“Oh? What would we do, all alone in there?”
He leaned down until his lips brushed my earlobe. “I have almost two weeks of missing you to catch up on. I’m sure I could come up with something.”
Laughing, I gave Addie a wave and pulled Milo into the breakroom. It wasn’t much, just a mini fridge, a tiny microwave, and a couple of thrift store armchairs, but it was private. I took Milo’s statement at face value, but after he positioned me on his lap and spent fifteen minutes kissing me, I finally saw through his plan.
“You brought me in here as a distraction, didn’t you?” I demanded.
His smile was too sweet for me to hold onto any irritation. “I thought it might be a good idea to take your mind off things. Just for a bit.”
I shifted to look him in the eye. We’d come this far—time to get the rest out. After a deep breath, I forged ahead.
“There’s not some tiny part of you that says, ‘If only I were dating someone else, my shop wouldn’t have been vandalized?’ Buried deep down in a place where you might not think it’s a big deal right now, but in five or ten years down the road, you resent me for it?”
“Eden,” he said gently, “we need to unpack a few things here. First off, no. Hell no. There is no part of me, at any depth, that blames you for any of this. Second, I love that you’re thinking about five or ten years down the road, but I wish you saw it in a better light.”
I blinked at him. “A better light?”
“Yeah, like us living together for real and carpooling to work so you don’t have to worry about stealing my parking spot. You officially accepting the role of Jiji’s mama. Our stores both thriving so we can hire people to help out while we take a vacation somewhere. Maybe, eventually, marriage and babies if you’re interested in that kind of thing.”
“Oh,” I breathed, overwhelmed by how much Iwantedthat.
“Right. So, there’s that, all of which warrants a discussion when you’re in the right mindset, okay? But third, Eden, we need to talk about your parents.”
My head jerked. “My parents?”
Milo stroked my cheek with one finger and said, “Yes. Is that something they did, sit on a grievance and throw it back in your face years later?”
For a solid minute, I sat frozen, staring at him. Milo was patient, giving me the time and space to process. Even when my gaze grew unfocused and my lips parted, he stayed quiet.
“Thoseassholes,” I hissed.
“Eden,” Milo began, but I surged to my feet and started pacing the tiny room.
“I can’t believe I never saw that. When I was younger, I felt like everything they said to me, all the strict religious crap and hellfire threats, trickled right off my back. I’d come out here and vent to Addie about some of it, then I’d let it go and feel better. I didn’t realize how much stuck inside me.”
Milo stood, watching me carefully. “I don’t know how you could grow up in that environment andnotinternalize some things.”
I spun to face him. “Libby was right. I need a therapist. Oh my god, Milo. Their bullshit cost us almost two whole weeks!”
“Two weeks where you learned how many people have your back, Eden,” he replied. “And you’re right here with me now. That’s all that matters.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, face-planting against his chest.
His arms wrapped around me without hesitation, enfolding me in his warmth. The rapid shift of emotion inside me made me dizzy, but all of it was underscored by how very grateful I was to have found the man before me.
Eventually, I tipped my head back to meet his gaze while rewinding and replaying the conversation in my mind. While the past had cluttered my head until I couldn’t see clearly, Milo had been looking ahead to the future.
Our future. Together.
I let a new sensation curl its way through my chest, forcing out all of the guilt and fear until the only thing left was my blossoming love for this man.
“So,” I ventured, “you’ve been dreaming of marriage and babies?”
Milo grinned sheepishly. “I was really hoping you’d focus on the vacation part first.”
“I think I could get on board with that.”
All of it, really, but that was a conversation for another time—when whatever threat loomed over us had been vanquished.
