“Be honest from the beginning, keep it casual, no emotions, no commitments, no promises, nothing that would give the other person hope that there’s a future with me.”
“That sounds like a pretty grim way to live, even if you’re doing it to protect yourself.”
“It’s worked for me.”
“I know.”She snuggled in closer to him and put her arm around his waist.“If you feel like this is too much for you, I’ll totally understand, because we’re a lot, and this situation is a lot, and I wouldn’t blame you at all if you ran for your life back to the office, where things make sense to you.”
“Things make sense to me here, too.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Does that scare you?”
“Not nearly as much as it probably should.”
Theo came into the room, dragging his light blue blanket behind him.He stopped short when he saw her cuddled up to Julian.
She sat up and held out her hands to him.“Are you feeling better, sweetie?”
“A little.”He eyed Julian.“Did you bring the fishies?”
Julian’s lips quivered with amusement.“No, they have to stay at the office with my dad.”
“I love the fishies.”
“They’re so pretty,” Isla said.
“Lots of colors.”
Isla ran her lips over his forehead and was relieved that his fever had broken.“Are you hungry?”
Theo shrugged.“A little bit.”
“You want some animal crackers?”
He nodded.
“Do you want to stay here with Mr.Julian while I go get them?”
“Okay.”
Isla kissed the top of his blond head and settled him with his blanket against a sofa pillow.
“I see the puppies.”
She glanced at Julian.“Code for ‘please turn onPaw Patrol, Mom.’”
“I lovePaw Patrol,” Julian said, earning a skeptical look from her.
“For real?”
“What’s not to love?Maybe Theo can remind me of their names.”
“He’d love to.”Isla turned on the TV and handed the remote to Theo, who was better at finding things than she was.
“That’s Rubble!”
