him, she couldn’t sleep with him.
Not after the mess Curtis had made of her life.
“There.” Artie sat back and screwed the polish cap back on. “I’m not going to blow on your feet though. I know you haven’t bathed since Saturday.”
“Hey, now, I still have plenty of baby wipes left!”
Her bestie shot her a grin. “Well then, I’m glad I’m here to help. I planned on dragging you and CJ out for dinner tonight, since you’ve got to be sick of these walls. But I’ll help you take a shower and wash your hair first.”
Blowing out a breath, Bobbi nodded. “Honestly? That would be amazing. I’ve been wondering how much longer I can go, and it’s not like I can ask Decker for help with that.”
“Decker, eh?” Artie pulled her legs up under her on the couch. “I was wondering who this mysterious ‘guy’ was you’ve been hanging out with and don’t have time for your best friend because of.”
Squinting, Bobbi tried to make sense of that sentence. “You mean…you’re jealous?”
“Listen, I called on Sunday twice, and it went to voicemail. Then you finally get around to replying and you tell me you’ve suffered major physical trauma, and you hadn’t picked up all day because some hottie was here taking care of you.”
Bobbi scoffed. “Major physical trauma? I just broke my leg.”
“Major physical trauma, Bobbi!” Artie cleared her throat and settled back against the couch. “So who is he? Tell me everything about him, starting at how you met and”—she waved her hand from the top of Bobbi’s casted leg, clear down to the purple nail polish—“how this happened.”
“The nail polish? You just did that—”
“Don’t get lippy with me, lady!”
Bobbi smiled. She’d known Artie Weston since they were both young girls, growing up in Black Aces. Their families had been connected for generations, but out of all of Artie’s sisters, Bobbi had only bonded with one of them—Artie herself—strongly.
Artie had been there for CJ’s birth, since Curtis wasn’t, and leaving her to take the job in Cauldron Valley had been one of the hardest things Bobbi had ever done. They made a point to see each other every month and texted almost constantly.
Of course, since she’d met Decker, Bobbi’s texting had slowed down.
“I’m waiting,” Artie huffed impatiently.
So Bobbi did as commanded and told her best friend how she’d met Decker, and how much fun he was, and how his kisses made her feel.
She’d recounted all the way up until last Saturday—the major physical trauma, as Artie had called it—when her bestie stopped her by holding up a hand.
“This is Decker Cauldron? One of the two Cauldron triplets, right?”
Bobbi narrowed her eyes, wondering if her friend was about to lick her fingers like the rest of the idiots in this town. “Right…”
“I...uh, I know his brother, Wyatt.” Artie’s stammer was uncharacteristic. “He’s Jax’s best friend.”
Jax Weston was the oldest of the Weston siblings, and Bobbi didn’t know him well. “Huh. What are the odds that I’d fall in love with my best friend’s brother’s best friend’s brother?”
She was busy musing when Artie shot forward and grabbed her hand. “What did you just say?”
Bobbi blinked. “I said, what are the odds…” Wait, what had she said? “Well, it was a mathematical question of some sort.”
“You said you loved Deck Cauldron.”
Oh.
Oh, had she?
Oh em gee, I did say that, didn’t I?
Her subconscious preened and smiled smugly.
Told you so.
Shut up.
Did she love Decker?
Bobbi squeezed her eyes shut, sighing as she admitted the truth.
She did love the man.
She loved the way he treated her daughter. She loved the way she trusted him implicitly. She loved the way he made her laugh, and his work ethic, and the way he always smelled so dang good. She loved his smile and how he looked when he went a few days without shaving, and how he was always surprising her with the strangest little bits of knowledge he’d picked up. She loved his kisses, and the way he made her feel like the most important person in the world.
She loved him.
Oh.
Artie squeezed her hand. “You love him,” she repeated in a whisper.
Opening her eyes, Bobbi nodded, still in shock. “I do. I do love him.”
“This is amazing!’
“No. No, this is horrible.” She clutched at her bestie’s hand. “I can’t fall in love with the man, I only just met him! I can’t put CJ’s heart at risk that way! Heck, I can’t put my heart at risk that way!’
As Artie always did, she could tell when Bobbi was