Page 38 of The Risk

"I’m good. I came out of the bathroom and he was standing there. We came downstairs looking for cookies. I was only allowed to have two. He told me I can’t ever have too much sugar stuff because it makes me special sick, Gene. Calvin said he had to take care of me, too." Her hand covered Calvin’s head and she kissed him. "He’s wonderful. Beautiful."

"That he is. And he’s mine; I’ll love him until the day I die."

"I used to want two or three."

"Used to?"

"I have to be practical now. I’m thirty. I’m diabetic. And I don’t know if you know this, but I haven’t exactly had a raging social life in the last five years."

"Neither have I. But... we can still... talk about kids, right?" He kept his words low, conscious of the weight of them now. "Because what we did tonight... it will never be a casual thing between us. I want more than casual. I want what George and Ronnie have. And your wingnut oldest brother and that gorgeous blonde terror of his. And what our parents all have. I want that more than anything else, and I want it with you."

He heard the little breath she pulled in. He felt the soft weight of her on his lap. He felt the just damnedperfectionof havingthiswoman and no other in his arms. "I don’t want to ever let you go again."

She turned her head, her eyes big in the light from the window. "Gene..."

"I mean that, Chan. I don’t want to ever let you go again."

She leaned forward, her arms tight around his son. And she kissed Gene. Softly.

Perfectly.

"We can figure this out together," she whispered. "I’m afraid, but... not enough to run."

"I’d hunt you to the ends of the world if you even tried. I care about you, Chantal Fields. And I always will. I think maybe I could have years ago. But I got scared. Scared of what life really meant, so I started doing stupid things. Maybe even longer than that. Probably about the time we almost lost my sister. It took me a while to get past that. To understand that I couldn’t have changed a damned thing that day. But figuring out what that meant for my life since... well, I’ve been a bit slow at that. Until the day I almost lost you out there. And I realized what I was missing. Now... I want to spend the rest of my life making up for the days I could have had you before."

36

She spentthe night with him. In his bed. Until just before dawn, when he carried her back to his baby sister’s empty room and tucked her in. And kissed her hotter than she had been kissed in her life. Chantal didn’t want to let him go, but his brothers and sisters were just down the hall.

And Chad. Somehow, they had all ended up with aChadthrown into the mix. He could become a problem.

The last thing she wanted was her overprotective big brother knowing she had spent the night curled up naked in his best friend’s arms.

Even if she suspected Chad was trying to getherbest friend into a similar situation.

When she woke, Chantal made a decision. She was going to take things slow. Figure this out between them. A quick shower helped clear her head. She had borrowed extra clothes from Genny—she was two inches taller than her bestie, and about twenty pounds heavier, and a lot curvier, but Genny’s clothes fit well enough.

Then she was ready to face the man who had just changed everything.

There was organized chaos when she made it into the Hillers’ kitchen. Genny was in the kitchen, making what looked like pancakes and eggs. And right there next to her was one Chadwick Fields. He wore borrowed clothing and his red hair stuck up everywhere. And… his lips were swollen.

So were Genny’s. Chantal wasn’t stupid. She knew what her brother and her bestie had probably been up to.

Genny looked at her. Genny’s cheeks went bright red. “Hi. How did you sleep?”

“Okay. Any word from the hospital?” She wasn’t going to mention that she’d slept the sleep of the exhausted after that hazel-eyed man who had just walked into the kitchen had had his wicked way with her. For the second time. “Good morning, Gene. Little Gene, Junior.”

Calvin was right there, dressed like a miniature version of his father. Right down to the little cowboy boots. “My Chantal! You are still here!”

He always called her that. Chantal didn’t even hesitate, she opened her arms. And there he was. The real love of her life. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning, my Chantal…” his daddy said right next to her ear. “How are you feeling?”

“Just fine.” She had checked her numbers in her borrowed room already. Physical activity—such as she’d engaged in with Mr. Gene Hiller—could impact her glucose levels, but between her pump and monitor and her checking several times a day, she finally thought she had a handle on her condition.

“Greer called. Hala is sleeping in a hard chair in the waiting room. Grady went in to get Greer already. He said something about convincing Hala to come here and take a nap. Hudson is getting out later today,” Genny said. “They are coming here for a few days. I’m going to get the spare room ready before I head in.”

“And you, Chad?” Gene asked, pointedly. “What are your plans?”