Page 64 of Fragile Love (Fragile 3)
“Not so good.” She stared down at the plate. “I’m sorry, Cayden—”
“Lil,” he said again, “none of it was true.” Part of him was terrified she would try breaking up with him and run back home.
A tear ran down her cheek; she put her feet up and hugged her knees. “It’s just—she pinpointed every horrible thing I have ever thought about myself in our relationship.”
“It’s not true,” he repeated.
“If I’ve thought it before, and she’s thought it, I must really be a terrible person.” The tears began to flow, and Cayden got up to kiss her.
“You’re the furthest thing from a terrible person I’ve ever known,” he said quietly. “Lil, you’re amazing. I love you. After what we’ve been through together, there is no reason for you to doubt that I want to be with you.”
She sniffed, and looked up at him with sad eyes.
“Breaking up with you was horrible,” he said. “That’s the only horrible thing about us. So, we shouldn’t break up again. Ever.” He straightened up. “I have something for you.”
“You do?” She looked around, slightly timid. Almost panicked.
“It’s been in here,” he said, reaching into her luggage bag and opening a hidden zipper pocket in the back. “I guess you didn’t find it yet.”
“What is it?” she asked.
Cayden handed her a small padded envelope. “Open it.”
She looked at it. “I don’t know.”
He leaned down to look at her face more directly. “Is that a hint of a smile I see?”
“I’m scared to open it.”
“There’s nothing scary inside it.” Part of him wondered if she was scared he was going to propose to her. It wasn’t a ring box... and why did that idea seem to awful? It didn’t to him. He pushed the thought away.
Nervously, she opened one end and pulled out a picture frame. With a confused look, she turned it over and gasped. “Cayden. It’s beautiful.” She smiled and tried to wipe her tears as she looked at the photo of Andrew, his parents, and her making silly faces at the hospital. Only, there was one more person—Amelia, making her trademark silly face, had been added into it. She was sitting on the bed beside Andrew and Lillian.
“I thought you might like it,” he said proudly. “It was the only photo I could find, and it’s older, so I know she doesn’t look completely like she was really there, but—”
“Cayden,” Lillian cried, throwing her arms around him. “I can’t believe it. How did you do this?”
“I have my ways.”
Lillian held the frame like it was a block of solid gold. “I’m going to treasure this for the rest of my life.” Through her tears, she looked at him. “You have no idea how much this means to me. You couldn’t have gotten me anything better in the universe.”
He grinned. “Not even a kitten?”
Lillian paused. “A kitten runs a close second, but this still wins for sure.”
“This must be pretty special, then.”
Lillian embraced him again. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear. “My heart is fragile, and you make me feel strong. And safe. And loved.”
Before long, they were asleep in the bed, holding each other tight. The photo was set up on the bedside table, facing the rest of the room like a protective force against whatever heartbreak had been there before.
But no heartbreak was allowed now; it had all been expelled. Cayden and Lillian slept deeply, their bodies against each other, until the sun rose in the morning. The sun seemed to promise a new beginning. A new chance. A fresh start. Again.
Chapter 09
JUST BEFORE SUNRISE, Cayden felt Lillian changing positions at least four times. He figured she was trying to get more comfortable to go back to sleep. She had been asleep since yesterday evening after the incident, with only the little break for dinner. In his half-awake mind, he thought it strange that she wasn’t getting up and reading or checking her email. Then again, it was still dark out, so he figured it didn’t matter. He rolled over and put his arm around her, and eventually she stilled, her breathing got deeper, and he let himself go back to sleep, too.
When he woke again, the sun was shining through the small gap in the curtains, drawing a bright line across the foot of the bed. Sleepily he turned over to face her, and there she was, lying with her eyes open, looking right at him.
