Her smile only got bigger.
My hand captured her waist, and I dragged her closer, ignoring her protests and the grumbled meows of the Colonel. He took the hint to skedaddle back to his sunny perch in the living room. Lucky. Lola’s bottom landed in my lap a second later.
Now,thatwas more like it.
“Can I have a birthday kiss?” I murmured in her hair.
She playfully swatted my shoulder. “You’ve already had plenty of birthday kisses.”
“Earlier doesn’t count. That was my midnight birthday kiss.”
“After that.”
“Nah, morning birthday kisses don’t count, either.” I flashed her a lazy grin. “I need my lunchtime kisses now.” I flicked the frill of her dress. “Preferably without all this on.”
Lola’s hand cupped my cheek, her lips only a whisper away from mine, and just when I thought I’d won and we were heading back to Naked Town instead of the Hollyoak Farm, she pecked me on the lips.
“That’s barely a kiss,” I grumbled. “What type of awful birthday is this?”
She laughed and hopped off my lap. “The best you’re getting, you old grumble bum. Now, get moving, it’s party ti—” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “I didn’t say that.”
I chuckled. She’d always been rubbish at keeping secrets.
I followed her to the car without too much complaining. My hand dug into my pocket for the keys, and I tossed them to Lola. Her eyebrows popped up over her glasses.
“You can drive.” I shrugged. “The birthday boy needs a day off.”
Lola grinned at me like it was her birthday. It was a special treat for her to drive my car. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her—I still didn’t completely trust myself.
Three years of seeing the shrink, and I was light-years from where I’d started, but some things still weighed heavy on my shoulders, and no amount of talking seemed to help. Driving was the worst. I was a terrible passenger. I stressed Lola out with all my worrying.
Today, my feet were entirely on solid ground. I felt good. Relaxed. Tired and a bit blissed-out after too much sex. She could drive without me bugging her about slowing down today.
That didn’t mean I didn’t tug on her seatbelt to make sure she was strapped in safe, or that she didn’t squeeze my thigh once or twice during the drive to the farm. My sweet girl, always showing me in small ways that she was there for me. I hoped she knew how much that meant to me.
“Glad to see you smiling again, love,” I said with a smile of my own.
Lola’s eyes stayed on the winding mountain road. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been”—she waved a hand around—“out of sorts and moody.”
“Don’t apologise. You’ve had a lot on your mind. Chris applying for parole…” I shook my head like that would somehowscatter the frustration sinking deep in my bones. “I know that was hard for you.”
The car slowed. “He’s barely served his sentence!” She pushed her glasses onto her head and started to scrub furiously at frustrated tears already spilling down her cheeks.
My heart lodged in my throat, so I said something dumb. “Lola, love, your makeup—”
“Shit.” She dabbed carefully at her face.“Shit.I know.” She huffed out a strained breath. “I’m sorry—I just—I should get over it. That part of my life is ancient history. But it feels like there was no justice at all. He dragged me through hell in court and only pleaded guilty at the last second because the prosecutor gave him that bullshit plea deal. Seven years was nothing to start with!” The strain in her voice made my heart ache. “And then to be eligible for parole so soon…”
“They denied his parole,” I reassured her. “We’ve got another two years before he can apply again, and when that time comes, we’ll fight that bullshit application, too. He’s just getting desperate because he keeps landing himself in trouble with the other inmates. You made sure he’ll never practice law again. His money’s gone. But he needs to serve his full sentence. I’m with you. Every step of the way.”
She nodded and tossed a shaky smile in my direction before she focused back on the road. “I know. I love that you’re on my team. I just hate that Chris can still upset me like this. After all these years…and after everything he did…” She sighed. “I don’t want him to keep having that power over me. I don’t want to waste any more of my life on him.”
“I understand. We’ll keep fighting until the day you find your peace.” I gave her knee another squeeze. “Together, right?”
She smiled and offered me a firm nod like we were sealing the deal. “Together.”
Lola turned down the driveway and parked the car. After she arched over to check her face in the rearview and was satisfied she didn’t look like a panda, we walked together hand in hand, our steps crunching on the long gravel pathway to the front porch of the Hollyoak farmhouse.
Balloons, streamers, and bunting floated everywhere the breeze could catch.
