NETTIE: On it.
NETTIE: Please, be safe.
AMANDA: Hey, Meirna! I hope you’re having an amazing honeymoon, hun! I’m sorry to text you right now, but we got another anonymous million dollars for the non-profit, like last year. Just wanted to give you the good news! See you whenyou get back!
I pause over her open text message thread.
Last year, Bobby claimed he gave it and didn’t want me to know when I mentioned the generous donation because it did wonders for Silver Pines. We were able to create an on-site medical clinic so it would reduce the trips to the ER. We made sensory rooms for a calmer environment for dementia residents and upgraded the flooring to prevent falls.
But with the bank statements Bronte provided, that would never be possible. Bobby doesn’t have a million dollars.
He lied, again.
Temporarily ignoring Amanda’s text, I shoot over to Nettie:
MEIRNA: I will. Report back as soon as you get the tea.
NETTIE: Will do. Love you!
MEIRNA: Love you!
Returning to Amanda’s message, I shoot her a thanks, that I’m having anamazingtime, and I can’t wait to talk about starting our next project. Next on the agenda is wellness and therapy programs and technology upgrades, so our residents can stay connected to loved ones.
“Morning, Daydream.”
My focus immediately flicks upward, and Bronte haszeromodesty. He’s looking at me, waiting for my response, but I’m too busy engaging with his shirtless torso and chest. The dip that disappears underneath the black sweatpants he’s currently wearing.
Then the black ink right above his waistline and descending even further.
I’ve never seen him in anything but a suit, I don’t think. I mentally go back to Christmases before, and what he’d worn when he’d kiss and fuck me, but I don’t remember.
This is ridiculous.
I don’t know this man.
“Mornin’,” I mutter back, gesturing toward the coffee table. “I got us coffee and pastries.”
“Beautiful,” he replies, making his way toward our breakfast. “How did you sleep?”
Perfect.
The best I’ve slept in a while.
“Fine,” I reply. “Always a bit off and on when I’m in a place I don’t know.”
Bronte takes a seat across from me. The same spot he sat before when I said Bobby was better in bed. “You looked completely out when I carried you to bed.”
I glower at him because he touched me without asking.
He did a bunch of shit without asking.
Thankfully, he was lying in the bed when I woke up. Unless he left it before I woke up.
“Which one do you recommend?”
Poisoned ones.
I inhale before answering with, “The cherry or the cream cheese.”
