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Okay, she was a lot better if she could pick up on Lilac’s feelings.
“I . . . um . . . just worried about you.”
“Deputy Dickhead was a prick to her, so now she’s concerned he’s going to go off at her again,” Opal said.
Ryleigh’s mouth dropped open while Linc actually took a step back, looking like someone had hit him.
Why did he look like that?
“He’s not a dickhead,” she managed to say. Lilac wasn’t defending him. But they couldn’t put him on the same level as Stefan. That wouldn’t be fair to Linc.
“Hmm. Somewhere between dickhead and shithead, I guess,” Opal conceded. “Still, I like the alliteration of Deputy Dickhead.”
Ryleigh turned to Linc, her hands on her hips. “You were mean to my friend?”
“Ryleigh,” he said in a gentle voice. “You were very ill. They weren’t taking care of you properly. They should have gotten you to a doctor earlier. You nearly ended up in hospital.”
Ouch. The blows kept coming.
“Stop it!” Ryleigh said loudly before she started to cough. She bent over, gasping for air.
Linc stepped forward and rubbed her back, talking to her quietly. Lilac rushed over and got her a glass of water. Linc nodded his thanks as she reached them. Picking Ryleigh up, he carried her to the sofa, frowning down at it for some reason.
Oh, shoot! Lilac hadn’t cleared off her blankets. She should have tidied up, but she’d been so tired this morning when she’d gotten up. And in a rush.
Linc set her down, sitting next to her so he could rub her back while giving her small sips of water.
“S-sorry,” Ryleigh said, tears streaming down her face.
“Nothing to be sorry for,” Opal told her.
“Where’s Kye?” Ryleigh asked.
“Sleeping,” Lilac said. “Lucky he can sleep through anything, huh?”
Ryleigh gave her a small smile.
“Sorry. I didn’t have a chance to tidy up before I left for work this morning. I didn’t think I still had a job and had to rush out when Peggy called me.” Lilac grabbed her pillow and one of the blankets, putting them behind an armchair.
Linc frowned at her. Why was he always staring at her like that? “I thought you were working at Dirty Delights? Now you’re at the diner?”
“She’s working at both in order to save money up for the repairs,” Opal said.
“Oh, Lilac, you look exhausted,” Ryleigh said worriedly.
“I’m fine.” Lilac smiled at her. “What’s important is that you’re all right. Are you feeling better? Is there anything you need?”
Ryleigh turned to frown at Linc. “Yeah, I need my friends and, most importantly, my baby.”
Linc’s face fell. “I wasn’t trying to keep you from him. I was just trying to make sure that you were getting better.”
“And you thought it was okay to make Lilac feel bad?”
“I’m sorry. I just thought she should have gotten you to a doctor earlier.”
“Because I’m not an adult who can make her own decisions?”
Whoa. She’d never seen Ryleigh like this. She rarely got upset with people or told them off.
