Page 132 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
Paxon pulled himself together and looked up. “I lost it today. Twice. I need some help.”
“Okay.” I squeezed his shoulder tighter. “Then we’ll get you some.”
“Paxon?” Felicity’s gentle voice sounded at our backs.
I stood and held out a hand to help my friend off the ground. Before he’d even steadied his feet, Felicity threw her arms around his middle. He hesitated for a moment before bending down and hugging her back.
“It’s going to be okay,” she promised.
He held her for another second before they broke apart.
“The deputies would like to take your statement,” she told him.
“All right.” He tucked his hands in his pockets and walked inside the hospital.
Stepping into Felicity’s space, I pulled her into my arms. “What did Khloe say?”
“She’s scared but grateful we came when we did.” She shuttered and hugged me tighter. “I was going to take Paxon to the coffee shop, Silas. If he hadn’t tackled me and gotten my shirt dirty, we wouldn’t have saved her.”
“But you did. You got there and she’ll be okay.”
I rubbed her back for a few minutes, just holding her, until she leaned back and said, “I’m okay.”
My thumbs gently stroked her cheeks. “That’s my Lis.”
“Can we leave? I want to go.”
Looking up and over her head, I found Jess watching us from just inside the glass doors of the emergency room. “She okay?” he mouthed and I nodded. He waved and turned back into the hospital where his deputies were questioning Paxon.
“Come on, babe.” I folded Felicity into my side and guided her into the parking lot. “Let’s go.”
I helped her inside the truck, and after hopping in myself, I grabbed one of her belt loops and dragged her into the middle seat, not wanting her more than two inches away from me on a day like this.
We didn’t go straight back to the ranch. Instead, I drove her out to the river.
“What are we doing here?” she asked as I shifted the truck into park.
“I thought we could watch the sunset. I’m still on edge and so are you. Maybe an hour of quiet will do us both some good.”
She snuggled further into my side. “Good idea.”
An hour later, the sun was filled with orange and pink and the knot in my gut was finally coming loose. Felicity was doing better too because she’d stopped picking at the seam on her jeans.
“How did it go with your dad?” she asked. “Was the fight really bad?”
“No fight at all, actually.”
She leaned back and studied my face. “Really?”
“Really.” I pulled her back in close and smiled. “This woman once told me that I’d have better luck making my point if I didn’t let my temper get the best of me. She was right.”
“She sounds smart. You should keep her around.”
“For all of the days of my life.”
We stayed close and quiet, holding each other until the sunset faded away. By the time we pulled into the ranch, the stars were ready to greet us.
And so was my dad.
