Page 161 of For I Have Sinned

Alex opens the passenger door for his mom, but she insists she is fine sitting in the back. After a minute of fighting her on it, he caves and opens the back door to let her slide in. He gently closes the door and opens mine for me. I flash him a thankful smile, and he does his best to help me into the vehicle.

“You raised such a gentleman,” I praise her after the door shuts, and I settle into my seat.

“We sure tried.” I see her smiling in the review mirror.

Alex gets into the car, starts it up, and puts the gearshift into reverse. “Is Allen coming tonight?”

From where I sit, I see Lillian’s cheeks flush. As Alex started his recovery journey in the hospital, she and Doctor Allen grew closer. She felt bad and tried to hide that she didn’t have feelings for him, but Alex told her that it was okay. That after everything she has been through, she deserved to be happy.

“He had to finish his rounds at the hospital, and then he said he’d head over. He’ll take me back to the hotel so you two don’t have to worry about dropping me off.”

“You could have just stayed with us,” I remind her.

“I didn’t want to impose.” She waves us off. “You’re grown adults. You need your privacy.”

“Well, when we get a house, we will make sure to have a guest bedroom where you won’t feel like you’re imposing,” Alex assures her, and it warms my heart hearing him talk about our future together.

Getting an apartment together was a given. After the experience we went through, we didn’t want to be separated. And since I didn’t want my mother showing up out of the blue to talk to me, we decided to break my lease and find a new place where she couldn’t find me.

And thankfully, she hasn’t found me. Then again, once she realized I’m no longer living in my original apartment, she probably didn’t put in much effort to figure out where I moved to.

Living in the apartment with Alex has been nice. A dream, really. He is there when I wake up, and he is there when I fall asleep, holding me in his arms and whispering how much he loves me every single night. I couldn’t ask for anything better, but hearing him talk about getting a house together? A place we can settle down and make our own? That’s a huge step, and whenever he is ready for that, then so am I.

“Look at that.” Alex grins, pulling into Vince’s driveway. “We are here with two minutes to spare.”

I giggle. “Tell that to Vince. See what he says.”

“I’m good,” Alex states, pursing his lips. “He’s probably already stressed with hosting. I don’t want to push him over the edge.”

“Good idea,” I agree and go to grab my door handle.

“Don’t.” He stops me and gets out of the car, rounding the front to come and open my door.

Holding his hand out, he guides me out of the seat until I am standing on the pavement. While he does the same for his mom, I keep my eyes on the beautiful house before me.

Things escalated between Vince and Asher quickly while I was still in the convent, and while Alex was still in the hospital, they bought a house together. And even in the chaos of moving, Vince said he wanted to host Thanksgiving and was okay if the celebration didn’t happen on the exact holiday. Especially since at the time, we didn’t know when Alex would be released. But we didn’t object. Even if Alex had gotten out in time for Thanksgiving, which he hadn’t seeing as we are a week into December, we would not have been in the best shape to host.

We approach the front door, and before we can knock, it swings open. Esther stands there, looking at me with wide eyes.

“Thank goodness you are here! Is he always this bossy when he is stressed?”

“Unfortunately,” I giggle and pull her in for a hug. “I’ve learned just to do as he says to avoid conflict.”

After I saw Alex in the hospital, in his recovery room, and knew he was truly okay, I introduced Esther to Vince and Amelia, and the four of us have been inseparable ever since. Vince and Amelia came to the hospital every day, and after Esther was discharged, she stayed anyway. The three of them helped make our time in the hospital more manageable.

“I fear that my help isn’t alleviating his stress,” Esther states.

“Is Amelia here?” I ask as we step into the foyer, closing the door behind us.

“Yes,” Esther answers. “But she is in the living room. Said she refused to help Vince when he was being so cranky.”

“Sounds about right. Well, why don’t we grab a bottle of wine and the ladies go keep her company while Alex helps out in the kitchen?” I turn to Alex with a smile and innocent eyes.

“Throwing me into the wolves’ den?” He asks, pinching my side

“Mhm.” I nod and take off my jacket.

Luckily, I no longer have a cast on. My wrist healed quickly, and I only had to have it on for a month. My ribs have healed and are no longer in excruciating pain. There is only a hint of soreness whenever I lift my arm or twist my body.