“I thought I’d never see you again,” he mutters, tears staining his eyes.
I smile and try to hold my own tears back in vain. “I thought so too …”
I was wrong.
We both were.
But not merely about us meeting up again. We were wrong about Easton too.
Chapter 20
Charlotte
It’s nice to talk to Deion again. It feels like ages ago even though it was only a couple of weeks. Even Ashanti is surprised to see me and hugs me right away. We all stand there holding each other in the middle of his tiny garden. The people walking and biking by probably think we’re crazy, but I don’t care.
Nothing can beat this smile on my face as I hold these two. Even though we only lived together for a short while, I consider them my family.
“C’mon, let’s go inside and have something to drink,” Deion says, coaxing me in.
I turn my head and look at Easton for approval.
He nods. “Go on. I’ll wait out here.”
Deion pauses and gazes at him over my shoulder. “You can come inside too. If you’re thirsty, of course.”
Easton’s lip curls up into a half-sided smile. “No, thanks. I’m good. You two have some catching up to do.”
“Are you sure?” I don’t know why I ask him. It’s almost as if this whole thing is suddenly normal. As if he isn’t my captor, but just a guy I married who came to drop me off. But none of that is true, and this whole gesture … it means something.
“Yes, I’m sure.” Easton nods. “Besides, I have some phone calls to make.”
“Work?” I ask.
He nods again. I’m not sure if it’s the truth, but I don’t question him further because I recognize his expression. It’s a face that says, “I don’t want to bother you any further,” and I respect that.
Respect … I never imagined I’d feel any for Easton, yet I’m grateful for what he’s done.
With a smile, I nod at Easton and follow Deion inside, who closes the door behind me, leaving Easton alone outside. It’s the first time that I ever felt bad about being away from him.
“I can’t believe you’re actually here,” Deion says as we go into the kitchen, and he makes a pot of coffee.
“I know. I can’t either,” I say, sitting down.
He grabs two cups. “Did you ask him to bring you here?”
“No, it was his idea,” I reply. “As a surprise?”
He stops in his tracks. “Wait … what? As a surprise?”
I make a face. “I know, it’s hard to believe.”
“Wow.” He shakes his head as he pours two cups. “I did not expect that from that man.”
“Why not?” Ashanti asks as she sits down beside me.
“Well, because …” I clear my throat and look at Deion. I don’t know how to say this or even if I should. “Easton isn’t the easiest man to live with.”
“Like my dad,” she says, which makes me choke on my own saliva and then burst into laughter.
Deion raises a brow. “It’s gonna get harder if you say things like that, Ashanti.”
“I’m joking,” she says with a big smile on her face.
“Of course you are,” he retorts.
I can’t help but smile when I’m around them. Their presence could make anyone happy, and they always light up the room with their banter. The two of them are enough to make me feel right at home.
Still, the moment Deion places the cup of coffee in front of me, it’s as if something’s missing. Something I didn’t have before when I was still living here with them, hiding from the very man who brought me back; an ache for something more than this.
I clutch the coffee cop and try to remind myself that I’m here, in their home, under their wing. That I should be happy to see them again. But it’s Easton who thought this up on his own and brought me here out of his own free will.
He wanted me to be with them without him looking over my shoulder.
A taste of true freedom with no man hunting me in secret and no one to come and snatch me away. And that means so much to me that I want to run out there and pull him inside.
But I don’t.
It wouldn’t be right.
After all, Easton stole me away from them. He’s the sole reason Ashanti got kidnapped and why he had to bring her back. Deion knows what kind of a man Easton is, and it shows on his face.
“You’re still thinking about him, aren’t you?” he asks.
I nod. “I can’t help it.”
“He’s gotten to you,” he says, setting down a drink for Ashanti too.
I lick my lips and stare at my coffee. “Is that bad?”
There’s a long pause before he answers. “That depends on you and your needs. None of that is up to me to judge.”