Chapter 49

49

Dylan felt a bit kidnapped here. Her father was to blame, of course. He had shown up the instant she had been cleared to be released from the hospital. And declared he was driving her home, not that redheaded pain-in-the-ass boyfriend of hers.

Fletcher had surprised her and let her father win. She suspected Fletcher was just exhausted. The poor man looked rung out. Probably because he had spent every spare minute he could at her side. Which irritated her father immensely.

Fletcher had completely won over her mother, though. Her mom was going on and on about how wonderful he was. Fletcher was gentle with her mom too. Kind.

It made Dylan love him just a little bit more.

Her father won the driving-Dylan-home battle. Her sisters had insisted she return to the inn—to a first floor room right near the entrance to the family wing, where they could take turns watching over her. They’d won the where-Dylan-was-going battle. For now.

Talk about hovering. She had at least one sister with her almost at all times in the entire three days she’d been in the hospital. She had put them to work—taking care of Fletcher.

The man needed keeping, after all.

But Fletcher was waiting to carry her inside. Something her father just couldn’t really do anymore.

Fletcher scooped her up gently. “I have you.”

“I am glad you do.” She hooked her arm around his neck. She loved it when he carried her around. She’d told him that once too.

When he’d scooped her off her feet and hauled her back to his bed early one morning before her shift at the diner. She’d been twenty minutes late—but the chewing out she’d gotten from Darcey had been worth it. So worth it. Telling Darcey bluntly that she’d been late because she’d been boinking her Tyler man had been so worth it too.

“When do I get to go home, though?” Dylan asked. The words just felt right.

The inn wasn’t home.

Fletcher was.

She’d had three days to really think about that. To figure out how she felt about everything.

It didn’t matter about Fletcher’s ranch. It didn’t matter about the Talley Inn. What mattered most were the people she loved. She loved her family and always would, and she was proud of her heritage, even if she’d not had it very long.

But she felt the most like her when she was home with him.

Because she loved that man. And always would. And the man seriously understood her. The real her. The one she was still figuring out.

“A few days or so. Just so they can pamper you a little, I think.”

And he had a lot to do. The teams to install the sensors were coming up from Texas in two days, weather permitting. Dylan had wanted to be there. But that just wasn’t going to happen. He had promised to wait for her before he flew them the first time, though.

He’d said that was something they were going to do at home together.

Now, Dylan found herself snuggled on a couch in the lobby of the inn, a hovering Dahlia watching over her as the fire flickered and even more snow fell. Fletcher had had a lot to say about the late snow interfering with his plans.

She missed her grouchy cowboy. She was ready for him to come find her again.

“You are quiet. Are you feeling okay?”

Dylan looked at her sister. “I am missing my cowboy, Dahlia. I am missing my cowboy.”

“Are you for real in love with him? Not like Brody?” Dahlia was looking at her in that uniquely Dahlia way. “For real.”

“I think I am.” For real. It had just sort of happened, right then the night they’d talked about boxes and homes and had really just seen each other.

“How do you know for sure? How does Dusty with Ben?”

“It’s just a feeling, mostly. Like…it feels right when I am with him. And when he touches me—he is the center of my world.”

“The way we used to be?”

“In an entirely different way. When I am with him, that tight ball of anxiety in my stomach is gone. I’ve felt…anxious since moving here. But with him, I don’t. And I am with someone who totally understands me—just the way I am.”

“He gets you. When you talk about the plant stuff. I don’t think he always understands it, but he cares…because you care. It’s nice. I watched you with him. You laugh with him again. The way you used to. Before we came here. Before we were all so afraid.”

“Yes, I guess I do.” Dylan thought about her sister’s words for a long moment. “I think it’s because with him, the world feels safe and right again. Is that weird?”

“Why are you asking me that? I haven’t even kissed a guy yet. So…is Fletcher good at it? I mean, Dusty sometimes gets a bit dizzy. She staggers after Ben kisses her. Like it surprises her; it can be kind of funny.”

“That is something he has in common with his brother, then. The man kisses me—and I just can’t think straight, but the world still feels right and perfect. I think that’s the way it is supposed to be, Dahl.”

“I think that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard. I am glad you are with him. The two of you light up when you look at each other, you know. It’s nice to see.”

“Do we?”

“You do. I just figured out what that means recently.”

The doors to the inn opened. Dylan looked up automatically.

“You are doing it right now, you know.”

Well, Dylan suspected she was.

“That’s because I love him, Dahlia. I honestly do.”

“I think I would like to love a man like that someday, too.”