Page 57 of The Run Home
“Let’s put it right here,” Boon grunted, nodding toward a spot in the living room that looked out the window. I always intended to get one of those really comfortable oversized chairs for curling up and reading a book. It would be the perfect view out the side of my house to the land my family had owned for decades.
The man pulled an electronic device from his pocket and handed it to Boon, which he then signed. The man tipped his head at me and left, his truck rumbling back down the driveway. Boon was already ripping off the cardboard on the sides, exposing something that looked like a chair with dark leather.
“Boon.” I put my hand on his, stopping him. “What is this?”
He grinned at me. “It’s a chair.”
I couldn’t keep the exasperation out of my tone. “I don’t need a chair. I have plenty.” I swooped my hand across the room, where I had a perfectly good couch that I sat on every evening.
Boon’s hand slipped out from under mine to cup my cheek and turn me back to him. His thumb slid across my cheek so sweetly, his golden-brown eyes gazing at me like I was something precious and cute instead of half asleep and grumpy from pregnancy hormones. My breath caught, my tongueflicking out to lick my lips. I saw his eyes dip to my mouth for a moment before coming back up to hold my gaze.
“Emmerleigh swore this is the only thing that got her through her second pregnancy. It’s a zero-gravity massage chair with heated back cushions. I tried Em’s, and believe me, it does everything but make you come when you sit in it.”
My cheeks went hot, thinking about all the times Boon had brought me to orgasm. The very reason we were in this pregnancy predicament to start with. His other hand came up to cup the other side of my face.
“I’m taking care of you, Shae. Always have, always will. I was half-assed with it in the past, but that shit’s over now. You can count on me to be here to take care of you and the baby. Maybe you don’t believe me right now, but you will.”
He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. My eyes fluttered shut, my heart lurching dangerously at his promise. I wouldn’t tell him this, but I lay awake at night worrying about being a single mom. Wondering if I could do this on my own. To be both parents for a little one who deserved the whole world. Sure, my friends would be there to help, but it would ultimately come down to me. And that was a lot of responsibility.
Hearing him assure me he intended to help was something I badly wanted to hear. But he was also right about the other thing: I didn’t believe him.
He let me go and my eyes shot open. He ripped away the rest of the cardboard and plastic, then turned the chair just right so when I sat in it, I could see outside. He collected a stack of trash and shot me a grin. Then he walked right out of my house, the door closing behind him, gone just as quickly as he’d swooped in.
I stared at the door for at least a full minute, expecting him to come back in. When he didn’t, I turned my gaze to the fanciest chair I’d ever seen. It looked expensive. My hand disobeyed mybrain and reached out to smooth across the supple leather. It even smelled like a new car, fancy and decadent. I snatched my hand back and turned my back on this…gift, I guessed?
I would not be swayed with gifts or showers of money. Nope. I wanted Boon to be a devoted dad or nothing. And in my mind, devoted did not mean throwing his money around. It meant showing up in all the ways that counted and all the little ways that went unseen. It meant cleaning throw-up out of your hair without complaint and making a bottle at two in the morning. It entailed putting aside your own desires and plans and egos and giving everything to this child that didn’t ask to be born. We’d made this baby, and we owed him or her our everything.
Stomping into the kitchen and refusing to look at the chair, I rummaged through the cupboards to see what Boon had brought over. The green juice made me grimace. The protein powder looked weird. The crackers seemed like they might be okay. My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t had breakfast yet. I ripped open the cracker box and lifted out the first sleeve. The crackers were rectangle and looked like they’d been individually toasted to perfection. I popped one in my mouth and ended up moaning around it as the buttery, crispy taste melted in my mouth.
My eyes flew open to look at the package. These were nothing like the tasteless chalky crackers I’d been eating to get me through morning sickness. These things were manna from heaven. Biscuits of delight. Formed from spun gold and blessed by rabbis across the globe. I grabbed another and lifted it to my mouth, wandering back into the living room and eyeing the new chair. If that thing was half as lovely as these crackers, I might just have to toss my convictions to the wind and give in to Boon’s gift.
Eyeing the door, then looking out the window that gave me a view of Gigi’s place, I didn’t see Boon anywhere nearby.The coast was clear. Surely just testing out this behemoth was warranted, right? I’d still make him return it. I ran my toe over the legs of the chair, wondering if I could get back out if I sat down on it. It looked like it might suck you in and leave you so boneless you’d never escape.
Half the sleeve of crackers was already gone and I was feeling a little revived from the calories. Before I could talk myself out of it, I flopped down onto the massage chair and let out another audible groan, this time from the cloud of soothing nothingness that swaddled my entire body. My elbow hit a button on the armrest and suddenly four strapping Swedes were massaging each of my limbs. The crackers fell to my lap, leaving a mess of crumbs. I would have cared but my eyes had already rolled back in my head.
“Oh fuuuuuck,” I said over the vibration as the neck massage started up.
I’d been let down by men before. First, my ex-husband as he blamed me for everything that went wrong in our marriage. Then by my father as he left me way too soon in this world all alone. He couldn’t help it. He was an older dad when they had me and death was everyone’s reality, but it still felt like being left behind.
I wanted to believe Boon would be there for me and the baby, and this chair was one heck of a start, but my head told my heart to shut the bleep up and rely solely on myself.
My front door flew open again and every cell in my body knew it was Boon. I was just that attuned to him by now. Goose bumps lined my flesh and a heavenly light was directing me to somewhere in outer space where swollen ankles and morning sickness didn’t exist. I should have gotten out of the chair and demanded Boon take this stupid thing back to the store he got it from, but I was no masochist. This chair would go to the nursinghome with me one day. We were now tied at the hip and destined to be lifelong besties.
I felt his presence hovering over me. His hand smoothed a strand of hair from my face, his touch gentle. I attempted to lift my lids, but they refused the order.
“I see Emmerleigh was right,” Boon said on a laugh.
“This thing might actually give orgasms. Just give me another couple of minutes,” I whined.
Boon’s deep laugh made the corners of my mouth tip up. He leaned in and kissed my smile. Then he moved away and my eyes fluttered open to watch him. He sat on the couch, a laptop in hand.
“When you’re, ahem,doneover there, come on over and we can pick out a crib and diaper changing station.”
That got my attention. I forced my finger to press the button on the armrest again and the Swedes vanished into thin air. Shoving another cracker in my mouth and promising myself to come back to this chair every possible moment of every day, I held out my hand.
“I need help.”
Boon smiled, then came over, picking me bodily out of the chair and carrying me to the couch to sit so close to him our legs were pressed together.
