“Can I ask you a question?” he said as he rolled my head to one side and continued to use his goddess-given talent.
“Sure.”
“Why accounting?” His voice was quiet, but the question made my eyes open, only to look up and see him looking down at me.
I wanted to reply and just say something like I was good with numbers or there were lots of jobs available in the field. Both of which were true. However, if we were headed where I wanted, I needed to share myself with this man, which required being vulnerable and spilling my secrets, such as they were. And in all honesty, I hadn’t done a whole lot of that so far while he had no choice with everything that had happened over the past week.
Attempting to dig deep and find some courage, I kept my gaze locked on his. “My parents are really great people.”
He nodded but didn’t say anything. Maybe he sensed that I needed to get this out.
“They aren’t the most organized.”
He nodded again.
“Their love is big—for each other, for me. I’ve never doubted that. What I did worry about as a kid was if they remembered to pay the electric bills or if they’d budgeted for groceries that week, much less remembered to go get them.”
He gave my shoulder a squeeze, almost like he was urging me to continue. Since he kept on toying with my hair, I did.
“They live big and love with their whole selves, but the small minutia of daily life… not always great with that stuff.” I thought of what that might sound like and quickly reassured him. “We always had a roof over our head and something to eat, but it might be cereal and eaten in the dark until they could get ahold of the power company to send in a payment.” I swallowed. “I was luckier than many.”
“Hey.” Noah rubbed a finger over my jaw. “Don’t discount your experiences. I bet that was scary as a kid.”
I shrugged. “Not sure if all kids would find it scary, but if you really like stability… Yeah.”
“And accounting is pretty stable,” he said, putting the pieces together.
I nodded, watching as he looked off, lost in thought for a moment before he met my eyes again.
“So you had love and not a lot of stability, while I had stability and no love.” He shook his head and gave me a soft smile. “We’re quite the pair.” He paused, then met my eyes. “I think I’m also understanding how you ended up coming to Madison with me this week.”
I wasn’t sure what to make of that. “I mean, you needed someone with you…”
He nodded. “But not a lot of people would do that for someone they just met.”
I flushed. “Verdell and Ivy said it was a good idea.”
He bent to kiss my forehead. “Itwasa good idea.”
I squirmed. “I just really didn’t like the idea of you alone.”
“And I appreciate that. I think you also care about people with your whole selfandwant them to feel secure. Kitten, you got the best of your parents and yourself. I’m just a benefactor.” He brushed my hair back over my head.
“I know. I was far luckier than you growing up,” I said, embarrassed that I had even brought it up when he had really struggled to get his parents to value him for who he was and now they were gone.
Noah bopped my nose again. “Kitten, you’re not getting that this isn’t a contest. We can both wish things were different. And you’ve already said you love your parents?—”
“I do.”
He gave me an understanding look. “I know. You’re still allowed to wish things were different. Doesn’t mean they’re bad people.”
I sighed. “They’re not bad; they’re sweet. And now, in retirement, they’re living their best life.” I smiled, rememberingI’d told him about their life in the RV, but I didn’t think I’d mentioned the side gig. “You should follow their social media account; it brings them in a stupid amount of money each month.”
Noah paused his massage, darn it, to pull out his phone. “What is it?”
I told him, and he thumbed it in and then showed me an account to see if he had the right one. I nodded, and he immediately hit Follow and began scrolling through pictures.
“They have over three hundred thousand followers,” he murmured.
