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“Key West isn’t very big.” I told her. “I like it that way. I wanted to move to a place where I could walk most of the places we went to together. I know she has a tough time with vehicles, and I don’t want to push it. I’m sure you know a thing or two about PTSD with your old man.”
“Right,” she said. “Poor girl. But I’m going to be easy on her. I’ll make sure we don’t do things that trigger her or make her upset.”
“I’m sure you’re not going to have an issue with that,” I told her. “In fact, you might have to be the one to tell her to slow down at times. I don’t mean to be a helicopter parent, and I’m not going to ask you to be a helicopter nanny, but I worry about her.”
“That’s understandable,” Erin said. “You’ve been through a lot, and you almost lost her, so if I were you, I would be super protective of her too.”
I wasn’t sure how much of my story Robin had told his daughter, and I chose not to ask. I didn’t want to get into all that with her right now. Not when we were walking into the house. I still had half an hour before I had to go get Libby from school, so that would give me the time to be able to walk her through the place and show her to her room.
“My bedroom is on this side of the condo, your room is over here with Libby. I hope you don’t mind sharing a bathroom with her.”
“Not at all,” she said.
“The living room, obviously, and the kitchen is over here. You can help yourself to whatever, whenever. You can order what you want or do any of the grocery shopping you want, too. I tend to keep things on the healthy side for Libby, but I do allow treats, obviously.”
“I like it,” Erin said. “Do you have a yard?”
“There’s a private hot tub we have over here, and just across the road is a community pool for everyone who lives in this complex. You’re free to use either when you have free time, and if Libby ever wants to, feel free to take her.”
“Great,” she said.
“I’m going to go pick her up from school,” I said. “I think I’m going to walk, which will give you plenty of time to unpack and get familiar with the place. I don’t mind what you do, I’d like for you to be comfortable while you’re here.”
“Thank you,” she told me.
“Oh, and I trust you’ll be respectful of the space,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re free to look around the house, but I’m sure it’s clear you shouldn’t be in Libby’s room without her permission, and there is no reason for you to be in my room or my office. I don’t want to have to tell you to stay out of them, so I’m pointing out now how it makes sense that you would.”
“Okay, no problem,” she said, and I could see she was a bit surprised with my comment.
Still, I was the kind of person to lay it out on the line. I didn’t leave things for other people to figure out. If I wanted something done a certain way, I required it. And I would tell anyone involved what they were to do or not do.
It was simple.
She walked back to her room, and I lingered for a moment longer. My brain was screaming at me to say something, but at the same time, I was drawing a complete blank on what to tell her. I wanted to just talk to her. I was so insanely attracted to her, and I also wanted to ask her what her initial feelings were about staying for the next few months.
But I had to figure out where Libby stood with all this before I went about that, so I had to get to the school and meet her. Not to mention after being late the other day, I had to make sure I was on time when she got out every afternoon this week. And I wanted to make sure I was there to meet her today on time.
She knew Erin was coming in, and I didn’t want her to feel I had forgotten about her.
“I’ll be back in about forty-five minutes,” I said. “And you can meet Libby.”
“I can’t wait,” Erin replied, reappearing in the doorway to her room. “I’m sure we’ll be fast friends.”
“Me too,” I told her. I walked out of the house, pulling the door shut behind me.
“At least I fucking hope so,” I added under my breath. I already liked Erin a lot. And I wanted her to stay.
I silently prayed Libby would too.
Chapter Six
Erin
Iploppedmyselfdownon the surprisingly large bed in the guest bedroom. It had to be at least the size of a full, if not a queen. I’d never been anywhere that had a guest bedroom that was bigger than a twin, and I was used to sleeping on futons or couches when I was a guest in someone’s house, so I was already surprised with how things were going.
