“All set for now, thanks.” Annie picked up some blocks in the middle of the floor and tossed them in a basket near the end of the couch. “We won’t eat until the others get here.”
“My husband had a few errands this morning, but he should be here soon.” The pleasant expression on Audrey’s face kicked her anxiety into high gear. Blake’s dad could be worse than mom.
“Well, I don’t want to intrude on a family event. I only wanted to drop off Parker’s gift and say happy birthday to him.”
Annie’s eyes widened as she shook her head. “No, please don’t go. We want you here.”
“I should…”
“I’d like you to stay.”
Everyone turned as Blake spoke, his tall figure filling the door frame. No, he wasn’t supposed to be here. There was no way of acting normal in his presence, still so gorgeous and his mouth curled enough for his dimples to wink at her. Why did she have to love him so much? If she’d only kept him at arm’s length from the beginning, she wouldn’t feel like she’d been tossed in deep water, struggling to reach the surface to breathe.
Her body froze, tears welling in her eyes. She couldn’t do this. Hang around as friends. Not so soon. Maybe in ten years. Make that twenty. She wanted him so badly, but she couldn’t get even closer and then have her dreams ripped away as he decided having deaf children wasn’t a risk he wanted to take. It hurt too much already. How much more pain could she take?
“I need to go.” Somehow, she got her legs moving toward the kitchen, but Blake stepped toward her.
“Carli, please, hear me out.”
Rip the Band-aid off. Now. “No, I can’t. I’m deaf, so I can’t hear anything.”
With her heart shredding into little pieces, she fled the room.
No, he couldn’t let her get away again. He had to make her see what she meant to him.
Running after her, he caught up as she reached for her purse on the counter. Taking it from her hands, he dropped it back where it had been and faced her. Tears ran down her cheeks, slicing his insides to pieces.
Please, he signed over and over again, swallowing past the lump in his throat. Her gaze stayed on the floor.
Reaching over, he gently slid the processors off her ears and removed the magnet holding them on. Her head popped up at that, and she grabbed for them. He was faster and placed them next to her purse.
“You don’t ever have to use these again with me.”
Her forlorn expression dug into him, and he wanted to pull her close and kiss away all the pain he’d caused.
“What are you talking about?” She hadn’t bothered to sign. Had she seriously given up on the two of them? If so, he had to work harder.
“It doesn’t matter to me if you ever use your CIs again. Keep them off, and we’ll use sign language. Always.”
“That’s not what you want.”
“What I want is you. In my life.”
Her bottom lip trembled, and he swiped his thumb across it, loving the feel of her skin against his. Reviewing all the vocabulary he’d studied, he took a half step back, hoping he’d get this right.
“I don’t love you because of your hearing, Carli. I love you because you’re intelligent. Caring. Generous. You make me laugh and want to be in your presence. When you’re with me, my life is so much better. You make the stress of all my responsibilities fade into the distance, yet you never get upset if I cancel because of work. You accept my job and the hours it entails.”
When he stopped for a breath and to remember the speech he’d planned, he noticed she was actually watching him, had almost smiled the few times he’d stumbled on a missed sign or been too slow fingerspelling.
“But I didn’t accept you exactly the way you are, and for that I’m sorry. And stupid. Because the way you are is exactly what I fell in love with. I don’t ever want you to change, and I hope you can forgive me for treating you poorly and not giving you all my attention when I should have.”
What was she thinking? The tears had stopped, but her expression was still unsure, and her hands played with the hem of her shirt. His heart raced so fast he was surprised it hadn’t bolted from his chest.
“I want you in my life. Always.”
“What about children?“ Did her signing mean she was coming round? Please, let it mean that.
“I’d definitely like trying to make them.”
