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“I was thinking we could take Cooper to the zoo over the weekend,” she says, breaking me from my thoughts. “If you want to.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
She beams and I want to see that smile on her face as often as possible. I forget my worries, forget everything but her. I dip my head and brush my lips over hers.
“Thank you.”
Her eyes crawl over my face as she asks, “For what?”
“For giving me a chance to find happiness again. I didn’t think it would be possible.”
A smile creeps across her face. “You’ve done the same for me.”
I run my fingers over her tight curls. “You’re important to me, Nia. This is why I don’t want to take any chances with your safety.”
She sighs. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll stay over.”
Relief fills me. I kiss her forehead. “Thank you.”
Slipping my hand in hers, we continue across the parking lot to the car. I open her door for her and wait for her to climb in, then move to my own door and get in.
“I need to stop by the apartment to pick up some things,” she tells me.
“We can do that.”
I drive the short distance to her place and while I probably should stay in the car, I follow her upstairs. Her apartment is nicely decorated, and feminine. She has decorations and picture frames everywhere of people who are clearly important to her.
“That’s my granddad and my cousin, Simone,” she tells me when she sees me peering up at a framed photograph on the wall. I recognize her cousin from our meeting. “My gramps practically raised me and Simone, in fact.”
“Your parents were absent?”
“My dad died when I was seven and my mom had a tough job raising me and my brother alone. Gramps stepped up a lot to help out. He died last year.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was tough. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him.”
“Understandable.”
“You seem close to your mom, but I haven’t heard you mention your dad.”
“They’re divorced. He lives by my sister in Florida. He calls regularly, but I don’t see much of him. He’s not a good flier and I don’t get down to him as much as I’d like. My mom is my rock, though. I don’t know what I’d do without her—or Robyn’s parents too. They have Cooper when I need them to or if I just need a break. Raising a kid is hard.”
“I can imagine. I watched my mom struggle for years. You’re lucky to have such a good support system.”
“Yeah, I am.”
“I’m ready.” She holds up a small bag.
I offer her my hand, which she takes and we head back down to the car. During the drive back to my place, I keep my palm on her upper thigh, soaking in the warmth from her.
I feel a sense of relief that I can’t explain when we get to the house. I grab her bag in one hand and intertwine my fingers through hers with the other. I don’t want to let her go. I don’t know why, but I need to feel close to her.
As we enter the house, I move to the alarm box and disable it, then I drop her bag by the edge of the couch.
“Do you want a drink? Something to eat?”
“Water will be fine,” she tells me.
