Page 17 of Valor

“It’s not as serious as this would make it seem,” he taps the bandage. “They just want to keep me overnight for observation.”

“You’re sure you’re okay? No dizziness? Spots in your vision.”

He thumbs my cheek. “I’m sure. I’d tell you if something were wrong, I promise. I don’t keep secrets from you, baby. Not about that.”

“Promise?”

“I promise you, Spitfire. You ain’t gonna get rid of me just yet.”

Chapter Eight

Ben

“I should callMrs. Parker to let her know we’ll need her to watch the kids overnight. Thank God for her.”

Whatever upset Livvie before the accident seems to have passed and she is right back to marching her world back to order. I lean back against the bed and let her make her calls. I haven’t given up on handling things where they need to be handled, we’re equals in this partnership, but there are times when Livvie needs to exact control on the things she can to feel as though she isn’t surrounded by chaos.

Once we’re back home and things have settled back down, we’ll talk, we always do, but for now, I want to hold her, keep her close. We’ve had tension and disagreements before, like any other couple. You can’t marry a redheaded woman with a penchant for heated discussions and not have disagreements. I knew what I was getting into when I married her and I wouldn’t trade a second of it.

But we’ve made it this far because after the arguments and the hurt feelings, we always, always, make it a point to come back to each other. No matter what. We never let those disagreements fester and turn into resentment. Resentment, like my father always says, sows the beginning of the end in any relationship. And I’d never let my pride get in the way of loving Livvie.

I nearly lost her once.

I won’t ever let that happen again.

“Sounds good, babe.”

I content myself with tugging the ends of her hair through my fingers until she shivers in pleasure. The repetitive movement soothes me as much as it does her. My head aches, and there’s a ringing in my good ear, but it could have been so much worse. I’ve seen so much worse.

Livvie snuggles into my side as she dials Mrs. Parker’s number from her phone. Her free hand finds mine without thought, and I stare at our fingers twisted together. It has been a long time since I feared losing something. Even though I knew I was safe on some level, that quick flash of what-if during the accident resounded through me like a shock wave.

What if…

What if…

I haven’t had to worry about what-ifs in a long time. Cole has been doing better since his heart transplant. Phoebe is an unstoppable force, and Livvie…is just Livvie. My one constant.

The thought of leaving them, not being there. I can’t even fathom it.

“Hello, Mrs. Parker, it’s Livvie Hart.” Livvie clears her throat. “Yes, thank you for asking, he’s okay. But we’re going to need to spend the night for observation, just to be safe. Would it be possible for—“ She pauses and I hear Mrs. Parker’s country twang despite the distance. “Yes, please, thank you. He should be released in the morning and we’ll come straight there.” Another pause. “Thank you so much for understanding. I’ll call if there’s any change. Thank you again.”

“The kids all right?” I ask.

“Yes, no thanks to me. I feel like an idiot for the way I acted. Ben, you could have been really hurt and it would have been my fault.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault. Don’t say that. It was an accident. That’s all. You can’t predict something like that.”

“I shouldn’t have run off. It was silly. I was just so emotional and overwhelmed. It wasn’t really about the paint.”

“It’s never about the paint,” I answer and kiss her again. I can’t seem to stop kissing her, touching her. Goddammit, if I weren’t strapped to machines and didn’t have a bitch of a headache I’d work on convincing her to maybe get naked with me in the hospital bed. “But you can talk to me, you know.”

She sighs and snuggles closer, tangling our legs and resting her head on my chest. Nothing feels more right than when she’s close to me.

“I know I can. And I will, I have some things to think about first.”

“You know I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“I know, I can’t get rid of you, it seems, even when I’m acting crazy.”