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“Not that I mind the company, but why are you the one bringing me lunch and not Silas?” she asks while she stabs her fork into her salad, collecting a bit of everything.

Now that she is settled, I grab my container and plop down into the armchair closest to her. “I stopped by to ask if he needed anything as I headed out to get food and I guess he was buried in some paperwork. So, he asked me to grab your lunch for you with an apology that he can’t be here today.”

“Ah, yeah, he is still working to build the pack back up and I swear I’m just as mated to the pack as I am to him at this point. Nobody told me he would be gone this much,” she harrumphs as she shoves another bite of her salad into her mouth.

“It won’t be like this forever. I mean, you are mated to both, really, because there are a lot of times that he’ll be pulled away. But, eventually, it will mellow out a bit. How are you doing with everything?”

She gives me a confused look. “Warrick, are you okay? I don’t think you have ever asked me how I’m doing, let alone said it in a caring way. You feeling alright?”

I toss a crouton at her,and she puts her hand on her chest in mock horror. “Forget that I asked then, brat! I walked in on you laying out on the couch watching crappy TV. Figured I’d make sure you are alright.”

She throws the crouton back at me. “Don’t talk shit about my Real Housewives shows! Seriously though, I’m just tired. They don’t write that in those damn books.” She points with her fork to a stack of parenting books on the coffee table.

“You mean it’s not all happy moments of baby kicks, picking out clothes, and anticipation of their arrival?” I say with a chuckle.

She points her fork at me. “Watch it, mister. Between the baby, my wolf, and the hormones, I’m liable to either bawl my eyes out, throw sharp objects, or vomit. Never know which one you will get.”

I hold my hands up in surrender. “Easy, killer. Don’t murder/hurt the guy who brought you lunch today.”

She goes back to eating her salad and we both eat in companionable silence after she pushes play on her show. We wrap up the episode she was on as we finish our food. Not going to lie, that show is a bit addictive. It didn’t take me long to get pulled into the drama along with her.

Pushing pause before it starts another episode, she slides the remote onto the cushion beside her. “Warrick, I know we aren’t close or anything. But I also know that you made a sudden change after I met Silas. What’s going on with you?”

The empty carton rattles as I slip it back into the to-go bag. Dusting off my hands, I look at Nova. “Actually, there is stuff going on and that’s part of why I didn’t mind bringing youlunch. I actually was hoping to talk to you about a favor I need. Although, now I’m not sure that I can ask it of you.”

She picks up the remote again and aims it at me. “Just because I’m the size of a whale doesn’t mean I’m incapable of helping. What did you need?”

I spend the next twenty minutes going over everything with Nova, from my dumbass choices as a teen to my most recent mistake with Selene. To her credit, she doesn’t interrupt me and only shifts her weight when she is uncomfortable again, which is frequent.

She claps her hands together when I finish telling her everything up to this point. “So, what do you need me to do?”

I unfurl the paper that Gail brought me earlier and pass it to her. “Gail was able to get her wishlist of books that she wants. I circled the ones that are actually in her bookstore already. If I go in there, it will be too obvious. I hoped you could go in and purchase them. But, I don’t think Silas is going to let you walk into town, let alone buy books.”

She glares at me. “First of all, he doesn’t get to tell me what I will or won’t do. Let’s get that out of the way. I do agree, though, that physically I can’t make it there. No matter, though, I have the perfect way to get them.”

Without saying another word, she pulls out her phone and clicks some buttons before holding it to her ear. It doesn’t take long for whoever she called to answer the phone.

“Hey, Aspen! What are you up to?” She nods her head as she listens to whatever Aspen is saying to her.

“Girl, I bet! The babies are growing, and I’m feeling more like a whale, and less like a human by the day.” She listens again asher eyes light up as Aspen responds to her. She glances at me before she says, “Speaking of needing things to keep me busy, if I send you a list of books that were recommended to me, would you be the best and bring them to me? Silas would shit a kitten if I tried to walk to town right now.” She laughs at whatever Aspen says back to that as she nods her head. “Perfect! See you soon, bestie!”

She clicks the end call button before looking up at me with a beaming smile. “Alright, those books will be here in less than twenty minutes. What are you doing about the rest of the list?” She hands the paper back to me.

I glance down the list again. I hadn’t really thought about that. “Uh, I will see if I can have them shipped here. Hopefully, before the deadline.”

Nova scrunches her nose before asking, “What’s the deadline?”

“Your wedding night.”

She gasps in shock before throwing a pillow at me. “You have been holding out that detail this whole time?! You better behave at my wedding! Wait–actually I have an idea, but we will keep it between us, too!”

Later that night, after toeing off my boots, I walk into the room to check on the progress. The painters were here today, which is part of why I was away as long as I could be to give it time to airout. Flipping the switch on, I’m blown away by what I see. When Hazel explained it to me, I couldn’t quite picture it, but this is amazing.

I’ll be really glad when the electrician comes tomorrow to switch out the temporary light for the chandelier that we picked out together. It really will piece this together. Flipping the switch back off, I close the door and head over to my laptop resting on top of the island. I have some orders I need to place and pray that they are here on time.

Clicking through the books, I put all of them into my cart along with the armchair with a footrest that Hazel picked out. I try not to question my sanity when I click the expedited shipping to ensure they are here on time.

“Fuck, man, I really hope this works,” I say as I close my laptop and head to bed.