Lucien was all right. Even if he’d been the one to deliver the news that could ruin mylife.
The Midnight CoveGeneral Hospital dispensed the good stuff like candy. I had thirty stitches, a cast, crutches, and a refillable supply of a narcotic so good I was currently watching butterflies dance above my best friend’shead.
“Helen?” Pepper askedagain.
“Mmmm?”
Lucien’s deep chuckle made me smile. “You’re so super cute, Lucien Nightingale,” Isaid.
Pepper let out a strangled laugh. “Perhaps you should leave, super cute Lucien,” she said in a low voice. “Before it gets reallyweird.”
“I quite like this version of Helen. She’s been grumpy ever since I met her and now she’s not only complimentary, she’s charming. I may stick around and see if I can convince her to marry me before the evening isover.”
“I do!” Icrowed.
Pepper facepalmedherself.
“Great!” Lucien said, grinning widely at my friend. “Pepper, I trust you know a minister and have an appropriate dress for the occasion.” He waved his fingers up and down at her somewhat strangeattire.
Pepper’s mouth thinned. “You aren’t marrying anyone today, friend. What you are doing is staying the night in the hospital. You lost too muchblood.”
My focus was on Lucien. “How did you get such good control?” It came out way more slurred than that but he understoodme.
“Control?”
“I bled everywhere and ruined yourleather.”
“The good thing about leather is it’s cleanable. It would have been worse had it beenupholstery.”
I waggled my fingers at him. “Subjectchanger.”
Pepper was looking at him with marked interest. “You drove herhere?”
Lucien nodded. “You look surprised. Her little wanna be boyfriend showed up but he wasunwelcome.”
I frowned. “It’scomplicated.”
“Darling, he led a woman on and made out with you in a car right after his date. What’s complicated aboutthat?”
“How do you even know about that?” I blinked and my eyelashes felt like enormous caterpillars on myface.
“My family has a vested interest in the events of this town. Plus we have a policeradio.”
Pepper’s eyes widened. “Isn’t thatillegal?”
“Not even a little bit. What is appalling though is the level of detail the operators give over the radio. No one has privacy here if the right ears are listening. Of course, Hank didn’t help when he made his little soliloquy about why he punched out hisbrother.”
Pepper was staring at me like she’d never seen me before. “You and I have a lot to talk about when the drugs wearoff.”
I held my hand up and watched as rainbows came from my fingertips. “I hope they never wearoff.”
Iwokeup to a dark room. The drugs had, for the most part, worn off. I reached over and felt for the trigger squeezer thing to get some of that sweet, sweet relief, but saw something elseinstead.
A man was sitting on one of the chairs directly across fromme.
“Lucien?”
The mansighed.
