“Heaven grant us patience with a man in love.”
—Rudyard Kipling
On the way to work a few hours later, Landon told himself it didn’t matter that he was the only one who’d said he was in love and all in with their relationship. She’d expressed gratitude for what he’d done for her, but she hadn’t told him she loved him, too, even though he was fairly certain she did.
Why hadn’t she said it? And what did it mean that he’d said it and she hadn’t? He had no idea, and the not knowing was going to kill him during a twelve-hour shift away from her. After this, he would be off work for four days. He hoped the trip to Boston, the wedding and four days together would give her the time she needed to catch up to him.
The thing about being all in, he was finding, was that it became absolutely critical for the person you were all in with to be there with you. What if she wasn’t? What if her feelings for him were wrapped up in appreciation for what he’d done for her after the fire and weren’t about love or forever at all?
That thought sent him into a tailspin. Wouldn’t that be just his luck to finally find a woman he wanted to be with forever and her not want the same thing? He released a laugh tinged with irony. He probably deserved that after his years of dodging anything that smacked of commitment or more than one night at a time.
When he arrived at the firehouse, he was surprised to see Dani’s car parked outside. What was she doing there? He headed inside to find Lucas, Dani and Savannah visiting with their fire department coworkers. Savannah was snuggled into Lucas with his uninjured arm wrapped around her. Landon was relieved to see his brother looking much better than he had the last time he saw him. He’d lost that pasty-faced complexion that was so not like him and had color in his cheeks again. Thank goodness.
“What’re you guys up to?” Landon asked.
“Your brother was feeling restless, so I agreed to take him for a ride,” Dani said. “We ended up here.”
“He’s looking much better,” Landon said.
Lucas grinned. “Feel free to continue talking about me like I’m not here.”
“Don’t mind if we do.” Dani shot him an annoyed look. “He’s driving me batty, Landon. I have to practically sit on him to keep him from doing too much.”
“Not that I mind when she sits on me,” Lucas said to laughter from the other firefighters.
Dani glared at him. “Shut your mouth, Lucas Abbott.”
“I like this woman so much,” their chief, Richard, said. “She keeps you in line, Abbott.”
Lucas scoffed. “She can try.”
Dani gave him a quelling look.
“Love you, honey.”
“Lu, Lu, Lu,” Savannah said.
“She always takes his side,” Dani said.
Lucas kissed the top of Savannah’s head. “Because she’s my best girl.”
“We need to get her home for dinner and a bath,” Dani said.
“Give Abbott a bath while you’re at it,” Richard said. “He’s a little gamey.”
While the others laughed, Lucas stroked the beard that had grown in during his convalescence. “It’s hard to shave with only one hand.”
“I’ll do it for you if you want,” Landon said.
“Maybe tomorrow before we leave for Boston. It’s starting to get itchy.”
“Sure, no problem.” Landon walked them out, noting that while Lucas looked much better, he was still moving slowly. “I’ll be over in the morning.”
“Sounds good,” Lucas said. “You doing okay? You look a little weird through the eyes.”
“I do?”
“Uh-huh.”
Landon wasn’t surprised that Lucas could tell just by looking at him that something wasn’t quite right. While Dani secured Savannah into her car seat, Landon took advantage of a minute alone with his brother. “Things with Amanda are…”
“What?”
“Good. Really good.”
“Okay… So why the long face?”
“I’m not sure she’s as into it as I am.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I basically told her how I feel and what I want, and she didn’t say it back.”
“Huh.” Lucas scratched at the scruff on his face.
“What do you suppose that means?”
“I don’t think it means all is lost. She might not be ready to say the words yet.”
“What if you’d said the words to Dani and she hadn’t said them back?”
Lucas grimaced. “Yeah, that would’ve sucked.”
“It did suck. I mean, I’m glad I got it out there and everything, but all she said was how thankful she is for everything I’ve done for her since the fire.”
“Ouch.”
Dani came around to where they were standing. “Can I say something?”
“Of course,” Landon said.
“She’s had a lot to deal with since the fire. A lot, a lot. Give her some room to breathe. She’s making the kind of changes that lead me to believe she wants what you do.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“It is true, Landon. She could be anywhere in the world, and she’s choosing to be here. You don’t think that has something to do with you?”
“Partially.”
“How do you mean?”
“She loves a lot of things about being here.”
“Mostly you, dude,” Lucas said. “She’s totally into you. I saw that when you guys came to visit. You just gotta be patient and give her time to sort it all out. I think you’ll be happy with where she ends up.”
“Patience is painful.”
Lucas laughed. “It can be, but the rewards are so worth the pain. Just ask my love, Dani, how happy she is that I was patient and waited for her to realize she couldn’t live without me.”
Dani gave him a playful slap upside his head.
Lucas grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing along her row of knuckles. “When it’s the right thing, you do what you’ve got to do,” Lucas said, keeping his gaze fixed on her. “Whatever it takes.”
“Thanks,” Landon said. “This actually helped a lot.”
“I’m sure it’s hard for you to believe I’m actually smarter than you are when it comes to love,” Lucas said before Dani’s hand covered his mouth to thankfully shut him up.
“You need to learn to quit while you’re ahead,” Dani said as Lucas’s eyes danced with mirth.
“Take him home and muzzle him,” Landon said. “I’ll be over in the morning to delouse him before the wedding.”
“We’ll see you then,” Dani said. “Have a good night at work and be safe.”
“Will do.” When they were both in the car, Landon shut the passenger door and waved as they drove off. Leave it to Lucas to make even falling in love into a competition between them. But that didn’t surprise Landon. They’d been trying to outdo each other in just about everything since the day they were born. Everything was a competition, so why not love, too?