Page 82 of Secret Love

“I’m almost to the house,” she finally says. “I’ll go for now and try to get out of there fast.”

“All right. I love you, Mom. So much.”

“You are everything to me,” she says. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

I feel ragged when I hang up. I put my forehead on Henley’s chest and let the strength of his arms soothe the hurt. Earlcomes over and glides between my legs, meowing pitifully until I pick him up. Henley brushes my hair away from my face and I look up at him. He thumbs away my tears, his face so full of compassion, a few more tears fall.

“God.” He rubs his chest. “It physically hurts to see you cry. What can I do to help?”

“You’re already doing it.” I let him hold me another few seconds and then lift my head. “I need to find my mom a ticket out of there as soon as possible.”

He runs his hands over my arms and nods. “I’m good at that, and I have a friend who works for a travel agency.”

I’m about to make a remark, something like I’m sure he knows a pretty woman who will help him or some other stupid comment, when he adds, “Let me call him.”

My heart eases.

He’s not your father.

“She’s in Sydney, right?” he asks, already dialing the number. “Hey, Stan, it’s Henley. I know, it’s been a minute. Oh, yeah, you’re welcome. I’m glad you were able to make the game. I’m doing well. How about you? Great. Listen, I have a favor to ask, and just tell me if it doesn’t work to help us. I have a friend whose mom is in Sydney, Australia, and she needs to get out of there in a hurry. We’ll pay whatever it takes.”

He shakes his head when I open my mouth to protest.

“To Denver, Colorado,” he says. He pauses for a second and his features relax into a smile. “One sec, let me see if that’s possible.” He looks at me. “A flight leaving there at 9:30 AM?”

“Let me make sure she can leave that soon.”

He tells Stan I’m checking and they chat about the Super Bowl while I call my mom. She sounds more focused and says she won’t stay in the house long at all. She’ll make it to the airport with time to spare.

I put my hand over the phone. “She can make it.”

He relays that to Stan and I’m handing him my credit card when he says, “Yes, the one you have on file. Thanks so much, Stan. Okay, I’ll tell her to put that info in the Delta app. You’re a lifesaver, man. Let me know the next game you want tickets to, and I’ll make sure you get them.”

We both hang up at the same time and stare at each other.

“She’ll be here by 12:30 tomorrow afternoon.” He pauses for a second. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Can we make dinner? I need something normal to process.”

He smiles and my heart turns over. “Lead the way to the kitchen, tiny dancer.”

While we make tortilla soup and a salad, I tell him about my parents and how the way my dad treated my mom and me instilled distrust in me about other men.

“Seeing the way you love your girls, the way you treat them with such respect…the way you treatmewith such respect…it’s been so eye-opening, Henley.” I swallow the lump building in my throat. “I want that for my mom too. And I’m just glad for the chance to know for myself that all men aren’t like my dad. I have you to thank for that.”

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my palm.

And I fall even harder for him.

The fact that I trust Henley enough to share any of this speaks volumes to the kind of man he is.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

LITTLE KOALA

HENLEY

It’s after midnight and we’ve talked for hours. We took a shower earlier, where I tended to her. It was a helpless feeling, watching her cry. But I washed her hair and slid her vanilla honey body wash over every inch of her skin, trying to soothe away her pain in the only way I know how. Now we’re in her bed, naked, but I’m keeping my hands in the safety zone. We’re in a queen bed,smaller than what I’m used to, but I love the way she’s wrapped around my body like a little koala.

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