Page 61 of Raspberry Cake
Her sister surprised her with a kiss to her cheek. “That just goes to show he’s perfect for you.”
Renley
Returning back to work felt like he’d been slapped in the face by reality. He loved his job, but he’d been content in his happy little bubble with Eveline and now that it’d been popped, it was jarring. They’d finished at the first property and had moved on, so Renley was back on demolition. As he was clearing debris at the end of a long day, Jeronimo stepped into the room, arms crossed over his chest.
“Eveline hasn’t called me.”
He straightened his shoulders, unable to read his boss’s expression. “She hasn’t?”Was that a bad thing? Was she supposed to?Renley couldn’t remember her mentioning work.
“She always calls me.”
Shit, was he supposed to worry?“She was fine yesterday when I left. You think something happened?”
“Youhappened.”
Now he was extra confused. “What?”
“She always calls on her vacations, at least once a day. She called every day last week—until you showed up. She never shuts off that brain of hers, but you somehow got her to do it.”
Oh... “Is that a bad thing?”
“It’s not, so I hope for your sake you don’t fuck this up.”
Renley gulped. “You don’t have to worry there, sir.”
Jeronimo gave a slow, approving nod. “Good.”
With that, he turned and walked out, leaving Renley rather dumbfounded but also proud of himself. It was true: Eveline had barely uttered a word about work when he was around.
Before returning home, he stopped in to check on the cats and wound up trapped by Flake for an hour, who demanded cuddles. He sent videos and pictures to Eveline, who loved every single one. It was sitting there that he realised the amount of trust she’d put in him—with her cats, with her home—and with her heart.
Saturday morning, he went grocery shopping for the both of them. He tried his best to remember what she’d gotten before, and made sure to have her fridge at least somewhat stocked upon her return.
When his phone rang and her name popped up, he shook his head. “I hope you are parked somewhere.”
“It’s called Bluetooth, Renley. Even the old people use it.”
“Time for you to get home. You wouldn’t be speaking so unkindly about yourself if I were next to you.”
Eveline laughed, the sound making his heart flutter. “I’ll be there in an hour.”
“Perfect, we’re already impatiently waiting. Be safe.”
“I will be.” She blew him a kiss and ended the call.
He tried to calm his impatience by petting Flake and Luna, nearly stumbling over his own feet when he finally heard the garage door open. Unable to hide his smile, he emerged into the garage just as she was transferring into her chair.
“Kitten,” he purred, taking her cheeks between his palms and kissing her. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
As she went inside to greet her demanding fur babies, he followed behind with her bags. “I picked up some frozen pizzas. I thought we could have a home movie and pizza night.”
“Sounds like my kind of evening.” As he took out all the ingredients and set them on the counter, Eveline stared into the fridge. “You filled my fridge.”
“I did and I hope I got all your favourites. I tried to remember as much as I could.”
Eveline let out a dreamy sigh. “I don’t deserve you.”
