He takes my hand in his and kisses it. “Today will be better, sweetheart.”
“I hope so.”
“I hate that you feel this way, Sienna. If you have another rough night tonight, I’ll help you move your things back home.”
I nod, a pit forming in my throat. I really enjoy spending time with him at his place. But I miss my studio. I would have painted for a few hours last night, and it would have relaxed me enough to go to sleep.
“But I’ll be bringing some things with me too,” he says, surprising me.
“You’d come stay with me?”
“Absolutely.”
“But that doesn’t make sense.”
“Being with you makes perfect sense,” he says, kisses my hand again, and then turns into the underground parking for his building.
I don’t know how to reply to that, so I don’t.
When we walk onto the floor of his office, Kami is already at her desk. She glances up with a smile.
“Good morning,” she says. If she thinks it’s odd that we’ve arrived together, she doesn’t let on. “You have a few messages on your desk, Quinn. And you don’t have anything on your calendar until this afternoon.”
“Perfect,” he replies. “I will need to see you in my office in thirty minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
He walks with me to the conference room, unlocks it for me, and once we’re inside, he locks it again.
“I’m going to be out of the office this morning,” he says with a sigh. “I have to take Mom to an appointment.”
“Is she okay?” I ask, immediately kicking myself for not asking about her earlier. “Is she having more memory problems?”
“Yeah, and she forgot to tell her doctor about it last week, like I figured she would. So I’m going with her today. But I’ll be in this afternoon, and if you need anything, I’m only a phone call away.”
“Quinn.” I walk to him and frame his face in my hands. “I was an attorney before I met you. I’ll be just fine. Go take care of your mama.”
“You’re pretty wonderful,” he replies with a smile and leans down to press his lips to my forehead. “You know that, right?”
“I’m damn amazing,” I say with a chuckle. “And thanks for trying to make me feel better. I’m in a funk. I think I’m afraid that we won’t find what we’re looking for before we head back to court.”
“We’ll find it.”
“Whose side are you on?” I ask playfully.
“The truth,” he says simply. “And I’m also on the side of making sure that you’re okay.”
“Thank you,” I repeat just as his lips cover mine.
“I have to go talk to Kami for a moment, and then I have to go get Mom.”
“Did you even really need to come to the office this morning?”
“Yes, I had to bring you here.”
“I could have walked myself.”
He grins as he pulls away, that self-assured, cocky grin that does things to my lady bits. “But then I wouldn’t have been able to spend the morning with you, and that would have been a pity.”
“Go on, charmer. Have a good morning.”
He waves and leaves, and I get settled in what I’ve come to think of as my usual spot at the end of the table. I drain my coffee cup and toss it in the wastebasket, then open the box that I’d started on last night.
At eight, Christy, Peter, Caden, and Matt filter in, carrying coffees, and immediately dive into their boxes.
It’s almost lunchtime when Peter suddenly stands and thrusts a paper in the air.
“I found something!”
I rush over to join him, take the paper from his hands, and feel my face break out in an excited smile.
“You did it,” I say and give him a high five. “This one is dated six months after the last.”
“She wasn’t kidding yesterday,” Peter tells the others. “I literally found this in a box of grocery receipts.”
“They kept everything,” Christy says in exasperation. “I mean, it’s cool to see what the price of eggs was back then, but why would they save it?”
“I have no idea,” I reply honestly as I tuck the third receipt in its folder with the others. “It’s completely frustrating and fascinating, all at the same time. I’ll probably eventually pull out everything that’s important and shred or burn the rest.”
“That seems kind of sad,” Matt replies with a frown.
“Are you sentimental?” I ask him with a grin.
“I mean, some of these things are a hundred years old. Maybe there are museums that would like to get their hands on some of it, just because it is interesting.”
“That’s a good point.” I tap my finger on my lips. “Maybe I’ll look into that. You’re right, it would seem like a waste to just throw it all away.”
“I’m starving,” Caden says. “Since we’ve found something useful, what do you say we take an early lunch?”
“Great idea,” I reply with a grin. “Can you guys just bring me back something? I’m going to check in with my office and work on a couple of things here.”