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“I wish…” But I couldn’t.
“What do you wish?”
“I wish it could be real for her. That she could be happy.” Then when I went to college, I wouldn’t have to worry about her. “But that’s not fair to you.”
“Not really fair to you either.” He trailed his fingers down to my wrist, then traced the bracelet I’d worn. I didn’t wear it every day, but like his shirt, I’d needed the comfort today.
Blowing out a breath, he said, “Okay, I brought clothes to change into so I’m going to go grab those. Take a shower, do what you can to relax and get ready. Can I get you anything?”
He was being so solicitous, and I tilted my head back. “You here is pretty great.”
A wink, and he pressed a light kiss to my lips. “Does anything else make the cramps better?”
I made a face. We were not having this conversation.
“Hey, it’s a thing that happens and if you’re going to be uncomfortable, I’d like some clues on how to fix it.”
“Well, not talking about it is a good start, and heating pads help, sometimes just making myself relax.”
“Got it. Want me to feed the cats on my way to the car?”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” he insisted. “Go take care of you, let me take care of everything else.”
The guys didn’t usually coddle me. I’d never really needed coddling. Or maybe, more accurately, I’d never wanted coddling. I’d always just wanted to be one of them. But they’d all been coddling me today in different ways, and I kind of liked it—a little.
“Thank you, Archie.”
The next hour passed by too quickly. I got my shower in and changed into a simple black dress, ignoring the purchase hanging on my door. It looked like a designer brand name, and it was just weird that his dad bought me a dress.
Archie dressed in a nice button down and slacks, he’d added a tie but skipped the jacket. “I can put it on when we get there.”
“That’s pretty dressy.”
“Rosewood requires a jacket and tie for dinner service,” he advised. Oh, that sounded terribly formal.
“I’m going to hate this place.”
“Probably,” he said. “But the food is good.”
“Should I leave the cats out?”
“We can call Coop if you need to shut them back in. For now, let them have their apartment back.” He trailed his fingers down my arm. “You know, you could have left them in your room last night. They would have been okay.”
“It wasn’t just about leaving them, if I’d slipped out—Mom would have been pissed and it would have been a thing.”
Maybe even worse than it had already been.
“And this is my home. I’m supposed to be safe here, right?”
“Yeah. You are.”
We texted the guys that we were on the way, and Coop said to let him know about the cats. The drive ended up being nice, even though it took us an hour to get there, it was nice just to sit with Archie. We listened to music, he held my hand, and I managed to relax a little. Not that it helped because as soon as we pulled up to the valet, my stomach was in knots all over again.
Archie pulled on his suit coat before he interlaced our fingers and guided me inside. “We’re joining Edward Standish,” he told the hostess.
Apparently, they had already arrived because we were shown to the table where the hostess and another waiter hurriedly added another place setting. It had only been set for three.
