Chapter 16 #3
The three of them begin arguing until my dad steps in to try to boss them all around. The Fletcher Brothers are a mess. A
complete and total mess.
My eyes slide over to my grandma, who is coming back into the room with a fresh cup of ice water.
She goes right to Addison’s side, handing it over to her and brushing back a stray piece of black hair on her forehead.
Grandma has barely left Addison’s side since we’ve all been allowed to pile into this room.
Levi’s middle name, Aaron, is after Addison’s little brother, who passed away many years ago when they were children.
It’s a special day for Addison. And I know she’s breathing so much easier now that he’s out and safe and being loved by so, so many mountain men.
Addison’s dad sits in the chair next to her bed, smiling at the action of the Fletcher family piled into a way-too-small postpartum
room. He sat in the waiting room with all of us earlier, and I could tell he was a nervous wreck. Losing one child at a young
age has to make anyone a little gun-shy when it comes to their kids. But he seems to have calmed down now that he sees his
daughter recovering well.
“I’d like to think that my Steven has found your Aaron up in Heaven,” Grandma says, drawing everyone’s eyes to her as she
speaks to Addison and her dad. “I bet they’re both enjoying this show.”
Addison’s face contorts as she covers her mouth, overwhelmed with emotion.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie.” Grandma bends to hug Addison. “I said too much.”
“No . . . you said just enough,” Addison’s father croaks, handing his handkerchief over to his daughter. “It’s a real nice
thought.”
The entire room goes quiet, all eyes wet and teary as we reflect on those who aren’t here with us anymore and how lucky we
all are to be experiencing this together. This is what dreams are made of. Love in abundance. And I played a small part in
making a lot of this happen.
“Right in here,” a nurse says, and our entire family looks back at the door to see who else is coming in. Everyone but my
brother, Ethan, is here. Dad and Cozy made it back from dropping him off at camp just in time for the delivery.
My throat goes dry when I see that it’s Wolf walking into the room with two brown bags in his hands.
Trista nudges me with her elbow, and I turn to frown back at her, totally confused about why he’s here.
It was hours ago that I told him he didn’t need to wait for me.
I sincerely hope he hasn’t been in the parking garage this whole time.
“Nana!” Stevie squeals and runs over to grab Wolf by the leg.
He clears his throat and offers a wobbly smile. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I asked the nurse to bring this in, but she yelled
at me and said she wasn’t Uber Eats. I’m afraid I offended her.”
“What do you have here?” Cozy asks, stepping forward to peer into Wolf’s bags.
“Oh, I just brought some sandwiches for everyone. Stevie makes me get her snacks in the center every hour or so . . . so . . .”
His voice trails off as an entire room full of people stares open-mouthed at him. “You hungry, Steve?”
“Yes!” she squeals, and I hurry over to help Wolf with his full hands.
“If you already ate, I can take the rest and just bugger off.”
“We’ll take the sandwiches,” Calder calls from the far side of the room, still holding the baby. He eyes Dakota. “Ace, you
know what Cat Daddy likes.”
Dakota rolls her eyes.
Wyatt walks over and frowns at Wolf. “Did you drive up to the mountain and come back?”
Wolf blinks back at him. “Um . . . yes.”
Wyatt shakes his head. “That’s really wasteful, Wolf.”
“Everly’s car is fully electric,” Wolf says, gripping the back of his neck. “And your truck is hybrid?”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is, I expect I used less energy driving Everly’s car here and back than you did in one trip today.”
“Oh . . . shit. He got you there, Papa Bear,” Calder calls out, and Luke covers his mouth with a laugh.
Wyatt frowns over at Wolf. “Hauling trailers of construction materials on a fully electric truck isn’t sustainable yet. The battery drains too quick. You know what, just give me a sandwich, Rugby Boy. You have a lot to learn about mountain life still.”
The entire family chuckles and teases Wyatt as they dig into the food, Stevie going to town on her sandwich. Wolf offers a
subtle wave and turns to leave, but I walk over to him.
“You don’t have to go.”
“This is a family thing. I just wanted to drop off some food.”
“Come meet Levi, at least,” Addison says from the bed.
“No, my Nana.” Stevie drops her sandwich on the floor to grab Wolf’s leg.
“Why does she keep calling you Nana?” my grandma asks with an amused grin on her face.
Wolf shakes his head. “She asked why people call me Wolf, and I told her my nana started it, and I guess she misunderstood,
but I can’t get her to stop. I’ve tried. Steve. Call me Wolf.”
“No, Nana.”
Everyone laughs, and I watch my grandma’s reaction to Wolf calling Stevie Steve. I’m sure she loves hearing my grandfather’s
name said aloud. Everyone seems to, and Wolf and Stevie don’t even notice the little moment they’ve given all of us as she
pokes his leg tattoo and he swats her away, barely paying her any attention.
We all snap out of our fixation as Calder manages to pass Levi back to Luke, and Luke brings the baby over to Wolf. “This
is your new compound neighbor, Wolf.”
“Massive congrats to you both,” he says, looking to Addison and then to Luke. Levi’s shock of dark black hair peeks out around
the beanie the hospital put him in.
“Thanks,” Luke says with a proud, fatherly smile that brings tears to my eyes. “And thanks for the food. Nice play, Rugby.”
“You can’t call him that,” I reply with a laugh. “That’s the name of our bearded dragon.”
“Your what?” Grandma asks, her smile dropping.
Trista steps forward, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Our alpaca rescue had a bearded dragon sibling, and Wolf is taking
care of it.”
“I’m helping,” I add defensively.
“Stevie named him,” Wolf says, shooting a glare down to my cousin.
Everyone laughs knowingly, and Wolf hooks his thumb toward the door. “I’m going to head out. Let me know if I can do anything
else. I did get all the animals penned up for the night, so we’re set for tomorrow.”
“Wolf, you’re the best,” Trista groans and pats him on the back. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
My eyes follow the boy who just kissed me senseless a few hours ago, and just as he turns to walk out the door, he looks back
at me and shoots me an imperceptible wink that I feel squarely in my gut.
A second later, he disappears, leaving me with my family. But for once, I wish I could walk out that door with that bad boy.