Reaching my room, I put my shoulder to the door and push it open before turning slightly to kick it almost closed so the light doesn’t wake her. Heading across the room to the bed, I start to lay her down, only to have her arms shoot out around my neck and tighten.
“Please don’t go. Please stay,” she whispers, and I don’t even have to think about it. I put one knee into the bed and then the other and lay her down on the mattress, settling in behind her. Taking my hand at her waist, she twines our fingers together. “Thank you,” she murmurs, bringing our combined hands up to rest between her breasts.
Kissing the back of her head, I toss my leg over her and pin her to the bed, where I expect to stay awake. But lying here, with the woman I’m pretty sure was made for me in my arms, I fall asleep.
Chapter 5
Kim
HOLDING ONTO SAGE’S hand tightly, we walk with my parents and Chris trailing behind us toward the funeral home. The closer we get to the doors, the more my grasp on his hand squeezes and my stomach twists with anxiety.
“You okay?” Sage asks, and I turn my head to look up at him, noticing the concern in his eyes that has been there since we woke up in his bed this morning. Not sure how to answer that question right now, I shrug and he suddenly pulls me to a stop. Turning me to face him, his hands cup my face and his dips toward mine. “You don’t have to do this. Your parents, Chris, and I can go in and get everything sorted.”
God, this is the guy I instinctively knew I could easily fall in love with. This is the Sage I missed.
“I’ll be okay,” I reply quietly, and his eyes search mine for a long time before he drops his head, brushes his lips over mine, and then leans back.
“All you have to do is say the words and I’ll get you out of there.”
Yes, this is the man I’m falling for, and that scares the crap out of me. I nod at him, and as he takes my hand in his, we resume walking toward a set of double doors at the end of the sidewalk.
Reaching the doors, Sage keeps me with him while he holds one open for my parents and Chris to precede us before leading me inside. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim light, and when they do, I notice the woman standing just inside the front room. Studying her from where my feet have suddenly gotten too heavy to move, I squeeze Sage’s hand.
I saw a picture of Ginny Mavis once when Kelly showed it to me on her cell phone, but where that picture had been bad, showing a frail woman who smoked too much, drank too much, and wore too little clothes, the woman standing before me is in even worse shape. Since that picture was taken, she has lost twenty pounds she couldn’t afford to lose. Her dyed black hair has grown out three inches, leaving a stripe of almost white down the center of her scalp. Her skin is wrinkled and pale, almost yellow from lack of nutrition, and obviously, her smoking and drinking has gotten even worse.
“Kimberly?” she prompts like she has no idea who I am, and the twisting in my stomach moves to my heart.
“Ginny.”
She lifts her chin an inch then moves her eyes over me before they land on my family that’s gathered close.
“I didn’t know you were bringing people with you.”
“Sorry,” I say, not really sorry at all. I wouldn’t have been able to make it through these last few days without these people, and I’m not sure if I would have found the courage to come without their support.
“I guess it don’t matter now,” she mutters, and I fight the urge to yell at her, to scream and ask, How? How can she stand a few feet away from the daughter she gave away after losing the daughter she raised? How can she stand there and act like this moment isn’t an important one? “We should get this done. I need to be on my way. I got things to do.”
“Get this done?” I breathe as my throat starts to tighten around a lump forming there.
“Yeah, I ain’t got all day,” she clarifies before she moves her eyes to my parents, who I can feel bristling at my side. “I got work. Ain’t no one givin’ me any handouts.”
“Jesus fuck,” Sage growls, and she looks at him.
“You’re right. We do need to get this over with,” Chris says, stepping in front of us and blocking her from view. “Have you spoken to anyone since you arrived?”