He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and stood. She watched, fascinated by his every move as he picked up the box and several used napkins. “Can I trust you to sit stil while I throw the pizza out?”
She gritted her teeth against the need to do something, anything. “Yes.”
“Good, I’l be right back.”
Gracie slumped against the couch. “I’m not going anywhere, clearly.”
6
“I should wring your neck for not tel ing me about al this, Gracie.”
As if she hadn’t heard those words before. “Get in line,” Gracie muttered.
“Wel , what’s done is done.” Jean turned her attention to Wade. “So, you’re going to catch this guy, is that it?”
“Yes, I am.” Wade stood at the front of the room, staring out her window, his entire demeanor on alert. Was he looking for her stalker? It gave her the wil ies to think he could be out there right now, watching, waiting.
“Good. What can I do?”
Wade kept his face averted as he replied, “Your only job is to help Gracie.”
“It won’t be the first time I’ve helped someone with a cast. My youngest, Brian, broke his arm when he was in the fifth grade. Jumped off a barn roof. Crazy kid. It nearly drove him crazy until it healed.”
“How’s he doing these days?”
Jean quirked a brow. “You mean since you dumped him?”
“I did not dump him! We had one date; that’s it.”
Wade slowly turned around, his brows scrunched together. “How long ago was this?”
“Last year, and it real y wasn’t anything. Brian is a nice guy, but the chemistry wasn’t there.”
Jean waved her hand in the air. “He said the same thing, but I had hopes. Four kids and not one of them have seen fit to give me grandkids yet.”
Good Lord, if she’d known the woman had plans of babies and happily ever after, Gracie never would have gone out with her son in the first place. “Uh, anyway, the doctor said it’s a fracture. He didn’t seem to think it was too bad.”
“Don’t you worry; you’l get the hang of using one hand pretty quick. Just be glad it wasn’t your dominant hand.”
“I don’t want Gracie pushing herself, though. That wrist and those bruises need time to heal.”
Jean snorted. “Gracie isn’t some delicate blossom, Wade. And she’s not about to let a broken wrist and some bruises keep her down. You might want to coddle her, but if she doesn’t want to be coddled, then nothing you say or do wil change that. She’s got a mind of her own.”
“Don’t I know it.” Wade groaned as he moved away from the window and sat in the easy chair adjacent to Gracie. “I need to know your schedule, Gracie.”
She hadn’t even thought of how tired he must be. The only sleep he’d gotten was in that horrible chair at the hospital. “You need to go home and get some rest, Wade.”
He put his elbows on his thighs and leaned closer. “Weren’t you paying attention when I said I was going to be your shadow?”
She blinked. “Wel , yes, but—”
“But nothing.” Wade said, as if he were somehow lord and master. “I’m going to be here day and night until this guy is caught.”
Gracie tucked her hair behind her ear, annoyed and too tired to fight him anymore. “You want to sleep here?”
“Where’d you think I was going to sleep?”
“At your own home, of course.”