Page 78 of In Spades

We settled on the couch and opened the bag.

“So,” Kylie began. “Your… Will wants to come over Monday night and meet us?”

I nodded. “He wants to meet you a lot, actually. But I promise you—it’s just a pop-in and out. Will won’t stay long, and he won’t sleep here. I’m not springing that on you guys.”

Looking around the simple living room, I sighed. There was no way I could ever have Will stay over even if the kids were comfortable with him. There was no room. I didn’t even have a freaking bed.

Laughing it off, I said, “He’s tall. His legs would hang off the end of the couch.”

She perked up. “Do you have a picture this time? Last time we talked about him, you said he was just a guest at the inn.”

I tugged my phone out of my back pocket and swiped through for the picture Will and I had taken together.

Early this morning, he woke me up with sloppy kisses along my neck and a cup of coffee. We walked hand and hand down to the edge of his yard where the stone retaining wall dropped into the Neuse River.

He sat behind me on the edge of the wall with his arms around me while I sipped from the mug that had Have you tried turning it off and on again? written in black letters. I had set the cup aside, leaned into his chest, and snapped a photo.

I handed my phone over and let Kylie look at the picture Will and I had taken together. Kylie grinned as she studied the screen.

“What do you think?” I asked.

“I’ve never seen you so happy before.” She handed my phone back. “Even before everything went to shit.”

I didn’t bother correcting her language.

I swiped the screen to another photo of just Will. He was standing at the stove in his kitchen, flipping pancakes.

“Oh, wow,” Kylie said, craning her head to get a better look. “He is tall.” She chewed on her fingernails—a nasty habit she learned from me. Kylie’s voice was quiet as she said, “He looks strong. Like he could keep us safe here.”

I smiled at the memory of waking up wrapped in his arms. I felt safe with him. Like I could breathe. I could close my eyes and know that everything would be okay because Will was there. Still, Kylie’s insistence that we needed protection was alarming. I tried to keep her shielded from my conversations with Steve and Chase, but she was more aware of things than she used to be.

“I think I’d like to meet him,” she said quietly, staring down at the uneaten pretzel pinched between her fingers. “It might be nice to have a man in the house…”

Before I could respond, Will’s name flashed on the screen. Time had gotten away from me, and it was nearing nine o’clock.

Silencing the call, I said, “Ky, Will and I are just going on dates here and there. It’s not that serious, and there is zero chance of him moving in.”

Disappointed, Kylie made up an excuse about needing to do homework and retired to her bedroom. A teenager voluntarily doing homework on a Saturday night? I don’t think so.

I tapped Will’s name and pinned my phone between my shoulder and ear as I pulled my work uniform out of the basket of clean clothes.

He picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Sunshine,” Will said. “How’s your day been?”

I smiled while I got my things ready for work in the morning and told him all about the accidental adventure of Chase rescuing Luna this morning.

“You should get a dog. I bet the kids would love a dog.” He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. “I have neither the space nor the time for a dog. And vet bills and dog food are expensive.”

He hummed something noncommittal. I turned the bathroom light off and pulled my blankets and pillow out, getting the couch ready for a night of ergonomically questionable sleep.

“You about to crash on me?” Will asked. I heard the rustle of sheets on his end of the call.

I closed my eyes as I slipped under my favorite well-worn quilt. “I need to. Long day tomorrow.” The warmth of the mhmm he grunted was soothing. I could listen to him talk all night long. I shifted my lumpy pillow under my neck and plugged my phone into the charger. “About Monday. Are you still free?”

“For you, always.”

I couldn’t help myself. I bit my lip and stifled a girlish giggle. “Will…”

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