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I set the bottle on the counter and turned my full attention to her. The hospital cafeteria fell away, and in that moment, only she existed.

“You once told me that sometimes people do things because they want to, right?” She nodded. “Why can’t this be one of those times?”

She opened and closed her mouth, her cheeks growing pinker the longer her words failed her.

Adorable, I thought.

“Because it’s so much money, Hayden!”

I laughed. “It’s your mom’s health, Frankie,” I countered, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip. “Besides, I saw your dad the last time I was there; the private wing allows him to stay with her. Plus, he gets treated like a patient, too. Food, sleep, the works.”

“But you don’t have to go so far.” She frowned, despite the gratitude shining in her eyes.

If I were vainer, I’d have been fixated on it, on the little glimmer of thanks lighting up her eyes.

But it was the sag in her shoulders and the smoothed-out bit of skin between her brows that had been dented for weeks. Months, actually.

I kissed her, kissed either corner of her mouth, kissed her jutted-out bottom lip. I kissed her until the tension left her face.

“I need my favorite manager to be on top of her game,” I told her quietly, watching her lashes flutter over her freckled cheeks. “And she can’t do that when she’s juggling two jobs and stressing about both of her parents.”

She curled her body into mine, her arms wound tight around my waist and her face hidden in the crook of my neck.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, her voice shaking with the sincerity of her words. I wondered how much more she wanted to say, but her exhaustion was a weight in my own arms.

“We’ll talk more about it tonight, okay?” I said, and she nodded against my shoulder.

With an indulgent smile, I sank into the soft warmth of her arms for just a few extra heartbeats before I pried myself away.

“Dinner tonight,” she said, wiping at her pink nose. “My treat.”

“It’s always a treat when it’s you,” I teased, and she swatted at me with a sweater paw.

“Marina is gonna be mad if you don’t drink the coffee she made,” Frankie scolded, gathering her things and shouldering her bag.

“Tell Vee I said Marina’s jealous of her coffee.”

“Oh God, no.” Frankie laughed, the tinkling sound lighter than it had been in all the time I’d known her. “She doesn’t need the compliment,trust me.”

She waved as she left, and I stood in the cafeteria for a little while, staring at the doors she’d walked out of.

It had been sheer luck that landed in my lap when I talked to Reid about Frankie’s mom. Reid’s oldest client, one of her closest friends in the industry, was married to the chairman of the board at the hospital. It was easy to get Frankie’s mom moved after that.

All that was left, I thought, eyeing the small flower shop beside the gift shop, was explaining it all to Frankie’s parents.

Something that would have been a lot easier if Frankie and I were officially together.

I shook my head clear of the thought and fought the urge to buy, well,allthe bouquets in the shop.

“Hayden,” Mrs. Ivey said, sitting up a little straighter in her bed. “What a surprise.”

“Please,” I told her, stepping inside with a grimace. “Don’t sit up on my account. You should be resting.”

“It’s because of you that Icanrest,” she said, and I froze in the act of placing the flowers in the empty vase. “I may be getting on in age, but I can see just as well as I always have.”

The stems slipped into the water and I let out a breathless laugh. “I guess I owe you an explanation,” I said, rubbing my palms on my pants.

She waved her hand toward the empty sofa next to her bed, the one I assumed her husband practically slept in.