Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
NORA
I ’m sprawled out on the couch watching Outer Banks —at Ellis’s insistence—while he provides a running commentary on the show from his recliner when the sound of Atlas’s truck barreling down the driveway snags my attention.
“Got it!” Atlas hollers, stomping into the living room.
“Got what?” Ellis asks, pausing our show.
Hope flutters in my chest as he walks into the room.
I want so badly to run and greet him with a hug and a kiss, but I force myself to remain seated in fear of rejection.
I know he’s told me he’s mine, but deep-seated fears keep me firmly in place.
“I found your birth certificate and social security card.” He cuts his eyes toward Ellis.
“I also found Mom and Grace’s death certificates. They’re… interesting.”
“How so?” Once again, Ellis speaks up before I can.
“They might as well be carbon copies of one another. It’s…” Atlas shakes his head.
“Something’s not right.”
Ellis stands, crossing the room to Atlas.
“Mind if I take a look?”
This time, Ellis is on his own; I’ve never seen Mom’s death certificate and I don’t particularly want to.
Which is silly, because logically, I know she’s dead.
She has been for close to a year now, but still, the thought of seeing it in black and white somehow makes it even more real.
“Knock yourself out.” He passes him a folder with a loaded look and then joins me on the couch, wrapping me in the hug I so desperately wanted.
“Missed you.”
“You weren’t even gone long,” I protest, even though hearing it secretly makes me giddy.
I’m not sure anyone’s ever missed me before, not really.
“Long enough,” he counters, putting an end to my objections.
After all, who am I to tell someone else how to feel?
A sobering thought pops my bliss bubble.
“I still need an ID though.”
Atlas wraps an arm around my shoulders, tucking me securely into his side.
“Now that we have these…” He tugs another envelope from his pocket and places it on my lap.
“There shouldn’t be any problem getting one. We can go tomorrow if you want?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Atlas drops a soft kiss on my temple.
“Really.”
“If y’all are done being mush balls,” Ellis drawls, plopping back down onto his recliner, “my boy John B has got some shit to get up to.”
“He sucked you in?” Atlas asks, toeing off his boots before kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.
“Oh, yeah.” I snuggle in closer to his side, resting my cheek on his chest. “Totally.”
With a smile on his face, Atlas grabs the blanket from the back of the couch, covers us both, and settles in for the rest of our binge-watch.
It’s a simple thing, just the three of us camped out in front of the television as we devour our takeout, but at the same time, it’s one of the best days I’ve had in a long, long time.