Chapter 17
“Welcome home, Grandma!” Elijah trumpeted as Carol walked in the door, Rick’s hand consistently under her elbow.
“My goodness!” She smiled as she took in the homemade banner stretched across the banister, with each of her grandkids standing proudly on either side of it.
“I made a cake, too!” Vivian announced. “I put lots of sprinkles in the frosting.”
“I’ll have to stay in the hospital more often if I get a homecoming like this,” Carol remarked as she pulled the kids in for hugs.
“Don’t you even joke,” Stacey warned. “And anyway, the kids reminded me of a very similar to-do after my last hospital stay.”
“Fair enough,” Carol laughed. “I just hope I don’t have to eat all that cake by myself.”
“You don’t, but before we can cut into it, someone else has been dying to see you.” Stacey opened the back door.
Barney came charging in, a streak of gray fur. He whined and wiggled as he flopped over at Carol’s feet, squirming to get as close to her as he possibly could.
“Oh, my sweet little boy,” she cooed as she buried her fingers in his fur. “You deserve a medal, you know that? You’re such a brave little soul.”
“He’s been looking for you every day,” Stacey told her.
“We got him all cleaned up, and he’s had plenty of food and attention, but he’s been listless.
He spent the last few days looking out the front window or checking through every room of the clanhouse.
I didn’t dare bring him over here because I knew he’d freak out even more once he found out you weren’t around. ”
“Poor baby.” Carol was glad to be home and thrilled to have Barney at her side again. “Give me a little time, and you can start coming to the bakery with me again.”
Barney panted happily, looking up at her with adoring eyes.
Stacey had been smiling as she watched the reunion, but her face suddenly grew serious. “You’re not planning to go back to work anytime soon, are you? You still need to rest.”
“Who raised you to be such a worrywart?” Carol sat at the table as Stacey cut pieces of cake for everyone. “I’m sure it wasn’t me.”
“Rick, would you like a corner or a middle piece?” Stacey asked, the frosty knife in her hand.
“Hm?” He turned to Stacey. “Oh, anything is fine.”
Carol realized he’d been staring at her.
The man had shown up to wait with her while the discharge papers were being prepared.
The hospital had a policy that any released patients, regardless of their condition, had to be wheeled out the doors.
Rick was quick to volunteer to do the honors instead of letting an orderly do it, and he drove her home himself.
“I live right down the street, so I’ll be going back that way, anyway,” he’d reasoned when she made a comment about how much he was doing for her.
The man was modest to a fault. That was about the only fault she could find with him.
When they’d finished their cake and Stacey had insisted on cleaning everything herself, she sent the kids to wash the frosting from their hands before they left.
She looked hesitantly at her mother. “Do you want me to leave Barney here or take him home? I know he’s pretty much become your dog over the last few months, but I don’t want you to strain yourself to take care of him. ”
Barney was currently sitting on the floor next to Carol’s chair with his head in her lap. “He can stay. I’ve missed him, too.”
“I’ll stay here for a bit and make sure she gets settled in,” Rick volunteered.
“I see.” Stacey had been fussing over her, but now she gave her mom a smirk. “I hear the cushy furniture on the back deck is a good place for getting ‘settled in.’”
Carol laughed. “I thought you said I was supposed to be resting.”
Stacey put her hands in the air. “I’m just saying it can be restorative. Come on, kids! Let’s go!”
“Excuses,” Carol murmured as Vivian and Elijah came running back into the room. It pleased her to see this playful side of Stacey, something that didn’t exist before they’d come to Truro. “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to text you the minute I need anything.”
When she and Rick were left alone, she found him lingering at the bottom of the stairs. “Is your bedroom upstairs?”
“Dear me.” Carol tented her fingers over her collarbone and batted her lashes. “Sir, are you trying to get me into bed the moment we’re without a chaperone?”
“I don’t know what the future holds,” he said with a spark in his eyes, “but actually, I just wanted to make sure that the climb to your bedroom and back wouldn’t be too much for you while you’re recuperating. I could move everything you need down to one of the first-floor bedrooms.”
“I’m injured, but I’m not incapacitated,” she reminded him. “I’ll be much more comfortable in my own space.”
“Okay. Then let’s take a look in the kitchen and see what you need.
Holly wants you to know you’re welcome to come over for dinner any night, and I’m sure Stacey will probably be cooking for you, too.
But I can make a run to the grocery store and get you a few things, maybe some food for Barney. ” He moved back into the kitchen.
“You don’t have to worry about that.” She caught his arm before he could open the fridge. “I’m sure whatever is in there is fine, and I can always put in an online order if I’m running low on something. I’m not too picky, and I was only in the hospital for a few days.”
“All right. Let’s at least get you set up in the living room. A blanket, the remote, maybe a glass of wine,” he insisted.
“Rick.”
“What?”
“You’re bending over backward for me.”
“My body might not be that flexible, but the rest of me is,” he said with a wink.
She knew she couldn’t drag this out any longer.
Carol had made her decision, and with that conclusion, she knew she needed to wait for the right moment to talk to him about it.
That was the least Rick deserved after he’d shown her so much kindness and generosity.
Carol could never pay him back for everything he’d done for her, but he’d never have let her, even if she could. “I know you’re worried about me.”
“How could I not be?” he asked, taking her hand and kissing it.
That was becoming a habit of his, and Carol couldn’t say she minded. “But there’s nothing to worry about. I’m happy and comfortable, and it’s all thanks to you. We can go sit in the living room, but just to talk. No blankets or wine or a little bell to ring when I need you.”
She walked with him to the couch, and they sat with their thighs touching.
Carol could see the concern in his eyes, wondering what was coming, and her heart went out to him.
“Rick, you’ve been so sweet by giving me space to think about us, to be myself, and to decide who I want to be in the future.
I’ve turned it over and over in my mind, wondering and imagining, looking at it from all angles.
I could debate forever, but I don’t want to anymore.
I only have so much of my life left, and I don’t want it to pass me by. I’m done with worrying.”
His eyes were steady on hers as he waited. Was that his wolf, just there behind his gaze?
“I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way about someone again, and I let that get in my way, but I’m not going to anymore. I’d like to be with you, Rick.”
“Marking and all?” he asked, holding his breath at the end of the question.
“That, too,” she affirmed. “I don’t just want part of you. I want all of you and everything that comes with you. It scares me a little, but I’ve spent a lot of my adult life pretending not to be scared at all. As long as you’re here with me, I don’t have anything to be afraid of.”
“Carol.” He pulled her tight and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her passionately. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She’d already known it was true, but saying it out loud and to him made the feeling resonate within her body. “I really do.”
His eyes roved down to the curve of her neck. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me. We can wait until you’re healed up for me to mark you, although…” Rick trailed off, his lips parted with desire.
“What is it?” She swallowed. The idea of the bite truly did make her nervous. A purposeful wound seemed at odds with what she’d just gone through, considering the siren’s damage was still so fresh.
“There are a lot of special things about being a shifter. I’m biased, of course, but I still think it’s true.
One of those is the ability to heal quickly, especially when in animal form.
The siren gave me some pretty nasty gashes, but they were already gone by the time the ambulance arrived.
We can do this whenever you’re ready, but it might help you right now. ”
“Maybe I should’ve had you make me a list of all the pros, and then I would’ve decided faster,” she laughed.
Carol was over the moon anytime she was with Rick, but even her love for him couldn’t cure the way her body felt.
Her bones ached from the jarring impact of the bakery floor, and a dull pounding still haunted the back of her skull.
The stitches they’d put in at the hospital were tight and itchy, and they twinged with pain if she twisted her body the wrong way.
She’d already decided she wanted to take Rick’s mark, but this was like the cherry on top. “Let’s do it.”
“You’re sure?” He brushed her hair away from her neck.
Her throat tightened and her breathing quickened, but it was now or never. This wasn’t the sort of thing a person could ever really be ready for, but she wanted to feel the bond Rick had spoken of. Carol tipped her head to the side, offering herself up to him. “I am.”
He held her close, and his breath was warm on her skin. “I’m sorry because this has to be deep for it to work. I know it’s going to hurt. But it won’t hurt for long.”
His fangs had descended, and she could feel the pointed ends against her skin. Rick inhaled and then bit down.
Carol gasped as she felt the intense pressure and pain of a wolf’s bite piercing through her skin and flesh. She clung to Rick, and when she closed her eyes, she saw stars. Burying her head in his shoulder, she breathed through the pain as she reminded herself of all that it was going to bring her.