KDBookOnline
Share Us
“She’s a curious little thing,” he said, grabbing my hand and helping me to my feet.
It felt so good to touch him again, but I still didn’t know if he was here to ask me back to art class or his entire life. “Is her name really Holly?” I asked, dropping his hand.
“It is now,” he said with a smile that didn’t undo the sadness in his eyes that appeared when I broke our connection. “She wasa Christmas puppy someone dropped at the pound. Apparently, she had too much attitude.”
Holly sprinted back into the living room. She sniffed every corner, her dark eyes bouncing from one thing to the next, her tail wagging in a blur.
“The little ones always do,” I laughed nervously. “Will she always be small?”
He nodded. “She’s an Affenpinscher.”
It’d been a few years since my last high school German class, but I still remembered the word for monkey. “She’s a monkey pinscher?” I said, trying not to laugh.
Theo shrugged. “She’s unique.”
“She’s perfect,” I said.
“She is,” he said, looking at me instead of the dog, his dark eyes filled with a heat that made my stomach clench.
“What are they saying?” Esther yelled.
“We can’t hear either,” Gladys yelled back.
“Stop playing with the dog and get on with it, Theo,” Esther yelled.
“I’m trying,” he yelled, without pulling his molten gaze from me.
Okay, so he finally realized he could handle a pet and missed fucking me. That didn’t mean he was all in. And all in was the only way Theo and I could be together without my heart breaking over and over again. I cleared my throat. “I left you something in the studio. Did you see it?”
“It’s incredible,” he said, softly. “I can’t believe you made it in a few days.”
“You knew I was working on something?”
He flashed me that rare smile of his, and my feet moved toward him on their own. My body, at least, was ready to jump back in, but my fragile heart begged my brain to take it slow. I stopped far enough away that he’d have to lean in to reach me.
“I checked your progress every night after you left,” he said. “I know it was an invasion of your privacy, but I couldn’t stop myself. I thought it was the only way I could be close to you. And when I realized all your things were gone—”
He stepped closer and cupped my face in his hand. “I want to wake up every morning with you in my arms. I want to buy all the towels and furniture you want to make the house feel like a home not only for me, but for us. Because I never want to spend another day without you. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen, as long as you want me.”
My stomach danced with excitement, but I kept the joy from my face. As much as it hurt to admit, I knew loving each other wasn’t enough. “It’s going to take more than towels.”
He nodded. “I called Everly last night and told her I wanted to fight the misdemeanor and my previous conviction. And I just came from a consult with a therapist in Jericho who specializes in PTSD and panic attacks. I’m starting weekly sessions. I love you, Poppy. I’ll do whatever I can to be the man you deserve.”
I stepped back but gripped his hands. “I love you too, Theo. But there’s one more thing I need to know before we move forward.”
Behind him the seniors shifted restlessly in their orthotic shoes. I swear Twill was biting his nails.
“Do you think you’ll ever forgive yourself? You’re already the man I want. But you have the power to crush me. Any pain you inflict on yourself, I feel. Anytime you hate yourself, my heart breaks.”
“I’ll try.” He let go of one of my hands to brush a strand of hair behind my ear, his thumb lingering on my face. “I can’t guarantee it will happen today or next week, but I promise I’ll keep trying. Because this,” he said, pointing between us, “is worth fighting for.”
I let out a squeal that sounded an awful lot like Lauren or Cammie and leaped at him. Everyone on the sidewalk cheered. Holly barked and danced around Theo’s boots as I grabbed his face and kissed him.
“About dang time,” Mrs. Adams yelled before high-fiving Gladys, Esther, and Millie.
A Peace Falls police car sped down Sullivan Street. Theo tensed when it stopped in front of us. The passenger door flung open, and Mr. Fitzwilliam climbed out with his phone held to his face. “Did we miss it?”
“Turn the camera around,” Wilson’s voice yelled from the phone, which had to be at max volume. “I don’t want to see up your nose. I want to see Poppy and Theo.”