Page 122 of Forgotten Desires

“Try the eggs.”

Brynn shakes her head quickly. “They smell bad.”

“Bee, you have to eat something. Please. If you can’t eat, they’re not going to send you home.”

Since the day after surgery, it’s all she’s talked about. The bed here is very uncomfortable and she misses our home. I hired a nurse who will come to the house four days a week to help her with anything that I can’t. Celeste has done extensive research on what types of food will help her with recovery and has stocked the kitchen. Layla is going to spend the rest of the week with my sister since this is where I need to be.

“How is Layla?” she asks, clearly not wanting to talk about food.

“Eat and I’ll talk.”

She sighs and picks up the toast again. Once she takes a bite, I continue. “She’s doing okay. Jacqueline entered the rehab facility today and since all the paperwork is final and filed, I plan to tell Layla that she’s going to live with us.”

“As happy as she’s going to be, she’s still going to want her mother, just know that. Even after we left my dad, I would cry for him. It didn’t make sense to others, especially my grandparents. They assumed after the hell he put me through, that I wouldn’t want him around, but I did. I cried for him every night. Maybe we should tell her once we’re both home?”

“Why?” I ask.

“So that she has her daddy home and she doesn’t expect you to leave too.”

She has a good point there. “I didn’t even think about it that way.”

Brynn grins a little. “Another reason you’re lucky you have me.”

“I have a lot of those, do I?”

“I’d say so.”

This is the first time I see a bit of the woman I’ve known coming through. The doctors warned us about the psychological sides of her recovery. That things were going to be really hard for her as she can’t do certain things, she may tire a lot faster, and just struggle from the stress she’s been under.

Not to mention the stress we were under beforehand.

Which is why I wanted to relieve as much of it as I could.

“I think I might be the luckiest man in the world.”

Brynn raises her brows. “Oh? Why is that?”

I walk over, brush my thumb against her cheek and look into her beautiful, brown eyes. “Because you’re my wife.” I kiss her lips tenderly. When I pull back, I grin. “Now eat or I won’t tell you about the drama in Sugarloaf with Austin Arrowood.”

twenty-nine

BRYNLEE

“Why do you look like you’re ready to cry, love?” Crew asks as I’m leaning against the bathroom counter.

I’m really struggling since coming home. Everything feels … off. I’m tired, can’t eat a lot, I feel gross, and showering is incredibly painful. All I want is to take a long bath, but I can’t because of the wound. Don’t even get me started on my hair.

“I’m gross!” I admit.

Suddenly, tears start to fall and Crew carefully moves me to face him. His strong hands frame my face, the callouses on his fingertips brush the soft skin under my cheek. “You are not gross. Don’t cry, Bee.”

“I just didn’t expect it to be so hard,” I admit.

“What?”

“The recovery. I mean, I heard all the warnings, read all the paperwork, and was well aware of it, but living it is so different.”

He leans down and kisses my nose. “You’re also incredibly stubborn and don’t want help, which is making things harder.”

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