“Oh.” I’m so screwed. “You’re probably right.”
She rubs her palms together. “Thank you so much for going out and getting dinner. I can start cooking at least some of the time.”
I guess that’s a good leadup to what I’ve been wanting to tell her but haven’t found the right moment. Or the courage. I don’t want things to go from strange to straight up unbearably awkward.
“Scythe and I… we’re really glad that you’re here. I don’t want you to feel like there are any expectations that you need to do things like that, or make any sort of payment, or to just hurry up and get healed so you can walk out and leave. There’s no timeline.”
She studies me with a new intensity. “Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate you telling me that.”
The air rushes out of my lungs audibly, I’m so relieved. “I guess we should eat?”
“Yes!”
“I got cat food and litter.”
She shocks me by reaching for my hand and giving it a tight squeeze. “Thank you. I didn’t even ask you to do that.”
“I figured you’d need it soon. What you had won’t last forever. Especially not with Pumpkin. He seems to be a champion pooper. Not that I should mention that before dinner.”
She laughs. “Champion pooper. I like that. I’ll tell him you said so. I think he’ll approve.”
“I could get him a trophy.”
She laughs harder. I’m not a funny person. In prison, being funny could get you killed, but likely, you’ll just eat fists or a boot for your troubles. It’s nice to be appreciated like that. It’s just straight up wonderful to hear Loreena’s gorgeous laugh, appreciation be damned.
She follows me to the table. I hold my breath and debate pulling out her chair for her but decide it would be too romantic. She has no trouble slipping into it herself. She glances eagerly at the covered takeout dishes.
“This is beautiful,” she says, but I think her voice is just the slightest bit husky. “I like the tablecloth.”
“I got it at the home store. They sell candles too, so it was an easy stop.” Also, wineglasses, but I don’t want to mention that I had to get them specifically. I don’t know why I said any of that at all.
“Wine is an excellent choice for Italian. No wonder you wanted to keep it a surprise. This is justdelightful.”
She helps me uncover the dishes. Everything is still hot despite the wait.
We fill our plates, and when Loreena takes the first bite, she sighs dramatically. “A-plus for this. If we’re going to get Pumpkin a trophy, you deserve one too. Epic dinner chooser. Even if this wasn’t what you picked out.”
“Close enough,” I mutter, hoping she doesn’t notice that my whole face probably went squirrely as fuck. Speaking of… “Have you noticed that there’s an epic amount of squirrels running around out in the yard? They’re all over the trees, running on the roof of the house, and sometimes they drop from the windows and go skidding all the way down the glass.”
“Yes! I saw one when I was talking to Lockwood. It ran right into the window and then flicked its tail at us like we were the reason it conked itself. Poor thing.”
“They’re kind of sassy.”
“Someone must be feeding them.”
“Probably Scythe. I could see him putting up bird feeders and then when the squirrels were being pests, giving them their own place to eat. He probably buys specialty nuts for them.”
“Oh my god!” She has a fork full of spaghetti bolognese but lowers it to her mouth as she bursts into a full, hearty laugh. “Specialty nuts. That’s insane. Like what? Cashews? Walnuts? Do they even like those? Are they palatable or squirrel nutrition table approved?”
“Should I look it up?”
“Later. Let’s just enjoy this.”
Sitting across from Loreena and watching her let loose and be thoroughly amused, her eyes sparkling and her cheeks evenpinker, looking so damn alive and gorgeous, it’s a miracle that I can even remember my own name.
That’s what happens when you have issues with blood flowing immediately to all thewrongparts of the body.
She waves her fork in the air. “Tell me about the club. If you can.”
