Page 104 of Never Really Over

“When?”

“Is tonight out of the question?”

I laugh. “It’s midnight.”

“And?”

“You’re in deep, Mr. Samuelson.”

“No argument, Ms. Belk, but you haven’t stayed the night in months.”

That makes me laugh again. “I was there two nights ago, Colt.”

“And last night you weren’t,” he reminds me something I already know. Stan and I had a meeting with a new client about two hours away from Hollow Grove and I didn’t get back until late. Tonight I had dinner with Mom. Just the two of us because we haven’t had a lot of time to talk lately and I needed a quiet night with her. “And tonight you’re not, either, which I get because you were where you needed to be, but I missed you. We need to do something about this like we discussed.”

“I thought we were going to go slowly through the steps? Not move me in yet to make sure Poppy is ready?”

“Fuck the steps. I was being stupid. I’m ready for you to be a permanent fixture here. Poppy loves you and misses you when you’re not here, too. She told me so.”

I shimmy deeper into my mattress, warm and cozy and not just because of my bed. His words wrap around me like a blanket, stoking the fire inside me that’s always smoldering.

“Oh, she did, did she?”

“Before she went to bed tonight she told me that she wanted Lay to move in.”

“Wow. She’s gotten a bigger vocabulary since yesterday.”

“What can I say? She’s a fast learner. Takes after me, of course.”

“Of course,” I reply, laughing. I quiet my voice. “So what is it you’re saying, Colt?”

“Things are good, Layla. Really good. Maybe it’s dumb to shake things up, but your mom’s making progress and I’m ready for you to be here every night. No more leaving. I want you in my bed when I go to sleep. I want to wake up and see your face when I open my eyes.”

He’s right about my mom. Whatever he said to her the night he came over to dinner finally got through to her and I couldn’t be more thankful. She started to see a therapist a week later and asked me to help her with a little burn party of our own. And just a couple days ago, she made huge progress and finally held Poppy. The smile on both their faces was enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Stan has become a fairly permanent fixture in Hollow Grove, which might be another factor contributing to how well she’s doing. In fact, they stopped pretending there wasn’t something more between them and fessed up to me yesterday. They wanted to make sure I was okay with them being together.

Obviously, I told them yes.

Stan’s daughter and her husband Phillip came to visit as well, which was admittedly a tiny bit awkward because Dalton showed up, but Bridget squashed it by being all things Bridget.

Since Dalton is working for Stan now, yes, he managed to get a job for him, it needed to happen. Clear the air so our working environment was a healthy one. Hailey is an incredible assistant and her husband didn’t bat an eye at Dalton being an employee, saying it didn’t matter because he got the girl. I had to choke on my laugh at Dalton’s nervous expression when he first met Phillip.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Colt asks, not even masking his excitement.

“You know I want that, too. It’s not exactly a hardship for me.”

“Tomorrow, then?”

A giggle bursts out of me at how serious he sounds.

“That could be arranged.”

“Good,” he grunts. “I love you. I’minlove with you, Layla Belk. And I intend to change that to Layla Samuelson as soon as I can convince you.”

My cheeks hurt from the smile that seems to have become a permanent fixture on my face.

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