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“Halloween is in the fall. I thought you weren’t going to be sticking around,” I said.
“We’ll see. It was just an idea,” she said, and I could tell she was irritated that I called her on it.
“I like that idea,” I said. I knew I hadn’t decided if I wanted to keep doing whatever it was that we were doing, so it wasn’t exactly fair for me to beg her to stay in Castleton. I believe they call that an impasse.
* * *
We watched a few more episodes of the show, but we were both falling asleep on the couch, and my bed was much more comfortable, so we relocated. Alivia had brought clothes to sleep in, and I watched her as she changed.
“You’re not mad at me, are you?” I asked as she pulled a t-shirt over her head.
“No,” she said, her head popping through the neck hole. “Why?”
“Just because I can’t decide what to do about you and because I keep pestering you about your decision to stay here.”
I got under the covers and grabbed my hand cream.
She joined me, holding her hands out so I could squeeze some out of the tube for her.
She was thoughtful as she rubbed it in.
“No, I’m not mad. Just wishing things weren’t complicated.” And yet, they were.
She held her arms out to me and pulled me close.
“Let’s just enjoy what we have and not worry about anything else,” she said, kissing the top of my head.
“Okay,” I said, even though I didn’t know how not to worry about things.
Alivia hummed contentedly and held me as we talked about Linley’s wedding, funny stories from the inn, funny bakery incidents, and other random crap.
I fell asleep against her chest and slept more deeply than I had in a long time.
* * *
This time I made breakfast for Alivia and brought it to her in bed.
“French toast okay?” I asked as I brought in our plates. I had a little tray that I sometimes used when Natalie and I made snacks to sit and eat on the couch, and I used that to give us a flat surface.
“French toast is perfect.” She added plenty of butter and syrup to her plate and I did the same.
“What are you up to today?” I asked as she sipped from her coffee cup.
“I need to check on things at the inn, and I was going to grab a few things from the grocery store and then take a run. Why?”
“Just wondering.” I’d kind of hoped she would spend the rest of the day with me. I mean, not that we hadn’t been together a lot lately. Maybe we needed a break.
“I can change all those plans if you want me to,” she added, licking some syrup off her finger.
“You don’t have to. I don’t want to intrude on your Sunday,” I said, feeling needy.
“You’re not intruding. My life was incredibly boring before I knew you were here, Charli, and I don’t feel bad admitting that,” she said. “You make everything interesting.”
I could feel my entire body blushing.
“That’s a really nice thing to say,” I said, unable to hide a smile.
“Did you have anything special in mind?” she asked.
