“I’ll believe you.”
“Hey, it’s true.”
She nodded, her small smile saying she didn’t believe him.“Something smells good.”
“I cooked pasta.Is that okay?”
“Hey, you cooked.That in itself is impressive.”
“Wait until you taste it.Then you’ll really be impressed.”
She chuckled, which released another yawn.“Sorry.Do you mind if I sit down?I’ve been on my feet all day.”
“Sure.”
Oh.He’d thought she’d use the bar stool in the kitchen so they could talk.He didn’t think she’d mean sit on the sofa.Still, he liked the fact she was comfortable enough to make this place her own.“Can I get you a drink?”
She glanced up at him.“Um, a glass of water is fine.This is a really comfy couch.”
“Right?I might’ve fallen asleep there a time or two.Don’t tell anyone.”
“Oh, don’t let me fall asleep.I hate falling asleep in front of others.”
He nodded.“I remember.You always disliked that.”She’d always said that made her feel vulnerable.
Her eyes met his and held, and again he felt that sense of connection.She was remembering their past, he could tell.The time she’d woken to find him there…
“Let me get you that water,” he said.
“Thanks.”
He asked about her day, and she told him some of what she’d had to do.No names, of course, but it sounded hard, and physically trying.No wonder she was exhausted.
“I’m glad you could come and didn’t have to go back to care for your family member,” he said, fishing for information.
“Yeah.She’s staying somewhere else tonight.”She yawned.
He smiled to himself, turned up the heat on the pasta sauce.It might not prove to be the night for the conversation they needed to have, but he’d make the most of every second.
He boiled the pasta, made a quick salad, and heated the garlic bread in the oven.Set the rarely-used dining table, even lit a candle.Then eyed it critically.There.That didn’t look too romancey, did it?He wanted it to look nice, not like he was out to seduce her.
“Dinner’s ready,” he called.
But when he returned, it was to see she had slumped on the couch, and was fast asleep.Huh.He knelt beside her.“Gen?”
No response.He rubbed her arm.“Gen, honey?”
Still nothing.
Well, this was awesome.Still, she’d warned him.And she obviously needed her rest.
He grabbed the blanket-throw thing his mom had given him a few years ago that she thought he needed to—in her words—“spruce up the place.”Then drew up Gen’s feet so she was lying on her side, gently removed her sneakers, and tucked the throw around her.Part of him knew she would be a lot more comfortable lying in his bed.But that was someplace he would not go.He didn’t even lift her, knowing even that was fraught with danger.
He returned to the kitchen and turned off the stove and the oven.She might wake up in a few minutes, or she might take hours.Regardless, he’d be here for her.Waiting for her.Just as he had these past ten years.
* * *
She woketo the aroma of garlic and onion.Blinked.Where was she?
