Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
I cleared my throat. “Hello, Lynn. I look forward to getting to know you.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SULLY
Lynn regained consciousness sometime in the night. Autumn was dozing on my lap, her head on my shoulder. I looked over and met a set of blue eyes. They were confused and dull, but open. Inquisitive.
“Hello,” I murmured. “Don’t be alarmed. I’m Sully.”
Her voice was hoarse, thick, and tremulous. A small grimace of pain crossed her face, but she tried to smile. “The Irishman.”
“That’s me.”
Autumn stirred, and I brushed a finger down her cheek. “Look who’s up,” I told her, turning her face so she could see her aunt.
“Auntie Lynn,” she cried softly, pushing off my lap and bending over Lynn. “I am so happy to see you!”
I stood and went to find the doctor, giving them a few moments alone. I stayed in the hall as the nurses went into the room, followed not long after by the doctor I had met after I’d arrived. Autumn came out, her eyes filled with tears, but this time, they were happy. She stepped into my arms, and I held her tight.
“Everything is going to be okay now, love. You’re grand.”
She half laughed, looking up at me. “Thank you for being here.”
I kissed her. “There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Things moved quickly once Lynn was checked and pronounced able to face surgery the next day.
“We’ll get you on the mend fast,” the doctor assured her. “Back home and feeling yourself in no time.”
“Home will look a little different now, I imagine,” she murmured.
“We’ll figure it all out,” Autumn soothed. “Let’s take this one step at a time.”
She held Autumn’s hand after the doctor left, looking distressed.
“I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”
“Don’t be daft,” Autumn replied. “It was an accident. But you need to wear your alert button.”
“I hate it. It bothers my neck,” she said with a frown. “And listen to you, sounding all Scottish.” She glanced at me. “You teaching her that?”
“No. She is learning that all herself. I try to inject some Irish into her whenever I can, though,” I added with a wink.
“I bet you do, big man,” Lynn replied with a small grin. She looked at Autumn. “I like this one.”
“I do too,” Autumn said softly.
Lynn sighed, her eyes fluttering closed. “I know.”
“Rest, Auntie,” Autumn whispered. “I’ll be right here.”
This time, Lynn smiled. “I know.”
Surgery went well the next day, and we were waiting when Lynn was wheeled back into her room late in the afternoon. She was tired, drugged up, but smiled at Autumn.
“You look like hell, girl.”
Autumn laughed through her tears. “You should talk. Hospital colors don’t suit you.”
“I know. Brilliant colors are my best. I need to get out of here and back to my own things.”
“Soon,” Autumn promised.
Lynn sighed. “Sully? I need a favor.”
I bent over her. “Anything.”
“Take her and give her a good meal. Some sleep. Maybe an injection of Irish. I don’t want to see her back here until then.”
Autumn groaned in dismay.
I chuckled. “It would be my pleasure.”
“I bet it will,” Lynn mumbled, drifting toward sleep. “Go, Autumn. I’m fine.”
And she was out.
Autumn frowned and looked at me. I held up my hand, knowing she was going to fight this. “Niall and Anna are outside. They are going to sit with her. Finn and Una will take the later shift. You are going to stop arguing and do what she asked. You aren’t any good to her exhausted and ill.”
She shocked me when she nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I repeated.
She leaned into my side, and I snaked an arm around her waist. “Okay.”
I pressed a kiss to her head. “Thank you.”
“Sully,” she whispered, suddenly leaning harder. “I’m tired.”
“Then let me take you somewhere you can rest.”
AUTUMN
I was surrounded by warmth and comfort as I woke. I sat up, staring around the opulent room, the confusion lifting as my foggy mind cleared.
After Lynn had woken up and had her surgery and I knew she was recovering okay, Sully had brought me to the hotel. Filled a deep tub and helped me into it as if I were a fragile piece of glass he was afraid would shatter. He fed me bites of steak and tender asparagus, finishing off what I couldn’t eat. There was something so innately sexy about seeing him cross-legged on the floor beside the tub, feeding me, whispering words of encouragement to keep my eyes open long enough to eat. The room itself was big and plush, yet with him in it, it seemed smaller.
After, he dried me and laid me in a bed so plush and decadent, I was sure I was dreaming. He slid in behind me, holding me close. I nestled against him, and the last thing I heard was his voice whispering words of love in my ear.
He wasn’t in bed with me now, but I could hear his voice in the other room, the low cadence comforting.