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“Kill him,” I tell her, too busy staring at Nathan to notice her reaction to his words. “I swear, that’s all he’s done for the entire journey. He actually let me eat in the car, because his girlfriend was hungry. We shared a coffee, because his girlfriend was thirsty. Oh…” I narrow my eyes. “And then there’s the whole, ‘how is my girlfriend?’ every ten minutes and ‘is this music okay for my girlfriend?’”
Nathan only looks proud. When I look at Jeanine, there are tears in her eyes. Oh good lord. She didn’t know.
“I knew it would happen, I just knew it!” She slaps Nathan on the chest. “Didn’t I say she was perfect for you? What took you so long?”
“My girlfriend is stubborn.”
“Really?” I say, looking for a sharp object. “What are you… twelve?”
He chuckles and hands Dillan over to Jeanine. I kiss my little boy’s fuzzy hair and step back so Nathan can run his hand over the place I just kissed. “Thank you Jeanine, for watching Dillan. We’ll be back before dark.”
“Go, have fun.”
“I’ll make sure my…” Nathan starts to say but I cut him off with a “Don’t you dare.”
Shoving him out of the house, I keep my arm around his waist as we walk to the car. Looking up at him through my lashes, I give him a sweet smile, hoping he’ll tell me now. It’s whilst I’m smiling sweetly that I notice how nervous he looks.
“This was a stupid idea,” he says as he helps me into the car.
“Stupid?”
“You’re going to think it’s stupid.” he shakes his head. “Well, too late to turn back now.”
“What is it?”
He shrugs. “We’re just going for a walk.”
“With you, right?”
He looks confused and then wary. “Yes, why?”
“Then it’s not stupid.” I rest my hand on his leg and move my fingers in slow circles.
We’re driving for twenty minutes before we make it to his grandfather’s house. I glare up at the building that became my home whilst I was pregnant. Nathan, sensing my anger towards the place, guides me to the boot of his car and opens it.
“Here, put these on.” He hands me a pair of dark brown walking boots.
Grinning from ear to ear, I slip off my pumps and grab the still packaged socks from the boot. After sliding them on, followed by the boots and tying the laces, I jump a few times to test their comfort and lean up to kiss Nathan’s jaw. He turns his head at the wrong moment and I end up with my lips against the corner of his mouth.
His hand immediately goes to my elbow and his eyes close slowly.
The hand that I have flat against his chest tingles with the feel of his heartbeat picking up speed beneath it. I smile and pull back, using my thumb to wipe away the shimmering gloss that my lips left behind.
Clearing his throat, he grabs a bag and throws it over his shoulder. It looks almost empty.
“Let’s go.” He takes my hand and pulls me towards the woods. Considering it’s only spring, the sun is really beating down on us today. Fortunately it’s coupled with a nice, cool and gentle breeze.
We walk in silence for a while through the thick trees. Nathan, obviously knowing this place like the back of his hand, leads me easily around the bushes and through the trees. It’s not until I see the huge clearing full of thigh-high length grass that I start freaking out.
He steps into it, not realising I’ve stopped until the hand holding mine pulls him backwards.
I stare at the grass and then look at him wide-eyed. “This is where the demon rats with red eyes almost got me and feasted on my flesh.”
He blinks, shakes his head and laughs. “What?”
“I came out here for a walk when I was pregnant. Do you know how many critters are probably hiding in this long grass, just waiting for suckers like us to walk through?” I whisper, just in case they can hear me. The last thing I want is for them to know that I know their plan.
“Really?” He tries to keep a straight face but fails. “It’s just grass.”
“And sand is just sand,” I retort, my brow quirking. “I’m not going in there. Let’s go around.”
He grabs me before I can walk away. “It’ll take an extra hour to get around all of this.”
“Well let’s just stay here then.” I stamp my foot on the ground, my nerves getting the better of me.
“Is it weird that I’m enjoying this? It’s nice knowing I’m not the only weird one.” He chuckles and drops the bag that was on his back to the ground. Then he crouches in front of me and holds his arms out behind him. “Up.”
“What?” My body moves me back a step without permission, but I’m not entirely sure what he’s doing.
