Chapter Ten
Anna
The night had been absolutely amazing. Dinner was delicious, and I was so happy that they included me in making it. I never had that much fun cooking before, and Justin’s meatballs were to die for. I thought of asking him for the recipe, but I wondered if it was a secret family recipe or something. That could be a discussion for another day, though.
I went with Justin and Margie into her room for story time before she went to bed. She picked out The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
“It’s my favorite,” she told me.
“Wow,” I said with excitement. “That’s crazy.”
“Why?” she asked.
“This was my very favorite book when I was little. In fact, if you don’t tell anyone, it’s still my favorite book,” I gave her a small wink and watched her eyes light up.
“It’s my dad’s favorite book, too!” she said.
I looked at Justin, who was smiling at both of us.
He started reading to her and getting her nestled into her bed. I was studying them. I couldn’t help it. I loved how they interacted with each other, and I could tell his daughter was his entire
world. It made my heart melt. He kissed her goodbye, and she asked a few questions about the boogeyman. I figured it was just normal kid stuff. I remembered being afraid of the dark as a child. He gave her a few extra kisses and hugs, and she even asked for a hug from me. I was honored, and I bent down to wrap my arms around her.
When Margie was asleep, which wasn’t much longer after story time, I followed Justin back into the kitchen area.
“Do you want some help cleaning up?” I offered.
“Sure, that would be nice,” he said.
I helped him gather the plates and put them in the sink where he began to rinse them off and hand them to me to put in the dishwasher. We fell into an easy rhythm with him rinsing and me loading.
“Thank you,” I said.
“For what?” he asked as he handed me a red bowl.
“For inviting me to dinner and for letting me spend time with Margie,” I said.
“No, thank you,” he said.
I gave him a confused look. “For what? You’re the one that did most of the cooking.”
He laughed. “For spending time with Margie. It really meant a lot to me that you spent that kind of time with her. She laughed a lot. I can tell she likes you.”
I smiled. I was happy to hear that. I had been so nervous before I got there because I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but it seemed like we all really clicked. Even cooking and cleaning up with Justin was easy. We were working so well together. He would hand me a rinsed dish, and I would put it in the dishwasher in total sync. We were effortless.
“I absolutely adore her. Not only is she beautiful, but she’s so sweet, and she’s got an amazing sense of humor too.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Justin said and handed me a few forks. Our fingers brushed, and we looked at each other for a moment. I wondered if he felt the same spark that I did.
We finish cleaning up the kitchen and then moved into the living room where he motioned for me to sit by him on the couch.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you,” he began.
“Okay, ask away,” I said.
“Will you come to my big fight next Friday?”
I had to think for a minute. I remembered how nervous I’d been watching the last fight. It was hard to see him get hurt.