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“Is there room for me back there? I’d love to sit in air conditioning with you for a minute.”
Matt scooted over. “There’s lots of room.”
Wes shut the door behind him. “Rumor has it there’s an ice cream request. Was that you, Bailey?”
“No. Me!” Matt bounced on the seat. “I asked!”
Wes scrunched his brow. “I thought you hated ice cream.”
“No!”
“That’s news to me.” Wes shrugged. “But either way, we’ll do ice cream if you both want?”
“We both want,” she confirmed.
“We want! We want!”
Wes ran a hand over her cheek and stared for a long moment. His thumb brushed her lips. The corners of his mouth lifted, making her feel safe. Then he looked at Matt. “First, I have to bring your mom to talk to people I work with.”
“Because Uncle Erick and Grandma and Grandpa weren’t supposed to take me from Mrs. Lacey like that?”
“Yeah, sweetie,” she said.
“Uncle Erick had a gun.”
Bailey tried to hide her reaction and said for the thousandth time, “I’m so sorry he scared you.”
“While your mom and I are talking to some grown-ups,” Wes said, “if it’s okay, I have a friend you can wait with. She just became a doctor. I bet she could tell you all kinds of cool, gross stuff.” Wes looked at Bailey. “And she could give Matty a quick once-over? Just to be cautious.”
Matty. That wasn’t the first time she’d caught Wes using Matt’s nickname, and her heart squeezed when he did. “That sounds good.”
“Awesome. First stop, Dr. Asal.” Wes opened the door. Sunlight beamed in. He held her hand as she climbed out of the backseat. “When we’re all done with all the talking, we’ll get ice cream and go home.”
Matt jumped down beside them. “Are you going to stay with us still?”
“We’ll figure that out later, bud.”
Bailey blushed. “Maybe we figure out the specifics later, but for now, just say yes.”
Wes’s smile was everything. “Then I will.”
She squeezed his fingers and let him lead her and Matt through the throng of emergency-response vehicles and law enforcement parked haphazardly across the perfectly manicured Cosgrove estate.
A young woman with dark hair and casual clothes turned as they approached. She offered Matt a reassuring smile.
“This is my doctor friend.” Wes gestured. “Dr. Asal, this is Matt and Bailey.”
Dr. Asal laughed modestly. “Well, I just graduated from medical school a few weeks ago and started my residency on July first. It’s been a whirlwind of a summer.”
Bailey concurred. “Congratulations.”
“Are you not a real doctor then?” Matt asked.
They all laughed.
“Matt, why don’t you and I go play over there, and let your mom and Wes take care of the boring stuff?”
Her little boy, who had a habit of holding her hand and curling into her when he was uncertain, scanned their surroundings and stepped away. “Okay.”
