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I would have to get Cynthia to watch Star for me so I could go down and then I’d have to go to the store and do some shopping to pull off the perfect evening.
I ended my conversation with Austin and then called her number. The phone rang multiple times, but she never picked it up.
I went about my day for a little while knowing I had work that had to get done, especially if I wanted to spend my evening with Dream.
I put together two structures for limbs and then did the final touches on a prosthetic foot before I called Cynthia. The phone rang only a minute before her kind voice sounded on the other end. “Don’t tell me you smelled the cobbler I just took out of the oven all the way over there.” She gave a little laugh, and I could hear her kitchen timer going off.
“No, ma’am. I wanted to ask if you do me a favor.”
“You want me to watch Star?”
“Well, yes, ma’am. If you could. I know you’ve been doing me a lot of favors watching her, but I’d like to do something nice for Dream, and I think it’s time I really tell her how I feel and that I want her to stay.”
“Did she tell you she’s going to leave?”
“No, but she went back to work this morning, and she felt the need to take her toothbrush along for the ride. I can’t help but feel like she did it so she can bail on me. We had a fight.”
“You need to cook her a nice dinner, just the two of you. Tell her how much you love her, Chance, before it’s too late.”
“Does everyone know that I’m in love with her?”
Cynthia’s soft laughter tinkled like a bell through the phone. “You’re the only one who’s still questioning it.”
“It’s not that I’m questioning it, but I just don’t know what to do with it.”
“You’ll figure it out. The important thing is that you’re trying. You send Star over whenever you’re ready, and we’ll save you a bite of cobbler.”
“Thanks, Cynthia. You’re a lifesaver.”
“I like her, you know. I think meeting you was the best thing that could ever have happened to the both of you. You need each other. You all do. Star’s been through so much, and even though I love being a positive influence in her life, an old lady like me can only be so much for her. She needs someone to fill the role of a mother.”
“Yeah, Star asked me if we could be a family and I froze.” I should have taken that opportunity and used it to make sure we became the family Star needed.
“She’s something, that one; knows exactly what she wants. She’ll have you two married, and Jackie will be in your wedding.”
I got my ass in gear knowing I’d have to run a few errands to make the night a really special one for me and Dream. I wanted it to truly be a night she’d never forget. And with any luck, instead of an end, it would be the beginning I needed.
CHAPTER 28 – DREAM
Being back at work was just the break I needed from Chance. Not only had it kept me too busy to dwell on the situation, but it gave me a purpose I hadn’t even realize I needed.
Not that serving coffee was my life’s goal or anything, but to know at the end of the day, my tips were hard earned, made me feel a much-needed sense of pride and self-worth.
When you’d lived with someone telling you how useless you were for the past several years, you tended to numb out to everything else even if you didn’t believe the insults.
I finally felt free and independent in a way that meant not looking over my shoulder or wondering when the next shoe would fall and Nick would show up to drag me back.
A sinking feeling of guilt hit my gut when I thought of Nick. I’d never know if Austin was telling the truth, or if he’d just done Chance and me a favor by taking the bastard out.
I knew Nick had probably tried to get away. It was in his nature to be a fighter, but then another part of me knew I might be just trying to convince myself.
“You’re going to make me look bad if you don’t slow down,” Liza said over my shoulder as I refilled another cup of coffee.
“I guess I’m just glad to be back and doing something other than staring at those cabin walls.” I followed her across the room where she looked toward the front window.
“Yeah, well, don’t look now, but someone else seems to be tired of those walls too.” The chimes on the door sounded, and I looked up to see Chance taking a seat in my section.
