Chapter 28
Best. Night. Ever.
All right, okay.
Yeah, no, it was the best night of my life. I didn’t just connect with Arlo on a whole other level, if you know what I mean, but we connected on a spiritual level.
So now I sound like one of those hippy girls with a daisy in her hair, which I would be fine with. I’d need a long, flowing lace dress, but preferably not white because, let’s face it, I’m not there yet.
That’s what having an incredible partner does to a gal. It makes them dream of the future and white dresses.
Swoon.
We took that tomato bath, and honestly, I’m not really sure it worked.
That led to a midnight call to the local grocer asking for dish soap and baking soda, which helped.
The scent still lingers, and after our soapy chemical shower, we burned our clothing at two in the morning in the beautiful junkyard that isn’t at all a junkyard but a small garden with used parts full of plants.
I was far too cold to stay there too long, and in the end, I came in, where I promptly fell asleep across Arlo’s chest.
We slept in, enjoying the Sunday vibes, waking to a stream of sunlight shining through the skylight.
Sore in all the right places, I burrow further into Arlo and the heat that wafts off of him.
“Morning.” His voice drifts over my senses as his chest rumbles, making everything inside of me tingle in happiness and pleasure.
“Afternoon,” I correct, unwilling to open my eyes and find out that everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours was a dream, because I refuse to allow that to become an option.
I’m making my dreams manifest like a yogi.
Arlo grunts, leaning over to grab his phone to check the time before he drops it and allows it to clatter back to the floor. “It’s almost one.”
“Any important messages?” I snuggle further into him.
“My sisters are spoiling Lark as though she is officially theirs.” His voice is hesitant, almost as though the words he speaks is a future I’m not ready to promise.
But it is. I’m ready and willing to make that promise.
I lean up, propping myself on my hands as I stare at him from beneath my lashes. “Isn’t she?”
“Isn’t she what?” Dimples pop out on his face as his smile stretches from cheek to cheek.
“Theirs? I mean, now she has three crazy aunts.” Not including her crazy uncle. I snort out a laugh at that thought. “I always wanted a crazy aunt.”
“My sisters really do fit the bill.” He swings his body over mine, resting on his elbow. “They adore her.”
“She adores them,” I whisper, feeling the truth in my words, because I adore them.
“You know…” He twirls a finger in one of my curls. “There are many women in this town willing to be your crazy aunt.”
“Of that I have no doubt.” I think about my boss. “Ms. Aberdeen for one.”
“Oh no, she’s a crazy grandma, and that’s a role I’m not sure anyone wants to accept. She isn’t just crazy, she is certifiable.”
“Her obsession with the one Davis deputy is questionable.” I recall each time she sees him and the way she licks her lips. “You know, the one day she saw him, she popped out her dentures and bounced around like she was twenty, saying, ‘Look what I can do’?”
Arlo shudders beneath my fingertips at that absurd thought. “She didn’t!” he murmurs as he shakes his head. “Never mind, I believe it. Poor kid.”
“I’m not so sure, he blushes each time.”
“Probably because he doesn’t know how to handle her.”
“I don’t know how to handle her or her Jersey Shore obsession.” I smile, realizing I have a crazy aunt in a way, and somehow, I feel more at ease than I ever have in my life, knowing that Lark now might possibly have three crazy aunts.
“I like that look.” He brushes my hair off my face.
“What look?”
“The one where you found complete contentment and happiness.” He buries his face in my neck, muttering so I almost don’t hear him. “And I’m not ashamed to feel pride that I brought you that look.”
“You are incorrigible.”
He nips my neck at my words, then licks the sting away before settling back and pinning my arms so I can’t retaliate. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
I sigh, not ready to spring from this bubble but knowing it was inevitable. “First things first, I need to figure out how bad I smell.” Though we took multiple showers last night, I worry that the smell lingers on me.
“You smell like you to me.” He leans up, wrinkling his nose. “But I worry it’s because I’ve grown used to the scent of skunk.”
“I’ll ask Paris about those glands.”
“Good idea, that should be first on your agenda.”
I chuckle. There’s no love lost between my beloved pet skunk and Arlo. “It’s not first, but I know you will remind me of it, eventually.” I look at him, trying for the most serious expression I can muster. “I need to talk to Christian.”
Arlo looks up at the ceiling, blowing out a breath before he looks down at me. “I know,” he whispers. “Do you want me there?”
Oh, this man. Be still my heart, because I know stars dance in my eyes. He’s perfect, that is all there is to it. “No, but do you think you can talk to Kenzie? I know you don’t know everything, the complete story, but I think the most important part is that he isn’t on the birth certificate.”
“Unpopular opinion incoming.” His thumb trails across my cheek. “I’m glad he isn’t on there because I know that means his parents can’t do much, but you’re right, I’ll talk to Kenzie. I think you’re doing the right thing by allowing Lark to make that choice. I know my sisters won’t agree.”
“You think they would prefer it if I took that choice from her?”
He draws lazy circles on my chest. “I’m not sure. I know they see you and Lark hurting, and they probably got territorial.”
“I like it.” I lean up and nip his lip. “But I agree with you. First, I need to talk to him about his parents and see what we can work out.”
“That means I’m going to have to find him a place to stay, aren’t I?”
“That is plausible.” I twist out of his arms, realizing I have no clothing, so I snatch up his sheet and wear it like a toga.
Meanwhile, he lies there like a Greek god with his one leg bent at an angle, looking delicious and eatable. Is that a word? It is now.
“The girls left clothes for you at the front door.” He doesn’t even move as he devours me with his eyes.
“Of course they did.” I spin in my toga dress and reach for the coffeemaker. “So what should I do about Christian?”
“What’s he good at?” He sighs with resignation.
“I’m not asking you to get him a job,” I point out, setting the machine to brew as I pad toward the front door and the pile of clothes.
“Not everyone is as flamboyant as Robin.”
“True. Christian is an acquired taste.”
“Exactly, which means he will need placement here if he’s going to stick around.”
I drop the blanket and pull on a pair of my jeans, enjoying Arlo’s groan. They even brought me a bra. How thoughtful of them. I stuff my girls inside and spin to face Arlo, trying to get my arms in my favorite sweater.
“Let me see what he’s thinking first,” I hedge. I don’t want him here exactly, but for Lark’s sake, I’ll help him.
As long as he doesn’t hurt her.
Arlo reads me like a book. He stands and walks over to engulf me in his arms, hugging me tight. “I won’t allow anything to happen to Lark,” he whispers, “except freezing, because she’s helping me set up the lights today.”
“Ah, the December first lighting ceremony.”
“We have two days, only two days. Don’t think I didn’t notice that the library is devoid of all lights. Luckily for you, I planned to help the next two days.” He walks his bare butt over to a chest of drawers, where he pulls on a pair of gray sweats.
I swear my brain short-circuits.
Flat line.
No longer can function.
“You’re drooling a bit.” He hops into them. It’s like my own personal show, and I want to hit repeat until I die.
“Do it again,” I whisper, my eyes glued to a certain aspect of him that left me all achy and delicious. All I can hear in my head is more.
I glance away, fanning myself as he chuckles at me. “You better get going.”
I can’t even form a coherent question or remember what we were talking about. “What?” I don’t even think the word comes out properly, and it sounds more like a jumbled groan.
“Christian is on his way to Dee-Dee’s.” He kisses my forehead and spins me before smacking me on my bottom and pointing at my boots.
“What? How?”
“I told you I have three very meddling sisters and one overlord we call Mother.” He laughs at my sharp inhale. “I warned you.”
“You did no such thing.” I tug on my boots, trying to recall that first conversation, but I think it was mostly just us arguing.
“Crazy siblings.”
“I think you only warned me about your twin, and that wasn’t even real, and Sera?” My curls slap my face as I shake my head. “I don’t see her as meddling.”
He pauses, staring at me as though I’m the crazy one before he guffaws like a braying donkey. Wiping tears from his eyes, he sputters, “Oh, I needed that.”
“I’m going to need more than laughter.” I tug on my coat that I know I forgot last night, and I hope they left these things downstairs and not in here where they would have seen a very naked Arlo and me.
“Oh, you’ll find out. Sera is the mastermind. She’s quiet and doesn’t look suspicious.” He wags a finger at me before flopping back on the bed. “Bring me back pancakes.”
“I’m about to throw my shoe at you.” I open the door.
“I’m kidding. I’m meeting Autumn in an hour for breakfast.”
“You two are weird,” I grumble as I thud down the steps into the quiet garage. Using the side door, I let myself out into the crisp autumn air, enjoying the scent of snow that lingers just out of reach. For the first time in my life, I can’t wait for snow.
Maybe even a blizzard.
Oh, how far the mighty have fallen. I mean me, how far I have fallen. It’s questionable.
I pick up my pace, passing what I’m pretty sure is every single resident setting up lights.