After I showed Masyn where our room was and got her towels so she could shower, I traversed the mile across the house to Beau’s bedroom. The lights were on, so he was either still up and ignoring me, or passed out and unable to hear me. When I knocked and he didn’t answer, I ventured in to the second set of doors and tried again.

“Yeah?” So, he was up.

“Can I come in?”

“Depends. You going to keep kicking me while I’m down? Beating me like a dead horse?” he pouted.

That was the closest thing I’d get to an invitation, so I took it. “You know that’s not my goal.”

“Then what is? I’m not going to cry if that’s what you’re hoping for.”

The sounds of my chuckling weren’t what he wanted to hear, either, so I stopped. “All bullshit aside, it’s like you flipped a switch this afternoon. I’m just trying to understand where you’re coming from.”

“She drove three hours not knowing what she’d find or if she’d even be able to get to you.”

“Masyn?” My voice rose with surprise when I said her name.

His brow furrowed, wondering why I was confused. “Yeah, Masyn. Who else?”

“You can’t seriously be jealous. She would’ve done the same for you.”

He shook his head. “Not in the same way. Not without you. And you wouldn’t have come without her. And it has nothing to do with the two of you sleeping together. It’s been that way for years… I just didn’t see it until today.”

I sat down next to him on the bed and leaned back on my hands. “Seems like getting two friends for the price of one works out in your favor.”

“There was a time when it wasn’t that way. The three of us came as a unit.” He lay on the bed with a hollow thump, like he might sink into a ton of feathers.

“Beau, we’ve grown up. You made new friends in a new city. A week ago, you were getting married. That daily life didn’t include either of us in it, either. That didn’t change the fact that the moment you stepped back into town, Masyn and I were at your side.”

“As shitty as Saturday was, standing at the register in Wilson’s with you and having Nancy ask if she wanted to know what we were up to, it was like high school all over again. I was on the verge of a colossal mess, and the two of us were in our own world.” Clearly nostalgia had sent him barreling down a fictional path—high school was in the past, and so was a life without responsibility.

“The two of us?” I asked.

“Yeah, me and you.”

“You mean without Masyn?” I made sure to clarify, allowing him to lead me to the point I needed to make.

“She wasn’t there.”

“Exactly. You want to say she came here for me, okay, yeah, she did. Great. But I came looking for you on my own last Saturday. And you left the church with Masyn—not me—that day.”

His expression was hard to read, almost blank. “I don’t follow.”

“We each pick up where the other leaves off. No one’s abandoned you, Beau.” I let out a loud exhale, hoping he’d see the three of us were a continuation of the each other just like we’d always been.

“I don’t have friends here like I did in Harden. I’ve got friends, that’s not what I mean. We just don’t have any history. And I don’t think I’ll ever share the bond the three of us have with anyone else.”

“Why do you have to?”

“I miss it. I’m empty.” Finally, an admission of truth. Beau missed the comradery the three of us shared.

“Then come home. I’ve got a spare bedroom and an extra key. You don’t have to stay with your parents. Just don’t jump from the frying pan into the fire. No one will think any less of you for coming back after what went down last weekend.”

“I’m sure Masyn would love that,” sarcasm dripped from his tongue.

“Could be fun, the three of us living together. Maybe you could help me talk her into giving up that house and staying at my place.” I slapped him on the leg and stood. Before I left his room, I hesitated and then confessed, “I didn’t tell you to go to work tomorrow because I don’t want you at the hospital. I don’t want you to let the shadows of your past hold you back from a brilliant future.”

“Thanks, Lee.”

* * *

The lights were off when I got to our room. I had to count the doors to make sure I was in the right place. If Masyn were asleep, turning the light on would likely wake her up. I softly closed the door behind me and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark. Once I could see my hand in front of my face, I toed off my shoes and got undressed. Masyn had found the remote for the ceiling fan and turned the place into an icebox.

As quietly as I could, I eased under the blankets. My head hit the pillow, and Masyn popped up like a weasel.

“Jesus, you scared the hell out of me. Why didn’t you tell me you were awake when I came in?”

“I was half-asleep until I felt the bed shift. Is everything okay with Beau?”

I snaked my arm under her head and pulled her into my side, finding her completely naked. “No. But it will be.”

“Felicity really messed him up.”

I kissed the top of her head before responding. “I don’t think it’s just her. I think Beau’s spent so much of his life trying to be everything that was expected of him that he forgot to figure out who he actually is. He’ll figure it out.”

“Do you believe he’ll stay in Atlanta?”

“Depends on how big his balls are.”

She smacked me playfully on the chest. “Gross. That’s so crass.”

“Masyn.” I turned slightly to my side, still keeping her close enough to feel the warmth of her skin on mine. “His parents gave him the down payment on the house. He got a job with help from his dad. He’s been working on connections in Atlanta for years now. His path was laid for him years ago. In order to escape, he has to let down people he loves and carry on the charade.”

“That’s awful. But it kind of explains the outbursts.”

“The Chastains are good people. And if they knew he wanted something else, I think they’d be open to it. He has to find the courage to tell them, and he can’t do that until he figures out what it is he thinks he’s missing.”

“What if that’s Harden?”

“I offered him a room at my house.” Her hair was still damp from her shower, so I kissed her temple and inhaled the rosemary scent of her shampoo.

She stiffened, and her soft breasts brushed against my chest. “That’s my room!”

“You still need your own room?” I dragged my fingernails along her smooth thigh and smiled at the goose bumps it stirred. Somewhere in the distance, the air conditioner hummed to life, so I reached for the thick comforter and drew it over our heads, cocooning us in a warm cave.

“It makes life easier,” she replied, her tone husky, “when you’re in the doghouse.” She followed that with a minty kiss that made me dizzy.

“Oh? Does that mean you won’t be flouncing back across town when I piss you off?” I chuckled quietly and worked my way down her silky neck to that spot where her pulse beat out of control just above her collarbone. I licked and kissed and nipped her skin. The faint flavor of soap spread over my tongue.

She moaned, wound her arms around my head, and arched her body upward, her pebbled nipples grazing my chest. “You don’t piss me off—and I don’t flounce!”

“Masyn, please. I make you madder than an old red hen at least once a day. So, if you need your own room to stew in, tell me now, or you may end up having to bunk with Beau.” It was hard to focus on the conversation when every inch of her teased all of my senses.

Even as my lips trailed her skin, she never missed a beat. “You act like I’m never going home and that this might really be an issue. I stay at my place most nights, anyhow. If Beau needs my room, I’ll loan it to him.”

“That’s an issue we need to revisit when we get home.” I sucked one of her pert nipples into my mouth, sucking on it and swirling my tongue around her peak.

She gasped, either in pleasure or surprise—I didn’t care which. “What?”

“Your place.”

She pushed me back, halting my attempt at seduction to force my attention to the conversation and not her pleasure. “At least once a week we have this conversation. I swear, Lee. It’s perfectly safe. In the two years I’ve lived there, nothing has ever happened in my neighborhood.”

“We can agree to disagree. The arrest record in the morning papers tells the truth. But that’s neither here nor there.” I attempted to lean back in, but Masyn was insistent on talking.

“Then what is?” Her tone was firm, and there was no way she was letting me off the hook.

I pushed the covers down as I threw myself onto my back and covered my face with my arm. “I don’t want there to be a ‘your place’ and ‘my place.’ I want it to be ours.”

“You want me to move in? But you said you offered my room to Beau.” Her voice softened, moving through the room like wind.

This was one of those times where I was fairly certain Masyn knew exactly what I was getting at, yet she chose to pretend she didn’t in order to force me to say the words she wanted to hear. “I want you next to me every night, in our bed, in our room.”

“Lee…”

“We’ve been playing house for years. I’m tired of playing. Life’s too short, and without a guarantee of tomorrow, I want a promise of today—with you.”

A subtle smile formed on her lips, and the moon highlighted her delicate features. “People are going to talk.” Her grip on me tightened, and she slid her leg over mine.

I wedged my knee between her legs, eased her thighs open, and adjusted my body between them. “They’re going to talk, regardless. Might as well give them something to make their day interesting.”

The barely audible gasp she released when I rolled my hips and slipped into her tight warmth ignited desire deep inside me. Being with Masyn was a full-body experience like nothing I’d ever felt before. My skin tingled, heat spread from my lips to my toes, and the urge to satisfy her burned like kindling, until we became one and erupted into a blazing inferno. It wasn’t a firecracker with a short fuse, it was the whole damn Fourth of July display. And when it was over, the bursts of light still hung behind my eyelids.

Each time I was with her proved better than the last and cemented the fact that we belonged together. We’d spent seventeen years falling in love, and this was the final piece to our puzzle. Lying there in the dark as our breathing returned to normal and she’d resumed her spot on my side, I asked again, this time hoping for an answer instead of a conversation.

“Will you move in with me?” If she hadn’t been listening, the sounds of the night might have stolen the words away, but I felt her cheek move with her smile.

“Yes.” Her lips were soft and full when she placed a kiss on my chest and then my mouth.

Sated, I closed my eyes to allow sleep to take over.

* * *

By the time we crawled out of bed the next morning, the house was quiet and we were alone. Beau had left a note on the counter that he’d gone to work and would call later. I wasn’t sure if anything I’d said sunk in or made sense, however, I was glad to know he’d heeded my advice not to just bail but, at the very least, to figure out a plan.

Even with GPS, I had to turn around twice while navigating the streets of Atlanta to get to the hospital. The same roads we’d traveled last night were quite different when they were bogged down with traffic and people driving like maniacs. Normally, it would have gotten under my skin, and I’d be hollering out the window at the morons causing problems, yet today, with Masyn next to me, it didn’t seem all that important. It gave me a little extra time alone with her before I had to face whatever happened in the CICU.

She took my hand when I clicked the button to set the alarm on the truck, as if we’d been doing this since the dawn of time. I had worried things might change in our relationship and that the natural flow would somehow be disrupted, yet like everything else where Masyn was concerned, it felt right.

Nurse Ratched—I really needed to figure out her name—stood at the desk when we arrived on my dad’s floor. “Mr. Carter. I’m so glad you could join us this morning.”

I glanced at my watch. It was only eight thirty, so I didn’t really understand the sarcasm. “We would have been here sooner. I’m just not used to Atlanta traffic.”

The gleam in her eyes I’d mistaken for cynicism softened to what appeared to be happiness. “Your dad is awake and asking for you.”

I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly. Everything that had come out of that woman’s mouth since I’d arrived on Friday had been combative, so I was almost afraid to question her even though I needed clarification. “Like with words?”

“That’s usually how adults make requests.” Her overly tweezed brows arched, and I had to force back a snarky response.

“I didn’t think he could talk with that tube down his throat.” I glanced at Masyn who’d put the pieces together before I had.

Masyn’s grip on my hand tightened. “I think she’s saying they took it out.”

The crony giggled and directed her eyes at whatever she was working on when we walked up. “Clearly the brains of the duo,” she muttered under her breath.

I didn’t care what she had to say. I never let myself get my hopes up for fear of being knocked down. Wanting facts before drawing conclusions didn’t make me stupid, it made me logical. “Can we see him?”

“That’s against visiting policies in ICU.” She took a deep breath without raising her head and peered at me through her stubby lashes. “But since he’s going to be moved a step down to the cardiac ward today, I guess I can make an exception.” She flipped through the pages as if she were actually paying attention to anything on them. “Don’t get him overly excited. Just because he can see the light through the trees doesn’t mean he’s out of the forest yet.”

I wasn’t going to quibble over the fact that she’d totally botched that saying or even bring it to her attention. “Got it.”

She hit the button that unlocked the doors to our right, and the familiar release of the vacuum was like music to my ears. I tugged Masyn’s hand and dragged her down the hall, her legs barely able to keep up. She took two steps to my one and had to practically jog to match my pace. Her laughter bounced off the sterile walls and breathed life into a place that reeked of death.

The door was closed to my dad’s room, and before I knocked, I bent down to thank her. The kiss was brief, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment when she looked around to see if we had an audience.

“Thank you for being here with me.”

“No place else I’d rather be.”

My knuckles tapped out a deep thunk on the wood. Since I wasn’t sure he’d be able to answer loud enough for us to hear him through the door, I cracked it before barging in. “Dad?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Come in.” His voice was hoarse and rather raspy, but the same deep bass I’d heard my whole life rang through.

“Hey, old man. You look a hell of a lot better.”

“Jesus, boy. You could’ve told me you had a lady with you. I don’t even have any drawers on.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Carter. I promise I won’t peek under the sheets.” Masyn grinned.

He winked at her. “Sugar, you better get over here and give an old man some love.” He was putting on a show. It was easy to hear how winded he was and the effort it took him to give her a half-hug was obvious.

I dragged the chair up to the bed so Masyn could sit with him. She was the only female I’d known since my mom died who brought a genuine smile to my dad’s face. And today was no different.

He patted the mattress next to his leg. “You come sit with me. I can use you to block the view of Lee’s mug from sight.” When he tried to laugh, pain etched his brow, and he gasped for air.

Masyn immediately coddled him, which was exactly what he needed, while I took a seat and crossed my ankle over my knee.

“Tell me what you’ve been up to and why you’re still hanging around with the likes of this one.” He tossed a thumb in my direction without actually looking at me.

I grinned and shook my head. Even nearly dying hadn’t changed who he was. Masyn was the apple of his eye, and she always had been. Beau and I were just nuisances he had to tolerate to get the pretty girl in the room. Blood wasn’t thicker than water in George Carter’s world; charm played a far greater role.

Masyn turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder to silently ask for permission to tell him about us. I wasn’t sure what all she planned to share, but if she wanted to tell him, I was all for it. I’d scream it down the hall and poke my head into every room in the place to announce my feelings for Masyn if I didn’t think they’d kick me out.

“He might think less of you,” I said with a nod. “But if you’re willing to take that chance, by all means tell him.”

“Tell me what? I’m right here, you know? My heart might have taken a lickin’, but my ears and brain work just fine.”

I needed to find him a woman like Ouiser Boudreaux in Steel Magnolias—except then I’d have to admit to having watched it—the two would be shriveled up little peas in a cranky old pod.

He patted Masyn’s knee and looked at her like a father would his only daughter. “What has this boy gotten you into now?” His tone was soft with her, loving. Then he turned to me, and Masyn had to lean back so he could make eye contact. “You better not have done anything that might make people talk. Harden’s an unforgiving town. One thing for boys to be idiots, but girls have to maintain their reputation.”

I held up my hands and chuckled. Thank God she wasn’t about to tell him she was pregnant or that we’d eloped. He’d get up out of that bed with the wires dripping from his body just to slap me upside the head…right before he kicked my ass.

“Mr. Carter, Lee is always a gentleman.”

He cocked his head and furrowed his brow. Watching him attempt to be stern with Masyn was entertaining. “Now he has you lying for him, huh? I thought better of you, Masyn Porter. Did I teach you nothing over the years?”

“Yes, sir. More than you could imagine.”

His gaze cut in my direction. “Good to know someone was listening.” The wheezing when he breathed became more prominent the more he talked, and I knew we were on borrowed time before we’d have to let him rest. “Now, what is it you want to tell me?”

“Lee and I are moving in together.”

There was a long silence between the three of us, and I wondered if she’d caused him to go into cardiac arrest again. Ratched was not going to be happy if she had to come in here and revive him.

“Masyn, you know I love you. And Lee’s a good boy even when he’s stirring up shit. But sugar, make him buy the cow to get the milk.”

If I’d had anything in my mouth, I would have spit it all over him. “Did you really just say that to my girlfriend?” The label flowed from my lips without any bite or sting. I didn’t feel the constrictive pinch around my neck I always thought I would if I ever made a commitment to a woman.

“Mr. Carter!”

I couldn’t see Masyn’s face, but I knew that tone all too well. She hovered between embarrassed and giddy, and I’d bet money her face was candy-apple red.

“Excuse me,” a tiny voice came from the doorway.

I turned to see who was here, and an older woman about my dad’s age had poked her head in. “We need to get the patient to his new room, and he probably needs some rest. It’s been a big morning.”

“Yeah, okay.” I watched her exit as quickly as she’d appeared. When the door closed, I stood and held out my hand to Masyn to help her off the end of my dad’s bed. She’d managed to scoot past the railing and had to navigate her way off without jostling him.

Masyn kissed my dad’s cheek, and he beamed with pride. “I’ll let you two have some time together. Lee, I’ll wait in the hall for you. And Mr. Carter, get some rest so I can come back to see you once you’re settled.”

She reached out to me. She grazed her fingertips across my palm and then she left, closing the door behind her.

“I raised you better than that, boy.”

“Huh?”

He’d been all grins and giggles with Masyn, yet the moment she left the room, his expression soured and he mustered the energy to lecture me.

“If she’s the one, you do it right. Asking her to move in with you is disrespectful, and she deserves more.”

“Dad, we’re only twenty-two, not to mention, we just started…this.”

“Your mama was twenty-four when I lost her, so don’t give me crap about how young you are. Apparently, you haven’t learned nothin’ watchin’ me lay in the bed like a wet dishrag all weekend. So I’m going to spell it out for you.”

“Umm, okay.” I wasn’t sure what to say. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected from him—not that I’d thought about it, but I figured he’d be thrilled for me because Masyn was so far out of my league.

“You don’t bed a girl like Masyn Porter. And you sure as hell don’t shack up with her. You want her, you put a ring on her finger and do it honorably. If you ain’t ready for that, then you court her like a gentleman until you are. You hear me?”

“Yeah, Dad. I hear you.” Loud and clear. Like a slap across the face.

“For once in your life, Lee, don’t just hear me…listen.”

I nodded and allowed him the courtesy of a pause, feigning that I contemplated his advice.

After several moments, I said, “Well, we’ll be back later, okay?”

My heart was heavy with his demands, and I couldn’t bring myself to lift my voice to pretend anything differently.