31. Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-one
Phoebe
Mornings were always the pits, but this one was a bright, beautiful exception.
For once, I woke before my alarm, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I knew why. Sound asleep beside me was my gorgeous boyfriend. Flat on his back, one arm slung over his forehead, the other stretched over my side of the bed, his hand splayed on my hip. From the looks of the smooth blankets atop him, he’d barely moved all night.
Joy bubbled up from my belly, and I had to bite down on my lip to stop myself from laughing. I couldn’t remember ever smiling this big before ten a.m. In fact, I could almost guarantee I hadn’t. Me and mornings really didn’t mix.
Last night was…well, the best of my life. It didn’t matter that Deacon was inexperienced. Our connection was so deep it would have been good no matter what. But it was so much more than orgasms and pleasure—and there had been a lot of that.
It felt like the beginning of something huge, like the embarkation of a journey that would change everything. And I adored that he hadn’t hidden how special it had been for him too. “Perfect,” I’d said, and he’d agreed. The truth was, there weren’t words to describe what being with Deacon had been like, so perfect would have to do.
I wished I could have stayed in bed all day, and I was even more loath to disturb Deacon, but life was life, and we both had to get a move on.
“Deacon,” I called, stroking the back of his hand. “It’s time to wake up, honey.”
His entire body jerked at once, knifing upright. Head swiveling, he looked around the room with wild, bleary eyes. Fists at his sides, his chest heaved as he sucked in great gusts of air.
“Deacon.” I sat up but kept space between us, sensing he needed it. “You’re in my room. You slept here all night.”
He twisted to face me, and the pillow crease on his cheek would have been sweet if he didn’t seem so panicked.
“What time is it?” he rasped.
“Early. Just past five.”
He blinked hard and scrubbed his face with his hand. “I slept for six hours straight? How the hell…I didn’t wake up once. I’ve never…Phoebe, I never sleep like that.”
It broke my heart to see him so confused about getting good sleep—a basic human need. It made me wonder what his nights were normally like and how he managed a labor-intensive job on broken sleep.
I put my hand on his rigid shoulder. “A lot went down last night.”
“Yeah, it did, and you were right there with me.” He sighed, opening his arms, and I crawled right into them, curling into his chest. He wrapped me up, burying his nose in my hair. “I slept, sugar. How’d that happen?”
“I hope that means you feel safe with me.”
“I do. There’s no doubt about that.” He pulled back, his brow furrowing. “I can’t guarantee it’ll happen like that again.”
“We’ll take it as it comes. I’m not going to worry about it.” I pressed my palm to his scruffy cheek. “Though I do like waking up to you. I’m not a morning person, but today, I’m wide awake and almost cheerful.”
His chuckle was scratchy and low. “Almost?”
“ Almost .” I nuzzled into his neck, letting my eyes fall closed. “I really hate mornings.”
“How in the hell did you become a baker, baby?”
“That’s one of the mysteries of the universe.” I smiled against his warm, smooth skin. “Do we have to get up?”
“We do,” he agreed, making no move to let me go. He trailed his fingers along my nightie, toying with the thin straps on my shoulders. “You really wear this kind of thing every night?”
“I suppose you’ll have to come back tonight and see for yourself.”
“As much as I like you in this, I was always gonna come back. Doesn’t matter what you have on.” He dropped his hand to give my butt a firm pat. “Now we have our day planned out—get up, or we’ll both be late.”
Hailey showed up right on time for her shift that afternoon. She barely looked at me as she zoomed in, heading straight for the back to drop her stuff.
Camille raised her eyebrows. “What was that about?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Teenage things, I’m sure. Mind if I go have a chat with her?”
She glanced around at the quiet shop. Charlie was pecking away at his laptop, but the rest of the tables were empty for now. “Sure. I’ll give you a holler if we get a rush.”
Wiping my hands on my apron, I headed into the kitchen, finding Hailey by my desk, riffling through her backpack. At the sound of my approach, her head shot up, and her eyes rounded.
“Am I fired?”
I stopped in my tracks. “Why would you be fired?”
Her cheeks flushed bright pink, and she couldn’t seem to bring herself to look at me. Scuffing her feet on the linoleum floor, she said, “First, I used a fake name on my application. Even though I was sure you wouldn’t have hired me if you’d known I was a Slater, I shouldn’t have done that. Then I left early yesterday, and you closed alone. I shouldn’t have done that either. I’m so sorry. Linda told me no matter what happened with…well, you know, I should have fulfilled my responsibilities.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I hope you know by now my choice of hiring you had nothing to do with your last name. Sure, some people in our town can be close-minded, but I won’t ever let myself be one of them. Got it?”
She nodded and whispered, “Got it.”
“I didn’t love you running out like you did, but not because of anything to do with work.” She peered up at me, and I went on to explain. “I was worried about you, sweetheart. You were upset, and I was afraid you wouldn’t find your way home.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
She went back to looking down at her shuffling feet. “For running away yesterday…and not telling you Deke’s my brother.”
The way her voice cracked on that last word made my heart ache. I hated that she was hurting and even more that Deacon was feeling the same way.
“Not at all. That was your business to tell when you were ready.” I took a couple steps closer and propped myself on the edge of my desk. Hailey wasn’t a big girl, and with my height, I towered over her. Sitting put us closer to eye level. “I have to say, I’m glad it’s all out in the open now.”
She tilted her head. “Did he tell you about me?”
I nodded. “I knew he had a little sister who’d lived with him, but your name had gotten lost in the shuffle. Last night, after you left, he told me everything.”
The breath she took was fractured. “Is he mad at me? Well, I know he’s mad at me, but how mad? He hates my guts, doesn’t he? He has to. I wou—”
I grabbed her hand. “No, Hailes. He isn’t mad at you. Not at all. If he’s mad at anyone, it’s himself. Definitely not you.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “But I’m the reason he was sent to prison.”
I had to stop myself from gasping. “Oh, baby, no you’re not. Have you been blaming yourself this whole time?”
She shrugged both shoulders. “It’s my fault. I should’ve said what they told me to. If I’d been able to keep it together, he never would’ve—”
Her hand flew up to cover her face, but there was no muffling the sob that broke loose. I didn’t think; I just pulled her into me and curled my arms around her. She shook as I held her, crying softly.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I assured her. “No one’s mad at you. No one . I promise you that, okay?”
“Really?” she squeaked.
“Really and truly. I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn by telling you Deacon misses you a lot.”
“I miss him too.” She swallowed so hard her throat bobbed. “Before I moved in with the Spellmans, he was kind of…not really a dad, but way more than a brother. My birth parents pretty much gave me to him, you know? And he took me when he didn’t have to.”
“Do you think you’d like to talk to him about all this?”
Her eyes rounded with worry, but slowly, she nodded. “If he wants to talk to me.”
“He does.”
“Do you think today’s too soon?”
I let out a thick laugh, loving how eager she was to reconnect with Deacon. I was just as excited. He needed that connection. One member of his family who was good and loving and cared for him. I hoped having Hailey back in his life would open him to seeing neither his last name nor the mistakes he had made defined who he was. And maybe he’d be able to forgive himself and move on from his troubled past to the beauty that lay ahead for him.
“Why don’t I call Linda and Deacon and see if we can set something up?”
“Yes, please,” she whispered.
Camille stuck her head in the doorway. “We have a few customers. I could use some help.”
Hailey bounced on her toes. “I’ll be right there.” Then she turned back to me with an earnest expression. “Thank you for not firing me and being so nice to me and being my brother’s girlfriend.”
“All of that is my pleasure.” I tipped my head toward the front of the shop. “Now, let’s go help Camille before she starts a riot and fires us both.”