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He then places his hand in mine and laces our fingers. We look at each other in silence, just being in the moment as his thumb sweeps back and forth over my hand. I finally rest my head against his shoulder.
“I still really want that,” I murmur, and just as he opens his mouth with a response, he jumps with a slight startle and looks down.
I follow his gaze to see our new striped kitten using its tiny claws to climb up his pant leg. Ben grabs him off his leg and pets his head.
“Excuse you, buster,” he grumbles.
“Buster!” Luna pipes up. “I love that! Mom, can his name be Buster?”
I smile, nodding. “I think that’s a good name for him.”
“Mom, can you, me, and Buster have a sleep over in your room tonight? We could watchAristocats, so he can see other kitties!”
I agree that that might be the perfect way to cap off the evening, and after a little while, I walk Ben to the door.
“Will you be okay tonight?” he asks, turning towards me in the doorway and cupping my cheek.
“Yeah,” I nod, leaning into his touch. “Thanks to you, I will be.”
“Thanks to you, I will be too.”
“What do you mean?” I feel my forehead crinkle. “You’ve been fine.”
“Kasey, I haven’t been fine in years. But you and Luna make me feel like I can be again. I’m so close, I can feel it.”
“So close to what?”
“Living an actual life again.”
“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to get you the rest of the way there.”
He nods while he searches my face, and while I once again try not to make anything of it, he’s looking at me as if he sees his future. He leans in and gives me a small kiss on the mouth before turning and heading out into the night.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Kasey
“I can’t believeI’m doing this,” I mutter in the mirror as I smooth down my maxi skirt and turn to look over my shoulder for panty lines. “I said I was going to cool it on the dates for a while.”
“And I said you weren’t done,” Lizzie returns with a raised eyebrow from where she’s perched on the edge of my bed, enjoying a pint of ice cream. Mine, to be exact.
“Hey, you better save me some of that,” I warn, pointing to the container in her hand.
“Oh but you won’t neeeed it…” she sings, and though I scoff, I can’t help smiling at the same time.
I strut out of the room with Lizzie casually trailing me and come into the living room so I can kiss my girl goodnight.
Luna is sprawled out at the end of the couch in her Wonder Woman pajamas, watching one of the many Marvel movies I can’t keep track of, with Buster curled up and purring on her chest.
“Have fun, Mom,” she mumbles, eyes still on the screen.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, sitting down on the edge of the cushions.
“Nothing, I just wish it was Ben you were going out with.”
I get it. After everything he’s done and the time they spent together, I know she’s incredibly fond of him.
“You never know, kid,” I say with a playful smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Maybe someday.”
