Bennie squinted at Stella, twirling a lock of Stella’s hair between her fingers. I’d never have thought two and a half months was enough time to completely fall for someone, but Bennie and I had proven it to be true.
“I can honestly say I’m feeling much better.” Stella’s smile was easy as she tugged on Bennie’s ponytail. She looked tired and a little weak, but she looked like my Stella. I could make the rest of it better.
“It’s really late, baby girl,” I said, holding out my hand. “I think you need to head to bed.”
“Why do I even have to go to school tomorrow? We already gave all our books back, and we’re just watching movies.” She crossed her arms and jutted out her bottom lip. “And I think I should stay home and help you take care of Stella.”
I glanced at Stella over Bennie’s shoulder, holding back a laugh.
“You know what? Fine. We could use the morning off.”
My daughter’s jaw dropped in shock.
“Wait, I can stay home? You actually said yes?”
“Yes, it’s a special case. Just for tomorrow.”
“This is so great!”
I groaned when her eyes danced. I wanted a morning of recovery time, but I knew my daughter would run with this as a new precedent. But to her point, she only had a couple of days left, and we could circle back to her next excuse to stay home in September.
“Well, I am going to put on my pj’s and get cozy on the couch,” Stella said, rising from the kitchen chair.
“Me too,” Bennie said. “I’ll pick some more homemade movies.”
“Ben, how about just regular movies? Save the home ones for another time.”
“Oh, okay,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks,” Stella said. “I think I need something nice and mindless that I’ve seen enough times to not pay attention.”
A weak smile tugged at Stella’s lips as she walked past me and headed up the stairs. We’d both had a rough couple of days, but I still didn’t know the whole story of what had set her off last night and chased her out of herethis morning. I’d planned to wait until Bennie went to bed, but now that could be hours between her excitement and all the sugar she’d eaten.
I followed Stella upstairs but peeked into Bennie’s room first. She was wrist-deep in an old bin of DVDs when she turned toward me.
“I have to help Stella for a little while, but keep looking for movies for us, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy,” Bennie said and went back to digging.
I gave Stella’s bedroom door a light tap before I stepped in. Stella sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the back of her neck as she stared at the ceiling.
“Still feels okay?” I asked, sitting at the corner of the bed. I didn’t want to ask what was wrong again. She’d hung on to me at the hospital and while we were talking to the police, but we still hadn’t addressed what had bothered her enough for it to sound like she’d been about to leave me.
“Yeah. It’s not from…today. I think it’s tension.”
“A good chiropractor can help with that,” I joked, sliding closer to her.
“Yes, that’s right.” Her gaze locked with mine. “Just don’t crack it. You know that freaks me out.”
I chuckled and crawled behind her, feeling around her neck and back.
“Relax,” I said, gently pushing her neck forward to stretch out the tightness I could feel. “You had a rough couple of days.”
“You mean I put myself through a rough couple of days.” She glanced back at me. “When did you realize you were in love with me?”
My hands stilled, pausing in kneading her shoulders.
“When? I’m not really sure. I was confused for a whileat first.” I pressed my thumbs deeper into her skin, the muscles still tensing up as I tried to stretch them out.
