Page 60 of Someone to Watch Over Me

I start the car and head for home, bringing the unsettled feeling with me, but glad I can be there for Tom while he recovers. His sister was going to stop in today to check on him. Hopefully, I’ll have another job lined up by the time he’s ready to get back to work.

When I arrive at Tom’s, his truck is in the garage, and there are no other vehicles in the driveway. I hate the slight trepidation I experience as I grab the box of my work things and go inside, hoping to find him sitting in the recliner and not passed out on the floor.

As I come up the stairs to the living room, I notice his chair is empty. “Tom?”

“In here.”

I follow the sound of his voice to the kitchen in the back of the house. “What’re you doing?”

He’s wearing sweats and a T-shirt, and his hair is wet from a shower. “Making a smoothie.”

“I can do that for you.”

“I’ve got it.” He glances over his shoulder, his gaze settling on the box I’m carrying. “What’re you doing home so early?”

“I got laid off.”

His face falls with dismay. “Oh shit, Lex. I’m sorry.”

I shrug. “At least I never have to look at another one of their spreadsheets again.”

“There is that. Are you okay?”

“I will be. A little freaked out about the financial implications, but they gave me severance and three months of health insurance before they escorted me out, so it could be worse.”

“I’m sorry that happened.”

“Did you take a shower when you were home alone?”

“Maybe.”

“Should you be doing that?”

“I’m fine. I swear.”

“What if you weren’t fine in the shower while you were home alone?”

My anxiety immediately spikes to the danger zone.

Seeming to sense that, he crosses to me and puts his hands on my shoulders. “I’m okay, Lex. Are you?”

“I, um… I came home once to find Jim had fallen in the shower. He… he hit his head and couldn’t get up on his own. He was there for about three hours by the time I found him. The water had gone cold, so he was… He had a concussion and hypothermia.”

“God, Lexi. I’m so sorry I did something to remind you of that.”

“Y-you didn’t. I just… I don’t want something like that to happen to you.”

“It won’t. I promise. If I didn’t feel strong enough, I never would’ve done it. I don’t want to end up back in the hospital. Believe me.” As he gathers me into his warm embrace, I realize I’m trembling from the memory of Jim’s fall. That was when we realized we could no longer live by ourselves.

And then I wonder if maybe I’m trembling because Tom is holding me the way a lover would, and after the way he kissed me and held me yesterday, it’s clear we’ll be lovers before too much longer at this rate. Every nerve in my body is attuned to him as I breathe in the clean, fresh scent of his body wash.

“Hold on to me, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

Every muscle in my body has gone tense, so it takes a second to relax and give in to the comfort he’s offering.

I’m not sure how long we stand there wrapped up in each other before we hear a car door closing outside and reluctantly separate.

He stares at me. “I, um… That felt good. Really, really good.”

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