and tell me you love me.”
Henry wraps her in a tight squeeze and kisses the part in her pale blonde hair. “I love you, Bronnie.”
“I love you too,” she says.
She extricates herself then folds me into her arms. She doesn’t actually need to be gentle today. My RA is in remission at the moment, and I’m pretty sure I know why my overactive immune system has taken a chill pill. At least, I hope I’m right.
I squeeze her back in a rocking hug, and she talks against my shoulder. “Love you, sis.”
“Love you too.”
“We all love each other. It’s wonderful. Are goodbyes over?” Henry checks his watch.
“Welcome to Blackwater. Everybody loves you, everybody feeds you, and everybody’s up in your business 24/7. Payback is a beautiful thing,” Bronwyn says.
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Henry asks.
Bronwyn smirks. “Of course not.” Then, she hooks one arm through Grandma’s and one through Noah’s. “We’re leaving.”
She guides them out of the room but pauses at the front door to yell over her shoulder, “Don’t forget, cornhole at my place tomorrow at two. You’re going down in a blaze of beanbags.”
“Leave your ego at the door or your head won’t fit through it,” Henry shouts back.
The door closes on the sound of her cackle and Henry wraps his arms around me from behind. “Alone at last.”
I nod but don’t lean on him for long. He releases me when I step away, his gaze intent, cataloging my features.
I catch myself before I brush my hands down my thighs.Act casual, not anxious.
We’ve already had three months of disappointment. Each time I’d gotten my period, I’d left the bathroom, shaken my head, and he’d squeezed me and said it was way too early to be concerned.
This time is different. I feel it. But I don’t want to get his hopes up in case I’m wrong.
“Is everything okay with you?” I ask.
His expression morphs to puzzlement. “Yes?”
Okay. Okay, this is good.What can I ask him to do to keep him occupied for a few minutes?“Can you make sure the movers installed the porch swing?”
They didn’t. It’s on the schedule for tomorrow, which means he’ll take the few minutes necessary to connect the chains to the hooks himself.
Henry pauses a beat to answer me, his brows furrowed, then he licks his bottom lip. “I can do that.”
