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“You wanted to meet him, right?”
Nervously, we both walked down the hall to his room. I felt like I was about to get in trouble for being out all night but when he smiled at Mattie, I knew he was going to welcome her.
“Mattie, is it?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Sir?” he queried. “No, please call me Patrick.”
“Hi, Patrick.”
“Genevieve, have you asked your guest if they’d like a drink?”
“Uh, no,” I said, helplessly. “Mattie, do you want a drink?”
“Get her one anyway,” he said. “I’d like to have a chat with her about you.”
Fear spread over me. I’d never brought anyone home before. As far as he knew, Mattie was just a friend of mine but he’d never wanted to speak to a friend of mine about me before.
Mattie sat down on the chair next to his bed and he issued me a warning look before I turned on my heel and headed for the kitchen.
My nerves were shot as I poured a drink for myself, then one for Mattie. I headed back to the room to hear them laughing. Patrick seemed lighter almost, lighter than I had seen him in recent days.
“You’ve got a good one here, Gennie.”
She looked up at me, as surprised as I was. I’d never told him I was seeing her, and I could tell from the surprise on her face that she hadn’t said anything either.
Patrick rolled his eyes. “Oh please, I could cut through the tension with a knife when she came in. I may be male but I’m not stupid.”
I found myself laughing, knowing full well how intelligent this man was. He hadn’t been the same man I’d known for days, and it had been cutting me deep but I guess I would be depressed too living in a bed all day while a disease ravaged my body.
“Now, let’s hear about this island trip, shall we?” he said. We both didn’t know what to say about that but I knew we could skip the parts about our rendezvous.
I sat down on a spare chair and handed Mattie her drink before I started by telling him the story about my almost missed trip to the island in the first place.
MATTIE
Patrick’s nurse had come in, giving him a stern look, before issuing us with a warning to be on our way. He needed his rest. I thanked him for a fine afternoon and he kissed the back of my hand.
“You come by anytime, Mattie,” he said to me with such fondness I wanted to weep. My own father had never once been this kind to me. “And you don’t let that foolish woman over there defeat you. You hold on tight.”
I smiled down at him and kissed his cheek before I headed out the door and joined Gen at the front door.
“Thank you for coming,” she said. “He really needed that.”
“You should have told me,” I said to her quickly. “I would have understood.”
“I’ve never been good at speaking about my weaknesses,” she said. “But I think this turned out better.”
I nodded. “I couldn’t agree more. The reason I was so upset was because I had changed my mind about us. I do want to try, if you’re willing.”
Gen leaned across and planted a kiss on my lips, a soft and tender one that told me all I needed to know about where we stood with each other.
I smiled at her as I headed out of the house and toward the Uber I had ordered. My heart was full and I felt like I was walking on air as I got in and headed home.
??
Two weeks later
