“Yeah, Mom.I’m fine.”
Feeling like an intruder in a private moment between mother and son, I head back into the kitchen.The adrenaline still hasn’t fully left me, so I put some water in my electric kettle for tea.Maybe a mug of my aunt’s Calm Down tea will help me settle.
Because between her scream waking me up, the chaos that is her apartment right now, and the fact that she’s going to be staying here tonight—let’s just say my mind is in overdrive.
“You have enough for two of those?”
My heart jumps in my chest at the mere sound of her voice.Will I ever come down from it?From this high I get just by being around her?
“Absolutely.”Without turning to face her, I get a second mug and spoon some of my aunt’s loose-leaf tea recipe into another teabag.
Katelyn takes a seat at the island and runs both hands over her face before resting her elbows on the counter and remaining just like that.Expression guarded, shoulders slumped.How much of her life has she had to be on her own?
Is that why she’s so against me?Because she’s spent too many years relying on herself?
“Thanks for this.For letting us stay here.”
I look away as soon as she starts to uncover her face so she doesn’t catch me watching her.
“Of course.”
“We’ll be out of your hair tomorrow.”
Based on that damage?I doubt it.“You’re not in my hair.You guys can stay as long as you need.”Please stay.I never realized how lonely I was until I met you.
“I appreciate that, but you’re going to want your bed back,” she replies with a soft laugh.
“The couch doesn’t bother me,” I tell her truthfully.“I’ve slept in a lot worse places.Believe me.”Even the bathtub of a safe house a time or two.But, not wanting to pressure her, I keep that comment to myself.
“Yeah?”
My gaze locks with hers, and I can’t bring myself to look away even when the kettle beeps.“Yeah.”
Outside, the storm has slowed enough that the rain is barely audible through my patio doors, but the one within me?It’s only picking up steam.
She clears her throat.“When you were in the Navy?”
After a moment, I tear my gaze away and pour water into our mugs.“That and before.I told you that my aunt raised me?”
She nods.
“Well, after my parents overdosed, I was what the state called a ‘flight risk.’I didn’t know my aunt even existed because my mom had cut her out of our lives when I was a baby.Every group or foster home they stuck me in, I bolted from.I can’t even count the nights I spent sleeping in alleys or on park benches.”
“That’s horrible,” Katelyn breathes.
When I glance over at her, I see the pity in her gaze.“It wasn’t a shining moment of my life, that’s for sure.When they finally tracked down my aunt, she agreed to take me in without hesitation.”I laugh.“To this day, I’m pretty sure she had no idea what she was getting into.”
“I’m sure she loved every minute of raising you.”
I laugh, then slide her mug over toward her.“I can recall more than a few moments where she struggled with me.”Those moments still weigh on me.Even knowing how close we grew to be.“I was angry at my parents for putting me through what they did, only to die and leave me alone.And I was angry at myself for not being someone they were willing to change for.”I take a seat across from her.
“I’m sorry, Garrison.”
Wrapping both hands around my mug, I savor the heat.Even that’s not enough to chase away the chill of my past.“If it weren’t for my aunt, I can pretty much guarantee I wouldn’t be sitting here.She was patient with me.Kind.Everything I wished my parents would’ve been.And she loved me a whole lot more than I deserved.”
“I’d say she loved you as much as you deserved,” Katelyn replies.
My gaze lifts from the slowly darkening tea in my mug to the gorgeous woman sitting across from me.Tell me your secrets, and I’ll keep them safe.