Page 33 of Between the Shady Groves
Sixteen
Cannon awoke with a start, realizing that the noise that had brought him from unconsciousness was tapping on his window. He blinked and squinted, trying to see who it was.
He wished he’d brought a gun.
Then, the person leaned closer, and he could make out his wife’s features.
He knew he couldn’t wind down the window, so he just grabbed for the latch and opened the door.
She stood, wrapped in a blanket, her hair a little mussed, like she’d been lying down. He didn’t even know what time it was. He fumbled around, looking for his phone.
“Would you like to come in and sleep on the couch?” she asked.
He almost laughed. He wished she would have issued that invitation earlier, but she hadn’t, and he decided he wasn’t going to ask. She had left him, and while he considered what was his was hers and what was hers was his, since they were still married, he wasn’t going to push in. He…wanted her to want their marriage of her own free will, not because he forced himself into it.
“I don’t want to put you out,” he said, assuming she had a bed.
“No. There’s a bed in the bedroom, and there’s a couch in the livingroom. You could have it if you want. I…should have offered it earlier. I’m sorry.”
That surprised him, and he supposed his brows and open eyes showed her how he felt.
Still, he finally found his phone and looked at it.
Just a little after midnight.
It had only taken her a couple of hours for her guilt to nag her so bad that she would come and offer him the couch.
“That’s nice of you. If you truly don’t mind, I’ll take you up on it.”
“Yeah. It would make me feel better if you would. Please.”
It was late, and he was still a little groggy from sleep, and she didn’t look the greatest either. They could talk in the morning.
So, he followed her silently into the bakery, where he stopped and deliberately turned around and locked the door. Tomorrow, George would have the security system, and he could have it installed in an afternoon. The symbolism wasn’t lost on him.
Hopefully tomorrow night, Lauren would feel a lot better. But then, he would have no excuse for sleeping outside. But he wasn’t going to leave here without his wife. Not unless she made it clear that she absolutely did not want him and was going to file for divorce.
He didn’t like to think that word. Because when he’d vowed, for better or for worse, to be with her for a lifetime, he’d meant it.
And whatever was wrong that was within his realm of ability to save, he was going to save.
He understood that he couldn’t make decisions for her, and if she chose to continue on the path that she was on, separation, and eventual divorce, there was only so much he could do to stop her. He wasn’t going to stand in her way. That was her choice. But his choice was to stand for his marriage.
He was feeling dramatic though. So, he shut that off and walked silently up the steps behind her, after checking the back door to make sure it was locked. He thought he saw a shadow and stopped to squint.
“I think there’s something moving out there,” he said.
“It’s probably the stray dog I’ve been feeding. I think it’s pregnant.”
“You need to be careful with those things. They could have rabies.”
“It doesn’t have rabies,” she said.
She continued up the stairs, and he went to follow her. He wanted to argue. She had no idea whether it had rabies or not, but he supposed her opinion was just as valid and just as reasonable as his. Just because it was a stray dog didn’t mean it automatically had rabies.
It was just that rabies was a disease that he didn’t want his wife to get. And he wanted to keep her safe, and the safest thing was to not hang out with stray dogs. Whether they were pregnant, or whether they were cute. It made perfect sense to him, but maybe it was one of those things that he saw clearly, and she didn’t see at all.
There was a door at the top of the steps, and they walked into the apartment, which, from first glance, was extremely small.
