Page 21 of His Forever

“Uh, Mamá, Lena, Carlos…do you want me to go on?”

“We are friends.”

“Mmhmm. Keep telling yourself that, si?” she asked as she smiled at him. “I believe it’s more than that but I guess time will tell.”

“Whatever. How is Mamá?”

“She let Lena help her take a shower and she is laying down now. I think she will be okay tonight, but I will stay here with her to be on the safe side, okay?”

“Si. Gracias. I will be over at Marleigh’s so call if you need me.”

“I will, Zeus, I promise.”

He went in and kissed his mamá’s forehead and made sure she was covered before he called Duke and they walked back up to Marleigh’s. Walking in, he locked up and then set about feeding Duke who was investigating the two cats. When it appeared all three were going to get along, he made sure there was plenty of water, put the dry food up so Duke wasn’t tempted to help himself then went into Marleigh’s room, where he found her propped up against the headboard with the remote in her hand.

“Mi siempre hermosa, brought your medicine.”

“Oh! Is that Duke?” she asked as she saw the hound dog make his way into the room.

“Si, this is Duke. He and the cats have met and I will be sure to take him out again before we go to bed.”

“Uh…what?”

“I am not leaving you by yourself as sick as you were, mi siempre hermosa. Not happening. I will sleep on the top of the covers if you want me to, but you will not be alone.”

“I get no say-so in this, do I?” she finally asked.

“None. You’re welcome to call your cousin, of course, but even if he was able to come, I would stay until he got here.”

She rolled her eyes. She knew how her cousin would react. He would nut up that she hadn’t called him to begin with and then before she knew it, he would be there, speeding the whole way. “No, I don’t think I need to call him. I would only worry about him driving like a maniac the whole way here.”

“I’m glad you see it my way,” he told her as he took his bag and went into the bathroom where he changed into a pair of lounging pants and a T-shirt. After brushing his teeth, he went back to the kitchen and grabbed some water for them both, let Duke out to do his thing, then went back into the bedroom and stood over her as she took her next dose of medicine. Brushing a kiss across her forehead, he said, “I’ll be right back with some ginger ale for you and we can find something to watch if you want, okay?”

“That sounds good to me, Zeus,” she replied.

Back in the kitchen, he poured her some ginger ale and grabbed himself a beer before letting Duke back in and shutting down the house for the night. He went back in the bedroom and gave her the drink before he got in on the other side and pulled her close into his side. “What do you want to watch?”

“Mmm, I don’t care, something funny?”

He flipped over to Netflix and found a comedy then laid there contentedly watching it as she fell asleep in his arms.

Chapter Eight

Three Months Later

They had settled into a comfortable dating routine. Since waking up in his arms the morning after the food poisoning incident, he had made it clear that he was in her life to stay and that he would be patient as she dealt with the emotions from her break-up. Glancing at her clock, she saw she had to leave for work and giving each of the cats a pat on the head, grabbed her purse, schedule and phone then headed out the door.

Stunned.That was the best word to describe how she felt seeing the huge planters now decorating her deck. She had mentioned wanting to plant some flowers one night to Zeus as they sat on the swing after a dinner date and he had made it happen for her. Making a mental note to call him once she was at work, she locked her door and went down to the car.

***

Arriving at the salon, she made sure all was ready for her first two clients as she would be going from a facial to a massage and then back again before she headed into the breakroom for a Diet Coke. “Hey girl, how’s it going?” Chandra asked as she waited for the coffee pot to finish.

“It’s going well. Slowly getting a routine going and of course, you probably know that Zeus and I are dating.”

“Uh, yeah…small town news travels faster than a speeding bullet,” the other woman replied. “I’m happy for you both. Any issues out of Suri?”

“No, surprisingly, she’s been a bit quiet on the whole subject.”

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