The next two days passed slowly as Hunter and I adjusted to our new plan of dating each other. Our routine hadn't changed, he would still make me coffee and breakfast before heading out to work, but this was now met with a hug and a kiss on my forehead as I wrapped my arms around his waist. The only thing that changed was open affection. Never overstepping boundaries, but making it clear we wanted the other close.

Hunter had finally shown me a new side to him and it had been entirely surprising. I knew he was intelligent, regardless of the way he spoke, but I hadn't been prepared to watch him do the financial records he needed for the farm in his head. He could solve advanced equations quickly, but I failed to understand what he was talking about. It was refreshing for me, to know that my assessment had been correct.

It was Tuesday morning and I was sitting in the truck with the dogs as Hunter loaded up our deliveries. Once we were done, he was taking me to get all my sutures out and have my thigh assessed. My bruising was still intense, my skin a deep burgundy purple, and I hadn't shared that with Hunter, knowing he'd panic.

"Gray!" He called from behind the truck and I popped my head out of the passenger window.

"Yeah?"

"I just had a thought. We need to update your address here so you can get mail."

"I doubt I'll get anything. I have a PO Box in Billings. But you're right. Can you go to the post office and get me a change of address?"

"Anythin' for you," he wiped his hands on his pants and came over to the passenger window, "hi."

"Hi," I giggled when he kissed the tip of my nose, "I forgot to ask earlier. Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Do I wake you with my snorin'?"

"No," reaching up, I took his hat off and pushed his hair out of his face before putting it back on him, "it helps me sleep."

"Good. I need to grab somethin' then we can head out."

"Waiting on you."

He smiled and ran off to the pasture and I relaxed in my seat, petting Bear who had laid his head on the center console.

Hunter returned a few minutes later and climbed in, handing me a small forget-me-not.

"You ran off to get me a flower?" I blushed, twirling the stem in my fingers.

"No," he laughed, pulling away from the farm, "I'd left my phone in the barn. I saw that when I was walkin' back and thought ya might like it."

"You're so sweet. Thank you," tucking the flower behind my ear, I reached over and softly squeezed his arm.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"It's more that I like anything you give me because I know you put thought into it. You love making me smile."

"You do too," he blushed.

"Because it's easy to make you smile. You're so handsome when you do."

"Thank you," he rubbed my cheek softly, "Alright. First delivery. Wait here."

"You got it."

Our deliveries went far quicker this time due in part to the fact people weren't shocked to see me sitting in Hunter's truck. They'd give me a wave and I would return it, still petting the dogs as I watched Hunter. That same grace he carried himself with continued to take my breath away, knowing this beautiful man had chosen me of all people to give his affection to.

We reached the hospital 2 hours later and Hunter dropped me off, telling me to check in up front. He was going to head to the post office and pick up dog food, making me promise to call when I was done if he wasn't back yet.

After a quick kiss on my cheek, he watched me climb out and I waved as I headed inside.

"Can I help you?" The receptionist smiled.

"I'm here to see Dr. Hope. My name is Grayson Walker."

"Oh of course! Take a seat. I'll let him know you're here."

While taking a seat, I pulled my phone from my pocket and texted Hunter.

-G: Feels weird that you're not next to me.

-H: We gotta be apart sometimes silly.

-G: Doesn't mean I like it.

-H: Me either.

"Grayson?" Hazel called softly and I smiled at her, getting to my feet carefully.

"Hi, Zee."

"Come on," she smiled, leading me to a private room, "I missed you."

"Missed you too, sis."

"How's Hunter?" She patted the hospital bed and I carefully climbed up.

"Sweet as always. Off getting dog food and a change of address for me so I can get mail at the house. I gotta call the post office in Billings and have them send everything from my PO box over.”

“You two would make a lovely couple,” she giggled, talking in a sing-song tone of voice.

“We agreed to try dating. Having dates on the farm. We’re a bit affectionate now. He kisses my cheek or forehead a lot. We hold hands quite a bit and I keep falling asleep on the couch with my head in his lap. It’s been nice. Neither of us has experienced this so it’s… a lot of learning for both of us. But it’s nice.”

“I know he found you under the worst circumstances,” she sighed softly, rolling my sleeves up carefully, “but I am so happy he did. He needed someone like you. I see you for who you are, I hope you know that. I have a really good ability to read people. If I thought for a second you would hurt my brother, we wouldn’t have brought you into our lives,” she pulled my clear bandages off and I hissed, “Sorry. I’m not gentle. They look really good. I’m going to actually take these and the ones in your side out, then Dad will come to look at your leg.”

“Is it going to hurt?”

“Nah. It’ll just feel like a bit of pulling. They’ll go down once they’re not irritated anymore.”

“Good.”

She slowly started removing the sutures and I watched, grateful for the fact they didn’t hurt anymore, and the itching I had felt lessened the more sutures she removed. As soon as she was done with my arms, I took my shirt off and she started to remove the sutures in my ribs, clicking her tongue when she was done.

“We gotta put some meat on you.”

“I know. I only ate fruit and water for a year. Occasionally meat if I could. Hunter feeds me well. I’m sleeping normally. It’ll just take time.”

There was a soft knock at the door and Judah came in, a small smile on his face as he closed it behind him.

“Hey son,” he nodded and started examining my arms and side, “these look great. It’s your thigh I’m worried about. Hazel, go ahead and head out. Send his bill to our house. Allie is gonna cover it.”

“But-” I stuttered as I pulled my shirt back on and Hazel shook her head with a smile, walking out of the room, “Judah… I can pay it in 2 months.”

“It’ll be in default in 2 months. Let us cover it. It’s not too much. You just don’t have insurance. If we hadn’t had to treat you here for the amount of blood you lost, I would have just done it at home myself. Go ahead and stand for me.”

I did as he asked, feeling strong finally and he smiled.

“Good. I need to take a look at it though.”

I carefully pulled my pants down and took a seat on the hospital bed, and he pulled the clear bandage off far more gently than Hazel had been, “does it look okay?”

“It looks better than I expected. The bruising is concerning. I know we had to repair an artery so it makes sense. I can remove all but the one at the very top that I just put in. What I want you to do is put heat on it for 20 minutes a night, then wear a compression bandage when you're walking around. Don’t cover that top stitch. It’ll circulate your blood better, and reduce bruising. Should be gone before you and Hunter head to North Dakota.”

“Oh… he already talked to you about that?”

“Mhm,” he nodded as he started removing the sutures, “it’s during the vacation I take from here. I retire in… jeez I still have so long to go.”

“I was wondering about that. How old are you and Allison?”

“47. High school sweethearts.”

“Oh… 10 years older than Mom,” I smiled, “that’s so sweet.”

“We met when we were 14. I asked her to be my girlfriend 2 weeks later. We’ve been married for 29 years now. Our 30th anniversary is November 1st.”

“That’s amazing! Are you doing anything special?”

“I make her the first dinner I did in our first house, then we dance in the living room, and share a bottle of wine under the stars. I always buy her a nice piece of jewelry. This year I'm replacing her wedding ring with a new one. She wants to keep the other as a memory but it's just a worn-out small gold band."

"That's beautiful. I hope I get that someday."

"You will," he smiled, "where's Hunt? Aren't you usually attached at the hip if you aren't home?"

"He had to get dog food and a change of address form for me."

"Ah. I see he picked you his favorite flower," he pointed to the forget-me-not behind my ear and I blushed.

"I wanted to talk to you actually. Can I have your permission to date your son? Just dating right now. Get to know each other, and see if being in a relationship would be a good idea. I know you don't really know me but I care about Hunter and…"

"Hush now," he cut me off, setting his tools down, "I know you care for him. It seems as though you talked about how you feel.”

“He didn’t give me much of a choice,” I laughed softly, “spilled his guts then tried to leave me sitting on a blanket in the cold with a mug of hot chocolate. I yelled at him, apologized for it, and he sat back down. We had a long talk about how we felt and I told him I need to be healthy again before things go too far. I want to really be helping on the farm, helping in the house. Get to know him. You didn’t warn me that he can do insane calculations in his head. That was shocking. It’s those little things I want to find out before we go any further. Right now, it's going to be nice dinners on the farm, hikes if I’m cleared, and spending time together. But I won’t continue courting him if you’re not comfortable with that.”

“You have the same old-fashioned values as my son, I see,” Judah laughed softly, “I appreciate you yelling at him. He gets so caught in his head he doesn’t take time to think. He needs that. You understand him well, even if you don’t realize it yet. I give you my blessing and appreciate your asking. You didn’t have to, however. We knew. All of us could see it. But it shows me that you respect me as his father and that means more than you realize. I’ll tell Allie. Don’t worry, she’ll agree. Feel free to pursue a relationship with my son. I’m fine with that. You’re a good man, Grayson.”

“Not yet,” I shook my head, wincing when he wrapped the compression bandage around my leg, “but I will be. You should know… I have no plans to go back to school. All I want from life is to take care of my partner and work alongside them. I have no desire to be a vet tech. It was my mother's dream and I wanted to make it come true for her, but it’s not mine. I want to live my dream.”

“Then you do that,” he shrugged, taking my hands and pulling me to my feet, “no one's dreams can be someone else’s. If your goal in life is to be a wonderful husband to a good man and care for their family, then that’s a solid dream. I can’t knock that.”

“Thank you, sir,” I buttoned my pants and put weight onto my leg, “oh my God that feels so much better.”

“You are now cleared to clean, cook, go on small hikes, and gather eggs. But that’s it. Until the bruising goes down, no riding horses or the 4-wheelers. The bruising and inflammation are from the artery repair. It wasn’t too bad, but we don’t want to upset it.”

There was a soft knock at the door and Hunter came in, pulling his hat off respectfully, “Dad,” he nodded.

“Hey, Hunt. Gray is cleared to help now. But if I find out you put him on a horse or on a 4-wheeler until the bruising goes down, you will get hell from me and Mom.”

“Bruising?” Hunter looked at me confused and I dipped my head.

“Oh,” Judah clicked his tongue, “I see you didn’t tell him.”

“He fusses enough already. If he knew, he would never have let me move. I didn’t want to worry him,” I whispered, fidgeting in my spot.

“I’ll let you work that out. He’s free to leave whenever. See you Saturday,” Judah quickly left and I sat on the hospital bed, still hanging my head.

Hunter squatted down in front of me and put a finger under my chin, lifting my head, “what was he talkin’ about?”

“I… have deep bruising on my thigh from them fixing it. It’s wrapped in a compression bandage and I have to put a heating pad on it for 20 minutes a night to increase circulation and break it down.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You can’t handle seeing me without pants on. Plus, if I had, you’d never let me move. I know you care, but I’m not a baby bird, Hunter. If it’s bothering me, I learned my lesson and I’ll take a break and sit. But it’s fine now. I got all but that new stitch out. Look,” I pulled my sleeves back to show him my arms, “I’m fine now.”

“Mostly fine,” he touched either side of my new scars, “Gray. You should’ve told me.”

“I didn’t want you to worry any more than you already were,” I cupped his cheek and he rubbed his face against my palm, “I appreciate how much you care. I need that. But I have to be able to solve things on my own too. I didn’t tell you, because I knew you’d dedicate even more time to taking care of me. You can always take care of me. But trust me to know my body.”

“You’re right,” he kissed my palm, “I understand now. Thank you for explainin’. Just be careful. That’s all I ask.”

“Always.”

“Alright. Let’s go home,” he got to his feet and held his hand out and I laced my fingers with his, leaning into his arm with a smile.

We walked out of the exam room and I could feel the nurses and other staff staring at us, clearly surprised to see Hunter affectionate with someone and I smiled, my cheeks warm. I knew that in a town like this, any relationship we formed would be frowned upon by some. But, at the end of the day, it didn’t matter to me. I had Hunter and his family. That’s all I needed.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Hunter smiled as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Just how nice it is that you seem to be proud to have me at your side. You held my hand in public."

"I would never be ashamed of you," he leaned over and kissed my cheek softly.

"I think the nurses at the hospital were jealous."

"Yeah?" He laughed, pulling away from the hospital, "a lot of them did ask me for coffee when I'd come to see Hazel. I'd just politely turn them down. Maybe they'll leave me alone now."

"Hunter! Were you using me to get them to leave you alone?"

"Huh! No 'course not. I just really like holdin' your hand. It's so small. Soft."

"I was messing with you."

"You're such a shit!" He laughed, pulling up to our house, "I'm gonna get ya."

"You know I can't run!" I did my best to get out of the truck and Hunter jumped out, running around and picking me up before I could even get out, my legs wrapped around his waist, "be careful with my leg!"

"I'm always careful."

"I'm mad at how easy this is for you."

"Do ya hate it?"

"No," I pulled his hat off, putting it on as I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I kinda like your hat."

"It's too big for ya," he laughed, carrying me over to let the dogs out of the back of the truck before opening the tailgate and setting me on it, "but damn does it look good."

My cheeks flared and I wrapped my arms around his waist lazily, "I might need to buy one."

"I'll get you one," he softly touched my bottom lip with his thumb, "I got a surprise for ya."

"What is it?"

"Date night."