Peyton stilled, exhaled slowly, and nodded. “A trauma nurse, actually.”
“And here I thought I would have the best stories around.” Hank chuckled softly. “You must have hundreds of good ones from working there.”
“No way,” Kinsley said, and turned to Boone, her eyes dancing. “You’ve got the best story ever. Tell Peyton about your wife, Lanny.”
Peyton’s brows lifted. “Your wife, Lanny?”
Boone finished chewing the salad in his mouth and then explained, “Lanny’s a heavy drinker who lives on the outskirts of town. She believes I’m her long-lost love and that twenty years ago we married.”
Kinsley laughed. “She believes Boone is her soul mate.”
“How old is she?” Peyton asked before putting a forkful of salad in between those incredible lips.
Boone zeroed in on that mouth, catching the darkening of her eyes, then reminded himself they were with his family. “She’s a young eighty-two.”
“That’s right,” Kinsley said, still laughing. “You better scoop Boone up, Peyton. She’s a real threat.”
Boone glared at his sister. Whatever she was trying to do, it annoyed him.
“What?” Kinsley asked, fluttering her lashes.
Hank shook his head at the exchange and put the conversation back onto Peyton. “Tell us a story, Peyton. I’d love to hear one.”
“Well, um…” She glanced down at her plate.
Boone glared at his father now. Nosy fucking family. He never would have arranged this dinner—particularly after defining their relationship as casual last night—and he certainly didn’t want Peyton feeling uncomfortable.
To his surprise, Peyton lifted her head again. “I have one really good one.” Her eyes glossed over, obviously lost in a happy memory. “A guy came in one night—he was a usual who always seemed to find his way into the ER—and he was totally filthy. The ER was crazy busy that night. We didn’t have clothes on hand, so I put him in a hazard suit just to get him in something clean.”
“A nice thing to do,” Hank commented.
Peyton’s smile warmed her eyes. “You’d think so, but when he saw himself in the mirror, it’s like his mind snapped. He became convinced he was an astronaut from outer space and that he needed to get back to his ship. Before anyone could stop him, he busted out of the hospital and took off down the road, sending three nurses, a doctor, and a security guard chasing after him.”
Boone laughed, as did his father.
“The cops ended up coming out and it took quite a bit of drugs to settle him down.” Peyton paused, glanced down at her plate, then smiled at the memory. “But I remember that night we all needed that laugh. It’d been a tough one.” She glanced up at Hank and shrugged. “Funny how things come around like that when you need them.”
Boone couldn’t take his eyes off Peyton right then. She loved being a nurse, that much was obvious. The sparkle was there in her eyes. The love for the job was there. Nursing had so clearly given her purpose. And all of that only made him wonder why she gave up a career that she appeared to love. He took a quick look at his dad, finding him watching Peyton closely. Yeah, his dad didn’t miss much either.
“You guys have the weirdest jobs ever,” Kinsley muttered, breaking into the silence. “I would have been horrified at that, but you all like it.”
“You gotta find the humor in things,” Hank said, smiling at Peyton. “The light in the dark is a necessary requirement, isn’t it?”
“Very much so.” She smiled, though this time the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
Boone nudged her foot with his under the table. She lifted her eyes, ran her foot against his, and then warmth spread across her face.
Yeah, the light in the dark was beautiful.
* * *
After the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean, Peyton left Boone’s house with a heaviness in her chest that hadn’t been there when she had arrived. Boone had gone back to the station, but before Kinsley and Peyton called it a night, Kinsley had to go check in at the bar, so Peyton tagged along. The trees and houses were a blur outside Peyton’s window as she sat in the passenger seat of Kinsley’s black Jeep, until Kinsley turned onto Main Street and slowed down. Though dinner was nice, she missed her family. Deeply. Back in Seattle, Sunday night dinners with her parents had been a tradition for as long as she could remember. And she’d had dinner with Adam’s family every couple weeks. Earlier, with the Knights, Peyton found herself enjoying the laughs, the talks, and the stories that she’d had with her family. She’d learned how Kinsley was a difficult child—not much of a surprise there—and how Boone loved being a Boy Scout—also not a surprise. But all the sharing made her want to share too. And she had, little tidbits of her childhood about taking dance as a kid until she finally told her parents she hated it.
When Kinsley reached the bar, she parked at the curb. As they opened their car doors, Kinsley said, “I’ll be quick. Promise.”
“No rush.” Peyton followed her out, greeted by the warm evening. The town was quiet tonight, the sun beginning to set, creating a pinkish hue across the sky, only a few people walking the streets. Most of the town shut down at five o’clock, except for the restaurants and bars, including Kinsley’s and the classier nightclub, Merlots, four blocks away. Main Street had gone quiet, the tourists settling back in their cottage rentals or inns before heading out later for dinner. Compared to the shift work back in Seattle, this nine-to-five workday was a sweet little piece of heaven.
A foot away from the door that Kinsley had gone through, a large crow settled on the garbage can on the sidewalk. Peyton didn’t even want to think about what Remy would say to that. She’d surely think that was a bad omen.