Page 81 of A Moment for Us
I swallow back the tears. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Delia?” I look up at him, forcing my emotions to stay down. “Are you okay?”
“Just . . . the nausea is back.”
His hand moves to the small of my back, and he leads me toward the rocking chairs. “Here, sit.”
Don’t leave, Josh. Don’t go. Just love me and stay.
He presses his lips to my forehead. “You okay?”
No.
“Yes.”
“I’ll finish scanning a few things I saw while you rest. I’ll be right back. I want to get that stroller for both of us.”
I bite my tongue and nod, the tears pooling in my eyes.
Twosetsof everything . . . including two homes because Josh won’t ever stay.
Chapter 23
Joshua
The last three weeks have been calm. Delia is working, I’m working on the house, and once a week, Mrs. Garner and Mrs. Villafane bring over some kind of baked good to thank me for keeping the neighborhood safe. Of course, I haven’t done a damn thing, but I won’t turn away their cake since it makes Delia smile.
Today, I’m hoping she’ll smile because I finally finished the floors.
I hear her car pull up, and I’m at the door before she gets there. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she says with a weary smile as her hands move to rub her belly. It hasn’t been until this last week that it seemed as if she were actually pregnant. I know she was before, but now she has the bump, and I swear, the woman is glowing. “What’s up?” Delia asks as she comes to a stop in front of me.
I shake my head before taking her hand. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Is it cake?”
“No.”
Delia’s lips turn down. “I like cake.”
“I think you’ll like this too.”
I walk her inside and to the living room. The furniture, which had been shifted to the dining room, is back to where she had it. Except now, the floors are shiny, all new, and perfect.
“Wow!” she says, looking around. “It’s gorgeous, Josh. Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”
“No, really. Thank you. This is amazing, and you got it done—free, too.”
She’s smiling as if I just won the world for her. She looks so happy, and it’s what I wish I did for her daily.
“Next, I think we work on the nursery.”
Delia turns quickly, losing her balance, and I catch her. Her hands are against my chest, and I can’t fucking breathe. For weeks, I’ve fought against the urge to hold her, touch her, kiss her all-too-perfect lips.
I almost lost that battle when we went shopping, and had we not been interrupted, I might have. When that woman said Delia was my wife, it was as though I got woken up from the dream.
