Page 23 of Protecting the Boundary
“You’re welcome.”
“You didn’t have to do that and I appreciate it. It’s been a long time since someone tried to take care of me.”
“It was nothing, really.”
The air between us feels weighted. “It was something to me.”
My breath gets stuck in my lungs as we stare at each other.
“Sleep well, Meredith.”
I swallow thickly. “You too, Romel.”
He nods with his chin. “I’ll stay out here and make sure you get in safely.”
That brings a smile to my face. “In this neighborhood?” We’re in a gated community and he’s got security cameras all around the exterior of his house.
“I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
My smile falls as something else fills my chest. I don’t say anything else. I don’t think I can over the lump in my throat. Instead, I turn around and walk the rest of the way to the guesthouse. I don’t look back until I’m inside and have closed the door.
Then and only then do I turn around and find him still standing in his doorway, staring at me, his brow furrowed slightly. Except the longer I watch him, the more I realize he’s not staring at me. He’s staring at where I was, lost in thought. He shakes his head and then looks up at the dark sky, only the faintest glimmer of stars visible here in the city, before he finally closes the door and disappears from sight.
I spin around, leaning my back against the wall, and try to catch my suddenly shallow breath. I don’t know what that was back there, but a part of me hopes I’m not the only one feeling this off-kilter.
FIFTEEN
Exhaustion hits me hard as soon as I pull up to the house. Leaving for this away game was rough. It’s always rough on Kay, but this time she had a meltdown of epic proportions. Meredith was forced to pull her off me, and it killed me to walk away from her while she was calling for me, tears streaming down her face.
I’d been hoping I could walk in the door tonight and hold her close, reassuring her that I would always come home to her, but our flight back was delayed due to weather, and now that I’m home and the lights are all off except the front porch, it’s clear I missed my opportunity to see Kaylee before she went to bed.
Grabbing my duffle bag, I head inside. The light under the kitchen cabinets is on and there’s ambient light coming from the family room that I wasn’t able to see from the driveway. I figure Meredith left it on for me before she went to bed in the guest room where she sleeps when I’m away—I’ve noticed she always does considerate things like that. Dropping my bag by the foot of the stairs, I walk in there to turn it off.
Except when I enter the room, I almost run right into Meredith. “Hey, I figured you’d already be asleep.”
It’s after eleven, and I know she’s typically in bed by nine. Not that I track her movements or anything, but it’s obvious when I walk by the patio doors and see the lights in the guesthouse off.
“I waited up for you. I was hoping I could talk to you about something.”
I gesture to the couch and we both take a seat. “What’s up?” My body tenses with the slight fear that she might be about to quit on me. I know we started out on the wrong foot, but the thought of losing her now leaves a foul taste in my mouth.
She pulls the sleeves of her thin sweatshirt over her fingers and tucks her legs underneath her. “I had an idea I thought might be good to try for Kaylee—to help with the separation anxiety.”
“Okay.”
“What if we come with you?” She holds up her hands. “Now, hear me out before you say no. We wouldn’t fly with you because I’m sure that’s not allowed, but we could stay in the same hotel and come to the game. She could see that you’re playing, and get to be a part of it. We could try it for a game or two to see how she does, and it might help her see what it looks like when you’re playing away games. It’s the not knowing that gives her anxiety.”
“She told you that?”
She tilts her head to the side and then straightens it again. “No, and maybe I’m projecting from my own experience, but I do think it might help.”
When I just stare at her to continue, she explains.
“When I was little, I had pretty bad anxiety whenever my dad went to work. He was the only parent I had, and the more I became aware of that, the more I had this irrational fear that if I couldn’t see him, then something bad would happen to him andI’d be alone. He got his boss’s permission to bring me to work with him one day.”
“And that helped?” She has my full attention now, and I understand why Larissa thought she’d be a good fit. I’d never have considered bringing Kay with me to an away game so she could see what I’m doing when I leave. If it’ll offer her reassurance, I’ll do it.
“Yeah, because I was bored out of my mind,” she says as she laughs. Her smile is infectious and my lips tilt of their own accord. She continues, “Once I knew where he was going, what his day looked like, it didn’t scare me as much when he’d leave. It’s not really rational, but most kids aren’t rational. Based on how she freaked out when you left, I think it’d be worth trying.”
