Page 64 of Art of Love

Chapter Nineteen

“Easy,” Dylan warned as Nate helped Abe up the stairs.

“Yes, Mom,” Nate teased as he shifted to take a little more of Abe’s weight.

“I could have done this myself,” Abe complained while Nate practically carried him through the front door.

“No, you couldn’t. You’re not allowed to put any weight on that leg until you see the doctor in two weeks,” she warned. “And it is my mission to keep you off your feet.”

“Sounds like heaven,” Nate joked. He nudged Abe, practically sending him falling just inside the door. “Sorry,” he mumbled. He caught Abe and helped him over to the sofa.

“I’ll go check on Stormy and Blaze.” Nate quickly disappeared.

Once Nate was out the door, Dylan knelt beside the couch, adjusting the pillows behind Abe and tucking a blanket over his lap. The cozy place was quiet again, the kind of quiet she hadn’t experienced in days.

Abe leaned his head back against the cushion and sighed. “I missed this couch.”

She smiled and brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. “You missed the view. Admit it.”

His lips curved. “Depends. Do you mean the one outside or the one currently bossing me around?”

She stood with a small laugh. “Flattery won’t get you pie.”

He groaned dramatically. “There’s pie?”

“There will be. After lunch. A bunch of townspeople showed up and dropped off food for you.”

“For us, you mean. You went off that cliff too, and you’re staying here to watch over me.”

“Rest.” She leaned over and kissed him. “You look worn out.”

While he rested on the sofa watching television, she headed into the kitchen to heat up some of the meals that had been dropped off for them. The freezer was full of things, all labeled with their ingredients and instructions for heating them up.

A while later, the kitchen smelled of rosemary and roasted garlic. Every so often she glanced at Abe, who was flipping through the TV with the sound low, his crutches leaning against the arm of the couch, his leg propped up on two pillows.

Even though it had only been a week since the accident, it felt like a lifetime. The screech of metal, the gut-lurching drop, the rocks slamming against the car as they tumbled towards the beach—all of it still haunted her dreams.

She plated their lunch and brought it to the coffee table, handing Abe his before curling up beside him with her own. “No complaints about not having to cook for a while,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m on painkillers. You could’ve handed me cardboard, and I’d be grateful,” he murmured, eyeing the pasta hungrily.

They ate in silence for a while, the familiar comfort wrapping around them like a blanket. Outside, the sky had started to darken, thick clouds rolling in from the west, bruising the horizon.

Once he was done eating, she took their plates into the kitchen and washed them. Then she brought out the cherry pie and ice cream.

While they ate their sweets, he turned the station to one of the late night shows and they laughed together at the jokes.

By the time the show was over, he was fast asleep on the sofa.

She retrieved her new laptop from their shared room and took it back out to the living room. She sat across from him and worked until she too drifted off for a quick nap.

She was still bruised in places, but most of her small cuts had healed already. Her knee was still sore where it hit the car door, but other than that, she was thankfully almost back to normal.

Later that evening, just as she was heating them up some dinner, the storm arrived.

Thunder cracked over the water, and the windows shook in their frames. Dylan stood at the back door, watching lightning streak across the sky as rain pelted the roof. The horses were secured in the barn, and Nate had texted earlier saying that he’d gone home to change and would be back first thing in the morning to check on them again.

She turned to find Abe half-asleep again on the couch, his leg propped up and the blanket tucked snugly around him. She reached for a candle and lit it, just in case the power blinked out.