Page 131 of Wanted

All I ask is to allow me to be here for you because I’m not going anywhere.

He stares into my eyes as if imploring an answer. But my throat is too clogged with emotion to speak and my thoughts are too jumbled to respond through our bond. So, I chose to nod.

Chance leans in and lightly brushes his lips across mine. The warmth from his touch reaches beyond my grief and pain to the part of me only he can touch.

After I finish bathing you, I want to show you something. If you’re up for it.

I nod because there is no saying no to him.

Half an hour later, I’m dressed in a simple pair of black denims and a V-neck as I follow Chance out of the house for the first time in days. He holds firmly to my hand.

We’re not going far. He assures me for the second time.

I give him a small smile as I climb into the passenger seat of his truck while he holds the door open for me.

We drive over to the next street, not even two minutes in the truck and he stops in front of one of the commune’s current builds. The unfinished home is a beautiful rust-orange color while the entire left side of the building slopes into the ground that’s been built up around it.

I know this is one of the building techniques utilized as a natural cooling mechanism for many of the houses in the commune. Though incomplete, I can tell once finished the home will be a beauty.

I give Chance an inquisitive look as he takes me by the hand to help me out of the truck.

My house isn’t suitable for my mate.

I cock my head to the side, confused. I think back, trying to remember if I ever gave him the impression that I don’t like or appreciate his home.

You deserve more space. And…He trails off but doesn’t release my hand as he shows me around toward the back of the property.

I’ve been working on this space for the past week while Ms. Elsie stayed with you. It’s not quite finished, like the rest of the property, though.

The apology in his voice tugs at my heartstrings. I squeeze his hand in reassurance.

I follow as he enters the door of the non-attached room. As soon as I step inside, my breath hitches. The far wall is completed around what appears to be glass bottles of different colors. The angle of the wall with the bottles and the light shining from the sun shrouds the entire room in a mosaic of colors.

At the center of the room, a stream of light somehow creates a rainbow.

What is this?

Chance turns to me in the far corner of the room.

Your sister loved rainbows.His gaze circles the room.I thought once this house was completed, this space could be your office. Or your own room for whatever you want. You use it for your own purpose, even if it’s just to look at the rainbow and remember Ashley.

I don’t even bother trying to stop the tear that falls first. Nor the second or the third, as I shift my gaze from one side of the room to the other. The rainbow stretches all the way from one end of the room to the other, casting its beauty on the far wall.

Every night around sunset, the bottles in the wall will create this same effect.Chance continues.But…

He pauses and turns flickering on a lamp behind him. No, not a lamp. A nightlight that also shrouds the room in rainbows.

You can use this light whenever it’s not sunset.

He looks at me expectantly, as if he’s waiting to see if I like it or not, just so he can take his next breath.

I don’t have the words because ‘thank you’ isn’t sufficient. Instead of talking, I throw my arms around and laugh-cry into the crook of his neck.

Too many emotions overcome me at once and it’s as if my body doesn’t know which one is correct. So, I both cry as I laugh and smile.

Chance’s strong arms envelop me once more, holding me to him. There’s no expectation to tell him what I’m feeling or thinking. He doesn’t expect anything in return. All he wants is for me to let him be here for me.

That thought spurs me to hug him tighter.

---