“Uh, yeah. Let me grab my purse from your room. Maybe we can stop by the store and pick up some snacks and trashy magazines for Heather on the way.”
“Sounds good.” He fit his cowboy hat on his head before stuffing his feet back in his boots, his gaze fixed on the floor.
She bit back a sigh. Great. Not even twenty-four hours into this thing and she’d already gone and made it weird. No, she didn’t expect Duke to be in love with her but also didn’t like how he’d retreated at the mere mention of it.
Maybe it’s what she’d needed to get her feet back on the ground. This was new and she had to proceed with caution or they’d both end up getting hurt.
17
Carrying an armload of magazines and a bag filled with snacks, Duke walked beside Suzy into the county hospital. A weird tension hovered over them. He could kick his own ass for being such an idiot.
Love. What the hell was thinking? He couldn’t drop a bomb like that in casual conversation and expect it not to be a big deal. Suzy was probably second guessing everything after that boneheaded move.
But the thing was, saying the word out loud was so natural and easy. As though his heart had known for months what his head hadn’t wanted to acknowledge. Too bad letting the word slip showed him exactly where Suzy was at.
He couldn’t let that bother him. Heck, he’d thought about being with Suzy since the day they’d met. It made sense his feelings were in a different place than hers. He just hoped he hadn’t freaked her out.
He kept his thoughts to himself as he walked to Heather’s hospital room. The door stood ajar, and the sound of Parker’s laughter reached him before he stepped foot in the room.
A wide, beautiful smile broke out on Suzy’s face. “Sounds like your sister has visitors.”
As much as he loved seeing Parker, Duke dreaded seeing Lane. Maybe it was better to get this over with. No way he could avoid his business partner forever.
Bracing himself, he swung into the room with a tight smile and relief loosened his chest at the sight of Celine sitting with Parker in her lap. Heather sat up in bed.
And no Lane in sight.
“Hey, you two,” Heather said. “I didn’t know if you’d come back today.”
“Not only did we come back, we brought gifts.” He hoisted his offerings in the air. “Suzy picked some stuff out at the store that should keep you occupied for a while. We would have been here sooner but…” he glanced at Suzy, not knowing how much to divulge.
Celine darted her gaze between them. “But what?”
“We ran into some issues,” Suzy said. “Everything’s okay,” she rushed to add. “But I haven’t had a chance to talk to Lane yet. I didn’t want to stress him out even more, and after earlier, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him.”
“I heard about that,” Celine said, wrinkling her nose. “He lashed out, Duke. I’m sorry he took his frustration out on you.”
“Wait,” Heather said. “What happened?”
“Start with whatever this trouble is you ran into,” Celine said.
Parker clapped his hands and giggled.
“I’ll start with picking up this little guy and getting a hug.” Suzy scooped Parker from Celine’s lap and placed kisses on his cheeks.
The little boy returned the kisses, adding layers of slobber on Suzy’s face.
“Okay, you’ve got your love now tell us the story,” Celine said.
Duke tried not to cringe at the word love as he set down the bags and magazines then took the chair next to Celine. “When we went back to Suzy’s place, she realized someone had been inside her apartment.”
“Oh my God. Were they inside when you got there?” Heather asked.
“No.” Suzy held Parker tight as if absorbing comfort from her nephew. “But between something that was taken and things left, it was obvious.”
“What was obvious?” Lane gruff voice barked from the doorway.
Duke tensed. He should have asked if Lane was still here before settling in for a visit. He stayed seated, working his jaw back and forth. As much as he wanted to jump in and handle things, he didn’t want to overstep. Suzy had her own way of dealing with her brother, so he’d let her take the lead.
