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"Anything happens while we were gone?" I ask John when we arrive back home.
“Sir, this was left on the doorstep.” John hands me a small box. “Hope’s been upstairs since you left.” I look up to see which lights are on. It’s not the one in the front which means she’s in my room.
Jackson opens the box, as I look back at John. “Thank you for doing this, John. Go home now and get some rest. See you in the morning.” He gives me a swift nod and heads out to the car. I turn my focus back to Jackson and the delivery. “What’s in the box?”
“Something you might not want to give Hope just yet.” He hands me the frame. It’s a picture of Hope with her family. “Are you going to tell her what we found?”
I blow the air from my lungs out through my puffed cheeks as I think about his question. “I don’t think she wants to know anything, she seems to shut down on me.” I put the frame back in the box. “You coming over in the morning?”
“No, but I’ll come over to the office once I’m out of court and I have to go see someone about Jack. I asked someone to look into some places for me.”
“See you tomorrow then.”
Making my way to my bedroom, I see Hope lying on the floor in front of the lit fire. She sits up as I make my way over to her. “Glad you like it in here.”
“It’s warm.”
“It’s warm in my bed too.” I sit on the floor as I take my jacket off and place it on the chair behind me. “Want to know what we found today?”
“No.”
I didn't think that she would but thought I should ask. "What have you been up to since I left?"
Her face lights up. “Folded a few more pages in my magazine.”
I have no idea what she wants to go to the place, but it's the first time she's been excited about something. "So, when do I find out what you're planning?"
"If you're not too tired, I can tell you now. Shall I make some hot chocolate and you can have a shower if you want." Hope looks up at me, and I smile. She has this beauty about her that will always knock me backward, and the funny thing is she's doesn't even see how beautiful she is.
“I’d love that.”
As Hope leaves the room, I put all the stuff from today away so she can’t see it. I feel bad not giving her the picture of her with her family, but I think if I give it to her today, she’ll only see it as a mind fuck from her uncle and that’s the last thing I want for her, especially when she’s in a good mood. I also want her to sleep without thinking abouthim.
A little later as I get out of the shower, I see that Hope has come back. Her back is toward me as she puts out her magazines.
I make my way over to her. “Hope, I want to look at this, but I want to say something first.” Grabbing a pillow for myself, I sit on the floor. “I know that you’re scared and I have to admit you’re staying calmer than I thought you would, but I’m scared holding it all in will bury you.”
She shakes her head and tries to smile. “I... I just don’t want to talk about it; I don’t want to think abouthim. For the first time since I’ve been running, I feel like I don’t have to anymore. For the first time, I feel like I can breathe and that’s because of you.”
Placing my hand on her cheek, I softly rub my thumb across her chin. I want to say it, I want to tell her that I'm in love with her, but I'm scared at the same time. "Right, shall we have a look at what we have to change?" I say, grabbing a magazine to have a look. Hope gets up and hands me my mug, and the sweet aroma of chocolate makes my mouth water. "Thanks."
I flick through the pages she has folded over. “You know with the amount of work, it looks like we might be at Jackson’s house for a while.” I start laughing, it seems like she wants to rip out the whole kitchen.
“I just think a new kitchen would be nice, with all the space you have, you can have a nice opened up room.”
“Well, you’re the one that spends all day in there, so you get the kitchen you want. This isourhouse, so I want you to be happy in it.”
“I am happy with it, but the kitchen just seems tight that’s all.”
I take a sip of my drink, and the flavors that hit my tongue are incredible. "Oh wow, this isn't the hot chocolate we have downstairs." I take another sip; this is good,sogood, that I can already see Jackson moaning at me for not letting him know about it.
Hope shrugs. “Fresh chocolate,” she says as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. She puts one of the magazines in front of me. “I really like this with the lights over the top.”
“That’s nice, not as nice as this drink, but good enough for me to say let’s do it.” I lean on the bed frame next to Hope, putting the blanket over us both. She lays her head on my shoulder and we both watch the fire burning as we drink.
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