AllFreeNovel
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“I can’t imagine that,” I say sarcastically while I let my mind conjure up the scene she’s describing. She might be half her brother’s size, but she’s a sassy ball of fire when she wants to be.
“Shush,” she orders after a giggle, nudging my shoulder with hers. “Anyway, Vivi all of a sudden just pooped everywhere. Like, all over the place. It was green and black and all up and down her legs. It smelled so bad that we both started gagging and Vivi just laid there and stared at us with those huge green eyes of hers, spit bubbles pouring out of her mouth. We ended up laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. I was crying hysterically. Once we put her to bed, we drank two bottles of wine and talked about how awful we were but how much we fucking loved her.”
“You do love her,” I say softly.
She nods, the corner of her mouth curving. “Like she’s my own.”
“You’ll be a good mom one day.”
Her nose scrunches. “Is it weird that I worry about having kids one day? I look at Vivi and I honestly can’t imagine loving someone more than her. It’s kinda scary, loving someone so much.”
I can’t stop staring at her. She’s fucking stunning and every word she says just makes her even more so. A light blush creeps up her cheeks when she catches me.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she whispers, spearing my chicken again.
I pop more of her sweet potato fries into my mouth. “Can’t help it.
A giggle to our left makes us both look up.
“You guys are super cute,” the waitress says. “Do you always share your food?”
I’m never surprised by Claire’s ability to take her blush and amp it up a good couple notches. Her eyes shift to mine and she gives me a nervous, wobbly smile. I smile back. This is the second time we’ve been out at a restaurant together, and the second time we’ve shared meals.
“Always,” I answer the waitress. “She’s a food thief.”
“Am not!” Claire gives me a swift smack to the chest.
I give the waitress a wide, pleading look. “That’s what she does to me when I don’t share.”
She laughs and continues on her way, leaving Claire glaring at me.
“You’re an ass,” she says like that’s the last thing she actually thinks, trying to smother her laugh. She heaves a sigh and pats her belly before giving me a loopy, carefree grin, her forest eyes twinkling. “I’m so full.”
I brush my thumb across her bottom lip. “You look happy.”
“I…I am. I wasn’t having the greatest day. You turned it around.”
“And to think, you tried to say no.” Taking her hand in mine, I trace over each slender finger. “What was up today? Why were you so tired? Physically and emotionally,” I add, remembering how she’d nearly passed out on the couch in my office. She’d looked dead to the world, like she just couldn’t be bothered. Beautiful, always, but worn out.
She studies me, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. “It’s my dad,” she finally says. “Casey left there Sunday afternoon. I called my dad in the evening but he didn’t answer. Tried him a whole bunch yesterday. Nothing. Casey couldn’t get a hold of him either. I was losing my mind. I took off from work a couple hours early and drove out through all that traffic. He was fucking sleeping. For almost twenty-four hours, aside from getting up to feed the dog.” She shakes her head and sighs, pulling her hand back to scrub both of them down her face.
“Wow. He must’ve been tired, I guess.”
“It’s not that. I mean, it is, but…it’s more than that.” The heavy exhale she releases drains her in a way I don’t like, a way that makes me worry about her. “I told you my mom died from cancer.”
I nod. “Ovarian. You said it was kinda fast.”
“Well, my dad had leukemia. Twice.”
Oh, shit.
“Once when I was in high school, and again after my mom died. He’s been in remission for a few years, but I’ve been worried about him lately. Sometimes he’s fine for weeks at a time, and sometimes, like Sunday and Monday, he doesn’t get out of bed for twenty-four hours. I think…” She sucks in a shuddering breath. “I think the cancer might be back, but I went with him to an appointment the other week and the doctor just kinda waved it off. Said we’d wait and see if anything changed in a couple months.” Her brows pull together, creasing her forehead. “How stupid is that? Cancer’s not something you wait for, especially with a man who’s already battled through it twice. But my dad just keeps dismissing it, saying he’s fine, not to worry.”
Claire stares down at her hands for a moment before meeting my gaze again. “I’m just a little scared, I guess,” she admits in the softest voice. “I don’t want to lose him, too.” She swipes at her eyes before her tears have the chance to fall. I wonder if it’s less about trying to be strong and more about not letting me see the bits of her she tries to hard.
Her pain picks away at my heart, straining against my chest with a tightness I’m not familiar with. I can’t imagine the struggles she’s faced, the pain that’s gripped her so tightly, the worry that seeps into her everyday life. Sometimes I wonder if she knows how strong she truly is.
Slipping my arm around her waist, I pull her into my side and kiss the top of her head. She makes a little noise in the back of her throat and melts into me, resting her head on my shoulder.
