It was hard to picture Rip as a little kid having his mom soothe him.
But it was even harder to picture that it was him soothing me right then the only way he knew how. Maybe. Possibly. I didn’t know. I was starting to think I didn’t know anything.
“She’d put me to sleep doing it too,” he kept going in that gravelly voice that felt like a secret itself. “Two more seconds?”
It wouldn’t be until later, much, much later, that I’d realize he had been teasing me.
But I still said, “Yes, please” as my sniffles stayed sniffles, but the tears slowed down.
I was fine. I was all right. I didn’t need to cry. This wasn’t going to kill me today, tomorrow, a week from now, or ever again.
So what?
So what if my sister had changed her mind after I’d driven all the way here?
So what if she had lied to me? I had lied a hundred times in my life.
I was fine.
But I still said, “One more.”
And Rip still replied, “All right.”
Sorrow so deep I didn’t think I was capable of, covered everything around me. The tips of my fingers, the tops of my hands, right between my shoulder blades, right at the center of me.
But I wrapped it up, the memory of my sister pretty much telling me to leave, and I threw it into the trash so it wouldn’t hurt me anymore.
I had no idea what was going on with her, but there was something. I could only hope it had nothing to do with me.
I was choosing to be happy. I wasn’t going to let this bother me anymore. I wasn’t.
“Thank you, Rip,” I whispered, still catching those notes in my voice that reminded me Ihadbeen hurting, and if I lingered on it any longer, I would again.
When the arms around me loosened a little, I dropped my arms from where they were between us. I was going to pretend like my hands didn’t shake—just a little—before I set them on his hips. Swallowing hard, I reminded myself I was fine. I was.
“Thank you,” I repeated, forcing myself to tip my head back so I could look him in the eye.
That brutally handsome face was focused down on me. Those blue-green eyes moved, looking from one of my eyes to the other and back again. The arms he had around me slowly dropped back to his sides, sandwiching mine where they were on his hips.
“You’re good,” he told me.
“I’m good,” I confirmed.
Those teal eyes still bounced back and forth as he said in that perfect, boss-like voice, “I know.”
Lifting my hands off his waist and trying not to make it seem like it was a big deal they’d been there in the first place, I used the backs of them to wipe at my face as I asked, pretty timidly, “What else did your mom do when you were upset?”
There was a pause and then, “She’d give me ice cream.”
I couldn’t help but smile a little at that as I dropped my hands and sucked in a breath through my nose.
I was fine. I was fine, I was fine, I was fine.
“That was probably the best ice cream ever, huh?” I asked him with a swallow. “But I’m starving, and if you don’t mind driving us, I’ll treat you to food and a hotel room for the night. I’m sure it’s way past your bedtime. I know it’s past mine.”
Hard eyes and a hard mouth watched me closely for a moment before nodding gravely. “I’ll drive.”
It was my turn to nod, and I pressed my lips together before telling him carefully, “I’m sorry you brought me all the way over here for no reason.” I tried to give him a smile, but I wasn’t sure I managed it. “At least we’re even now, huh?”
