Page 27 of Monsters, Vows, and Growls
“And now you’re going to eat bread with the man who made you do it. Full circle.”
I exhaled slowly, reaching for my lip balm. “This still feels dangerous.”
She stepped behind me, put both hands on my shoulders, and squeezed. “That’s because it is. Love is always a risk. But you’re a grown woman now, El. You can handle a little fire.”
I stared at my reflection; my hair was a mess as always, but the dress did make me look a little thinner—my hips had started flaring during my éclair recipe exploration period. The makeup was soft, but didn't hide how nervous I looked.
I whispered, “What if he hurts me again?”
Carol didn’t miss a beat. “Then we kill him. Together. I know where Henry keeps the shovels.”
That got a laugh out of me—small, but real.
I stood up straighter, “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Carol grinned. “Go get your bear, baby.”
Just then, the doorbell chimed, and I nearly dropped the clutch I had just picked up. My heart startled out of my chest, and the glimpse I caught of myself in the mirror reminded me of the proverbial deer in the headlights.
"He's early," I exclaimed with a loud exhale.
"He has a lot of ground to make up, now go," Carol pushed me into the living room and retreated back into the bedroom, only partially closing the door so she could watch the show Patrick and I were about to put on. I threw one last glance at her as I grabbed the door handle in a death grip, and she made a zipping motion in front of her lips. She didn't want Patrick to know that she was here. She worried we would feel obligated to invite her to come with us, and she wasn't wrong; a twinge of guilt already gnawed at my insides.
That guilt vanished, however, the moment I opened the door and looked at Patrick. Hell, I had noticed before how much more handsome he had gotten, but wearing a suit and tie, he was a real knockout.
"You look beautiful," he said, holding out a bouquet of lilies—my favorites, oh heart, be still, don't beat a mile a minute just because he remembered!
"Thank you. You remembered," I exclaimed.
"It's hard to forget any details about you, Ells," he said, so smoothly that my heart decided to skip a few beats of its wild pounding.
"Come on in. I'll just put them in a vase," I waved him in, pretending I hadn't spent the entire day cleaning. Not that I was a messy person or anything, but flour does have a way of getting into the weirdest spots, especially when you use it a lot.
"This is nice." Patrick looked around the spacious area. It was an open concept with a kitchen, dining, and living room. I could have afforded something more than just an apartment these days, but it was just me, and I didn’t need a lot of room. Most days, I worked for ten hours at the restaurants anyway.
I opened a cupboard and was about to climb up on the counter—yes, I'm that short—to reach a vase, when I felt his presence behind me. Like right behind me. Like his body pressing into my back.
"Allow me," his voice was deep and seductive, although he was only trying to help. I couldn't stop myself. I leaned into him; it was as if my body was magically pulled. The moment only lasted a second, but the intense emotions he inflamed in me were there to stay.
"Thank you." I took the vase with shaking hands and filled it with water, while he took the plastic wrapper off the flowers, cut the rubber band around the stems, and poured the contents of a little packet of flower food into the water.
The sound of a low thump from the bedroom caught our attention.
"What was that?" Patrick asked, already making a move to the bedroom.
I caught the back of his jacket and pulled him back, well, not really pulled, because there was no way for me to pull that massive man anywhere, but he stopped. "Nothing, are you ready to go?"
His entire posture screamed he wasn't. He wanted to know who or what was in my bedroom, but he seemed to realize that he had no rights here. He sighed, and I had mercy on him. I whispered, "Carol is hiding in there. She didn't want to end up being the third wheel."
His expression eased, and a quiet chuckle escaped him. "Then we’d better go."
He offered me his arm, and I took it. We stepped out into the early evening light, where he led me to his truck, opening the door for me like a gentleman. He had always been thoughtful that way.Except when he broke your heart, real gentlemanly like, my mind snarked, and I told it to shut up, because this was a fresh start.
We drove in silence for a bit, and I realized he wasn’t taking us back into town. Instead, we were driving toward Cedar Hollow. My curiosity grew when he took a little side road that led deeper into the woods.
"It's not a long walk," Pats said when he stopped the truck and came around to help me out. "I'm sorry, I should have warned you," he pointed at my shoes.
"It's alright," I waved his concern off, unless we were going on a mile-long hike, it would be okay.
