I started to protest, but she raised her hands.
“I’m not getting rid of them. But I don’t like to hold it over his head. Especially when it really was an accident.”
“It was my fault. If I’d not come barging in…. You were trying to protect me.”
She laughed. “I was trying to protect both of you. You looked like you were going to kill him, Randall. I’d never seen you like that. Never.”
“Sorry.”
“No. You don’t need to be sorry. I would have felt the same way. And I’m not getting rid of the pictures, like I said. I might feel bad about them, and I don’t think Dustin would try to get Bailey from me when I leave, not like I did before. But that doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. I will use those pictures if I have to. And if I have to lie about them to keep my daughter, I will.” Her eyes were huge as she held my gaze. “Will you go along with my story? If it comes to that.”
I didn’t even have to think. “Of course I will. I know he didn’t hurt you, but he’s been mentally abusive to you for years, even if it was because of Dad. And with the lies he’s spreading about me, yeah, you bet. I’ll back any story you need to come up with.”
She nodded, a tear falling.
“Kayla, did you realize that you just saidwhenyou leave him? Not if?”
She sucked in a quick breath and then began to cry.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“HE’S PRETTY.You want me to ask him to stay to help us celebrate?”
I scoffed. “Which one? The twenty-year-old or the one who probably has never sat in a dentist’s chair?”
“Your choice, I suppose. I was thinking the muscle college guy, personally, but if you have a thing for halitosis, then by all means—”
I elbowed him in the stomach. “Don’t be an ass.” I turned my gaze back to the movers as they hefted my desk out of back of the moving van. “Besides, twenty-year-olds have never done it for me. Not even when I was twenty.”
Noah opened his mouth, but I cut him off.
“Bad breath doesn’t do it for me either. And I think I just want to celebrate with you this evening.”
“You’re not sick of me yet, huh? Not dying to bring a third to spice things up?”
“Goodness, if we’re getting stale this early on, we’d have a problem, especially considering we’re now cohabitating. Although”—I took his hand in mine and gripped three of his fingers—“if these fellas want to join the celebration with you tonight, you won’t hear me complaining.”
Noah wiggled his pinky. “What about him? He gets lonely.”
I couldn’t suppress a laugh. “They’re all invited.”
He bugged his eyes out at me. “All ten of them? Wow, this is going to be a party. I’ll have to make sure I lock the dogs out of the bedroom. I don’t want to give them reason to judge you in the morning.”
I laughed again and settled back into Noah’s arms, letting out a sigh of contentment. I watched the movers going back and forth from the truck, but they were nondescript, blurry shapes. I was more focused on the moment. The feel of Noah’s arms around me, the fact that his place was now our place, that we were here in real life, after all was said and done. Finally. After a few months. After more than two decades. Even the little bit of fear around moving in together was pleasant.
“Do you think we should help them unload?” Noah’s voice cut through my contented wanderings.
“Dear Lord, no. We’re paying them enough.”
“True, but the sooner they’re done, the sooner we can try out the bed.”
“I think we’ve broken that in by now.”
“Well, then, the sooner we can break it in some more. And order Indian food. Plus I’m pretty sure the dogs are sick of being trapped in the bathroom.”
I watched the two movers struggle with a large box of books, then turned to Noah. “How about we rescue the dogs and take them on a long walk. The movers can text us when they’re done.”
“You really don’t want to help unload stuff, do you?”
