Page 83 of Her Braun
Okay.
"Ma'am?" Gibson gave her a smile. "We need to put out the fire and we're going to be moving the hoses around. It might be safer if you went back in your house."
She nodded, but her expression seemed a little softer, her eyes drifting off to another thought. "Oh, okay."
Gibson offered her his arm. "I'll walk you home, ma'am."
She brightened up a little as she gazed up at him. "Oh, thank you, young man." She beamed up at him. "You're such a gentleman."
He nodded and smiled at her, seeing how upset she'd been moments earlier.
He walked her up to her door and she stepped inside, stopping just past her doorway.
She turned back around and looked him right in the eye. The woman looking at him was definitely more present and Gibson wondered if she was okay living on her own. He made a mental note to check back with her in a day or two.
"I know," her voice drifted off as her gaze lowered toward the floor, "I know I'm not the sharpest person you've ever met and my memory isn't the best anymore, but I know there's something wrong with that family."
"Ma'am?"
She looked up at him and he saw the hesitation in her eyes. She was waiting for him to say something to hurt her.
That didn't sit well with him.
"I hear you."
She brightened up at that.
"I'll call my friend in the Police Department. He'll look into it."
She smiled at him and the look in her eyes was like she was another woman entirely. "Thank you."
"Stay safe, ma'am."
"Thankyou, lieutenant."
Kay was dragging her feet after work. Going back home when Gibson was still working was... difficult.
Before she'd gotten to know him, she'd leave work and rush home intending to do all kinds of projects to make her home complete, but then she'd end up curling up on her sofa, ordering in and falling asleep before she had to get up and do it all over again, giving every bit of her energy to the job.
Now, knowing that Gibson was working through the night, she fiddled around at work after her hours, getting to know some of her co-workers more than she had before. And when she'd tired herself out, she'd head home and order in before falling asleep on the couch or in her room surrounded by the evidence that Gibson lived in her space, especially the things that they'd worked on together around the house.
Walls were painted.
Locks had been replaced.
They’d spent most of the time in the bathroom- Well, he had. Retiling so they could have a good sized shower that was more efficient when their schedules crossed. Kay didn’t have a problem with a tiny shower, but add Gibson in the mix and they’d needed more room.
She’d even ordered a new water heater that he’d installed so they didn't have to dash in and out of the shower before the hot water ran out and changed to an icy fall of rain.
It was more of a home in just its features, but when he wasn’t there it was even more lonely than it had felt before. He’d brought that house to life.
Gibson did that.
He made her feel alive, too.
So she found reasons to stay away.
As she slid into the seat of her new-to-her car, she had to decide what to do about dinner.
