“Now I guess I know shitty things happen but we can’t give up. Rocktoberfest helped, seeing the joy in fans’ faces, seeing Yolanda light up like I made her year.”
“You did.”
“Wellhaven helped, Owen and Harvey.” I paused as a woman stopped on the sidewalk to eye us for a moment. When she’d moved on, I continued, “But you helped me more than anything. For you, I’m going to keep hoping and doing whatever it takes to be a good patient and I believe we’ll get through this, one day at a time.”
“I’ll try too,” Lee promised. “My one day at a time with Alice was a slow walk toward disaster. I know that warps how I look at things now.”
“Your mom’s doing well, though,” I pointed out. “So things can get better.”
“She is.” His hold on me loosened, until we stood with his arms looped around my waist. He met my eyes. “I had her therapist recommend someone for me to talk to. Online, and we haven’t had our first appointment, but I’m trying.”
“That’s awesome. I’m glad.”
“Should’ve done it years ago, if I’m honest. I always said I was too busy, but that was an excuse.”
“Maybe you needed to take care of your mom before you could take care of yourself.” Wisdom said to put on your own oxygenmask before assisting others, but Lee would always be the guy making sure everyone else was safe first. I didn’t expect to change that about him.
“I guess.” He straightened and stepped back. “Hey, want to come home for dinner? Mom’s been bugging me to bring you over, Willow’s there for lots of lap-sitting, and I started a tagine in the slow cooker before I headed in to work.”
“Food, the second most perfect cat in the world, some mothering, and you? How could I say no?”
“Second most?”
“Well, I just committed to adopting Cinder. So she gets first billing by default.”
Lee reversed down the sidewalk. “That is the cat that stole the icing off your cupcake.”
“Cuteness personified.”
He grinned, and I liked seeing his expression look lighter. “You are so going to be pussy-whipped.”
I managed to choke back a laugh before it could escape, and murmured. “Eloquent.”
“But true.”
“I resemble that remark.”
“Now stop talking.” He nudged my shoulder. After a minute of side-by-side silence, he added, “You’re going to let me be there when you have the surgery, right?”
“I’m going to beg you to be there.” I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “You and me, we’re a team now, baby.”
“Going back to your pop star roots?”
I wanted to break into my corniest,“I Got You Babe.”Instead, I hip-checked him lightly into a lamppost.
We walked on, grinning at each other in the thin November sunshine.
Chapter 24
Lee
“You’re making me tired just watching you, honey,” Mom said.
I whirled at the waiting room window and paced back. “Sorry. Hey, at least I’m burning calories, right?”
Mom sighed and patted the other side of the loveseat she sat on.
Reluctantly, I lowered myself beside her and she rubbed my shoulder. I would never have expected to have Mom here with me, waiting for Griffin to get out of his surgery. Two months ago, I don’t know if she’d have been able to leave the house. But meds, counseling, and how much she liked Griffin had already made a difference. Plus how anxious she knew I was, even though the surgery itself was a piece of cake. Relatively.
