Chapter 21

"What happens if we're wrong?" Paisley asked Luke after everyone had left.

He took a deep breath and seemed to struggle with how to answer.

"It's okay. I probably shouldn't even speak that into the universe." If something went wrong after this, she would definitely blame herself.

"No. I just don't have an answer. I know that legally all of us are doing what we can with what we have. Mr. Smith will probably get his lawyer off the case at the very least and that will help a ton."

"I know. It's just terrifying that we have kind of put all our eggs into one basket here and what if we're wrong just keeps replaying in my head." She'd not had a moment where that wasn't in her thoughts since they'd woken up.

"All we can do is what we can. If nothing else happens, then great, and if something does, we will figure it out then just like we have all along."

Paisley nodded and wrapped her arms around him in a big hug. Luke held her back without complaint. She needed this connection to him. For someone to tell her it was all going to be okay and they would be there for her.

"Thank you," she whispered against his neck.

"For what? Without me, you wouldn't even be involved in this shit."

"For making me feel better. But technically, it wasn't you that got me involved. It was Cade," she teased.

Luke pulled back to look her in the eyes. "Are you saying you wanted to date Cade?"

"Definitely not. But if he hadn't wanted to date me, then I wouldn't have met you, so maybe it's not such a terrible thing?" So far, everything had worked out.

"No. Not giving him any credit. We would have found a way together regardless," Luke swore to her. "You and I were meant to be together one way or another. We just had a few pushes to get us here quicker."

She smiled and went on her tiptoes to kiss him. "I believe you."

Garrett's cry from his bedroom had them stepping away from each other. "I'll get him," Luke said and turned to go up the stairs.

He'd been more loving today. It was weird. Not that he wasn't normally, but it seemed like extra somehow. Loving wasn't a word she'd normally use, maybe just that he was attentive to her on typically, but today she felt his eyes on her constantly.

Luke was there when she needed him to be and while that wasn't new, it was different today. She couldn't put her finger on what had changed.

"He's all clean." Luke handed Garrett to her when he came down. "I need a minute to call Ashley back. She called while I was changing this guy." He kissed her forehead and stepped away.

"Okay. Tell her I can't wait to meet her," Paisley called out to him.

She hadn't even spoken to Ashley, which was strange only because she knew that Luke was closest with her. His other siblings didn't even know until recently and yet Catherine was by almost every day. Ashley hadn't attempted to come out at all yet.

"I think it will be okay," she told Garrett. "You ready to practice sitting up?"

Garrett was getting better every day at being able to do things more independently and she celebrated every milestone, but it was bittersweet to not be needed as much anymore. Not that she was complaining that she got a second to herself. It was just crazy how much he was growing.

"Ashley said she will be out here soon to visit. Classes are about to be over." Luke joined her. "Look at him!" He smiled at Garrett.

"He's getting so big," she told him.

Garrett was in his chair that was made to help him sit up and already she could move her hands away from him and not need to worry about him falling.

"I know I missed a lot considering how young he is, but this is crazy." Luke sat on the floor next to her.

The next hour was spent playing with Garrett and discussing his new routines and what he should be eating. There was a lot of debate on when to start, but it was agreed that it was time for Garrett to start foods and not just bottles.

"The doctor said he's ready," she reminded Luke.

"I know. I know." He stretched as he stood up. "It's just I don't know if I am," he continued.

"In the mom groups I'm a part of, it seems that most people feel this way, so at least we aren't alone." She was glad he felt that way too.

"Are we just waiting for the next thing to happen?" she wondered out loud.

"Yeah." Luke shrugged. "Unfortunately, that's all we can do."

Paisley was nervous about seeing Mary. It had been a while and they'd not been on good terms the last time they saw each other. If things didn't go well, she didn't know what she'd do.

Luke pulled her to a stand and hugged her again. "I will keep us all safe. I promise you that."

Tears threatened at his words. That was exactly what she needed to hear from him, and it was so relieving that she nearly collapsed.

"I know you will," she told him. "I will do the same for you as much as I can."

He kissed her softly, trailing to her ear before whispering, "I love you, Paisley."

Her breath caught and instead of pulling away, she leaned harder into him. "I love you, too. So damn much."

The tears did fall then. Emotional, heavy, happy tears, but tears just the same. Luke lifted her up and spun her around once before putting her feet back on the floor.

"I love you," he told her again. "I love you both and I never want to lose either of you."

"You won't," she promised. She wasn't letting go of the happiness she was just starting to believe in.

As they stood there, letting nothing back in and keeping the world around them out, it continued to turn anyway. Before long, they separated and went about the tasks that needed done.

The ring on her finger no longer felt out of place with the declaration of love between them. It had gone from heavy to almost weightless, and each time she noticed it on her hand, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"The guys want to talk about going to see your sister. You want to be a part of it?" Luke asked.

Paisley turned to face him, putting her back to the dishes in the sink for a moment. She didn't really need to be involved in the planning and wondered if she actually wanted to know what the plan was.

"I'm good. Just let me know when. I assume that Catherine is watching Garrett for us, so if nothing else is needed from me, I'll let you guys do the planning."

"Skipping out on the hard parts, I see," Luke teased. "I'll let you know the details when we have them ready." He kissed her quickly and left.

"I think your daddy meant what he said," she told Garrett, who babbled back at her.

She blew some bubbles with the dish soap much to his delight, keeping it up until the water grew cold. Garrett's laughter never waned, and if she'd been able, she would have kept going just to keep hearing it.

"I think I need to change the water now, mister," she told him. "Guess this time, I should probably wash the dishes."

"You haven't?" Luke's voice surprised her.

She jumped and spun, sending the soap suds she still had on her hands flying toward Luke. Garrett's laughter grew loud.

"Really?" he said with laughter in his tone.

Paisley shrugged. "He liked it."

"I hear." Luke went to Garrett. "Do you think that's funny, huh?" He blew at some of the bubbles and the laughter began again. "I don't think I would have gotten any dishes washed either. Guess we will be doing them by hand until this is no longer funny to him."

"Anything for him," she told Luke.

"Agreed." He stepped from Garrett and kissed her again. He was doing that a lot today, simple kisses every time they were near.

"Did you all make a decision?" she asked.

"Yeah. In two days, we will make the drive up there. Mr. Smith is on board with that date and has a counselor friend that wants to come along so if she wants counseling, we can make that decision right then."

She nodded. "That's good. I don't know if she will, but we can try."

"That's all anyone can do for anyone. At least we can say we did, but hopefully she will want it."

"I really hope so. It would be nice to have her in my life again."

"I know," he agreed.

"On to other things, do you have any idea when your sister might visit?"

Luke sighed. "Hopefully soon because I don't think she understands the gravity of the situation she's in. If my father is trying to marry her off, then it could end up worse than the situation with Catherine and that's not something I even want to think about. She's still ditching her security patrol."

"Has your father damaged her grades or anything like he threatened?"

"No. It seems he prefers to marry her off instead. Like when he made that threat, he hadn't decided that she was valuable to him. She wouldn't be if her academic reputation was ruined."

"He definitely doesn't think things through often," she thought out loud.

"It's a wonder he was ever successful with business because I have to agree. He doesn't see all the angles and I don't think he looks far enough ahead with anything. So far, it's a benefit for us at least."

"There is that," Paisley agreed.