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A thought that had indeed haunted me before. And probably the perfect moment to tell Amelia that I had a child. "When I separated from my ex-wife years ago, she packed up our son and disappeared."
This time, she pulled away from me just far enough to look into my face. "Are you serious?"
I nodded affirmatively.
"And since then…?"
"I haven't seen him since. In her version of the story, I was the villain because I had left her as a consequence of her wrongdoing. I sent him cards for every significant occasion. Sometimes, I left messages on his voicemail. But it was pretty clear he wanted nothing to do with me." He wasn't of age yet, but with each passing year, I continued to lose hope that he would break away from his mother and want to hear my side of the story.
So taking Declan in at the bed-and-breakfast was a decision I didn’t make with just my head.
"I thought you should know that before you move in with me. You know…"
"Do you want to talk about it, Gray?" She looked at me with such understanding that I almost wanted to share every single thought that had haunted me for the past ten years.
Still, I declined. "Let's pick up your things and bring them home before anyone changes their mind."
Effortlessly, I lifted Amelia and carried her the first few yards toward the path leading to her cottage.
"When I wondered this morning what it would be like to live together… I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
I felt the same way.
"But I'm not complaining about it either."
21
AMELIA
No one could deny that the greenhouse was the place where Gray was happiest. As he tended to the seedlings and helped some plants into new pots, I had claimed the couch, a book resting on my lap.
I liked the fact that since my arrival, I had had enough time to read all the books that had been piling up, waiting to catch my attention for months. In between, I worked on the projects that Gray had handed over to me within the first week and was always at his disposal whenever he needed help. A certain routine had set in, even though it had briefly wobbled the previous day due to my move.
Normal people wouldn't move into the same house after just a week. But then, normal people wouldn't have embarked on this adventure in the first place, so it wasn't really a standard for comparison anyway. Or shouldn't be.
"We've never talked about what's going to happen with your actual job." Gray turned his head toward me.
Sometimes, it was a bit frightening how in sync our thoughts were. "Well, I've taken all the vacation days I never used over the past few years, and…" I shrugged.
It's not like I was attached to my job. It financed my life and kept me afloat, but it certainly wasn't my passion.
"Are you going to tell me what you used to do?"
"I was a receptionist at a sex club," I replied, just to watch his facial expression slip for a moment. "No, actually, I worked the night shifts at the emergency room reception. Nothing special."
At least it was no comparison to the bed-and-breakfast that Gray ran with such passion.
"What would you do if you had a choice?"
"Probably something where people don't scream in my face because the doctor won't look at their ingrown toenail at four in the morning before addressing an acute heart attack."
He raised an eyebrow. "Did someone actually do that?"
I let out an amused sound. It wasn't just one person; getting yelled at for not meeting patients' expectations was part of the daily routine. "All the time. But it's still pretty mild compared to what those dealing directly with patients have to endure."
"Does this behavior bother you?" Gray looked genuinely concerned, but all I could do was shrug my shoulders.
"It annoyed me that everyone suddenly forgot their manners. But did it affect me personally? It's not like I've ever bitten my tongue when someone behaved that way toward me. Besides, more often than not, I could tell if their issue was genuine before they even began to speak. If I had the choice, I wouldn't take that job again."
