Page 61 of Don't Leave Me
Epilogue
Marc
“You’re sure you’re okay with him? He’s still running a little bit of a fever.” Ash hovered while George tucked Danny onto his lap. Danny was already fussing with the new train book in front of him.
“Poppoppop,” Danny said, then handed George the book.
George beamed. He loved being Danny’s Pop. Any time Danny said it, the guy practically welled up with tears.
Maybe I’d done it too that first time I got Danny to say Dada, but it was just that one time.
“Ash, come on, he’s going to be fine. He knows what he’s doing.”
A couple months ago, George sold the cabin in North Carolina and actually bought the house around the corner I’d been renting. He was working as an Uber driver when he felt like it, and filling in for Sandra when she needed a day off.
My record, having been successfully expunged, was no longer an impediment to getting a private investigator’s license, which I planned to do next month.
Tonight, however, was date night. I took Ash out every Friday night, always asking her first if she would like to go out with me. Sometimes I came home with chocolates. Sometimes flowers. But I was always mindful I’d cheated her out of years of the courting she’d deserved, and needed to make up for that.
“Okay, I know you’ll know what to do if his fever spikes, but just call me, okay? We can come home.”
I tugged on her hand and pulled her out of the bungalow. We got into my truck and I drove us to our favorite restaurant. Once at our normal table, I opened the bottle of wine I’d brought and poured her a glass.
We put in an order for mussels, which we both loved, and sipped our wine.
“How was the bakery today? Busy?” Because her reputation in the area was really starting to grow, now that she was actually advertising.
“Hmm. So busy. I’m going to be baking black forest cakes until they’re coming out of my ass.”
“That doesn’t sound very appetizing, hon.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Very funny.”
And yes, I’d had her ass. It had taken her a while to come around to it, but, eventually, I showed her how amazing it could be.
“What about you? Are you nervous about your upcoming test?” she asked me.
“I’m the guy who finished Princeton in three and a half years, I’m not worried about a private investigator test.”
Her lips twitched. “Ego much?”
I laughed. “Good thing I have you to keep it in check. So, Benfield called me today. He’s working on a project and wants me to help investigate some stuff for him down here. At a fancy golf club he’s going to get me a membership to.”
“Rough gig,” Ash said. “Nothing dangerous though, right?”
I shook my head. “Just some rich assholes looking for trouble. Nothing we haven’t experienced before.”
“Uh, you know, based on the success you’ve been having investing my savings, it sort of makes us rich assholes now.”
“Doesn’t count. Not when we’ve agreed to give it all to the kids.”
Kids plural. Because she wanted more, and I wanted more. In fact, we were already talking about her going off the pill, even though she’d only recently started taking it so we could forgo condoms. She knew I liked coming inside her without anything between us, and so she’d made that happen.
Because that was how Ash rolled, and, every day, I had to work hard to prove I was worthy of all that love and generosity.
“You look beautiful tonight,” I said, out of the blue. Because she did, and, most of the time, I was still a grumpy ass, but sometimes, with her, I could push through that and say the thing I wanted to say at the time.
“You know I love it when you’re sweet to me, but I also get a little nervous.”
