“Another time,” she said, stopping in her tracks when she spotted Mr. Wilde, Hunt’s brothers, Shelby and Eliza at a table.
“What’s today?” she asked, then answered her own question. “It’s Pancake Tuesday.” Shelby and Eliza’s tradition of going out to breakfast every Tuesday at the diner for pancakes. When Shelby and Chase got together, finally, everyone else joined in.
“Come on. I’m starving. Someone wanted my attention twice this morning and I don’t think there are enough pancakes in this place to replace the calories I burned with you in bed and in the shower.”
She blushed because his family was watching them, though they couldn’t hear Hunt. She hoped the others waiting to be seated didn’t hear him either.
He took a step forward, and she grabbed his arm andpulled him back. “Hunt, this is a family thing. I don’t want to intrude.”
Hunt turned to her, blocking her view of his whole family waiting on them. “If I didn’t want you here, I wouldn’t have asked you to come with me. And let me make it clear. I want you sitting at that table with me, my family and your best friend. If I’m going too fast for you, I’ll make an excuse and we’ll go somewhere else.”
She stared up at his earnest eyes.
“What’s it going to be, Cyn?”
She’d wanted something special for a long time. Hunt was offering her more than she’d ever imagined in that dream.
“You. And me. And Pancake Tuesday.”
The smile on Hunt’s face lit up her heart. “Then let’s go.”
Hunt held her hand as they made their way into the dining area. The Wilde men stood when she reached the table and Hunt held a chair out for her.
She sat beside Shelby and bumped shoulders with her. “Is it smart to collect all the handsome Wilde men in one place? They might start a stampede.”
Shelby laughed. “I’m so happy Hunt brought you with him.”
Eliza jumped off her dad’s lap and ran to her. “Aunt Cyn, can you make my hair pink?”
Cyn picked up Eliza, plunked her on her lap and looked her dead in the eye. “Yes. I can. But why would you want to turn this beautiful hair a different color?”
“I want to be pretty like you.”
Cyn’s heart melted. “You already are, sweetheart. Just the way you are.”
Shelby bumped shoulders with her again.
Then she looked up and caught the intense look in Hunt’s eyes. “You look really good with her,” he whispered, so much meaning in those simple words.
“Eliza and I are best friends.”
“Just like you and Mommy.”
“Yep.” Cyn snuggled Eliza and looked across the table at Mr. Wilde and Max. “It’s nice to see you both.” She turned to Chase, who had his service dog, Remmy, with him. “Thanks for sharing Shelby with me the last couple days.”
Shelby had stopped by while Hunt was at work and kept her company. It had been nice to sit and chat and have a glass of wine with her friend.
“We’ve been worried about you. Any more strange episodes?” Chase asked, though everyone at the table waited for her answer.
“I’ve been doing what the doctor told me. Lots of rest and drinking a ton of water, making sure I get enough salt to balance that out. If I wait too long to eat, I kind of feel off.” She shrugged. “Hunt watches me very carefully.”
Hunt leaned in and kissed her on the side of the head. “I don’t like seeing you scared, like when you lost your eyesight.”
“That was something,” Mr. Wilde said. “You turned white as a sheet and your eyes were huge with shock. Scared me, too.”
“Thank you all for worrying about me, but I’m going to be fine. I’ll meet with the cardiologist in a couple weeks and he’ll reevaluate me. He says it’s most likely temporary.”
“If it’s not, we’ll manage it,” Hunt assured her, his hand brushing back and forth on her back. “This morning we’ll do that with a big breakfast. What are you getting?”