I turn my attention to Dev. “What’s going on?”
He sighs and looks down at the bed. Then he lifts his head and locks eyes with me. “You were worried about working with us because of the risks involved. On your first day, you got locked in the panic room. In your second week, you were taken hostage outside the front door. It seems like you’re always in the wrong place at just the right time. I don’t think I can handle the stress. I’ve been seriously worried about you.”
I can’t help but smile. He is so sweet. And so adorable, thinking he can boss me around like that. I reach up and stroke his cheek. “You are so cute. But you have a lot to learn about women.”
My sister points at me. “This woman in particular.” She drops her voice to a whisper, but she’s still really loud. “Stubborn.”
I ignore her. “I know that I’ve had some seriously bad luck coming to the warehouse, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to work with you guys anymore. I used to be afraid, but I’m not anymore. It just means maybe that I should do my work from home. I think being at the warehouse brings a certain element of risk to it, which I’d like to avoid. So if you guys want to meet with me, I can use Skype.” I take Dev’s hand and hold it firmly, so he’ll know how determined I am about this. “It’s simple. I love the work, I love being a part of the team, and I’m not going anywhere.” I look at my sister. “Unless Ozzie doesn’t want me to work there anymore. I know I can’t force anyone to hire me.”
May pats my leg. “Don’t you worry about Ozzie. He thinks you’re amazing. He wants you to stay, but of course he’ll understand no matter what your decision is.”
I look at Dev. He seems angry, and I really want him to understand, so that he won’t be mad at me anymore. I crook my finger at him. “Come closer.”
He leans in.
“I’m getting tired, so before I fall sleep, I just want you to know that when I got locked in that panic room with you, I was mad. But that anger only lasted for about two minutes. Because after that, I started to get to know you. And I realized how much fun you are, and how smart you are, and how much I like spending time with you. Please don’t be mad that I want to spend as much time with you as I can.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you enjoyed your false imprisonment?” Some of the worry lines have left his face and his dimple is starting to make an appearance.
“Yes. I am saying that now. However . . . I am high on drugs, and therefore, you cannot use these words against me in the future.”
He leans in and kisses me very tenderly on the lips. I try not to wince too much when he accidentally bumps my nose.
“You get better, and then we’ll talk.”
“Yes, we will.” I look up at my sister. “How awful is my nose?”
“Wellll . . . you know that bump that you never liked?” She’s referring to the bridge of my nose, the one thing about my face that I could never appreciate no matter how many times May told me it gave my face character.
“Yes?”
“It’s gone. When the plastic surgeon went in there to fix you up, he couldn’t save it.”
I can’t stop smiling. “Talk about being in the wrong place at the right time.” I look over at Dev. “Look at me. I’m beautiful now.”
“You were always beautiful to me, from the first time I laid eyes on you. You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever known.”
“I’m going to give you guys some alone time,” my sister says. She walks out of the room and her footsteps fade in the distance.
I look at the man hovering over me and smile. “Thanks for visiting me. How are my kids? How’s Jacob?”
“Everybody’s fine. Miles has your kids, and he’s being very cool about it. We’ve reached an understanding.”
My eyebrows go up at that. “You have? Do tell.”
Dev shrugs. “I just gave him the straight scoop. He has my phone number. Anytime he has a problem, he knows he can call me, day or night. Your kids were at my house last night. They had a sleepover with Jacob.”
I grab Dev’s hand. “Did it go okay?” I’m so sad I missed that event. I’m also worried that I wasn’t there to referee. My kids need that more often than I’d like to admit.
He pats my hand. “It went perfect. It was Jacob’s first sleepover, and he could not stop talking about it after your kids left. Everything’s going to be fine. Everything.”
When he says everything like that, I know exactly what he means. He’s not just talking about my concussion or my broken nose, or this weird situation with the Bourbon Street Boys, or with us or our kids. He means everything. Our world. The one we’re creating together. It’s going to be just fine. There’s just one more thing I need to clear up.