Page 72 of A Simple Life

She leaned close and kissed me, tangling her hand in my hair and pulling me close.

“Deal.”

The pizza was delicious, tasting better somehow shared with Quinn on the sofa, a bottle of wine on the coffee table, napkins catching the messy sauce and dripping cheese. We talked about everything. The town. Growing up here. How Laura and Bob met. My parents.

We touched briefly on her past, but I knew it made her sad. She shared a few stories of spending time with her grandparents and liking it here.

“It was such a different place from the city,” she explained. “I could run, play, be free. At home, I was more restricted. Once my parents died and my grandparents were in a home, the foster family I was with was right in the middle of the city.” She smiled sadly. “I never got to see my grandparents again. They died close together less than a year after my parents.”

I kissed her hand that was restlessly pulling on her denim-clad leg. “I’m sorry, baby. Were they good to you?”

She smiled. “They were nice people. I never felt as if I really belonged, though. I helped Joanna—the mother—a lot. She liked to cook, and I enjoyed it. It made me feel as if I wasn’t taking more than I was given. He worked as a salesman, so he was gone a lot. But he was nice as well. Their kids were older than me and couldn’t really be bothered one way or another.” She lifted a shoulder. “I was lonely a lot. Which is probably why I fell so fast for Preston.”

“Probably.”

“Anyway, I missed coming out to the country. Life seemed simpler. Better. I wanted to give Abby the chance to experience living that way.”

“And you are,” I assured her. “I’ll have her countrified in no time.”

I got a real smile at my remark.

After we ate and she checked with Mandy’s mom that Abby was doing okay, we watched a romantic comedy on the TV. It had been so long since I had done anything so domestic. More than once, I saw her roll her shoulders and stretch her legs as if they were sore, so when the movie was done, I headed to the bathroom and ran her a bath. I returned to the living room, trying not to laugh at the fact that she was dozing, curled up in the corner, her hand propped under her chin. She startled awake as I slid my arms under her and carried her down the hall.

“Put me down,” she protested, even as she laid her head on my shoulder. “I can walk.”

“I know you can, but right now, you don’t have to.”

In the bathroom, I set her on her feet, indicating the tub. “Soak. Relax.”

“You joining me?”

I paused. I hadn’t planned to, thinking she would enjoy a little quiet time, but the thought of her wet, naked, and relaxing against me was too much to resist.

“Absolutely.”

In seconds, I was naked and slid into the tub, the sloped back fitting my frame well. I held out my hand and helped her step in, watching as she sank into the warm water with a satisfied sigh. For a moment, neither of us spoke.

“Sorry I don’t have any bubble stuff.”

She peeked at me over her shoulder. “Are you sure, John? You don’t have a hidden stash and like to soak away your troubles at night in a sea of lavender-scented bubbles?” She winked. “You can tell me.”

I let my head fall back in laughter. “You got me. But I prefer citrus.”

“I’ll remember that.”

I cinched my arm around her waist, tucking her closer. I rested my chin on her head. “Never been in the tub. But my grandfather had this made for my grandmother years and years ago. He even helped. She loved to soak.” I frowned. “At least, that was what he told me. Come to think of it, she was a pretty small woman. I fit in here with room to spare, which means he probably did too.”

“When did she pass?”

“When I was a teenager. Gramps was never the same without her. I spent a lot of time with him.”

“I’m sure he loved that.”

I frowned, remembering how he slowly lost his will to live without her. The stories he shared about their life and how happy they had been. How much I still missed him.

Quinn nudged me, bringing me out of my sad thoughts.

“I bet they soaked together. Or something,” Quinn said with a sly wink. “He probably helped her find the soap regularly. You know, so she could relax. I bet he looked hard.”