We were done with the food, so we both got up and headed across the hallway to the garage, and I tapped in the code to the door, voicing it out loud to her as I did. It was coded from both sides, because I had a thing about security. Getting into one part of the house shouldn’t be a gateway to the rest. Maybe I’ve just watched too many Criminal Minds episodes or something.
“Okay, so don’t get mad, but…”
Glory
Idon’t know whatI’d expected, thinking at first that he was going to show me his motorcycles, or the car, or something, but it wasn’t that. As he flicked on the lights over the corner area of the garage, I could see what he’d been doing. I didn’t know when he’d done it, but he’d clearly planned ahead. Always thinking of me.
The lights were daylight bright, and illuminating a large desk area, with shelving, and easels, and my god…
“Is that an airbrush I see?”
He nodded, looking like a shy little boy as he dragged his hand through his hair.
“I thought you might want to try it, but if you don’t like it, that’s fine too. Or if you just want to do something else, I can get whatever you need, but I thought you might want to have some fun out here, or get back to business stuff, or I thought-”
“Shush. You’re babbling again. I love it, thank you so much! I’ve never used one, but I’ve always wanted to.”
He gestured for me to go check it out, but I was already moving. It was everything I could have wished for, but much pricier kit than I would have been able to afford. I wasn’t actually sure what I could afford at all now, because Sean had made sure that I was reliant on him for money, and now he was gone. I wondered what had happened to his assets, but then again, I didn’t want or need his money. What I needed was this new start. This new start with Henley.
“There’s an airbrush, and a spray gun for larger stuff like bike tanks. Oh, and you can use different paints and inks, so you canwork on paper, metal, fabric or whatever. I don’t know what any of it really does, but there’s online videos and things. I uh…”
He pulled out a drawer at the side of the desk, and lifted up what I realised was a touchscreen surface, with a built in stand. “You can watch them as you work, and… if there’s other stuff, you can just tell me and I’ll make it happen.”
I turned and threw myself into his arms, giggling as he staggered a step before he caught our weight and his balance again.
“Whoa!”
“Thank you thank you thank you! I’ll pay you back as soon as I get something set up to earn from!”
He shook his head, kissing my forehead.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m not going to miss the money, but I don’t want you to worry about stuff like that. You’re covered, okay? Just enjoy. Find your passions again, and create. Live. I just want to be a part of it. I’m selfish that way.”
“You could never be selfish. You’re completely selfless, and I’m so lucky that you were still here for me after all this time.”
“Always. Fucking. Here for you,” he practically growled, kissing my nose and turning me back to the desk setup.
“So when you’re ready, I can arrange for you to hang with Rocket and Has to talk art if you want, or help you learn how to use the different kits. Only if you want.”
I nodded, my eyes taking in every detail of my new workspace, including the heater set up under the desk, because he knows I’m always cold.
He’d really thought of everything. There was even an extraction system rigged up for fumes, just like I’d seen in garages and posh workshops.
He just kept giving me back the pieces of my life that I’d lost, and it didn’t end there.
After I’d had a nose around, and declared that I’d start tomorrow when I’d had time to do some thinking about what to work on first, he announced that tonight would be movie night, and then proceeded to run up and down the stairs to the panic room, with armfuls of stuff, while he told me to wait. I spent that time making hot chocolate for us, because that’s the perfect movie drink, and when he called me downstairs, I realised what he’d been up to. That amazing sofa setup in the TV area was now a bed. With our pillows and bedding, and he was standing by it, looking sheepish once more, waiting for me.
“This is perfect! We’re sleeping here?”
He nodded. “Is that okay? We can watch things until we fall asleep, and you’ll hopefully feel even safer in here, where nobody could ever get to you, living or dead.”
Did I have to go through hell just for me to appreciate heaven when I found it, or was this always what was waiting for me, and I suffered hell for no damn reason? I had no idea, but I was taking what was offered, because it was him.Henley. The friend who’d always been the man of my dreams, and maybe it was time for him to return to those too.
Chapter Thirty-One
We’d slept downstairs fortwo nights in a row, and she’d only had one nightmare during that time, and even though she had a nightmare, it wasn’t about him. It was some random shit that had nothing to do with Sean or me. It was progress in a roundabout kind of way.
I was back on prospect duty, and had been sent out on my ride to drop off some papers at the council office. I didn’t know the details, to be honest. I didn’t ask. My job was to do as I was told, so I was doing it.
