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“Okay.”

“Okay?” She swung a scandalized glare on him.

“You just had a baby. We have three kids.” He flung a hand in Lee’s direction. “We both know what your load is. It’s okay that sex with me isn’t on your radar right now.”

“It’s not fatigue, Tick. Did you not hear me say I don’t feel anything?”

“I did.” He kept her hand in his. “What did Clarissa say?”

He felt her quick glance skitter over his face. “That I needed to not be so hard on myself and to relax.”

Nodding, he rolled his other hand, palm up in agreement. “And you should make an appointment with Alice.”

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I did. Next Tuesday afternoon.”

“Good.” That, coupled with the fact she’d already reached out to Clarissa, made him feel better. He’d have liked to have been in on her feelings from the beginning, but he got it, got her. He flexed his fingers, stroking his thumb down the side of her hand. “So what we’re going to do is relax and quit worrying.”

“I hate when you’re reasonable.” Her voice trembled.

“Yeah, I know.” This time, he reached to smooth the line of her jaw. Without seeing, he knew she lifted her gaze heavenward.

Silence stretched once more, pulsing with the steady rhythm of the ocean and her fear.

“You truly believe it will be all right?” Her small voice gutted him.

Holding her hand tight in his, he lifted her knuckles to his lips. “I do.”

He had to. Believing anything else was untenable.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Enough For Now

“I’m beginning to understand why elderly people have high rates of STIs.” Tick set the grocery bag on the island and leaned in to kiss her. Both dogs wound around his feet, Fisher dancing and grumbling at the lack of attention, Zeb’s head pressed to his thigh. She breathed in his end-of-the-day scent, clean and faded, a hint of summer heat on his skin.

She wrinkled her nose. “You had an uncomfortable conversation with Gene today.”

“He called me while I was at lunch and he was in the drive through at the pharmacy.” Resting a hand on the island, he shook his head and rubbed behind Zeb’s ears with his other. On a sigh, he bent to settle Fisher in a sit and scratch his ears as well. “Picking up a refill of his ‘pills’ because they had to up his dosage. I thought we were talking about his cholesterol meds.”

“And you weren’t.” Laughter choked her voice. Oh, she could only imagine his horror. Knowing Gene was in a romantic relationship was one thing. Having insight into his intimate life would be another altogether.

“No.” Straightening, he jerked a hand through his hair. “We weren’t. I don’t need to know what I know about his sex life.”

She gazed at him, her mouth compressed against a laugh. With his hair falling over his forehead, he looked younger, more relaxed, and affection surged through her, offsetting some of the tension from being poked and prodded at Alice’s office, then spending the afternoon with her fussy, teething baby who didn’t want to be put down.

He pointed at her, one corner of his mouth quirked. “Stop laughing at me.”

“I am not.” Aloud, anyway. “I’m sure you changed the subject.”

“I did.” He unpacked a small package wrapped in white butcher paper and a container of jicama slaw and crossed to the refrigerator to stow them. His night to cook, and tonight’s menu apparently centered on some type of seafood tacos. “Ended up with his advice about us.”

“Excuse me?” Gene’s having insight into their intimate life was another thing as well.

“I didn’t go into detail.” With a chiding frown, he propped on the counter and unscrewed the top of his water bottle. “He’s kind of my go-to, precious, as much as Del is.”

Her lashes fell. Of course he’d need an outlet, as much as she did, except . . . Holy Mother. She’d never be able to look his grandfather in the eye again.

“You know this is kind of normal, right?”