It was nice that he cared that much.
“What’s up with this?” Matt pointed at the food. “Is that all you’re eating?”
“It’s pretty nasty,” she told him.
“I can sneak you an In-N-Out burger.”
That sounded marginally better. But she shook her head. “I don’t want to ruin the experience if it doesn’t go well. I’ll stick with hospital food until I stop burping up charcoal.”
“Much better plan. They’re talking about springing you free in the morning.”
And for one fleeting moment she dreamt of her own bed. “Oh, God . . . Parker’s guesthouse.”
“About that. Your dad is throwing around some serious guilt money. The sheriffs finished up their investigation this morning, and your dad is insisting on bringing in a team of people to do whatever needs or wants to be done. No one is expecting you to move back in there.”
She loved that little house. Even though it came fully furnished, she had made it her own. Erin wasn’t naive enough to think she could just walk back in, clean or not, and not see him in every corner. Not until she and Dr. Reynolds knocked it over a few thousand times.
“What does Parker want?”
“This isn’t about Parker, this is about you.”
“It’s her house.”
“We’re all here for you, Erin. You give us the green light and we’ll take care of it for you, or let your dad deal with it.”
She reached her hand over to his. “Let my father spend his money. It will get done faster, not cost Parker a dime, and make him feel better.”
“Perfect. And Grace and Parker will bring your things over to my place.”
“They’re gonna what?”
Matt looked at the ceiling and then flashed that coy smile that always told her he was about to get his way. “My house. The one you’re moving into. You know, so I can come home to you.”
Her heart warmed. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
Matt winced. “I hate to ask because you might say no. Can’t we pretend we already did that and you said yes and it’s a done deal?”
God, she loved this man. “Since I did promise to come home to you, I guess it would be okay to pretend we already had that conversation.”
Matt did a little fist bump in the air. “Yes!”
“You’re like a kid who just hit a home run on the Little League field.”
“Yes . . . yes, I am.” He leaned forward and kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He stood. “I need to let some of the masses in before I put them to work.” He started out the door and she stopped him.
“Matt?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For giving me someone to come home to.”
He blew her a kiss. “Every day that you’ll have me.”