Yeah. That does something weird to my chest.
‘That’s me, Trouble…’
Tay bites her lip, the look in her eyes worth every squirm of discomfort.
Though is it discomfort, really?
Lottie settles back down, Dino clutched to her chest as she waits for Tay to start again and I softly squeeze her shoulder with a shake of my head.
‘Okay, Mrs Gwinch,’ I murmur, ‘you better get on with it. Little Ears is waiting.’
I don’t realise what I’ve said until I see her eyes widen, her mouth too. Mrs? Okay so maybe it was a bit suggestive, marrying us off like that, but I’m still wrestling with the news that I’m the big green thing. And not the Hulk either.
‘Wead it, Aunt Tay-Tay, wead it…’
Slowly, Taylor tears her gaze from mine and starts to read. ‘Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch – who lived just north of Whoville – did not…’
I lean back into the pillow and let Tay’s voice wash over me. I ain’t mad. Or sad. Not even close. Lottie’s little fingers play with my top while I trace circles over Tay’s shoulder, and a sense of peace settles over me. Something I haven’t felt since we parted four days ago. Something I could’ve gone a lifetime without knowing, before her… before this.
Lottie’s hand soon stills against my chest, her head turning heavy with sleep, and I smile. I’m not the only one who’s content…
‘And what happened, then?’ Tay reads softly, sparkling eyes lifting to mine as Lottie’s gentle snore fills the air, ‘Well, in Whoville they say, the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day…’
I see it in her face. I feel it in my chest.
The emotion swelling, stretching, breaking open.
I’m back in Theo’s beach house a year ago, Taylor leaning into me, teasing me, talking about hope – me shutting it down.
And now?
Fuck. Iamthe Grinch.
She knows it. Lottie knows it. And I…
‘I love you.’
The words slip out before I realise I’ve said them. And she quits breathing. Her eyes fill. And?—
‘Wuv you too, Uncle G,’ comes the sleepy declaration between us.
I huff a laugh, kiss Lottie’s hair, but my gaze never leaves Tay’s. I pour every truth I’ve buried into that look as she closes the book. Then I slip it from her fingers and we ease out from around Lottie. She kisses her forehead, whispers goodnight,but I sense she’s running on autopilot now; her head’s still living in that moment with me.
Silently, she takes my hand, pulling me out of the room, towards the next flight of stairs up.
I look back the other way. ‘Shouldn’t we be heading down to?—’
She shakes her head.
‘Won’t they wonder?—’
What the hell is wrong with me? She’s leading me upstairs. That never means talking.Unless I’ve gone too far. Misread everything. Smashed through her boundaries and ruined the contract entirely and now it’s over and?—
‘Ax…?’
She steps into the bedroom, the only light coming from a gold-trimmed Christmas tree that spills its warmth across her skin while I remain on the darkened threshold. Scared. Frozen. Panicked to the bone.
‘Yes?’
