Page 43 of Erik's Redemption
“You would have. You’re stronger than you think.” He tugged her into his chest. “I love you, Han. You’re family. You know that, right?”
She relaxed against his strong chest, so incredibly grateful for him. “I love you too, Henry.”
After he left, Hannah climbed out of bed. Her pump had expired a few days ago and her new one was at home, so she’d just been injecting since then.
It wasn’t until she stood under the stream of water in the shower that the nerves started to rattle her belly. Nerves at the prospect of seeing Erik when she moved back home. Even if it was just through her window, it would hit her hard.
Once out of the shower, she pulled on a skirt and blouse for work. She didn’t attempt makeup and her hair remained down.
The second she stepped outside the bedroom, she was bombarded by the most delicious smell of bacon and bagels. She’d barely had an appetite over the last week, but right now…yeah, she could eat.
She walked into the kitchen to see two plates sitting on the island, cutlery beside them, along with glasses of orange juice.
Her lips twitched at the sight of Owen in front of the stove, wielding a spatula. He turned and gave her a smile. “Hey.” He indicated to the island. “Have a seat.”
“One of these for me?”
“Yep. Henry gave me strict instructions to feed you before you leave for work, and you don’t go against that man.”
She sat at the island. “You don’t have to feed me. Honestly, I could live off cereal and be perfectly happy.”
“Well, in this house, you get more than cereal. You get real sustenance.” He took two bagel halves from the toaster and set them on her plate before scooping up some bacon.
“Bacon’s real sustenance?”
“Hell yeah. It’s protein! And we have some eggs formoreprotein.” Once an egg was on her plate, he turned and set the pan down. “All accompanied by bagels for carbs.”
What she did to deserve this, she wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t questioning it. Before touching the juice, she opened her purse and grabbed a pen, injecting insulin before getting up and slotting it into the sharps disposal container that Henry kept on his kitchen counter for her.
Lowering back to the stool, she sipped the juice and groaned. Even that tasted amazing. Had he freshly squeezed the oranges? “You know, I’ve hardly been able to eat anything for a week, but this food suddenly makes me ravenous.”
“Well, that’s because I made it, and I’m kick-ass in the kitchen.” He grabbed the butter from the fridge and set it in front of her.
She opened her mouth to thank him, but her phone dinged, and the second her gaze fell on the cell, she couldn’t drag it away.
Erik.
There was a slight shake in her fingers as she unlocked the screen.
Erik: I hope you’re doing okay this morning, Angel. I’m still missing you and thinking about you every day.
Her heart thrashed in her chest, her fingers itching to respond.
“Hey.”
She glanced up at Owen’s voice.
He tilted his head. “Everything okay?”
She nodded, even though very little in her life felt okay. “Yep. Are you gonna eat with me?”
“Fuck yeah, I am.” He loaded up the second plate and sat beside her.
She finished all she could, but after the text, her appetite wasn’t what it had been before. Owen filled a lot of the silence throughout the meal, asking questions about her work and her longtime friendship with Henry. She was terrible company, her thoughts always on Erik instead of their conversation, but Owen didn’t seem to notice. Or if he did, he was too polite to draw attention to it.
By the time she reached work, she’d gone back and forth on responding to Erik so many times that a tension headache had formed behind her eyes. The decision was agonizing.
She massaged her temple as she stepped into the office, almost immediately running into Taylor.
