“It all worked out kind of perfectly.” Fuck if there wasn’t a lot of luck involved in the outcome, which makes me even more grateful this woman is alive and well and sitting next to me.
“So, I’m really okay,” she reiterates to put my mind fully at ease.
But I’m not.
Fully at ease, I mean. Because, surely, there has to be one more thing that doesn’t have resolution. I’m sure it’s still bothering her.
“You’re okay?” I ask.
She nods brightly. “Promise.”
“Nothing else bothering you?” I prompt.
She shakes her head, smile locked in place.
“You’re positive?”
“Yup,” she chirps.
“Little liar,” I chastise in a low voice, putting my right hand to the back of her neck. My left arm is held in place by a sling, not because there was any damage to my actual shoulder joint on the left side by the bullet, but just because movement on that side would hurt like hell. What I hate about this is I’d much rather have gathered her in my arms and pulled her onto my lap, but I have to work within my limitations.
“Liar?” she repeats a little indignantly.
“Oh, come on, Bebe,” I drawl in a faux accusatory way. “Just before the bomb went off, you told me something important. You told me you loved me—that I was your soulmate, and you couldn’t live without me. Big stuff you laid at my doorstep.”
Her eyebrows draw in, and she glares. “First, I didn’t say all that crap about soulmates and not being able to live without you.”
I grin. “But you did say you loved me and before I could even reply, everything went boom.”
“I didn’t expect the words back,” she mutters. “I don’t need them back, so that’s not bothering me if you think it is.”
“Well, it’s bothering me, damn it,” I assure with a squeeze to her neck. “I’d intended to tell you right then I’d felt the same. And while one could assume I love you since I’m returning to Pittsburgh with you for the near future, I can’t help but be motivated to say the words so you have no doubt.”
Bebe stares, eyes wide and yearning. It may not bother her I haven’t said it yet, but I can tell she wants it. Her body leans in ever so slightly, as if she’s afraid she might miss something she’s waited her whole life to hear, and that warms me clear through to my bones.
“I love you, Bebe.” Her blue eyes are locked tight onto mine, and I can tell she’s memorizing every detail of this moment. I pull her in a bit closer. “I can’t say it’s a shocking revelation to myself about just how much I love you, because deep down inside, I feel I was always meant to. It feels like you’re the open door with a warm light on, just waiting for me after a long journey. And believe me, I have no hesitation walking on through it to be with you.”
“Griff,” she whispers as her eyes slowly close. A small smile plays at her lips, and I let her savor the moment.
When her eyelids lift and those crystalline blues are locked on me, she says, “I don’t know what I did to deserve you. But I’m going to spend every day of my life making sure I don’t take the gift that’s been handed to me for granted.”
It pleases me to hear she feels the same way about me that I do about her. Truly, she’s the most amazing gift I ever could have been handed.
I don’t have to lean in far to brush my lips against hers. Her sigh is barely audible, but I can feel the joy within it. Pulling back ever so slightly, she whispers against my mouth, “I’m ready to go home.”
“Let’s do it then.”CHAPTER 27BebeMy mom checks the garlic bread in the double oven, which smells heavenly. I’ve got bubbling lasagna going in the bottom one—a dish I’ve found I’m quite good at making since I got out of prison. I’m putting the final touches on a salad, cutting up some radishes to layer over the top.
“I think it’s ready to come out,” my mom murmurs. She and I have spent a lot of time in the kitchen over the last few days since her return from California with my son. We’ve been cooking and baking or just sipping coffee and chatting. Sometimes, Griff joins us. More often than not, he occupies himself elsewhere while he recuperates, which is code for relaxing in the recliner while watching Sports Center. Or like today, he disappeared for a few hours with Aaron to go toss the football. This only after I worried like a henpecking woman over his injury, but he assured me he was fine.
Currently, Griff is with Aaron in the living room. Last time I’d poked my head in there, they were side by side on the couch playing some video game that had them racing cars against each other. They were talking trash and laughing, and it warmed my heart greatly.