Page 61 of Fragile Touch (Fragile 1)
Thank goodness.
“Did I just ruin us?”
She shook her head. “You didn’t. It’s...it’s not anything I expected in a thousand years. But it’s okay.”
“I don’t feel like that now. The opposite, actually. I pretty much hate you.”
“There he is!” She pinched his cheek. “There’s the old Andrew, fluent in English and Sarcasm.”
“And French. Did you know?”
“Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.” He beamed. “Not.”
“I was about to be impressed.”
“What a bummer.”
“Go to sleep, Andrew.” Lillian slapped him on the back. “You have an early morning.”
“So do you!”
She put her hands on her tummy. “My morning is basically already here. I’m going to try to catch some shuteye with Mister Sleepyhead in there.”
“Have at it.” He yawned for real this time. “See you tomorrow. Please don’t get hospitalized again.”
“I don’t intend to.” She watched Andrew round the corner and listened until his bedroom door shut. The house had the same silence now that she loved, but it had more life in it.
Gray Cat looked up at her and blinked sleepily. Lillian looked back and knelt to kiss her between the ears. “I kind of like having people around,” she whispered. “Not that you and Black Cat aren’t good enough, but it’s nice to have humans sometimes, too.” She paused, thinking about something. “Do you think I should tell Cayden about this?”
The cat purred like a lawnmower and lay her head back down. Her skin rippled with every touch of Lillian’s fingers down her spine.
“I didn’t think so, either. Goodnight, kitten,” she hummed. “See you in a couple of hours.”
Cayden was lying on her bed in the same position. He was so lovable-looking there in the half-dark, she couldn’t keep a smile concealed behind her lips. Quietly she closed the door behind her, took a sip of water, and climbed into bed beside him. He grunted softly and shifted to hold her tight when she pressed her body against his.
There were no words to describe how this felt, being beside him and being vulnerable. How could she not open her emotions to him? When she thought about how she used to consider him an immature party maniac with no respect for neighbors, she had to stifle a laugh. Sure, he has an ego. He knows he’s hot and he knows every girl would kill to be with him. But I never could have predicted that he would be so mushy.
As she arched her back to mold against his shape more closely, she reveled in his warmth. It was like his smell radiated to cover both of them. She imagined it as a protective cloud around them both, their two forms becoming one.
She closed her eyes and dozed off. Not quite peacefully, but it was enough for now.
MORNING WITH THE SUN came too fast.
She noticed Andrew’s eyes were red the next day. The whole morning he kept blaming it on his allergies. “Summertime isn’t happy-go-lucky for me,” he said. “It’s more like deadly-time.”
Lillian rolled her eyes every time so far back she could see her brain.
But now, as they stood by his car looking at each other, she forgot about his theoretical sensitivity to pollen. She saw Amelia in his face. They had always looked alike. She wondered what Amelia would look like now if she were still here.
He was so different than before; it played tricks on her mind. All her memories with Andrew were from younger days when they could barely be called adults. After Amelia died, she didn’t have any memories that involved smiles. Only tears. And here he stood, right there in front of her, probably thinking the same thing as she was.
Time changes everything.
“I’ll come see you and your family,” she promised, but choked up.
“I’ll try to get work at this factory again sometime soon.” He hugged her tight, and she felt the slightest tremor of emotion in his back.
