wondered what you’d think when you read the report, because you were already in the department. Maybe you’ll see something that everyone else missed.”
But what if he saw something that cost him Evie, as these people who loved him kept warning him?
“And then we worry,” Mom added.
“About what?”
“About your happiness.” She took both his hands. “That fire makes you…”
“Awful, I know.” He didn’t have to be told yet again how dark and miserable he got. “Get in line for my apologies, because they’re coming fast and furious.”
She laughed easily. “You couldn’t be awful if you tried. You weren’t just grieving the loss of your dad, and I know you two were close. But that fire cost you even more than that.”
“Evie?” He shook his head. “That’s all on me, not that fire. I built a wall two miles high and every bit as thick to keep her out. But…” He smiled at her. “You’re right. Walls are crumbling every day.”
“Then don’t pick those broken bits back up again,” she said.
But was that what he was doing by looking into the fire? “You know, Mom, she has a big job in Raleigh, and I have a big family here. It’s…complicated.”
“I have an idea.” She leaned closer to whisper, “Bring her to Waterford and make her fall in love with all of us.”
“You’re scheming,” he said on a laugh. “Just like your mother and her ruthless pal.”
She laughed at that. “Not at all. My reasons are selfish. I want to talk to Evie.”
“About?”
“I want her to know that no one blames her family for our family’s loss.” She sat back on a sigh. “And if that helps remove an obstacle for you? All the better. Nothing could make me happier than to see you in love, Dec.”
In love. They’d barely kissed, and yet…he knew Evie so well. And she knew him better than anyone, including the woman sitting next to him.
“I like that look in your eyes,” Mom said, patting his arm. “It reminds me of your dad.”
“Yeah?” That made him smile, but just then the front doors of the building swung open and Molly stepped out, wearing blue scrubs and a big smile.
“Come on back in, you two,” she called. “We’re done and Judah is doing great.”
They popped up from the bench and hustled closer. “Is Evie in the waiting room?” Declan asked.
“Yep. She’s looking for you,” Molly said. “Oh, and, Declan?”
“Yeah?”
“That woman is a beast with a scalpel. Hands down the most gifted surgeon I’ve ever seen.”
He grinned, pride rolling over him. “She’s something, isn’t she?” He brushed by her and headed back into the building, turning into the waiting room where he stopped dead in his tracks at what he saw.
Evie, also in blue scrubs, holding baby Danny on her hip and talking with half his family. Nuzzling the toddler under her chin, she said something that, of course, made everyone laugh.
She smoothed Danny’s wild curls with those long, beautiful fingers and absently pressed a kiss to his head.
In that moment, Declan saw everything he wanted in this world. All he had to do was figure out how to get it.
Chapter Sixteen
“I don’t want to leave you,” Evie whispered in the darkened room. “But I have to take care of your best friend, who is home thinking about nothing but you. You know that, right?”
In the oversize crate, Judah didn’t move. He lay perfectly still on his side, the stitches visible in the shaved ventral area over his trachea. Evie remembered each pull of the needle when she’d sewn him back up, utterly satisfied with how the procedure had gone.
“With the right PT, he’s going to be a hundred percent.”
Evie turned at the woman’s voice, surprised she hadn’t heard her come into the ICU area, immediately recognizing the physical therapist. “Oh, Christine. Hello. I didn’t expect you to come in tonight.”
“I had to check on him.” The woman, an attractive brunette about Evie’s age, came closer to the crate, but kept her eyes on Evie. “And you.” She dipped her head to whisper, “You’re all anyone around here has talked about today, Dr. Hewitt.”
She smiled at the compliment, stepping aside so Christine could get closer to Judah’s crate. “I’m hoping to take him home on Monday, assuming he’s not in any pain we can’t manage.”
“If you do, I’ll come and do the first two sessions with you,” she said. “After that, you are probably more than qualified to take him through canine rehab, which, as you know, isn’t technically