Then he nodded stiffly, turned to the coffee machine, and said, “Good.” The moment was over.
They fell silent again, but silence wasn’t half as bad with Lucas there. His silence didn’t mean there was nothing to say, it simply meant that nothing needed to be said.
“I want to call Melody, is that okay?” he murmured as he placed the cocoa on the nightstand. “She should be asleep by now, but she won’t be.”
Yes, she recalled Melody fighting sleep before Lucas returned.
“Sure. Say hello for me, okay?”
He nodded, pulled his phone out of his pocket, and frowned briefly. His gaze slid toward the hallway.
“Oh, sorry.” Heat gathered in her cheeks and she sat up straighter. “Should I leave for a minute? Do you want to be alone?”
He merely shook his head and sat next to her on the bed, far enough away that their shoulders weren’t touching but close enough that she could clearly feel the warmth of his body and breathe in his honey scent.
Anna sank back into the pillow and closed her eyes. It was nice to sit here and not be alone. To know that Lucas had no expectations of her. That she could stay or go and do no wrong.
“Hi, Mom,” Lucas said in his calm voice, though it sounded duller than usual. “How are things going?” Anna heard a voice answer him, but she couldn’t make out the words. “Mom, she doesn’t have to eat spinach if she eats other non-green vegetables instead… No, I don’t think it’s because of my bad parenting.”
His voice sounded strained, and intuitively, Anna reached out for him. She intertwined her fingers with his free hand and squeezed gently. There was a rustling sound, and she could swear Lucas was looking at her. But she kept her eyes closed and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb…until he squeezed back.
“Can I speak to her, please? Thank you.”
Anna recognized the exact moment his mother handed the phone to Melody because Lucas instantly relaxed. He slid down the headboard of the bed so that his shoulder brushed hers, and a small, relieved sigh escaped his lips.
Anna smiled. Melody might not have been his biological daughter, but God, he was such a dad!
“Hey,” he said softly. “Are you okay?”
Then he didn’t speak for a while because he was listening. Melody must have had a lot to say, which occasionally drew a soft chuckle from him and then another sigh. He was still holding Anna’s hand, and because the touch wasn’t enough for her, because she wanted more closeness, she gently laid her head on his shoulder.
He could push her away if he didn’t want that, but Lucas didn’t move. He just let it happen before whispering, “I don’t know if I can tell you a story, Mel. It’s already late and…”
There was more rustling. He was looking at her, wasn’t he?
She nodded and whispered, “Go ahead, tell her one.”
Because a story sounded nice.
“Okay, fine,” Lucas said quietly. “What should the story be about?”
A flying sofa and ice cream. Butterflies and a knife thrower. Anna didn’t hear anything else because his voice was so deep, so serene, and so incredibly warm that it enveloped her like a soft blanket. Or maybe Lucas was actually pulling the blanket over her shoulders, she didn’t know for certain. She only knew that the last thing on her mind was that she loved his voice.
But it might no longer be what she liked most about him.
Chapter Nineteen
Nineteenth encounter
“Don’t fall asleep, Lucas!”
“I’m not falling asleep.”
“But you look tired.“
“Because I was just physically active! You…“
But Anna no longer heard him. She had long since fallen asleep.
