Page 113 of Whenever You Call

I smiled down at her, wondering if she had any idea just how fucking beautiful she was, and how I’d do anything to keep her safe now, no matter what happened to me in the process. I wanted to tell her that I loved her. I’d spent weeks thinking about it, wondering if every second that passed had been the perfect time, and I’d wasted the opportunity. But no matter how much those three little words sat on the edge of my tongue, begging to be set free, this wasn’t the moment to drop another bomb on her.

“I can’t believe it,” she whispered with a soft smile. “You’re turning into an old romantic.”

“It’s long overdue, don’t you think?”

“It was worth the wait. You’re a natural.”

“Only with you.”

She huffed out a small laugh before stepping away and brushing her hair back with both hands as she wandered around in front of me aimlessly.

“I need to talk to Bella.”

“I know.”

“Any thoughts on how I approach this?”

“I think the only thing you can do is be honest, even if that scares you a little bit.”

“Tell her everything?”

“Well, I wouldn’t tell hereverything.” I smirked.

It made her pause in her steps to lay a look on me that told me to behave, even if she found it impossible to hide a smirk of her own. “That’s not helping.”

“Sorry,” I said, not sorry at all. I held my hand out for her to take, and she did, her fingers slowly curling around mine, allowing me to pull her closer. “If you want me to go in there with you, just say the word. You don’t have to do this alone. We can talk to her together.”

“You’d do that?”

I shook my head and started to guide us into the house. “Stop asking me questions you already know the answer to.”

“Ah, this is the part where you say you’d do anything for me again, isn’t it?” she asked with another half-smile.

“Finally… you’re figuring it out.”

“Goddamn you, Logan Thomas,” she whispered.

Hannah knockedon Bella's bedroom door before tentatively walking in, allowing me to follow a few steps behind. Bella didn’t blink at the sight of me there, instead encouraging us both to get closer to see the way she’d set her dolls in a circle to take part in a fake tea party.

Hannah lowered herself to sit beside her while I stood a few feet away, letting Hannah lead the way in the conversation because she was the parent here. Not me.

After asking Bella what made her say the things she’d said to her friends, she’d confessed to tiptoeing down the stairs one night while Hannah and I had been watching a movie in the main living room. She’d snuck her head around the door at the same time I’d pulled Hannah closer to me on the couch, only for her to curl into me and look up, allowing our lips to meet.

And not once when Bella told Hannah about that incident did she stop smiling.

She picked up a tiny toy brush from the thick carpet and focused on the doll in her hand as she brushed its messy hair, struggling to get it through the thicker knots.

“Don’t worry, Mommy. I won’t spy on you again,” she said without a care in the world. “I’m sorry.”

Hannah reached out to brush a hand down Bella’s back. “That’s not what I’m concerned about, bug.”

“What then?”

Hannah opened her mouth several times only to close it, the struggle to say what she needed to say clear. It was one thing to know the truth and another thing to speak it out loud to the one person who would be affected by it the most.

She finally turned to look at me, a vulnerable plea in her eyes.

Help.

---