Page 67 of The Kidnapped

“But you can now?”

“Yes. No. Well, I don’t know,” Raleigh admitted. “I just know that I want to try.”

“I don’t know, Raleigh… You were so sure before.”

“No, I wasn’t.” She laughed and shook her head. “I wanted to say yes, Hollis. I just wasn’t expecting you to ask me out. And I haven’t thought of being with anyone since Millie. I haven’t been with anyone since her. This is all new to me.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Hollis suggested.

“Did you change your mind?”

“No. I like you. I still want to go out with you. But maybe you’re right, and the timing is all off.”

“I don’t think it’ll ever be right,” Raleigh replied.

“And you’re sure? You want to try?”

Raleigh smiled to herself and said, “I’d like to go out with you, Hollis.”

“And if it goes sideways?”

“We’ll figure it out, then,” Raleigh replied.

“And that’s okay with you?”

“Stop trying to talk me out of this and take me on a date, Hollis Richardson.” Raleigh laughed.

Hollis laughed, too, and said, “Okay.”

“Yeah?” Raleigh checked.

“When and where?” Hollis asked.

Raleigh bit her lower lip in anticipation.

CHAPTER 22

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I can postpone.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” her mom told her. “I won’t leave this bed, I promise. You’ve got everything I need right here on my table. And don’t think I didn’t notice all those corner covers you’ve now put all over the house.”

“I don’t want you to fall again.”

“The biggest risk I’ll take is rolling over,” her mom replied. “Go on your date, Hollis. I want you to have a good time tonight and not think about me, okay?”

“Well, that’s not possible,” she said. “I will be thinking about you.”

“Not while you’re on a date with a pretty girl, you won’t,” her mom replied sternly. “And if you and Raleigh have such a nice time that you want to stay over at her place, I’ll be fine here until the morning. I’ve got water and some snacks. I’ve also taken my pills for the night already, and I have the morning ones on the table. I’ve got the remote to the TV, too. I’m all set.”

“I’m not staying the night, Mom. I barely got her to agree to give this a chance. I won’t risk going too fast for her.”

“For her, huh?” her mom joked.

“That’s not what I meant,” Hollis smiled and took her mom’s hand. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yes! You’re hovering again.” Olivia coughed lightly. “My cell phone is right there on the charger, so I can get to you or help if I need to. And you’ve already got it plugged in, so I’m not at any risk of it dying in the night.”

Hollis swallowed at the use of those choice words to refer to the phone because that had been her exact worry about going out with Raleigh. Her mother could die in the night, and Hollis would have been at dinner and a movie.

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