“Makenna? What are you doing here?” Caden asked, clearly surprised to see her. Wearing a pair of old sweatpants and a threadbare T-shirt, he was a sight for sore eyes, making her want to throw her arms around him and burrow into his chest. But he also had dark and almost sunken circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days, and something about his color wasn’t quite right. He really did look unwell.
“I missed you too much to stay away anymore, so I brought you a care package. Well, it kinda grew into a care grocery order, but same difference.” She smiled, though inside she was bursting to tell him their news. “I won’t stay if you’re not up to it, but at least let me put this away for you and maybe make you a bowl of soup or something.” Was she imagining it, or did his face look thinner, too? God, she really should’ve come sooner.
He frowned but nodded, then reached down and grabbed the bags she’d rested on the porch. “You didn’t have to do all this,” he said, leading her inside. “But thank you.”
“Of course, I did,” she said as they walked through the open living and dining room to the small kitchen at the back of the house. “I’ve been dying to come take care of you, but I didn’t want to wake you up if you were sleeping or something. But then I started worrying that you were over here needing help or food or medicine and would be too stubborn to ask for what you needed.” She gave him a knowing smile.
He chuffed out a little laugh as they settled everything onto the counters. “Yeah. Well. You know me.”
“So what’s been going on? Is it a stomach virus? The flu?” she asked as she started unpacking the bags.
Brow furrowed, Caden crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “Yeah. Uh, my stomach. But, it’s starting to feel better.” Looking down at the floor, he gave a little shrug.
And there was something so…almost…defeated in the gesture and his posture that Makenna immediately stopped what she was doing and went to him. “I don’t care if you’re sick. I’m hugging you.” She gently wrapped her arms around his waist and held him. And damn if he didn’t feel a little leaner, too. “Have you been getting sick a lot?”
Caden’s arms came around her on a long sigh. Like he’d been needing her. “Nothing I can’t handle,” he said in a low voice.
Which probably meant he’d been puking his brains out. Poor guy. “You don’t have to handle this on your own, you know. I would’ve come sooner. I would’ve slept over here to take care of you.”
“Didn’t want to be a burden.” He nuzzled his face against her hair.
Heart clenching, she pulled back to look him in the eye. “Caden, you could never be a burden to me. No matter what you needed, I would be there for you. Every time. You can always count on that. Do you hear me?” How did he not know this by now? The question had her wanting to lay all her feelings on the line. If he knew she loved him, he’d know all of this was true. But she definitely wasn’t doing that when he wasn’t feeling good.
He stared at her a long moment, almost like he was weighing her words. Finally, he simply said, “Yeah.” He kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This is me officially taking care of you. Do you think you could eat something?”
“Probably,” he said.
Makenna kissed his cheek, and his stubble tickled her lips. “This is kinda cute,” she said, stroking her finger along the couple of days’ worth of growth.
“Oh yeah?” He lips almost quirked into a smile. “Good to know.”
“Yep,” she said, returning to the groceries. She had everything unpacked within a few minutes. “What would you like?”
His gaze roamed over the choices. “Soup and crackers would be great.” He stepped closer. “I can’t believe you brought all this. Ooh, M&Ms.” He picked up the bag.
Makenna laughed. “You might want to wait on those until you’re not getting sick anymore. It would be a shame to ruin M&Ms by knowing what they look like when you vomit them.”
“Nice,” he said with a smirk.
“Just saying. Okay, you go sit, and I’ll get everything ready,” she said, shooing him from the kitchen. “Oh, wait. One other thing.” She handed him the bag with the bear in it.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“A feel-better present,” she said, unable to hold back her grin. He was going to think this was so silly. And it was. In a good way.
Caden stuck his hand in and pulled out the stuffed animal. “You got me a teddy bear,” he said, his face finally breaking into a little smile. He rubbed his hand over the scar on the side of his head, something she’d seen him do so many times.
“Everybody needs a teddy when they’re sick,” she said. “That’s, like, totally common knowledge. He can keep you company when I’m not here.” Which wouldn’t be often, but still.
Nodding, Caden gave her the softest look. “Thanks, Red. I…I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She smiled, so glad she’d come to see him. He needed this. They both did. “Well, don’t worry about that. Because you won’t ever have to find out.”
CHAPTER TWELVE