His smile is gentle, “Nothing was right,” He continues, “I wanted you to have something and then the morning you signed the contract, I’d been looking through the office for something, I can’t even remember what it was and I opened the bottom drawer. That one’s saved for the archives, old contracts, invoices and such, and on top of the files was the box. I didn’t put it there.”
I can feel my eyes growing warm, burning with building tears, and my throat gets tight.
“My grandfather was the last person who went in that drawer, and I don’t know what had compelled me to go in there, but there it was, and that was it.”
“I shouldn’t have it,” I rasp.
“No, you should,” He kisses my hand, “It suits you, sweetheart and my mother?” He whistles, “She would have loved you.”
A single, hot tear slides out of the corner of my eye and disappears into my hairline.
“I’m sorry she isn’t here.” I whisper.
“Me too.”
“Thank you.” I reach for him, cupping the side of his face. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I know you will,” He nods, “And I’ll take care of you.”
“I know you will.” I mimic his words, and he grins, a silent laugh shaking his shoulders.
A yawn stretches my mouth, and I know it’s only a matter of time before sleep takes us both, so I slip from the bed to use the bathroom to clean up. When I return, he’s on his back, hands behind his head.
“Come here,” He says, opening one arm to allow me in against him. Once I’m there, pressed up against the side of him, my head resting in that tender spot between the shoulder and his chest, he reaches for the switch for the lamps, plunging us into darkness.
Peace washes over me, fatigue pulling my eyes closed as my body relaxes, but right before sleep fully takes me, I hear him speak.
“I need you, Niamh.” He says it quietly, as if talking to the dark, and I wonder if he thinks I’m sleeping and can’t hear him. “I need you, and I want you to need me back. I never knew I needed to be saved until I made you my wife.”
There’s a beat of silence, and I have to force myself to remain still, to keep my breathing even.
“Falling in love with you is easy.” He sighs, “You make it impossible not to, and everything I have ever been told about love makes sense. There’s no choice, no other option, it just is, and you’re helpless to stop it. I used to think I feared falling in love…” A clock ticks steadily in the silence, “But I think the scariest part is you not loving me back.”
Chapter 28
“I’ll see you later,” Niamh stretches up onto her toes to press a kiss to my lips, waving as she passes Silas, who is storming toward me with a box in his hand, a small white envelope taped to the front.
“You want to tell the mailman to fucking come all the way here,” Silas grunts, “Instead of dropping all your post on my doorstep.”
He thrusts the box in my direction, but I’ve barely registered his presence, not when I’m watching Niamh pull away from the Ranch, gravel crunching under tires.
“Roman,” Silas snaps.
I finally look at my brother, his expression thunderous. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” I take the box.
“I’m not your fucking assistant.”
I look down at the box and the letter, but it simply has my name on it, not the address, which suggests this was dropped off by someone else.
“When did this come?” I frown, peeling the envelope off the front so I can tear into it.
“It was there this morning.”
Sliding out the contents, I find it’s a simple, brightly coloredGet Well Sooncard, a picture of a stuffed bear on the front with a bandaged right paw.
Opening it up, a chill runs through me.
It’s funny the things you don’t forget. Much like my grandfather’s writing I hadn’t forgotten, I also remember exactly how my father’s writing looks.
