Page 49 of Thicker Than Water

“You look so much better this morning,” Jessica exclaims when I come down for breakfast the next morning. She’s smiling broadly as she gives me a hug.

“I feel better,” I say as I hug her back. “Thank you for yesterday.”

“Of course, ma chere. I hope you’re hungry,” she says smiling as she extends her arm over all of the food she’s made for breakfast. There is a mountain of turkey bacon—I can’t believe she touched meat for me—and a bowl of fluffy scrambled eggs sitting there waiting to be devoured. A tray of cinnamon rolls covered in a white glaze, still steaming from the oven—its rich, spicy aroma dances under my nose, making my mouth water.

“Jessica, you’re going to spoil me. Come. Sit with me.” I beckon her with my hands.

I look her in the eye and grab her hands.

“Thank you so much for everything. It’s been years since anyone has done anything like this for me. Not since I was a kid. I wanted to say this yesterday, but we were so busy being us . . . talking nonstop and then I fell asleep. So I want to say it right now. Thank you. All the food, clean clothes, all my appointments entered into my calendar.” I giggle at the memory of her entering them last night and cursing the tiny buttons on my phone as I dictated things to her. She scowls. “You’ve got so much work to do and your own life. And you dropped everything to take care of me.” I feel a tear escape and run down my cheek.

“Don’t cry, my little éclair,” she says as she wipes the tear away.

“I’m happy, that’s all.”

“Lucía.” I startle at her use of my name. “I didn’t ever think I’d have a family after Thomas died. And I don’t want to diminish your biological family, but I love you like I would a sister.” She brushes a stray hair off my forehead. “I know you want to do everything yourself. You need to feel like you’re the master of your own destiny. I’ve never wanted to overstep or demand that you let me do more for you. But, I’m glad Reece decided to not ask you before he called me. I’m happy to be able to take care of you, Lucía. It’s my honor.” She squeezes my hand as she hops down from the stool and walks around to get plates from the cabinet. “You and I are each other’s life vest in this crazy city and I know you’d be there for me if I needed it,” she says, her back to me.

“Yes. Of course I would.” And it’s true.

She turns around, plates in hand, a conspiratorial grin on her face.

“And oh my God. Reece Carras is obviously totally fucking in love with you,” she says on a delighted whoop.

“Do you think so?” I say fishing for her opinion. It feels too good to be true.

“Umm, Luc. Open your eyes,” she crows. “It’s absolutely obvious that he is and that you are totally in love with him, too,” she says as she piles food onto my plate.

“Neither of you have to say a word, you both practically vibrate when you’re in the same room. I mean, I felt like I was in some fucking force field of love,” she says, a delighted smile on her face.

“No… we have so much to work out, Jess. I don’t want to get my hopes up if things fall apart,” I say to her in an agonized tone.

“Get yourself together. You don’t think about being in love. You can’t help being in love. You can’t fight it. You’re just there whether you want to be or not. And, babe, you couldn’t have picked a better man to have that happen with. Because some of us fall in love with total cunts. They cheat on us, and treat us like dirt. And we put up with the crap because we are in love with them. And if the sex is good? Then fuck it, you are totally screwed. Leaving him is almost impossible. Even if he hurts you in between the moments where he makes you feel like you’re on top of the world.”

She puts my plate of food down in front of me and grabs us forks from the drawer and comes to sit with me again.

“Trust me. Don’t waste a moment of time you have with a man like that. He’s actually good enough for you, pudding. He’s gorgeous, he’s rich, he has a conscience and he’s crazy about you. He wants to take care of you. Let him. You deserve that, Luc. You don’t have to do everything yourself. If you find someone you can share your life with, you don’t let stuff get between you.”

“I know. We’re going to try. But, Jess, I worry about living my entire life looking over my shoulder. . .”

She grabs my hands and gives me a searching look. And then her face softens into a sweet smile.

“I understand, donut. There will be some hard choices to make. But, you should keep your eyes on the prize. You’ve come so far in the years I’ve known you. You’re this close,” she holds up her thumb and index finger, leaving a tiny gap between them, “to having what you want.”

She’s right. I need to get it straight in my head. Hanging out with them together yesterday was great. I rested on the couch while Jessica cooked and put Reece to work chopping, stirring, straining and just being her general kitchen bitch.

Jessica told us about some weird customers she’d had this week while she filled a dozen Tupperware containers with meals, salads and snacks. Reece talked about getting his first gold medal. He told us that he’d thought about hiring someone to come and do this stuff for me this week. He dismissed that idea almost as soon as he’d had it because he knew I wouldn’t be comfortable with a stranger in my house. It felt good to know that he understood me so well.

“Anyway, eat up. I’ve got to get going. I can leave the store for a day, but more than that, and the place starts to get disorganized. I’ll try to come home early. Call your mother.” Gosh, she’s calling me on all my shit today.

“I will,” I mumble. “I’m going to try and do some reading today. Rest my arm. We have our meeting tomorrow and I want to be rested up.”

She frowns at me disapprovingly and says, “Tomorrow? So soon? You should take a couple of days. You fell pretty hard. You’re lucky it’s not worse.”

“Jess. Really. The doctor said I could go back to work. I probably look worse than I feel,” I protest.

“Okay. But when you’re done, home and then rest.”

“Sure,” I mumble and roll my eyes.

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