Page 15 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
“I’m sorry.” Genuine regret lingered in Rob’s voice.
She shrugged. “Part of the grieving process. Can we talk about something else?”
“Of course.” Amy wrapped an arm about her shoulders in a quick hug. “I have our new adoption-profile book. Want to take a look?”
“Why not?” Savannah accepted the glass of ice water Rob proffered as her sister bustled out of the room. She met Rob’s gaze. “Any prospects?”
With a grimace, he shrugged. “We had one serious inquiry, but she decided she didn’t like both of us being in law enforcement. I can understand that.”
“How did Amy take it?” Her sister hadn’t said anything, and that was unusual. Amy usually told her more than she wanted to know.
“She was okay.” A smile hitched up the corners of his mouth. “We talked about it, and if for some reason, it never happens, we’ll be good. We have each other.”
“And me.” She lifted her glass. “Don’t forget about me.”
He laughed. “And you. We definitely have you.”
“You say that like it’s a hardship.”
“You have your moments.”
She let that one pass, only because of the affection in his voice. “Any idea on a timeline?”
“You never know.” He gripped the countertop with both hands. “It could be another year or it could be tomorrow. We’ve done everything on our end. Now we just wait.”
“You have your own page.” Amy breezed in with a thin, glossy book in hand. She opened it on the island and pointed. “Look.”
The page, entitledAunt Savannah, featured a handful of photos—her physician’s biography headshot, a casual image of her and Amy under the weeping willow at their parents, another of Rob sitting between her and Amy on the couch, all of them in their game-day apparel and sporting wide grins. A short description covered her career choice, her close relationship with Amy and Rob, and her qualifications for being a doting aunt.
“That’s great.” She smiled and flipped to the beginning to peruse the pictorial representation of Amy and Rob’s life together—wedding photos, casual shots at home, the beach, the local zoo. Their devotion and commitment glowed from the pages. Rob was right—if no one ever selected them as adoptive parents, they would be happy and fulfilled in one another.
God, she missed that too.
Not enough that she ever wanted to commit to anyone again, though.
“So what is he like, this neighbor of yours?”
Savannah flipped a page with elaborate casualness. “Didn’t I say I didn’t want to talk about it?”
“No.” Amy nudged her shoulder with her own. “You said you didn’t want to talk about the dreams.”
Behind them, Rob snorted.
“Well, I don’t want to talk about him either.” She closed the book and extended it to her sister. She glanced over her shoulder at Rob, taking a swig of water from his glass. “Hey, Robert, did I tell you about the journal article I read last week about sperm mapping in infertile men? It involves aspirating your testicles with a needle.”
He choked so hard water spurted from his nose, and Savannah smiled as he bent over the sink, coughing.
“Savannah. Really.” Amy moved the book to the counter that held her cookbook collection. She paused a moment, frowning. “Is that for real? Should we do some research?”
Rob groaned and glared at Savannah. “What did I ever do to you?”
Savannah saluted him with her glass. “Not a damn thing other than make it too easy.”
“You’re dodging the question.”
“Of course I am.” She shrugged. “You both should know that if I don’t want to talk about something, I’m not going to.”
And as much as she loved both of them, talking about her nonexistent relationship with Emmett Beck was not going to happen.
