“The raccoon eyes.”
She gave a bitter snort. “Raccoons are cute.”
“Even raccoons need to sleep.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m pooped when I lie down but then I can’t turn my mind off.”
“Sometimes you need to give your mind a vacation. So, how about it? What should we watch?”
You. He was very watchable. “I don’t care,” she said. “You pick.”
“Rom-com.”
“Really?”
“Hey, I like rom-coms.”
So there they sat on the couch, him slouching with his legs stretched out, her curled around a sofa pillow, watching characters move about on the screen, him making silly comments to amuse her. Then, of course, there was the big kiss scene, which could have felt a little awkward, but he lightened it up by wondering how often actors had to use mouthwash before filming scenes like that.
Her eyelids began to feel like they were being dragged down with lead weights, and she realized she’d dozed off and missed the ending scene when she felt his hand on her shoulder. He’d already packed up his computer.
“Time to go to bed,” he said.
“With you?” she mumbled. Then realized what she’d said. Her whole face caught fire and her eyes popped open so wide that it was a wonder her eyeballs weren’t falling out. “Sorry, I was dreaming.” Okay, that didn’t sound much better. The flame on her face turned into a three-alarm fire.
He smiled and picked up her phone, put his contact info in it. “Call me if you need anything.”
She needed everything. She needed her mother to get well. She needed a good night’s sleep. She probably needed a shower. She wouldn’t have minded him joining her in the shower.Don’t say that out loud!
“I don’t know how to thank you.” Well, she could think of a way.Don’t say that out loud, either!
“Hey, what are neighbors for?”
Of course, it was a rhetorical question, so she didn’t make any suggestions. Tumbling into bed to try to find sleep again, she realized she wanted something more than sex. She wanted someone to hold her until she fell asleep, wanted someone spooning next to her who could sweep her hair out of her face, kiss her softly and say, “I’m right here.”
She shot up a prayer shaped like a whimper. “How am I supposed to get through this?”
She could have sworn she heard her mother whisper, “Have faith. You will.”
She supposed, in the end, she had no choice.
Alden took Buster for a walk, all the while thoughts of Arianna White walking along with him. He came back home and played some late-nightCall of Dutybut tired of it quickly. It was hard to concentrate when all he could think about was Arianna and what she and her mom were facing. Arianna White, he’d come to see, was not the drama queen he’d first thought she was. She was simply a woman trying the best she could to rebuild her life after a broken marriage, and now she’d been dealt a new rotten hand. It was a hand no one should have to play alone. He was going to make sure she didn’t.
He pulled out his phone, went online and ordered flowers to be delivered to her house the next day. For the card he typed,I’ve got your back.
Early that afternoon he got a text from her.The flowers are amazing. I could kiss you.
Arianna White kissing him, there was a vision to hang on to. He didn’t dare put the moves on her, though. Not when she was coping with so much with her mom.
Anyway, it wouldn’t be fair to her, because he still felt twitchy about throwing the dice on a new relationship. But he sure wanted to.
Bad fingers! Why had she texted that to Alden? She had to be out of her mind. He was a neighbor who was being nice to her, nothing more. She couldn’t go romanticizing a new friendship into a blooming romance. That way lay heartbreak and she already had enough on her emotional plate.
“I hate that you’re having to do this,” Mia said as Arianna put the formula in her feeding tube.
“You took care of me. I owe you,” Arianna joked.
Mia sighed.
