I sniffed. “Thank you.”
“Anything else bothering you?”
“Well, I was wondering how this is going to work out.”
“Us?”
“Yes,” I breathed.
“Well, you’ll move into your new place. Then I’ll call on you and take you on a date.”
“I’m still waiting to hear if the seller accepted my offer.” But part of me didn’t want to leave. Now that I knew how much he loved me and I loved him, my mind had immediately conjured up ideals of weddings and sayingI do.Too soon, Erykah.
Wasn’t it? “A date sounds nice, though.”
“But not the moving?”
“Is it ever fun?”
Chris chuckled.
“But really, I’d be happy if I didn’t have to leave this spot.” My face heated. Great, did that hint at forever, or would he take it to mean I was comfortable in his arms?
“But neither one of us wants to be tempted to cross the line.” Chris spoke in a low voice.
That made so much sense, because even now I wanted to kiss him to my heart’s content. “You’re right,” I groused.
“I feel the same way.” Chris held me tighter.
“I need to tell the girls.”
“Definitely. Do you want me to be there with you? I can reassure Cheye that she’ll still get to see me often.”
Despite the offer, his voice seemed sad. Would he miss our daily interactions as much as I would? And poor Cheye—she might revert to her pre-therapy days and throw a tantrum.
Moving out might bring up feelings of losing Ellynn and Asher all over again. Part of me wanted to plead my case and ask Chris to consider letting us stay. But the only way I could see him agreeing to that was if we considered marriage.
“Mawage?”ThePrincess Bridequote reverberated in my head.
But yes.
Chris was it for me. I didn’t need to date anyone else to know that. I was forty-one years old and knew myself, knew my heart,knewChris. Honestly, I didn’tneedhim to take me on an actual date to know how I felt. I wanted a lifetime with him.
So tell him!
Of course. It was that simple. He didn’t have to be the one to set the pace every step of the way. Ilovedhim. And I didn’t want to move out just to move back in whenever he decided to propose. Unless, in fact, hedidn’twant that with me. I wouldn’t know unless we discussed it.
I pulled back, moving to a sitting position. “I have something to say, and I want you to think everything over before saying something. I also want us to pray together and separately about it.”
“O-kay.” His gaze darkened with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” I smiled. I felt good about this. “I want to talk about our living arrangement.”
“I’m listening.”
The words bolstered me.Say what’s on your heart. He loves you and won’t ridicule you.Right. “I don’t think I should move out.” I waited for him to say something, then realized I was supposed to be making a speech.
“I love you. You love me. We’re already a family. We’ve been living like one for months now. Our feelings were just a little slow to...”To what? Admit? Recognize?
