Page 44 of Finding You
Chapter Twenty
“Is Zion the real reason you visited Chicago? You mentioned going to see family, but you haven’t mentioned your aunt or your cousin lately.”
Raven strolled over to the window and stared out at the parking lot several floors below, debating on how much to tell him. Instead of answering his question, she said, “He’s one of the reasons why I’mmovingto Chicago. I’ve been planning on making some changes in my life, and that’s starting with relocating.”
She turned to face Christopher and found him rubbing his chin as he studied her. He didn’t look too surprised, but he’d once told her that at his age, not much surprised him.
Raven was going to miss him. He was the best thing that came out of the relationship with Maximus. Something she and Maximus had in common was that their parents had died when they were young. According to Christopher, Maximus had been a spoiled brat when he got custody of him. No matter the morals he tried to instill in his grandson, and the life lessons that he’d tried teaching him, the only thing that stuck was how to run a successful business.
“I guess this means you and Maximus are truly over,” Christopher said, and Raven snorted.
“You already knew that. We’ve been over for a long time, but your grandson is the only one who can’t seem to come to grips with that fact.”
Christopher chuckled and then started coughing. Raven hurried to the bedside table and reached for the cup of water that had a lid and a straw and handed it to him.
“How sick are you?” she asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
“Who said I was sick? I said I was here having some tests done. And before you ask what type of tests, I’m not telling you. Just like you never shared the circumstances of the twins and the father who seemed to show up out of thin air.”
This time Raven was the one chuckling. “Fair enough, but in my defense, what you don’t know won’t hurt you. Whereas if I don’t know what’s going on with you, I don’t know how to help.”
“I don’t need any help,” he said, resting the back of his head against the pillows propped up behind him. He slipped his glasses on and grabbed one of the file folders from the small stack on the bed next to his left thigh. “Like I said, I’m just here for—”
“Some tests. Yeah, yeah, I heard you. I just don’t believe you.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “When are you leaving Houston, and does this have anything to do with my grandson?”
Raven sighed. “Maximus has been acting stranger than usual for the last couple of months. I’m not moving because of him, but the stress that he’s been causing me has a little to do with me needing a change.”
“I’ll talk to him again. I don’t know what’s gotten into that boy, but I understand why he’s been trying to hold on to you. Raven, you’re a great catch. If I was fifty years younger, I’d make a play for you. You’re beautiful, smart, and fun to have around.Any man would be lucky to have you,” he said, flashing her a smile and wiggling his eyebrows up and down.
She laughed and swatted at his arm. “Knock it off you old charmer, but just so you know, I’m leaving town tomorrow night.”
“So soon? You’re not giving me a chance to get used to the idea of you not being around. You and the babies have been the highlight of my life these days.”
She rubbed his arm and smiled. “The feeling is mutual.”
Over the next several minutes, she told him about the Priestly family and all they’d done for her and the kids. Raven was glad she hadn’t brought her babies on this trip because it would’ve been hard taking care of them while packing. However, she did wish Christopher could see them before they got too big.
“Just because I’ll be out of state doesn’t mean I won’t keep in touch. I’ll visit you, and I’d love for you to visit us sometimes.” He didn’t travel much, but occasionally he flew to Florida to visit some of his friends.
He nodded. “I just might take you up on that except not in the winter. These old bones can’t handle that type of cold.”
“Understood. I’m not sure if mine can handle the cold, but we’ll see. Also, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention my relocation to your grandson until after I’m gone. I just don’t want to deal with him right now.”
“My lips are sealed. Besides, he’s still in Europe somewhere. I heard from him last week, but he didn’t say when he was returning.”
Good. He was the last person Raven wanted to see. At some point, he’d find out, but she hoped it wouldn’t be anytime soon. She hadn’t talked to him since that day he’d called her in the car on her way to Zion’s house. She had received a couple of calls from an unknown number, but he hadn’t left any voicemessages. Maybe he finally understood she wanted nothing to do with him.
One could hope.
“Tell me about Zion,” Christopher said. “He looks quite smitten with you.”
“You could tell that in the fifteen minutes he was in here?” she asked, surprised by his observation.
“Dear, I’m old. I’m not blind. The man couldn’t stop looking at you, and it wasn’t just casual glances. He looked at you like a man in love.”
Raven’s heart thumped a bit faster. Zion treated her like she was a gift from God, and he showed her in more ways than one that he cared deeply for her. But the wordlovehadn’t come up. She hoped the conversation did come up one day because she loved him more than she thought she could ever love a man.
