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“Really?” Dad says, shoving a spoonful of pie into his mouth.
“Yeah, I haven’t talked to them since I left home at eighteen.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Ma says, a sad look in her eyes.
Kitty shrugs and looks down at her plate, picking up her fork and breaking off a piece of pie. “It’s okay. My dad only ever wanted me to become another asset, someone he could marry off to further his own career.”
I squeeze her thigh as we all become silent and the air becomes thick. It’s the most I’ve heard about her parents and I’m not going to push it. I knew all of this anyway because Ty vets everyone that he’s working with, but Kitty doesn’t need to know that.
“So, Elena, you must tell me how you make this pie, it’s delicious.”
“Anytime you want, honey. You just come on over and I’ll teach you.”
“Really?” Kitty asks, surprise in her voice.
“Really.” Ma smiles.
Once we’ve finished eating I announce that it’s time for us to leave. I can feel Kitty starting to get more tense and besides, I want to get her home to show her exactly how I feel.
Ma’s face falls but perks up as we stand, putting on a front. I know I should come and see her more, and maybe now that I’m trying to move on I will. It’s just going to take some getting used to. I feel like bringing Kitty here wasn’t just about her meeting Ma and Dad, but in a way, for Emmy to meet her too.
“It was so nice to meet you, honey,” Ma says, wrapping her arms around Kitty. This time she hugs Ma back and does the same to Dad before we walk down to my SUV.
We wave them off as I pull out of there and I turn to Kitty, resting my hand on her thigh.
“Wasn’t so bad huh?” I ask as we drive down the private road that leads to the main road.
“No.” She shakes her head. “It wasn’t, thanks for bringing me.”
I grin at her as I come to a stop at the junction and squeeze her hand as she places it on top of mine.
“Want to go back to yours or mine?”
“Yours.” She smiles, sleepily.
Her head falls to the side facing me and her eyes close. I watch her when we get to a stoplight, in awe of her.
How did I get here? How did I manage to find her? She’s become so much to me in the last couple of years and I honestly can’t even comprehend living without her now. Sometimes I kick myself for not getting here sooner but I know that I wasn’t ready. Six months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to connect with her the way I am now. I know that it was our path to each other, that it was our journey, but I can’t help the voice in my head that tells me the world is cruel and life is short and that I should have done it sooner. I know that all too well.
It doesn’t matter now though because I’ve found her. It may have taken me a while to realize what she means to me, but now that I have, I won’t let her go. She’s it for me.
“Kitty,” I call when I pull up to my place and turn the engine off, shaking her shoulder. Her eyes open sleepily and she groans. “Come on.”
She doesn’t move so I jump out of the car and jog around to her side, lifting her off the seat and carrying her into the house. Looks like my plan of showing her just how much I love her is on hold.
“I think your ma put me in a food coma,” she groans.
“Yeah, she tends to do that,” I chuckle.
She brings her face to my neck as I open the front door and kisses me just below my ear. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I ask, looking down at her.
“For everything.”
She closes her eyes again and snuggles into my chest and it’s all I can do not to wake her up to tell her how much she’s helped me, how without her I wouldn’t be where I am now. I’d still be stuck inside my own head, stuck in the past.
I shoot up in bed, my eyes springing open and my chest gasping for breath. My skin is slick with sweat and my pulse is pounding in my ears. I look down t
