Page 62 of Unharmed

Before I could stop myself, I said, “You have it now, if you want it. Would you like to join me for breakfast this morning?”

She pressed her lips together and slowly nodded. “Yeah.”

Removing my hand from her elbow, I reached up and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. As I swiped at the last one, my hand instinctively swept back into her hair and settled at the base of her skull. Keeping my hold firm,yet gentle, I said, “I’m sorry if I upset you this morning. That wasn’t my intention at all.”

“I know,” she assured me. “For the record, I’m not upset with you. I’m just…”

“I know,” I returned, understanding her loss for words. Sometimes, I knew what I was feeling, but I didn’t know how to communicate it. Seeing Lamise’s reaction, understanding where it was coming from, I recognized what she couldn’t put into words. “You realize that you just got back something you thought you’d never experience again.”

Surprise washed over her. “That’s exactly it. How did you know what I was thinking?”

I jerked my head in the opposite direction and urged, “How about we sit down and eat before it gets cold? I’ll explain it then.”

Lamise nodded her agreement.

For the first few minutes, neither of us said anything as we dove into our breakfast. I wanted to give Lamise some time to immerse herself in the experience again before I interrupted whatever thoughts she might have been having about it.

Once I’d given her what I believed was sufficient time to do that, I explained, “The day I came home late, the same day you had given me the Valentine’s Day project you worked on with Rhys, you told me you’d made dinner. There had been several occasions, particularly in the beginning, when my mom had meals made for me. I felt like I was barely surviving just getting through the day or looking after Rhys. I didn’t take care of myself properly, so my mom stepped up. But as time went on, that changed, and one of the things I did was start making my own food. When I came home on Thursday night and didn’t need to do it,because you already had, I got back something that Violet always used to do for me.”

Understanding washed over Lamise’s expression. “I hadn’t realized I’d done that. I hope it didn’t upset you.”

I shook my head. “No, you didn’t. Or, at least, not the way you might think. Because I guess there’s a part of me that’s upset about knowing I’ll never experience that with Violet again. It sucks. I don’t expect there will ever be a time when it doesn’t hurt to recognize that’s the way it’s always going to be. But you should know that I’m glad it was you who gave it back to me in your own special way. It was nice.”

A smile formed on her face. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s the way I feel, too. I’ll never have another breakfast with Graham that he woke up early to make special for us. It’s the worst feeling to know that’s gone forever. But I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to know I haven’t lost the experience for good. Thank you for giving it to me, Banks.”

Understanding.

God, I loved that we had this mutual appreciation for where our minds and our hearts were. While I didn’t think I could have gotten to this point with anyone else besides her, I didn’t doubt if it had happened with someone else, that woman might not have the same level of compassion and understanding.

Things were changing between us. I’d been feeling it for a while now. It was nice to know that regardless of where things went between us, I’d never have to hide what Violet meant to me.

“You’re welcome. And I guess I should say thanks to you, too. The dinner you cooked was even better than this breakfast, and I was grateful to be able to come home from work and have a meal waiting,” I shared.

“I can do that for you throughout the week,” she piped up.

“What?”

She shrugged as she finished chewing a bite of her eggs and explained, “When I’m here with Rhys and he goes down for his afternoon nap, I can get dinner prepped for you.”

God, I’d love nothing more.

“Lamise, I’m not going to ask you to do that. Hiring you was about having someone here to look after Rhys. You already do the laundry and clean up things around the house, which is more than I expected. I’m not going to add making dinner to the list,” I noted.

In a move I don’t think she realized had the effect it did on me, Lamise reached her hand out and placed it on top of my forearm. “It’s really not a problem for me, Banks. Sometimes, I actually get bored when Rhys is napping, so it’ll give me something to do.”

Since I’d met her, Lamise and I hadn’t really had much physical contact. The little that we’d had was generally about me attempting to comfort her. Even in the instances where it wasn’t about that, the contact we had was brief and always initiated by me.

This was the first time I could recall her touching me first. What was even more surprising was that it didn’t do what I had expected it would if a woman other than Violet ever touched me like this.

I thought I’d pull away and reject the gesture. Maybe that would have been the case if anyone else had tried.

But that wasn’t how it was with Lamise. Not only did I like feeling her soft touch, but I found myself craving more of it.

“If you really want to do it, I’m not going to stop you.But I want you to know that I don’t expect you to be slaving over a hot stove for me,” I remarked.

“I’m here, and I’m working, Banks. I don’t think it’s fair for me to just be sitting around doing nothing, and I enjoy cooking, so it’ll be good for everyone. As long as you like my cooking, of course.”

I laughed. “I’ll like it. I loved what you made the other day.”

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