Page 46 of Finding Home

Fitz’s Human: For the record, anytime we’re together it’s a date.

Elle squealed, then slapped a hand over her mouth. Far too undignified for a thirty-six-year-old woman with a very important job. Tuesday couldn’t come soon enough.

Thank god she was going to get some one-on-one time with Uncle Pete tonight to distract her. He was coming over to help her put together the new desk chair.

Pete arrived twenty minutes after she logged off for the day.

After they’d assembled the chair, Elle made tea and served some of the leftover wedding cake.

“Tea and cake. I feel like the King of England,” Pete jested, taking a large bite.

“Take a sip of the tea after each bite. It complements the flavor of the cake nicely.” She demonstrated this, taking a sip of the still steaming tea after her first bite of the lemon chiffon delicacy.

“Oh, that is good.” Pete moaned with pleasure. “You have a tea convert but only with cake.”

“Thank you for saving me some.”

“Of course.” Pete’s lips trembled as if debating whether he should speak.

Her right brow ticked up. “What?”

Pete hissed out a long breath before saying, “You left the wedding early. I saw you dancing with Doc, then you were gone. Then he was.”

“It wasn’t like that. I ran into him as I was coming out of the bathroom, and he saw I wasn’t feeling well and offered to take me home.”

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me.”

“You were busy. I didn’t want to bother?—”

“You didn’t text me,” he interrupted, hurt shaded the blue of his eyes. “That’s not like you to not let me know where you are.”

“I should have sent a text. I’m sorry you worried,” she apologized.

He shrugged. “When I went looking for you, I ran into Jerome’s dad. He said when he was walking to the bathroom, he saw you leave with Doc. I knew you were safe with him. I didn’t know why you left. Was it your mom? Did she approach you? Did she try to talk to you?”

Tightness spread in her chest and crawled up her throat. “No.”

He reached out one hand.“What did she do? Please tell me.”

“She came into the bathroom while I was there. She just shrugged and walked into a stall.”

“What?”

“She saw me but went into a stall like I wasn’t her daughter. Like I was someone she was indifferent to. Someone not worth it.”

“We asked her not to approach or speak to you.”

“I know,” she gritted through clenched teeth. “This was the one time she gave me what I asked for, so I shouldn’t complain or be upset.”

She wasn’t angry at Pete but at herself for being disappointed that her mother didn’t prove her wrong. The woman was selfish and would always choose herself over her daughter.

“I don’t know all of what happened between the two of you. You just stopped speaking to her and then slowly stopped coming home.”

The sadness in his eyes sliced Elle’s heart.I’ve done this. I’ve hurt him.

“Pete, I am sorry. I know that I’ve made this hard on you. I know that I?—”

“No.” His interruption was firm, but gentle. “You haven’t done anything. You’re the kid. If it was Tobey and me or you and me…” he croaked. “…I would never listen to anyone who told me not to approach or speak to you. I would never shrug and close a door on you.”

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