“Love you,” I replied before I hung up.
Then came Clara, holding a tray—with Beau’s help.
She passed it to him then came running, jumping into bed and snuggling next to me. “We’re going to eat together,” she declared. “As a family.”
My heart skipped. I looked at Beau.
He was smiling.
Nothing like that smile in the photo of him holding Clara. His ability to smile like that had been stolen. But there was joy still, radiating from him.
I toyed with Clara’s hair, unable to speak.
We had breakfast in bed. As a family.
Once breakfast was finished, Beau disappeared. I thought he’d gone to do the dishes. A reasonable assumption since he’d taken the tray and forbidden me from helping.
Not ready to leave the room and reenter reality, Clara and I were reading in Beau’s bed.
When Beau returned to the room, it was clear he had not been doing dishes. He’d been packing.
My bags. There were only two. He deposited them at the end of the bed.
He then walked over to his dresser, opening drawers, rearranging things.
I watched him with a slack jaw. Clara was still reading, oblivious that something monumental was going on. I would’ve thought me being her father’s girlfriend was somethingmonumental, but apparently, she’d been wishing for it. Therefore, it made total sense for her wishes to come true.
Oh, how I hoped with all my heart I could help preserve that certainty, that belief that wishes did come true.
“Come on, Bug.” Beau held his hands out to his daughter. “We’ll get you dressed. Hannah is going to unpack.” He said it in a no-nonsense way, like it wasn’t in any way monumental to him either. But the change in his body language was unmistakable. He walked differently, like he wasn’t carrying so much. His shoulders were more relaxed, and there wasn’t a permanent crease between his eyes.
Clara jumped up at her father’s command. “I’m going to unpack?” I said it sharply, and there was a staticky sound in my ears, so I couldn’t be sure that the words came out as I’d intended.
He nodded. “We discussed it last night. You’ll be staying in here, with me, from now on. Remember?”
I almost choked on my own saliva. Did Iremember?I’d said the words myself. And I’d meant them. But I hadn’t trusted that it would actually happen. Hadn’t thought Beau would go so far as to pack my bags himself within an hour of waking up. In front of Clara, no less. He wouldn’t do that unless he was certain about this.
About me.
“I remember,” I whispered.
“Good. Now unpack.” Beau’s eyes did a slow scan over me, still in his bed. “Perfect,” he muttered, almost to himself. Then he followed his daughter out of the room.
I was left with a thundering heart.
Without thinking too much, I unpacked. I did it slowly, and even then it didn’t take long. Beau had cleared out way too much space for my meager belongings. Soon, they were in his dresser, a couple of dresses hung next to his shirts in the closet. I putthe dress I wore to Calliope’s wedding next to the suit he’d worn. Same with my Halloween dress, lining it up next to his Gomez suit. They looked like they belonged.
I felt like I belonged.
Which should’ve been comforting, the ease in which this had happened. Instead, it was terrifying. My delicious breakfast felt as if it were curdling in my stomach.
Hence me getting dressed and putting on my running shoes, despite the ache in my muscles.
“I’m going for a run,” I announced to the kitchen.
Normally, I didn’t broadcast that I was going for a run. I didn’t know why I did it that morning. Maybe because Beau had spent a decent amount of time the previous night with his mouth between my legs. Maybe because my clothes were now in his closet, and he’d made it clear that he cared about my comings and goings. Maybe it was because he loved me.
“Have fun!” Clara called from her spot at the breakfast bar. She was coloring. Beau was tending to his sourdough, which he made weekly. Something incredibly endearing and also delicious.
