Page 168 of Brighter Together

“You’re doing a terrible job.”

I laugh through it.

Then I wipe my face with my free hand.

“I was so scared you’d never trust me again.”

“I do trust you.” The words come without hesitation.

Something inside me loosens.

“Completely?”

Tommy thinks about it.

I appreciate that he does.

“I trust that if something like this happens again, you’ll tell me.”

I nod.

“I will.”

“And I trust that when you say you love me, you mean it.”

My chest tightens.

“I do.”

He lifts our joined hands and kisses my knuckles.

There is no grand declaration.

No dramatic promise that we will never hurt each other again.

Just Tommy standing with me in the dark gardens behind Greenview Manor, telling me we are all right.

I step closer and wrap my arms around his waist.

He folds me into him immediately.

For a while, we just stand there.

His chin rests against the top of my head.

“I’m sorry you had to meet them,” I mumble against his coat.

Tommy lets out a quiet laugh.

“Your father didn’t like me very much.”

“He thinks anyone he can’t intimidate is rude,” I say.

“That explains a lot.”

I smile.

“And Lee?” I ask cautiously.