“I wish you’d consider moving here,” Carlise said a little sadly.
But her mom chuckled. “I’d never make it here. I mean, I love you and all, but Newton is a little small for me. Rest assured, I’ll be happy to come and spend weeks at a time visiting my grandkids.”
Carlise felt her cheeks flush as she smiled.
Her mom leaned in and hugged her, being careful not to touch her bandaged shoulder. “Again, just say the word about the wedding, and I’m here,” she said.
“It’s not going to be anything huge or fancy,” Carlise warned. “In fact, Riggs has already requested we have Granny’s Burgers at our reception.”
“Sounds good to me,” her mom said with a grin, not looking upset in the least. “As long as my baby’s happy, it doesn’t matter what kind of wedding she has.”
“I love you, Mom,” Carlise said.
“I love you too. I’m going now, before I ruin my makeup by crying it all off.”
“Call when you get home,” Carlise ordered, doing her best not to cry as well.
“I will. Bye!”
Carlise watched through watery eyes as JJ took her mom’s arm and led her to his Bronco. She felt a cold nose nudge her hand and looked down to see Baxter sitting by her side, looking up at her with concern. “I’m okay,” she told the dog.
She saw his gaze dart to the left a split second before she felt Riggs’s arm come around her waist. She leaned back into him and waved with her good arm as JJ drove out of the apartment building’s parking lot with her mom.
“You okay?” Riggs asked.
Carlise nodded.
“You’ll see her soon.”
Carlise nodded again.
“How’s your shoulder? You need a pain pill?”
“I think I’m okay until later.” She turned in his arms.
They were standing on the landing outside his apartment door. The building he lived in wasn’t fancy, just two stories, and all the apartments had outside doors. There was a set of stairs leading up to the second floor and a small parking area. She’d already met most of his neighbors. They’d all been appalled to hear what had happened to her and had gone out of their way to make sure she and Riggs had everything they needed so he wouldn’t need to leave her side while she was healing.
“How’re your hands?” she asked.
She’d been alarmed the first time she’d noticed his damaged hands on the way to the clinic. He’d shredded his fingers trying to dig through the snow and ice to get to her. They were bandaged now and healing well, but she hated that he’d been hurt in the first place.
“They’re fine,” he said. “And before you ask, Baxter’s paws are also fine. The vet said to keep him out of the forest for a while, and he’d be good as new in no time.”
Carlise knew that, but she still worried. She looked down at the pit bull with a tender gaze. Baxter hadn’t moved from her side, his gaze still locked on her. Riggs hadn’t been wrong earlier when he’d said that Baxter was her dog. He was completely devoted, and the feeling was definitely mutual.
“April’s coming over later and bringing a casserole,” Riggs told her.
“Another one?” Carlise said with a small laugh.
“Yup. JJ’s jealous as hell about it too.”
“What’s going on with those two?” Carlise asked. “I mean, they can’t keep their eyes off each other, but as soon as one knows the other is looking, they pretend they weren’t just staring wistfully.”
“I think it’s complicated,” Riggs said with a shrug. “She’s our employee, and he’s still dealing with what happened to us while we were POWs.”
“I could talk to her,” Carlise offered.
But Riggs shook his head. “Don’t. Until he’s ready, it won’t do any good. And if you talk April into making a move, and he rebuffs her, we’ll lose the best admin assistant we’ve ever had. They’ll figure it out sooner or later.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because if it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Look at us. Somehow, against all odds, we’re here, safe, madly in love, and getting married. Speaking of which . . . we need to set a date.”
Carlise chuckled softly. “You that worried I’m going to change my mind?”
“No. When you find the best thing to ever happen to you, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible,” Riggs said, making Carlise melt into him. “Besides, when I get you pregnant with our first child, I want to be married. And neither of us are getting any younger. If we’re having four kids, we need to get on that.”