Page 16 of Norah

“I don’t think wishing for more attention is bad, Norah. Or wanting to leave home for more opportunities.”

I shrug. “Maybe. Either way, I was in New York, expecting my life to suddenly become perfect.”

“Did it?” Ethan’s moved closer to me, so our thighs press together.

“Not really. College was OK, I liked my major, and I made a few friends. It was… fine. But as I tried to make my new life become what I wanted it to be, my mom and sister didn’t seem to fit in anymore. I didn’t put much effort into spending time with them; just a couple of quick visits when I couldn’t put my mom off any more. Once I graduated and started working for an advertising company, I was so busy it made it even easier to make excuses.”

“Did you like advertising?”

No doubt he’s wondering why I would choose to do something so tedious as medical transcription after getting a degree in advertising. “I did. For a few years, I was close to happy. I liked the creativity of the job. I had some friends at work to hang out with.”And then everything went to shit.

“Do you want to stop?” I realize I’m shaking a little, and Ethan is looking at me with concern.

“I’d rather finish. There’s not much left to tell.”Deep breath. “One day, everything changed. I fell into a really dark place. I couldn’t bring myself to be around people, so I quit my job and found something I could do from home.”

“Then my mom died. I felt so guilty for pushing her away, but I couldn’t stop from doing the same to my sister. I went home for the funeral and never visited again. Now I just text Lexi every so often, so we both know the other is still alive.”

ETHAN

Fuck.

I hurt so much for Norah that I can’t even speak. All I can do is pull her into my arms and hold her while she fights to hold back tears. I see the wetness threatening to fall, and how hard she battles to keep the tears in.

She’s beating herself up for being a regular kid who just wanted some attention. I can almost picture her sitting alone with her schoolbooks, wishing for anyone to appreciate all her hard work.

And the other thought I can’t get out of my mind. What made her withdraw from life? I saw how sad she was when we met, how alone she seemed, and I know it wasn’t some small thing that made her that way. What happened to her? I’m afraid to even put words to it, but someone must have hurt her.Badly.

“Ethan?” Her voice is soft and tentative.

Forcing down my raging emotions, I force myself to respond calmly. “What, baby?”

“Do you think less of me now?”

Oh God. Please let me handle this right. “Absolutely not. You are still the same wonderful, stunning, perfect woman that I know you are. Nothing you say will change that.” I kiss her gently.

“You had a rough time as a kid, and there’s nothing wrong with wanting the attention a child deserves. Families are never perfect, and losing your mom is heartbreaking. I know it hurts that you didn’t get to spend as much time with her as you wish you had. But the love was there, and she knew it.”

Norah is staring at me, tears streaking down her face. “Ethan… thank you.”

There are so many more questions I want to ask, but not now, when she’s opened up to me in such a massive way. I just want to kiss her tears away, and do whatever I can to make her feel better. For now, I just keep Norah in my arms and press my lips against the silken softness of her hair. A few minutes go by, and eventually she pulls away to look at me. Her eyes are damp, but the tears have stopped.

“I’m sorry, that got pretty heavy.” She puffs out a breath.

“No, I’m glad you shared it with me. We can’t always talk about fun stuff, sometimes we’ll both need to talk about things that aren’t. You can tell me anything, OK?”

A small smile emerges. “You too, Ethan.”

While part of me wants to pull Norah back down on the bed and ravish her, I’m not sure if that’s the right distraction right now. She still looks so vulnerable, and I don’t want her to associate that feeling with us being intimate. So I stand up and press a light kiss to her lips. “How about you take a shower while I make breakfast? And then we can plan something fun for today.”

“That sounds perfect.”

When Norah comes into the kitchen about twenty minutes later, it looks like the shower helped clear away some of the negative thoughts from earlier. She’s smiling, and the tension around her eyes is gone.

Once again, I can’t get over how stunning she is. Dressed in a simple gray tee and worn jeans, she needs nothing extra to emphasize her beauty. She wears no makeup, that I can tell, but with her flawless porcelain skin and rosy lips, she sure doesn’t need it.

I realize Norah never wears jewelry either, and I immediately decide to remedy that. A ring would be nice… an image of an engagement ring jumps into my head. Norah, wearing my ring, promising to bemine. To my surprise, the thought isn’t alarming at all.

“How’s breakfast going?” Norah’s voice breaks into my fantasy, and I turn to her with a sheepish grin.

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