Page 70 of Someone to Watch Over Me

“I know that feeling, all too well.”

“Yes, you do.” He raises his head and gazes into my eyes. “Thank you for coming and for stepping in to help when I needed it.”

“I’m very glad to have gotten to meet her.” I force a small smile. “Tommy.”

He gives me a side-eyed look. “That’s reserved for my ma and my oldest friends.”

“Is that right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’ve known you for twenty years. That makes me one of your oldest friends.”

“Wait a minute…”

With a laugh, I turn to leave the room, relieved to have been there for him when he needed me. It feels good to give back to him after his extraordinary generosity over the last nine months.

Everything about this feels good, if I’m being honest. That’s both scary and exhilarating, I decide as I drive him home. I’m still hoping to see the girls tonight. I need to talk it out with my people, the ones who understand the enormity of this moment better than anyone.

Tom

I’m wreckedafter the visit with my mom, but that’s nothing new. Seeing her always devastates me. That she thought I was dead made this time extra difficult. Did she somehow sense that I had a close call? Lexi was amazing, the way she stepped in and tried to help. Having her there to hold me afterward made all the difference.

She makes everything better.

When we get home, I head straight for the chair, exhausted by the outing and the emotional wallop that always comes with seeing my mom.

“Can I get you anything?” Lexi asks.

“I’m good. I might take a nap.”

“Do you mind if I run out for a bit? Some of my widow friends are getting together for dinner.”

“Of course not. Go ahead and have a nice time.”

“You’ll be all right?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“And no showers while you’re home alone?”

“I won’t do that again until I’m fully healed. I promise.”

“Thank you. Can I bring you back some dinner?”

“I’ll pick at what we have here.” I can tell she’s torn about leaving me. “It’s all good, Lex. Go have a nice time with your friends. I’ll be right here—in the chair—when you get home.”

“Too soon, Tommy. Far too soon.”

I cough out a laugh that makes me instantly regret it. I’m ready for the full-body soreness to let up any time now.

After she goes up to her room to get ready for her dinner out, I doze throughSportsCenter, coming to when she appears next to me—looking and smelling too good to be true. “You’re gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

I love her shy smile and how she’s easily embarrassed, although she has no reason to be. I’m so gone over her, and relieved that I can finally show her how I feel without having to worry about scaring her off. If the heart attack and stent procedure didn’t scare her off, that is. I hate how she still looks at me with fear of what might happen if she leaves me alone.

Hopefully, that will pass in time, because I want her to look at me the way she did outside the nursing home earlier when she admitted to feeling desire for me. I want more desire and less fear.

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