Page 70 of Heart Strain

24

Jameson

“What are you guys doing here?” Luwanna asks as we approach the help desk. “Oh no, who’s in the hospital now?” She eyes the vase of white lilies mixed with purple and pink tulips I’m carrying.

“Holden and I both had the day off and we wanted to bring you something for being such a bright spot in our day while we were coming here for Drix,” I say as I pass her the flowers across the counter.

“Oh, Jameson, these are lovely. You didn’t have to do that.”

The beaming white smile splitting across her face makes me happy I did. Next to me, Holden holds up a small bakery box and waves it under his nose with a deep sniff. “And from me, a treat for helping nudge my sweetie in the right direction.”

Luwanna sets the vase down and throws her head back, laughing at Holds’s silliness and reaching for her treat. We’d found out in our daily conversations with Luwanna that she has a weakness for Lobster Tails, so we stopped at the bakery near his house on our way. Through her chuckles, she says, “It was my pleasure, child. The first time I saw you two walk in together I knew it was meant to be.”

Holds and I both get goofy grins on our faces and lean into each other. Luwanna comes around her desk area and nudges us apart, giving Holds a big squeeze before enfolding me in her tight embrace. “I’m going to miss seeing you, Ms. Luwanna.”

“I’m going to miss seeing you too, Jameson. But I’m glad for it. You take care of the brothers, okay?” she asks as she leans back, loosening her hold to smile warmly up at me.

I nod, fighting tears. Somehow, this small, older lady has come to mean a lot to me. She moves one hand up to pat my cheek while looking over at Holds. “And you take care of my boy, okay?”

A knot lodges in my throat as he responds, “Of course, with pleasure.”

Luwanna’s phone rings behind her, and the gentleman manning the desk with her is giving instructions to a couple in front of him, so she waves us off with a, “Stop in any time,” and goes back around to do her job. Holds grabs my hand and he leads me out, but I turn one last time to wave at Luwanna. She’s watching and lifts her hand to her mouth to blow me a kiss before we’re through the door.

When we get to the car, Holds places a hand on my chest before I can open his door, and rubs gentle, soothing circles right above my heart. “I think we should have a movie night tonight,” he says.

“Okay,” I respond, grateful he’s not asking me why I’m so emotional.

I open the door and he gets in, but he grabs my hand before I can walk away. “It’s okay to be upset, you know? Luwanna… I think she filled a void for you the last several weeks you didn’t know you had. We’ll make sure to stop in and see her, but Foxy, don’t feel like you have to hide from me. Okay?”

Leaning down, I sink my lips into his and draw from his strength and wisdom. “I’m so damn happy I have you,” I whisper against his lips.

“We have each other,” is his response before he claims my mouth for another soul restoring kiss.

* * *

“Okay,my brother was a real pain in the ass today,” Holds says as he drops down on the couch next to me. We went from seeing Luwanna to the rehab center, then ran and did some grocery shopping for the next few days. It’s rare for us to be home all day together now, so we tried to make the most of it. “He literally complained about everything. I think he’s going backwards instead of forward since he left the hospital.”

Although I agree, I don’t say it. “Come here, baby. That’s enough worrying for today. I have a full belly and I’m ready to see what movie you just put in. I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me.”

Holds scoots in next to me underneath my arm and holds the remote pointing at the TV. “You ready for this?” he asks, turning his head and peering up at me suspiciously.

“I’m not sure with that look on your face.” Holds waggles his eyebrows before relaxing back into me, and then it happens, the sounds of “The Circle of Life” fill my living room. “Yes!” I kinda yell, causing Simba and Nala to startle where they’re stretching out behind us on the couch back.

“I hoped you’d be happy,” Holds says as he burrows into my side. Without taking my eyes off the animals as they make their way to pay respect to the new baby, I kiss the top of his head and relax.

It’s comfortable watching the movie with Holds. We laugh at the same parts, sing along when appropriate, and our sniffles are low in the room when Mufasa dies, not that either of us acknowledge it. When the movie’s over, I say, “I can’t believe you remembered that was my favorite movie.”

He uses the remote to shut off the TV, then turns his head just enough to kiss my chest. “I remember everything you tell me. It’s important to me.”

I kiss the top of his head before resting my cheek on top of it. “You know it’s funny. I never realized how much Scar reminds me of my uncle. All that blustering.”

Holds chuckles softly. “And the other two stooges are hyenas. I can see that.”

“My uncle tried to shame me into leaving home, too,” I say softly.

“What?” Holds starts to turn his body, but I lower my arm from around the top of his shoulders to across his chest to lock him in place. I can’t face him and say what I need to tell him.

“When I came out, my mom went nuts. She started giving me the name of all these places I could go that would cleanse me of my sin. I blew her off at first, since she wasn’t actually that religious and I knew it, but then she got more insistent. I hadn’t told a lot of people around here yet, but Drix knew and thankfully, he’d convinced me to go talk to one of our instructors at the academy before I told anyone else. He was worried with my uncle’s position he would somehow keep me from getting on the force.” Simba and Nala move from their spots; Nala curling up around the back of my neck and Simba curling into a little ball in my lap. Even Peanut vacates his spot on Holden’s lap to move to cuddle up to my side. “Drix made a good call because my uncle lost his mind.”

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