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I’m teasing, and she gets that.
She chuckles and sniffs. Her arm moves against me as she wipes the remaining tears from her eyes. “Actually, I feel good. Like a dam or something broke. Tension released. It feels good knowing we’ll have each other forever.”
“It does,” I agree. It really does.
“Can we watch a movie?” she asks. “Or is it too late?”
“It’s never too late for a movie.” I wriggle away from her to grab the remote, and then start scrolling through a streaming site to find a good comedy. An old one we always liked flashes on the screen. I select it, then grab the blanket off the back of the couch and pass it to her.
She changes positions so her head’s lying back on the far armrest, and her legs are draped over my lap. “I don’t want to keep you up,” she says, as she covers both of us with the layer of fleece.
“Are you kidding me? I’m so comfy right now I’m going to be out in a couple minutes.”
I feel it, too, that release of tension she talked about. It’s like we’ve been walking on a tightrope, and we both fell, and the landing didn’t kill us.
“If I fall asleep here, the neighbors are really going to gossip,” she says.
“Most of them are retired. They need something to do.”
She laughs. “I guess we can just let them have their fun.”
The sound of her laugh is like medicine. I slouch back against the pillows, feeling amazingly content. Being here with her is a thousand times better than being up in my bed, alone. I let my eyes drift closed.
Chapter 24
Maddison
Nick’s sheets are soft.
His bed is huge.
Outlaw is snoring. Mittens is purring. As I reach out to pet them both, I try to get my bearings.
Why am I in Nick’s bed?
Oh yeah. I hiked up here to find Outlaw. That was sometime early this morning, after Nick left for the clinic. I was going to collect my furry charge and traipse back over to Pansy’s, but it was still early and I was still so sleepy, and Nick’s bed looked so very soft and comfy.
I roll to my side and tuck my hands under my cheek.
My mind wanders over last night.
We fell asleep together on the couch.
Then we woke up, when his alarm went off.
I dozed there while he showered, dressed, and made coffee. When he left for work, he bent down and kissed the top of my head. My eyes were closed. I think he figured I was still asleep. Iwas, halfway. Not all the way, though, and I can still remember how that kiss felt.
Reassuring.
Sweet.
He promised me he’d be in my life forever.
Nick’s a man of his word. He means what he says. He really will always be a phone call away, and I can count on the fact that he’ll visit California when he gets some vacation time.
But why doesn’t that feel like enough?
It should be enough…
