Page 129 of No Way Home
“Bro, I know,” Ashton said. “We had her in your basement playing pool, but the woman is an escape artist. She simply can’t stand seeing James in so much pain. It’s tearing her up.”
“Yeah,” Dad said. “But telling him he’ll get over Sage and find love again is not what he wants to hear right now.”
“Trustus,” Ash muttered. “We know.” Something in his tone said there had been drama while we were gone.
Dad cussed under his breath. “What did Mom do?”
Ashton sighed. “Gave James the whole spiel about how Willow needed a mother and he shouldn’t take too long to find another wife.”
Dad cussed again. But Mom cussed louder. I’d never heard either of them cuss as much as they had since the accident.
“No worries,” Tally sang cheerily. “James told her it was ‘none of her damn business.’ And ‘screw that, I’m never getting married again!’”
Mom gasped, then giggled. “Did he really?”
“Yes,” Ashton said, not nearly as chipper as his wife. “Mom boo-hooed like she thought James was the one going to hell. If we were Catholic, I’m positive she would’ve crossed herself.”
Holden snorted, staring out the window.
“Gramps and Granny are taking a walk around the farm right now,” Tally said. “And we’ve got Jane, Belle, Blaze, and Tristan guarding all the entrances to your house. We’ll keep Granny outside until you get back.”
Dad hung up and relaxed into his seat, but he did not look happy.
“It’s okay, Si.” Mom rubbed her free hand over his knuckles. “He just needs time.”
“That’s a good sign that James was so pissed,” I said, pointing out the positive. “At least we know there’s still some fire in him.”
Dad let out a long breath, slumping back against the seat. “Yeah. It is.”
Cars were parked all over the lawn when we got home. It looked like every Dupree with a license had driven over to hug Griff and Juliette goodbye. Mom was right; Aunt Peyton and Juliette hit it off from the get-go. But so did Belle, Jane, Emily, Maddie, Sophie, and every other female in the family. Hard forthem not to like a woman who begs to give them makeovers every other day. Bronco looked like he couldn’t breathe whenever she walked into the room. And he hadn’t even hit puberty yet. So yeah, she’d become a fast favorite.
When I stepped inside, eager to break the good news to Magnolia, all I saw was a sea of teary-eyed faces, huddled around Griffin. Juliette must’ve been doing some last-minute packing because she was nowhere in the group.
I hurried through the crowd and to the great room, where I knew Magnolia would be. At any given moment, you could either find her begging James to hand Willow over or watching them nap together—like she was fascinated at the sight.
Sure enough, she sat at the edge of the couch, chin resting on her knees, gazing at my brother and his baby girl. I’d teased her the first time I found her in this exact spot, wearing a similar smitten expression. She said she couldn’t help herself. James and I looked so much alike that all she saw was me, holding one of our future babies.
Yes, we were less than three weeks into this relationship, and we spent every evening planning our future together. Marriage, babies, the house we’d build once she was done with residency. We’d already begun drawing up plans. Unlike with Nova, it didn’t make me want to run. If anything, I fell more in love with Magnolia every second we dreamt together.
I took her in, the sun cascading through the two-story tall windows. Her freckles dotted her cheeks like the first stars in the night sky. Her pink lips were barely parted, watching Willow sleep against James’s chest, a softness in her eyes.
I scratched the back of my neck, and her head snapped up. Our eyes locked. All the way home, I’d had this dumb idea to wear a forlorn expression and make her think for a split second that we’d failed and she would have to endure Billy and Topher for another rotation. But after all the heartbreak I’d puther through, I didn’t have it in me to ever hurt her again. Not even in jest.
A smile twitched at the corners of my mouth. That’s all it took for her to thrust her fists into the air and wave her arms around like we were at a UVA football game, and a touchdown had been scored. But she kept her audio off, careful not to wake Willow.
“It worked?” James whispered, eyes watery, voice emotionless. That’s the way he’d been ever since he woke up in the hospital and learned Sage was gone. The tears were always there, on the edge of spilling out.
But then he gazed down at Willow Sage Dupree, and the way he looked at her told me he’d be okay. He’d find a way for her. She was half Sage, and she had his whole heart.
“Yeah, it worked,” I whispered, and crossed the room.
Magnolia shot to her feet and tackled me in a ninja-quiet hug. “I can’t believe you changed Dr. Adam’s mind,” she said, gazing at me all starry-eyed like I’d really done something.
“It was all Mom.” I grinned. “And you gotta start calling himBillylike the rest of the family.” I spit out his name like it was cow manure in my mouth.
“Facts. Mom finally played the naked pic card, huh?” James tried to shift in the chair and winced. “’ Bout time.”
“Here.” I adjusted the pillow that was causing him problems. “Do you need anything?” I was surprised Mom wasn’t in here fussing over him already.” But then I glanced through the window to see her and Dad in the backyard, talking with Granny and Gramps. Mom held Granny in a tight embrace. Granny’s shoulders shook as she cried.
