Page 31 of Take Me Slowly: part 2
"It really is that simple," I said, hoping to reassure him. Also really hoping to get out of here before Louisa returned and wondered what the hell we were up to. This would be difficult to explain without telling her more than I was ready for her to know. Not to mention, there might be laws against what we were doing.
"Fiona, maybe you can do mine first. Show him it's painless." I'd have to have my cheek swabbed sooner or later anyway. If it helped to get this over with, then I'd offer myself up, happily.
"Good idea." She stepped over to me and waited for me to open my mouth. Carefully, she swiped the swab up and down theinside of my cheek before pulling it back and dropping it into the bag with my name on it.
"See, nothing to it." She pulled out another and got it ready.
Gavin still gave us both the side eye, but he opened his mouth and let her work quickly before closing it again and flopping back in his chair.
My heart raced as I watched her drop the second swab in the bag with his name on it. Would that give me all the answers I needed? What would I do if it did? I also had to consider the possibility it wouldn't, but that was a bridge I'd deal with when I got to it.
"That was perfect." Fiona closed the Ziploc bag and handed both of them to me. "Thank you so much, Gavin. We'll leave you to it."
He muttered something and nestled down in his chair, looking very much like he was prepared to take a nap. He closed his eyes and a few moments later he was snoring.
I wished I could fall asleep that quickly and easily. Although, after several orgasms the night before, and a bath with the guys’ help, I'd slept better than I had in a long time.
I watched him for a few moments, looking for any resemblance between us. Our hair was both brown, but his was mostly grey now. My eyes were blue, his were blue-green. It was possible I resembled my mother. I had no idea what his former wife looked like.
Fiona turned me around and gave me a gentle push towards the door. "I know this is a lot," she whispered.
"What's a lot?" Louisa asked as she stepped through the door, a basket of dry, folded clothes in her arms.
"Making sure Gavin has enough to eat," Fiona said quickly. "I wasn't sure if anyone dropped by today, but I see you have. That's great. I have to get to work." She gave me a quick hug andhurried out, making a quick getaway before Louisa asked her anything else.
Louisa stared after her for a moment, blinked a couple of times and shook her head. "That girl has a good heart, but sometimes she's flighty."
I held back a smile. "Do you need any help?" I gestured toward the laundry basket.
"No, no." She waved me off. "I have everything under control." She placed the basket down on the table. "How's the gallery idea going?"
"I'm still thinking about it," I said honestly. "I like the idea, but it's a big undertaking."
"Anything worth doing usually is," she said. "If you need any help, you only have to ask. You'll have more help than you know what to do with before you can blink."
"I appreciate that, thank you," I said. Everyone told me that from the beginning and they weren't wrong. I couldn't turn around without seeing someone helping someone else, or offering help. Some day, I might even get used to it.
"I better get to work myself," I said.
"How are those boys treating you?" She adjusted her long braid. "Well, I hope."
"Very well," I agreed. "They're good to work for." And even better to play with. Of course, I wasn't going to say that out loud.
"Great." She patted me on the shoulder and bustled about, putting away Gavin's clothes and washing dishes.
I gave him a last, long look before stepping out into the frigid, morning air. Someone had started to put up decorations for Halloween. Here and there, jack-o'-lanterns and cardboard skeletons hung in the windows. Before long it would be Christmas and we'd be up to our chins in snow. Riley and Connor would be in their element.
I thought about Josiah up there by himself during a blizzard. He must be even lonelier then. Stuck inside his little cottage with only himself for company. If I could, I'd change that for him this year. If he'd let me. Either way, Christmas this year was going to be very different from any I'd had before.
Pulling my coat tighter around myself, I hurried to the post office.
14
LEAH
By mid-afternoon,I hadn't managed to get Josiah off my mind. I wanted to see him, but more than that, I needed to tell him about the DNA test. And the fact more and more people were starting to believe him. I wasn't naïve enough to think it would change anything straight away, but it was a start.
I packed up my laptop and put it away, grabbed my bag and hopped into my car for the winding drive up to his place. Slower than the last time I came up here. The snow hadn't settled, but I watched out for patches of ice. The last thing I needed was to skid off the road and hit a tree.
