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I needed Ollie to accept this now because I was fucking breaking. A piece of me crumbled away with every step I took until I got to them.
They both greeted me as my arms wrapped around Cat. I scooped her from the chair, sliding in beneath her. I kept her close, her back to my front, where two hearts pounded against each other.
“Can we raincheck?” I whispered into her ear and snuggled into her neck as I waited for an answer.
The unruly strands of her hair tickled my cheek when she nodded in response.
“Rodregez wants to take your stitches out this afternoon. He also said that your special test results were back and clear.” I kept that part of our conversation private, my whispers low and just for her ears.
“And, Woodrow,” I called over to him. “Your test results were clear. You’re good. Healthy.”
He froze, looking peculiar, with his hands protected by brightly-colored oven mitts from the giant cookware pot of tagliatelle he held. With his eyes on me, he mouthed, “Thank you.”
Jolie’s excitement filled the room, becoming contagious and spreading to both Dec and Ollie, who piled in, giving him a hug and giving me a moment alone in the busy room with Cat.
“I’m so pleased for him.” She beamed. “It must be awful to have those kinds of worries.”
So awful he had to escape to a deeper part of himself to avoid the qualms making him as ill as the stomach bug.
I held her close, squeezing a little tighter, feeling everywhere.
“Are you okay?” She turned to me, ready to hunt through the depths of my lies.
But I didn’t lie. “It’s been a rough week.”
She understood. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” My lips pressed against her temple. “You’ve done nothing wrong.” I kissed her there.
Everyone gathered around the table, but all the attention was still off of us. It was nice. Nice to be able to sit here with my family and have the girl I wanted without half a dozen lectures on all the reasons I should stay away from her.
“Did you see Penelope?” Cat had asked me that same question every day this week when I’d returned from Beyond Heaven.
“I didn’t, but she’s doing well. She has eaten the last few days.”
I didn’t miss the glint in Ollie’s eyes or how quickly he looked away from me to the giant bowl of tagliatelle because he knew I’d noticed it.
“I did see Clara. You probably knew her as something else. She was one of the other girls at Rothbart’s.” That cunt’s name left an ugly sour taste in my mouth every time I had to say it. I took a piece of garlic pizza brought over by Dec to try and get rid of it.
But it didn’t work.
“Is she doing okay?”
“Better than expected. She likes Beyond Heaven.”
“I don’t have to go there, right? Not to stay?”
“Fuck no. You’re staying with me. Always.”
“Grateful for you.”
“More grateful for you.” I squeezed a bit tighter again. “And I’m sorry about our date. I will make it up to you.”
I kissed Cat’s shoulder, hidden by my pink sweater that she seemed to favor.
“It’s okay. This is kinda like a date, I guess.” She shrugged, watching everyone fill their plates.
“What, this family dinner?” I happily went last, filling her plate and mine.
