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“Because I was scared. I was scared that if I told you who I was you’d freak out and run a mile. I didn’t want to lose you. These last few days have been hell. I’ve been walking through a living nightmare, getting things ready for both of us without any idea if you’d ever speak to me again. You wouldn’t take my calls, you wouldn’t answer my texts.”
I glance at my phone. Baby is purring loudly as she falls asleep without a care in the world. “Hold on, back up, what do you mean ‘getting things ready for both of us’?”
“Giving up my job with the church, getting us a place to live—”
“You’ve given up the priesthood?” My eyes go wide as I try to process what he’s telling me. “Wait, what will you do for money? You didn’t have to do that, not for me…”
“I’ll do anything for you, Kitty. I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for my mistakes. And I have money. A trust fund from my mom, I can access any time I like. I was going to use it to buy the church building once my grandmother persuaded the church to sell it to me, but I don’t care about that anymore. All I wanted was to be alone, now all I want is to be with you. Anything you want, I’ll give it to you, Kitty. Anything. Name it and it’s yours. You want a swimming pool so I can teach you to swim? A home laboratory with all the specialist equipment? Med school? A library with one of those sliding ladders?”
“Yes,” I nod, and his eyes meet mine. Then he starts to grin.
“Which one?”
“All of them,” I tell him. “And a dozen bodyguards for Baby so nobody can ever take her away from me again. And a gold cat bowl. And my mom has to be able to come live with us because she’s left Hoover and I—”
“Fine. No problem. Make a list. Just please tell me you’ll have me back. I’m dying here.”
“On one condition.”
He nods, kissing my knuckles again. “The bodyguards, I get it. First thing tomorrow—”
“No.”
“Okay, right after we leave here. I’ll make some calls.”
“No, I mean, that’s not the condition.” I lick my lips. This is the most important moment of my life and I have to stay strong. I have to make him say it. “Promise you’ll never lie to me again. Promise me that.”
He stares into my eyes, and his are filled with tears. And I realize as I blink and he turns into a kaleidoscope, so are mine. But he nods.
“I promise,” he says. “No more lies. Never. From now on, we always tell each other everything.”
“Even if it’s scary.”
“Even if it’s scary,” he agrees. “So we’re good?”
I grin. “We’re good, daddy.”
And right at that moment, my mom walks in through the door.
“No way. I’m not having those hot rock things! Do you know how much they charge? I’ll just get a massage later and—” She stops, staring at Martin. Then at Baby. “What… Who are you?”
“Mom, meet your stepson,” I tell her, hiding a chuckle.
“You’reMartin?” She glares. “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing up here. After what you did to my daughter I should—”
“Mom, we’ve figured everything out,” I say on a laugh, unable to hold it back. “It’s all good. I’ve made him promise not to lie again.”
Martin stands from where he’s kneeling in front of me, gives my hand one last kiss, then turns and looks at my mom. She still looks suspicious, like he might be about to break my heart again, but when she glances across to me I nod and her shoulders fall, the fight draining out of her.
“In the spirit of all this honesty,” Martin says, “I should tell you my father is downstairs.”
“Ugh, what’s he doing here?” Mom asks as she crosses to the bed. She hesitates for a moment, then smooths a hand over Baby’s fur. “I hate to say it, but I kind of missed this little ball of fluff.”
“He told me where you were,” Martin continues. “He had credit card charges from this hotel. I let him come along for the ride, but made him wait downstairs, drowning his sorrows at the bar with a whiskey glass and his own tears for company. What you do is up to you. See him or don’t see him. But for what it’s worth I think he is truly sorry.”
He wraps his arm around me, and mom looks from one of us to the other. Then she nods, turns and heads back out into the corridor.
“So, where exactly is this house of ours?” I ask.
