Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,45
They can drop you off there.”
“Okay. See you shortly.”
She disconnects the call.
I should have said something, anything, after last night instead of just getting straight to business. Truth is, I’m not sure what to say. I’m not sure what she expects or what I expect.
Shit.
It’s been a long time since I had to try to decipher a woman’s thoughts. I forgot how damn hard and uncomfortable that feat is.
Guess you’ll just have to play it by ear, Haralson, and hope you don’t fuck it up.
I’m in my office when the bell sounds up front.
Two seconds later, Walker’s presence graces my door. “What’s up, Doc?”
I look up at his amused face. “How long have you been waiting to use that one?” I ask.
“Forever, man. It just never felt right till now,” he says.
My eyes move past him in search of Bellamy.
“She’s over at the café, grabbing another coffee. She and Elle stayed up all night, gabbing, and they are both running on steam this morning,” he tells me.
Damn, and here I am, dragging her into work unexpectedly.
I sit back in my chair and think.
“If she’s not feeling up to it, I can do this myself. It’ll just take longer, but I won’t charge for the extra time.”
“Nah, it ain’t going to hurt her to see what it’s like to tie one on and have to drag her ass up and to work anyway. We have to do it all the time.”
“But she isn’t supposed to work today,” I note.
He shrugs. “She’ll live. How are you doing today?” he asks.
I glance up and see genuine concern in his expression. “I’m good.”
“You sure? If we need to have another one of those touchy-feely heart-to-hearts, we can. If that one didn’t sink in well enough, I mean. We don’t have them often, and we don’t talk about them afterward, but if you need to be set straight again—”
“I’m good. Thanks,” I cut him off when I hear the bell again.
He points his finger at me. “You’d better be. Or round two is going to happen,” he warns.
“He’d better be what?” Bellamy’s head peeks around his large frame and into the office.
“He’d better be ready to do shots with me tonight at the bonfire,” he answers oddly.
“The bonfire?” I ask.
“Yep, at Myer’s place. The girls are doing some Sippy thing over there, and we are tagging along and having moonshine by the moonlight.”
“Sip and See. It’s where we all come over to meet the baby and drink cocktails,” Bellamy clarifies.
“Yeah, whatever the hell she said. It’s just a fancy name for them to get together and fawn all over the new filly and get loaded.”
“It kind of is. We don’t usually plan them around here, but Sophie says they are all the rage in New York, and she threw it together. I swear, city people have a party for everything,” she explains.
“So, are you in, Doc?” Walker raises his eyebrows at me.
“I, um, sure.” I give in.
“Great! We need all the backup we can get to wrangle the henhouse once they start drinking and crying over whatever makes girls cry when they get together with babies.”
Bellamy cocks her hip and glares at him. “We are not weepy females. You take that back.”
“Correction: y’all weren’t weepy females, but since Sophie got here and once the babies started coming, you guys have turned into a hormonal mosh pit. You know it. It’s exhausting and a little terrifying at times,” Walker declares.
For a moment, she looks like she is going to argue, and then she eases her posture.
“Maybe,” she concedes in defeat.
They are funny. Their relationship is foreign to me. Sure, I had my college buddies, and Annie and I had a few neighborhood couple friends we would barbecue with now and then, but these people know each other on a different level. They can tease each other. Push each other’s buttons and argue on a dime, but in the end, they have each other’s backs, no matter what. I’ve never had friends like that. No one to take my back when I lost her. No one to keep me going—apart from Mom. I hope they realize how lucky they are.
“I’m ready if you are. I picked us up some coffee, and it’s in the Rover,” Bellamy interrupts my thoughts.
“I’d better get back before Braxton realizes I’m gone and has a hissy fit,” Walker says as he turns and follows Bellamy to the door.