“It’s a little funny,” Janelle counters, then calls out my name.
“You’ve been summoned,” Haylee says through another laugh, and I hand Dash over to her once she gets her feet on the ground. “I’m going to take him in and see if I can get him to take a nap.”
“I’m not tired,” he tells her while he attempts to wiggle free, but she locks her arms around him.
“Then we will just have a rest.” She kisses his head as she walks off toward the house, and I head to the trunk, where Janelle and her sister are attempting to maneuver the box out of the back.
“Penny, I’d like you to meet my sister, Eva. Eva, this is Jace’s fiancée, Penny.”
“It’s—”
“What?” Eva cuts me off and looks between Janelle and me. “Jace got engaged?”
“He surprised us with the news yesterday.”
“Holy shit, he’s here?”
“He is,” my fake future-mother-in-law confirms.
“I told you!” Eva cries, tossing her hands in the air before focusing on her sister. “What did I say?” she asks, only to answer her own question. “I told you that Jace was going to find someone and that she would bring him back to life.” She focuses on me and grabs my free hand. “And here you are.”
“Eva thinks she’s a psychic,” Janelle tells me.
“I don’t think I’m psychic. I am physic.” Eva glares at her sister, then her expression softens when she turns to meet my gaze. “It’s so nice to meet you, Penny.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.”
“Oh goodness.” She lets me go and claps her hands together. “This week is going to be fabulous.”
“Did anyone think to bring me a coffee?” At that question from Janet, who is making her way toward us, Janelle stops trying to get the box out of the trunk.
“The doctors told you that you’re not supposed to have too much caffeine, Mom.”
“This is America. They have decaf.”
“Mom, not everyone is thinking about you every second of the day,” Eva says, and Janet’s face gets red like it’s going to explode.
Oh goodness, indeed.
“I’m just…” I take a step back when Janet turns her glare in my direction. “I’m just gonna go see if I can find someone to help with the box.” I spin around and walk as quickly as I can toward the house.
When I slide open the back door, I find Daniel in the kitchen with a donut halfway to his mouth.
“Hey, Janelle needs your help getting a box out of the trunk.”
“What did she buy?” he asks, and my nose scrunches.
“You’ll see.”
“Jesus, she cannot be trusted to go shopping at warehouse stores,” he mutters before heading out the door, shoving the entire donut into his mouth.
Smiling to myself, I walk into the room Jace and I are sharing and stumble to a stop when I find the room dark and him on the bed with his elbow covering his eyes.
The position is one I’ve found my mom in more than once, and it causes my heart to pick up speed. I hang my bag on the hook on the back of the door and set down my coffee before I walk over to the bed. Standing over him, I hesitate before I touch the back of my fingers to his forehead that I’m relieved to find is cool to the touch.
“Oh,” I gasp when he captures my wrist in his large hand.
“How was shopping with Mom, princess?” he asks, meeting my gaze, and even in the low light of the room, there is no missing the pain in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Headache. Did you find a suit?”
“Did you take something for your head?”
“No.”
“Will you take something if I bring it to you?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I found two. Now, will you take something if I bring it to you?”
“Yeah,” he says, and I wiggle my hand in a silent demand for him to let me go, but he doesn’t. “Were you okay with Haylee?” His eyes search mine, and I shake my head, caught off guard by the concern in his tone.
“Of course.”
“All right.” He releases me, and I walk around the end of the bed and into the bathroom, where I grab the bottle of Tylenol out of my toiletry bag.
“Do you get headaches a lot?” I ask, shaking out two pills as I go back to the bed.
“On occasion.” He holds out his hand, and I drop them into his palm, then pick up the bottle of water he had on the bedside table.
“How’s the deal going?”
“It’s stalled,” he answers after swallowing down both pills.
“Stalled?”
“It’s all part of negotiations. It’s like a game of chicken. We have to wait to see who is going to crack first.”
“That sounds annoying,” I mutter, and his lips tip up.
“It is.” He lies back down, and I shift on my feet, at a loss for what to do with myself. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“It’s something.”
“Fine. Now that everyone is here, I don’t feel comfortable going outside, and your grandma is around, and I don’t really want to be alone with her.”
“So hang out in here with me,” he replies easily, and I look at the bed, then him. “I won’t bite.”
“You need to rest.”
“So rest with me.” His hand shoots out like a snake, making me squeak, then the next thing I know, I’m tumbling over his big body and lying next to him with my head on his bicep. “Better?”
Absolutely not. I try to move, but his other arm wraps around me.
“I just need to lie here until the pills kick in, and then we can go out on the jet skis.”
“Can you let me go?” I huff, trying to push his heavy arm off, but it doesn’t budge.
“Will you stay if I do?”
“Yes,” I give in, and he releases me.
“Everyone is here?” he asks as my heart starts to slow, and I roll to my side, taking my pillow with me so I don’t have to use his arm.
“I don’t know if it’s everyone, but it’s a lot of people. I met your aunt Eva. She seems really nice.”
“She is.”
“She said she’s psychic and knew you’d find me.” I can’t hide my smile, and he dips his chin down to look at me.
“She said that?” His lips tip up again.
“She told your mom that you were going to find someone and that they’d bring you back to life.”
“Damn, so I’ve been dead?” he asks with a chuckle, and I laugh.
“Apparently.”
“No pressure for you then.”
“None at all.” I study his handsome face, and then ask quietly, “Have you missed being here with everyone?”
He doesn’t answer for a long time, so long that I start to think he won’t. So when he quietly says, “Yeah,” my chest gets heavy. Without thinking, I reach out and touch his jaw, and as I start to pull it away, his hand captures mine again, and he holds it against his chest as his eyes close.
I think about pulling away, because I know that’s what I should do, but I don’t. I leave my hand where it is and close my eyes as the beat of his heart thumps against my fingertips.