I slip the jar from her hands, and set it on the ground, cupping her cheeks. “Listen, I want you to know that your father loved you very much. Never forget that, okay? He wouldn’t want you to be sad. He would want you to be happy. For him. Can you do that for me?”
She nods, and I kiss her head.
“Come on, let’s go check on that cake.”
We gather the jar of flowers and walk back inside hand in hand; my heart lighter than it has ever been before.
“Of all the times I’ve had to leave, I think this one will be the hardest.” Linc’s voice is deep and gravely, raking over my heart in the most painful way. His mouth meets the skin of my neck, a greeting I’ve grown accustomed to, but today I don’t like the worry it brings. He’s just returned from spending the day with his mother. He’d wanted her to come for dinner but she was more tired than usual, having completed a chemo treatment yesterday.
Tension rolls beneath my fingers as I place my hands on his shoulders. “We’ll be fine,” I assure him, even though I’m silently dying inside.
I need to be strong for him. Be there for him like he has been for me.
“I know. I just…you’ve spent your whole life taking care of everyone else. I just want to take care of you. It’s all I want to do. I wish I didn’t have to go.”
“You do take care of me. I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it weren’t for you.”
Tucking a stray hair behind my ear, he leans down to drop a kiss to my forehead then my lips. “I’m so proud of you.” His palm caresses my face and I turn my mouth in to place a kiss there. “I’ll call every night,” he promises.
“Don’t you mean FaceTime every night?”
“You’re really looking forward to that, aren’t you?”
I blush. I am looking forward to it. It’s the only way I’ll be able to see his face and that brings me a small measure of comfort. “Why would you say that?”
He gives me a pointed look, raising one lone brow. He’s so sexy when he does that. “Because you’re curious.”
“You’re so full of shit.”
“Am I? I bet if I touched you right now you’d be wet.”
“Jesus, Linc. You have no shame, do you?”
“Not when it comes to you.”
He kisses my lips again, twirling his tongue with mine in a single quest to drive me out of my mind. God, I’m going to miss him terribly. I’ve grown addicted to his kisses, the soft and gentle ones, the possessive ones.
All of them.
He pulls back abruptly, throwing me slightly off balance. “Oh, I almost forgot. I gave the builder your cell phone number just in case he can’t get in touch with me for any reason. You have permission to make any decision on our behalf.”
“Uh, I’m not sure I feel very comfortable with that, Linc.”
He looks affronted. “Why not?”
“Because it’s your house. You should be the one making those decisions.”
He chews the inside of his mouth before clearing his throat. “This isourhouse, remember? Besides, you know me. You know what I like. I have complete confidence you can handle the task.”
I shrug. “Okay, but if you come home to claw foot tubs and bead board ceilings, I don’t wanna hear a thing.”
Kissing my lips firmly, he inhales deeply through his nose. “I’m fine with that as long as you are the one naked in that claw foot tub.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.”
“So what’s for dinner?”
“Chicken pot pie.”
