Page 47 of Mending Hearts

His arm slid around my shoulders, and he tugged me into his side. His lips pressed against the top of my head, and he breathed me in. “You’re so mature in so many ways, I forget that you’re young. We need a code word for when you’re feeling insecure and just need reassurance.”

“I wasn’t feeling insecure.” I tried to pull away from him.Insecure?Please. Jealous, maybe.

“Having feelings isn’t a weakness.”

“I know that.” I swallowed down more of a protest. “I don’thatethe idea of a code word. It could be fun, I guess.”

He laughed and kissed my temple. “We can go straight-up ridiculous, or something that could be inserted into a regular conversation?”

I curled into his side and slipped my legs onto his lap, and his free hand cupped my knees. Giving pieces of myself to him felt normal, easy. So different from anything I’d ever experienced before. With other men, they took and took and took. Lost in thought, I picked at his shirt until I said, “Puzzle. That’s the code word. Puzzle. Puzzled. Puzzling.”

“Goes both ways?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if I feel insecure?”

I gave him a light punch to the chest. “Sure, yeah. You’re going to be insecure. About what?”

“We got a bit of road left to travel, Mia. You never know.”

The thought of the road ending or coming to the fork I could see in the distance caused sadness to seep in. “I guess we do.” My internal timer ticked. “Will you sit in on the conversation with Taryn and Rebecca?”

“Are you sure you want quitting to be so closely linked to me?”

I patted my purse. “I have a doctor’s note.”

“From a doctor connected to me and Little Falls.”

“I want you there.” I twisted my finger in his shirt and then released the material.

“Then I’ll be there.” He met my gaze, sincerity in his depths.

Taryn and Rebecca had passed the note back and forth between them several times before eyeing me and then Tyler and circling to Pasha, who I also insisted on having in the bus.

“Why didn’t you go to our team doctor? We could have had her here at a moment’s notice.” Rebecca’s eagle eyes scanned Tyler. “A doctor from Little Falls is declaring you exhausted, and you took yourself to the hospital today.”

“I don’t want this getting out. Or at least getting out uncontrolled.” I’d applied some strategic makeup to make me appear washed out before the meeting. “I thought you’d be proud of me for handling it myself.”

“We’re paid to handle stuff like this.” Taryn frowned. “The costume guy isn’t.”

“He helped me out of a jam last night.” I refused to acknowledge Tyler, hadn’t glanced in his direction since Taryn and Rebecca arrived. He was across the room, far enough not to be a distraction, but close enough to offer comfort. Whenever he was in a room, I felt grounded, safe. He’d never let anything bad happen to the baby, so he’d never let anything bad happen to me.

“It’s not like we didn’t see this coming, Mia.” Rebecca sighed. “We just wish you’d been more up front about where your head was at. Now, we’re going to be scrambling to reschedule.”

“We’re not rescheduling,” I said. “We’re canceling.”

Both Taryn and Rebecca gasped, and the doctor’s note fluttered to the floor between them. “Canceling?” Taryn squeaked out.

“I want to be done.”

“Holy shit,” Rebecca muttered and pressed her fingertips into her forehead. “Laura is going to eat us for breakfast.” Her gaze connectedwith Taryn. “How do we spin this? The lost money alone will give her a coronary.”

“Laura would be fine with rescheduling,” Taryn said, swooping down to pick up the note. “But canceling outright? There’s no way, Mia.”

“This is whyIpay you.” I spread my hands wide and looked between the two women. “Get her to accept it. Get her on board with me spending the next few months in Little Falls.”

“This your idea?” Rebecca eyed Tyler. “You know if the tour ends, you don’t get paid either.”

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