Page 36 of Saint
She took another pull from her beer, then said, “But a week before Halloween, he came home, looked at the dinner I had made, sneered, and told me to pack my shit along with Soraya and get the fuck out of his house.”
It took everything in me to keep my ass planted in my seat, to not react.
“Since my name wasn’t on anything, I didn’t have a leg to stand on.” She said with a sigh.
“I refused at first, questioning him because things didn’t add up. But he told me that the owner of the company he worked for thought it was a bad look for the company if his top chief executive had a little family.” She scoffed
And with her next words... I was teetering on the edge of rage. “When he moved to backhand me, I ran and grabbed what I could carry and got us out of there.”
“A long time ago, when I was Soraya’s age, I had an aunt. Before she passed away, she told me about this little town and the magic it held. So, with the money I had from my job, we headed here.”
“Would it upset you if I got up and walked away for a bit?” I asked her.
She took in my features, smiled softly, then shook her head, “Of course not.”
I got up then, moved over to her, leaned down, and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.
It took me half an hour to cool off.
And by the time I got back, I felt my brows raise.
“You didn’t finish eating?” I asked as I sat back down.
She shook her head, “No. Appreciate you not taking your anger out on me. Wanted to wait for you.”
I growled then, unable to hold it back, “That’s something you’ll never fear from me. Doubt there’s anything you could ever do that would make me even remotely mad at you. And should I ever even raise my voice to you, I want you to tell me to shut the fuck up. Alright?”
She looked down at herself, then at me, and asked, “Seriously? You’re three times my size.”
I winked at her, “Baby, the harder the man feels, the easier it is to take him down. If I ever cause you fear or pain, you have my consent to shoot me in the head.”
She froze, then she threw her head back and started laughing.
Needless to say, we talked about ourselves while we finished our cold meal.
One that neither of us seemed to mind.
And it shocked the shit out of me that even though I told her I would clean up the dishes, she jumped in to help me clean the dishes.
Little touches. Small smiles.
There was no one I wanted to clean with besides her for the rest of my life.
I checked the time and then asked her if she wanted to take a walk along Main Street to see the lights.
She shocked me by tagging my hand and saying, “Since I’m not ready for this night to end, that sounds perfect.”
And then I shared... She was laughing about the yellow device I found in the dumpster as I walked her out to my truck.
“So, you're telling me that you were so hungry, and you thought it was a banana?” She was gasping while laughing so hard I knew it was hard for her to breathe.
I nodded as I opened her door for her, “Yes, ma’am. I thought it was weird that I was getting disgusted looks while I shoved it in my mouth and tried to bite it and suck it.”
At that moment, she lost her balance from laughing even harder.
Once she had her laughter under control, I opened my truck door and helped her inside.
***
