Page 107 of This Feeling

Harper tilted her head and regarded me. “What did you tell her?”

“I told her that I fully intended to return to work as a cop once I was given the all-clear. She was a tad bit upset and started to lecture me.”

Slamming the knife down on the counter, Harper folded her arms over her chest. “Howdareshe get you worked up about this? She was in the room when the doctor told us to keep you as calm and relaxed as possible!”

I nodded and jerked my head toward the knife. Harper looked at it, then blushed. “Sorry. It just boils my blood that she’s doing this to you. Why can’t your mother just keep her nose out of your business? No wonder Sean doesn’t want to stand up to her ever. She was a downright bully at the hospital when they came out and said you asked to see me. She insisted to the doctor that she should see you first, and he told her to push off.”

“He did?”

“Well, not in those words. But it’s her way or no way. I can tell you right now that she willnotdo that while you’re recovering. That I can promise you.”

I waggled my brows. “Seeing you all fired up like this is turning me on.”

“Oh no, mister. The doctor said no sex.”

I was positive my eyes nearly popped out of my head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear that.”

She nodded. “I asked, and he said not for at least a few weeks. You need to keep doing your lung exercises and get cleared by a cardiologist.”

“Okay, so I can’t do anything strenuous, but I can still makeyoufeel good.”

She pointed to me. “No. Nothing to get you overexcited.”

I frowned. “You’re no fun.”

Huffing, Harper turned and pulled a bowl full of salad out of the fridge and started to mix in the vegetables. “Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes. Do you need any help with anything?”

“If I can’t have sex, then the next best thing is going to the bathroom.”

Harper stared at me. “That’s your next best thing? The bathroom?”

“If it means I can get up and walk there by myself, then yes. The bathroom is the next best thing after sex.”

She giggled as she opened the oven door. “I’ll set the table, and you go do what you must in the bathroom. If you need any help, let me know.”

I rolled my eyes. “If I need help taking a piss, then we reallyarein trouble.”

Harper

“If you slam a vase down any harder, you’re going to eventually break one.”

I looked at Aunt Olivia. “I’m not slamming anything down.”

She laughed. “You are, Harper. Tell me what’s going on.”

Sighing, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “It’s Declan’s mother.”

When I opened my eyes, Aunt Olivia was nodding. “What has she done now?”

I grabbed another vase and was about to put it down…when I slowly and carefully set it on the counter, causing my aunt to let out a soft laugh.

“Declan got the all-clear from the cardiologist last week. Which is a good thing because he was going crazy, even with the increased activity. The man cannot sit around and do nothing.”

“Evident by him hanging around here in the flower shop, making arrangements—which, by the way, he isreallygood at.”

I smiled. “I know! He really is. Anyway, he got the all-clear to return to work, and his mother stopped by last night and threw a fit. She demanded Declan stop being a cop. Said that he should just work for me in the flower shop, or for his father. I know the heart attack was from the smoke, but I still don’t want him getting upset or having any anxiety, and his mother is one giant anxiety…blob!”

“Blob?”

---