32. Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Tessa was nervous. Nervous to talk to Lily about things that an adult would struggle with, let alone a five- (or at this point possibly six-) year-old girl. God, they weren’t even sure of her age. This little girl had way too much on her shoulders. Tessa looked at Ben to see if he was questioning what they were about to do. He gave her a nod, which got her moving. They walked into the living room where Lily had set up some blocks into the shape of a tower. She held her dragon and pretended to fly over as if it was invading the castle.
“Hi. Can I sit with you?” Tessa asked.
Lily patted the floor next to her, and Tessa sat with a humph —she needed to start yoga again—and Ben smartly sat on the chair close by.
“Is Adam the Dragon out for a flight?” she asked.
Lily nodded.
She took a fortifying breath. “We wanted to talk to you about your drawings. Is that okay?”
Lily’s smile faded a bit as she lowered the dragon, but she didn’t say no so Tessa continued. “Do you see the pictures in your head like a dream?”
Lily signed yes .
She continued. “When you’re sleeping?”
Lily signed no .
“So when you’re awake?
Yes.
“I know, sometimes that might be scary,” Tessa said. “But we’re here to protect you, sweetheart, if you see something bad. You’re not alone.” She would not let Lily face anything alone and neither would Ben.
Ben leaned forward. “It’s okay that you see the pictures in your head. You’re special. Just like your dragon and my dragon are special.”
Lily beamed at him.
“Do you remember Mia? The person who took you to Evelyn?” Ben asked.
Yes.
“Have you drawn any pictures of her?”
Lily shook her head.
Tessa patted her arm. “That’s okay. We just want you to know you can come to us about anything. And if you get scared or confused about what you see inside your head, you can come to us, okay?”
Lily nodded.
Tessa took a breath and smiled. “Now let’s see what Adam the Dragon can do about this castle of blocks.”
They set up the blocks only to have Lily’s stuffed dragon land on them and send them crashing to the ground. Lily even recruited Ben into holding the dragon, and he circled them with it high in his arms, making all sorts of silly sounds. The sillier he was, the more her heart tried to escape its protective cage. Any man who truly played with a child was bighearted and sexy as all get-out.
Evelyn walked into the room in the midst of things. “Are we playing in here?”
Tessa smiled. “Yep.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I was wondering if Lily wanted something to eat.” Evelyn made the sign for eat, and Lily signed it back.
“You go ahead and see what Marilyn has for you in the kitchen,” Tessa said.
Lily scrambled up and headed toward the doorway.
“She’s amazing,” Tessa said as Lily skipped away with Evelyn.
Ben watched her leave as well. “She is.”
“Do you think what we said helped?” Tessa said.
“I don’t know what goes through the mind of a little girl, let alone a special little girl like Lily. I don’t want her to ever feel like we’re trying to take advantage of her. For her to think that we would ask her to try and draw something or force her to try and have a vision, even if it meant me getting my memories back.”
“I agree. I don’t want her to think that our caring for her is contingent on her visions. Maybe we should have told her it’s okay if she never had a vision again. That she’ll be safe here.”
Ben held out his hand to her. “We can tell her that the next time. And I know that Dr. Murphy asked her about whether she could talk or not, but we’ll need to broach that too. If she doesn’t speak, that is more than fine as well, and we’ll all need to learn ASL. I have this growing need to protect her.”
“You have a need to protect everyone, dragon boy.” She grasped his hand, and the heat from it ran up her arm.
He helped her up. When she was standing in front of him, he didn’t back away or let go of her hand. “Look who’s talking, Taser girl.”
Her breathing picked up. “Smack talk, I see. Don’t make me get out my handcuffs.”
His brown eyes danced. “Is that a threat or a promise?”
Well, well, well. Her lumbersnack could flirt. The cage door creaked open, her heart peeking out to see what the weather was like. Warm and cozy.
Tessa reached up with the hand he wasn’t holding, running her fingers along his beard. It was softer than she’d anticipated, and his eyes heated at the touch.
He let go of her hand—smart man—which allowed her to wrap it around the back of his neck to pull him toward her. There was that light kiss like the last time. It vibrated all the way to her toes. She opened her mouth and ran her tongue along his bottom lip. He opened to reciprocate—good boy—she pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. What would it feel like to have his wings wrapped around her too?
In his arms she felt settled…complete. Cherished.
She wasn’t sure how long they kissed, but a giggle had them breaking apart. Lily stood in the doorway smiling. She ran over and grabbed her dragon and then ran back out again, but not before giggling some more.
Yes, Tessa was someone who wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or protect her friends and family, but when it came to love? She was a wade-into-the-kitty-pool-with-water-wings kind of person. What was it about Ben that made her want to dive into the deep end?
Who was she kidding? Her heart was already plunging below the surface. It was her head that hadn’t taken the plunge yet.
Because this couldn’t end well. How could he know he wanted her in his life if he didn’t know who he was?
And if he did get his memories back, would he change his mind about her?