He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe you’d like to show me your bedroom?”
“Absolutely.”
Though she was still convinced she could have managed on her own, it was nice to have Aaron’s help donning her pajamas with her sore wrist and brushing her hair over her stitches. She could tell he was still struggling with guilt about what had happened to her, but that would fade with time. Maybe not quite as quickly as her bruises, but she would do her best to convince him that he was blameless in the attack.
Her bed was smaller than the queen-size in the cabin, but he didn’t complain when they lay curled together, her head nestled on his chest. “This is nice,” she said, her injured wrist resting lightly against him.
“I could get used to it pretty fast,” he admitted with a chuckle. He was starting to sound like himself again, easy and cheery. She was glad.
“Shelby?”
Her eyes were already closed, her mind drifting. “Mmm?”
“Is it too soon for me to tell you that I think I fell in love with you the minute you threw yourself at me at the gas station?”
Her pulse tripped a little, but she kept her tone casual when she replied, “It took me a little longer. I fell in love over iced tea and a cherry freeze inside the station—when you didn’t make fun of me for thinking you were Andrew and asking you to investigate one of our guests. I thought, finally—here’s someone who really gets me.”
His lips brushed her forehead. “It’s happened pretty fast between us. But my family has a history of that. A very successful history, as it turns out.”
Smiling, she said, “We wouldn’t want to spoil that good record.”
“I don’t think there’s any danger of that.”
Letting her eyes close again, she murmured, “Neither do I. I have a very good feeling about this. And so far my instincts have turned out to be pretty reliable.”
“You’ve made a believer out of me,” he assured her.
She was still smiling when she drifted into sleep, safe in Aaron’s arms.
* * *
Shelby had informed Aaron that the Bell family gathered for a breakfast meeting every Monday morning at six in the grill, before opening the marina, store and office. They discussed the upcoming week’s projects, informally reported on the state of their own responsibilities, discussed ideas and expenses. These Monday meetings had been started by Pop and his sons years ago, before she was even born, when their once-small marina and campground had started evolving into the thriving resort of today.
Shelby admitted she had loved accompanying her parents to the meetings as a child, having breakfast at one of the diner tables and listening to the discussions about the state of the resort. She’d begun to participate with ideas and suggestions—some admittedly far-fetched—by the time she was a young teen. Now it was her job to present financial reports every Monday morning, a responsibility she took very seriously.
She had another order of business this particular Monday morning. Aaron followed her past the closed sign at twenty minutes past six. They’d have been earlier, but when they had awakened this morning in each other’s arms, their whispers of love still echoing in the room, they’d had to celebrate being together. Aaron had tried to be very careful of Shelby’s injuries, but she’d been impatient with his restraint, flipping him onto his back and demonstrating just how resilient she was.
He would have been perfectly content to stay right there in her bed all day, but she’d urged him to attend the meeting with her. For one thing, she wanted to reassure everyone that she was okay, she’d said. She hadn’t missed a Monday-morning meeting in years, and they would assume if she didn’t show up this time that she was too incapacitated by trauma, which piqued her pride.
Everyone else was gathered there when they entered the diner, even Lori and Steven, who had a pair of crutches propped beside him. Shelby had told Aaron to expect to see everyone but Lori, who didn’t usually attend the meetings, even when she was home from college and working in the office, but there she was, sitting between her grandparents. Aaron figured her presence this morning was an indication of how harrowing yesterday’s events had been. As seemed usual in times of stress, this family had drawn closer together, other issues temporarily set aside.
Shelby was welcomed into the room with loving smiles, relief obvious on every face that she was there with them, a little battered but otherwise in one piece. Aaron imagined Steven had been greeted in much the same way.
Her mother hurried to her side and kissed her bruised cheek. “How do you feel, honey?”
“I’m fine, Mom. The wrist is still a little sore, but no headache.”
“Good.” Smiling at Aaron, Sarah said, “Sit down, I’ll get your breakfast. We’re having waffles, fruit and bacon this morning.”
“Sounds good, Mom,” Shelby said, “but first I need to tell you all something.”
Considering her tendency to drift into stream-of-consciousness chatter when she was enthusiastic, there was no telling what Shelby would say next. Aaron found himself anticipating her announcement with a stifled grin, finding that aspect of her as appealing as all the other facets he’d discovered thus far. He looked forward to learning even more about her in coming weeks—years, he amended with a rush of slightly nervous anticipation.
All heads had turned their way, everyone quiet as they waited for Shelby to speak again. A few questioning sideways glances were directed at him, as if they wondered how he was involved with this big announcement.
“My plan for this morning was to tell you all that Aaron’s time with us is ending,” Shelby said. “I was going to explain that he and I have been seeing each other, but I’ve decided it’s not going anywhere, so I’ve chosen to end it.”
Thoroughly amused, Aaron noted her family looked bewildered as they glanced from Shelby to him to each other.