Chapter 7
Before attempting to get up, Felicity stretched.
The medications had done their work. The spasm was gone.
Though she was stiff, everything felt much better.
She hadn’t had a spasm like that in about nine months.
The daily pain was manageable, but she needed to get back in the habit of doing her PT exercises to avoid that happening again.
The phone alarm was vibrating against her chest, which meant she never plugged it in last night. She was lucky the battery hadn’t died. Her wrist hit a cord, and as she went to silence her alarm, her finger hit a sticky note.
If you can’t get up when you wake up, call me.
With a phone number scrawled underneath.
Her phone was plugged in to an extension cord she didn’t recognize. Probably because the phone cord didn’t easily reach the couch. It was generally a good thing, because it prevented her from doomscrolling too much, but it was inconvenient in this case.
He’d gone back to his place and brought back an extension cord for her?
Thoughtful.
Weird.
Aw, shit.
Hazy memories flooded her.
Had he really said he would make her come so hard she’d tip over?
She didn’t want to remember all the things she might have said aloud.
Yeah, but she’d remember that tip over part for the rest of her life, even if she didn’t remember much else. Except … what about the woman she had seen Nic with yesterday?
Nic shouldn’t have said that to her if he was dating the witchy brunette. Maybe he was a typical cliché fuckboy like Felicity had thought.
A knock jolted her. Was people stopping by all the time going to be a daily thing?
She’d liked living here because her place was tucked away behind the church.
The only entrance was up the steep metal stairs.
Felicity had been able to isolate herself for months, but suddenly she lived in a goddamn sitcom apartment. Christ.
“It’s Courtney,” called out a voice from the door.
Fuck fuck fuck. “Oh, uh—hi.”
Sorry I may have been legally high and solicited your friend’s boyfriend last night. Maybe they made greeting cards for that. If not, such an untapped market.
“Nic gave me your key. Are you okay in there? Heard you had a tough night last night? Can I come in?”
Felicity’s face crinkled in confusion. “Right. Yeah. Of course.” As the door opened, she pulled herself up into a seated position on the couch, rubbing the grogginess from her eyes. “I’m okay. Totally okay.”
“Nic said you could barely move or talk last night.”
Oh, Felicity could talk. She had talked way too much.
“Yeah.” She rubbed her neck. “Muscle spasm, so I took my meds. They always knock me out. I didn’t do a good job explaining it.”
“Ah.” Courtney handed her a coffee with the C’est la Vache logo on the side.
Felicity eyed the cow logo. She sipped the coffee—which was perfect—before speaking again. “So … how much did Nic tell you about last night?”
“He was asking me about the medication. I’ve been on a lot of different stuff for migraines, so he thought I might know if your reaction to it was normal.” The corner of her mouth quirked upward. “Why, what are you worried he might have told me?”
Basically, anything involving hypothetical cunnilingus. “Nothing. I’m good. He was a perfect gentleman.”
“I should hope so. Nic would never try anything with you in such a compromised state.”
“No, of course not.” The opposite … “He was nice. Super nice. The nicest.” Felicity gulped her coffee, searing the back of her throat. She coughed. “Anyway, I think he has a girlfriend.”
“A girlfriend?”
“I saw him hug this hot witchy brunette. They seemed like they knew each other pretty well.”
Courtney’s lips pursed together. “Ah.”
“I meant to ask, when did you get into town?”
“Only a few days ago. My wife came with me on tour over the summer, but we’re happy to be—”
“Wait. Your wife?”
Courtney held up her hand. There was a silver band on it. She pulled out her phone and held up the screen, which had a photo of Courtney in a suit beside a very beautiful brunette.
“Wait, that’s—”
“Thea. My wife.”
“Oh…” Felicity’s attempt to feign nonchalance wouldn’t have even earned her a daytime Emmy. “Ohhhhh.”
“You know Nic’s my cousin, right?” Courtney’s expression was just on the kinder side of pity.
“Your cousin. Right. Nic is your cousin.” Felicity’s grip on her coffee cup relaxed. “And the brunette is your wife. Ah … okay.”
Courtney’s amusement danced in her eyes. “I’m sorry if you haven’t been getting along with Nic, but…”
“I’ve only met him twice. I guess three times if you count my drug-addled theatrics last night. I’m sure he’s fine. You’re going to have to tell Dr. Powell his monstera is dead, by the way. It was a casualty of the drugs.”
She chuckled. “I can do that.” She scanned Felicity’s face. “For what it’s worth, I do think Nic’s heart is in the right place with the restaurant and the patio stuff. He has good instincts.”
“I’m just protective of the shop. I’m sure he and I will get along okay, eventually.”
“Your aunt trusted you would be protective of it.” Courtney pushed some boxes out of the way and got herself a glass of water.
Her attention lingered on the stack of books Sam had left over the weeks since Felicity arrived.
Except for that Viking one, she hadn’t even opened any of them. “Are you still unpacking?”
“Just deciding where I want to put things. Bad at decision-making. Task paralysis. ADHD. You know.” Felicity grabbed her pill bottle from the coffee table, flinching at the twinge of pain caused by reaching.
“I know you’re a nurse, so I’m not going to—”
“Was a nurse. Not anymore.”
“Was a nurse. I know I don’t need to tell you all the options for pain management. But this seems intense. When was the last time you saw a doctor about it?” Courtney sat cross-legged on the other side of the coffee table and put her water glass on a coaster.
“I have a pain specialist in Maryland. I tried to find one here, but when I went, all they wanted to talk about was my ‘weight’ and how that might have ‘caused my chronic pain due to wear and tear on my joints,’ so I quit looking.”
“Ew, gross.” Courtney frowned. “Well, I have someone I can recommend if you want. Is the pain why you’ve been avoiding us since the funeral? Thea had the flu that day, which is why you didn’t meet her then. Does Sam know what’s happening with your pain? How bad this gets?”
“Sam doesn’t need any more stress. She’s tried to get pregnant for so long.
” Felicity groaned. “I tweaked an old injury yesterday, and then I was stupid and moved a shit ton of potting soil instead of waiting a day to do it. That’s all it was.
” Mental thumbs-up to herself for successfully avoiding the question like a champ.
“Was the injury from the assault?”
Damn it. Felicity nearly lost her grip on the cup, sloshing water onto the counter.
Courtney grabbed a tea towel and mopped up the puddle.
“Who told you?” Felicity leaned on the counter. “And yes.”
“Your aunt was pretty upset when she found out. Sam and I had to prevent her from getting in a car and driving to see you in Maryland when it happened. I figured we’ve all been dancing around this long enough. Samantha, Thea, and I know. That’s it.”
“Fuck.” Felicity’s hands dug into the tight places on her scalp. “I didn’t want my family to tell anyone.”
“Your brother called her. We happened to be in the shop at the time. It was right after Thea and I got engaged. We haven’t told anyone else.” Courtney shook her head. “I promise.”
“You haven’t told your cousin?”
“It’s not my story to tell, Felicity. Thea and Sam wouldn’t either.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, thanks. I really appreciate that.”
Is that why Aunt Jeannie left me the shop?
What had Dylan told Jeannie, exactly? The brother who’d called had to be Dylan. Such a busybody.
“Did your hospital give you some legal support?”
Felicity barked a laugh. “Not quite.” She tapped her fingers on the counter. “Out of curiosity, how’d you even know I’d be up this early?”
Courtney shoved her hair out of her face and leaned forward, hands clasped together on the table separating them.
“You and my cousin have more in common than you think.” And with that enigmatic statement, she smiled and stood to put her glass in the sink.
“And about Nic—cousin or not, you have my permission to give him hell.”
“I didn’t need anyone’s permission.”
“Good, because he’s outside moving things around on the patio and I thought I saw a contractor van pull up.”
“That sneaky motherfucker.”
Courtney’s laughter faded as the sliding door closed behind her.
Nic might have been nice last night. He might have tucked her in and cleaned her up and let her borrow an extension cord. He might have implied that he was an expert at oral stimulation in a way that made Felicity’s sex-starved lady bits desperate for a little attention.
But if he tried to take over that patio space without consulting her, she would take that noodlehead down.
And not, like, down on her.
But also, maybe?