Chapter 5
“SO WHO was the Mr. Clean you were having dinner with?” Lester asked the following Monday morning. Conrad hadn’t even reached his desk yet, and Lester was already on him.
“If you must know, he’s Lizzie’s teacher, and he joined us for dinner.
” He glared at Lester. “Don’t you have work to do?
I know I do.” He turned and went to his desk.
Sure enough, he had a number of emails that needed attending to as well as phone calls to return.
He took care of all of them and then got down to work on a number of projects he had in the works before his scheduled client meetings.
Most days Conrad had little time to breathe, and today was no exception. He ate his lunch at his desk between teleconferences and somehow managed to get out on time so he could get to his mother’s to pick up Lizzie.
“You’re wearing yourself down,” Mom told him as he schlumped at her table with a cup of coffee and one of her blueberry muffins.
“I really want this promotion, and I need to make sure the projects I’m working on are a success.
That’s the only way they’re going to take me seriously.
I also spent much of the day working with what I hope will be a new client for the entire firm.
” He sat back as Lizzie bounded in. She always had so much energy.
Lizzie climbed onto his lap and told him all about her day, who she played with at recess, and what Forrest told her.
“Did you learn a lot?” Conrad asked.
“About platypuses,” Lizzie told him, and then recited some of the things about the southern hemisphere animal.
“I can watch her for a little while more. Go on home, get a shower, and relax a little. I’ll walk Lizzie home in an hour. She and I were going to make cookies anyway.” Lizzie climbed down, and Conrad went on home, intending to take advantage of the time to himself.
He took a shower and was sitting in the living room watching Netflix when Mom brought Lizzie over. She ran to the sofa and jumped up next to him. Mom said good-bye and didn’t give him a chance to ask if she wanted dinner. Obviously she didn’t, and she was off.
“Gramma got a call, and she has a date,” Lizzie told him, giggling.
“Is it that same man as last week?” Conrad asked, and Lizzie shrugged before slipping off the sofa and running to her dolls. She began to play, and Conrad closed his eyes, feeling really tired. He lay back and soon fell asleep, feeling clammy and hot.
He woke when Lizzie tapped on his arm. She was hungry, so he forced himself to get up and make her a quick dinner. The thought of food did not sit well with him, so he just made Lizzie dinner and sat on the sofa, which morphed into him lying down and falling asleep.
TUESDAY MORNING, Conrad woke at one point to Lizzie tapping him on the shoulder. He managed to get up and put her to bed before climbing into his own and crashing. The next thing he knew, he cracked his eyes open to Forrest standing next to his bed.
His mouth tasted like death and his throat hurt like hell. He groaned and tried to make his voice work so he could ask what the hell was going on. Instead, he sipped from the glass of water Forrest offered him and lay back down. “Lizzie used your phone to call me.”
She climbed on the bed. “I thought you were dead like Mommy,” she told him, nearly crying.
“I’m okay, sweetheart.” He could barely hold his head up. “Really, I promise.” He hugged her, and then Lizzie climbed down, telling him she was going to draw him a picture to make him feel better.
“Apparently you didn’t wake up,” Forrest told him. “And she got scared and used your phone. By the way, I think you should change your passcode because she knows what it is.”
“Oh.” His mind sort of refused to work. “Okay.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll see that Lizzie gets to school.”
He thanked this angel man and settled back into the bed once Forrest got him to drink a little more, and sleep overtook him quickly.
IT WAS still light out when he woke again.
Laughter drifted up from downstairs. Conrad got out of bed and pulled on comfortable clothes before using the bathroom and then slowly descending the stairs.
Forrest and Lizzie sat on the floor playing some sort of card game that involved tossing the cards around and plenty of laughter.
He sat on the sofa, watching them play and smiling.
Lizzie laughed hard and long, the joyous sound filling the room. She hadn’t laughed much since her mother died, and now it was full-on happiness. Conrad pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and settled back, letting the two of them have fun.
“Do you need anything?” Forrest asked during an apparent break in the game.
“No, I’m okay.” He sat back and enjoyed his daughter’s happiness.
Conrad must have dozed off again. When he woke this time, it was getting dark and the house smelled of chicken soup. He groaned and got himself off the sofa and headed to the kitchen, where Forrest stood at the stove.
“Is it done yet?” Lizzie asked.
“What have you been up to?” Conrad asked.
Forrest put the lid on the pot. “Just a few more minutes.” He turned away from the stove. “Lizzie thought it would be a good idea to make you some soup. You had what we needed, so the two of us made some. We were hoping it would make you feel better. Do you think you could eat a little?”
The thought didn’t make his stomach recoil.
“Yeah, I think so.” What he wanted was to go back to bed and sleep some more, but maybe a little food was what he needed first. He waited until the soup was done and ate a small bowl.
It tasted good, and Conrad had doubted anything possibly could.
His daughter seemed to like it and ate like a champ.
“I’m sorry.” He finished the bowl and sat back, his eyelids getting really heavy.
“My mom is around, she can come take Lizzie.”
“She called hours ago,” Forrest said. “I told her not to worry. She has a date tonight. They’re going to dinner and then the symphony. So I said I would stay with Lizzie and watch over you.”
Damn, even when he was sick, Forrest was kind.
He’d taken care of Lizzie for most of the day, made dinner, and was nice to his mom.
What more could Conrad want? And to top it off, Forrest was sexy, like, lick-him-all-over sexy.
He might be sick, but he wasn’t dead. Though he probably should keep all these revelations to himself until he was feeling better.
Slowly, he got up and returned to the sofa, curled up under the blanket, and listened to Lizzie and Forrest as they chatted.
He fell to sleep once again and woke a little while later to the sounds of The Little Mermaid.
He managed to stay awake long enough to see the end of the movie.
Then he took Lizzie upstairs and put her to bed.
Thankfully, she settled right to sleep, and he stroked her forehead and left the room to return downstairs.
Forrest was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
“Are you going to make it to the sofa? You look unsteady on your feet.” Instantly, he was engulfed in strong arms and guided to the sofa, where he settled.
Forrest spread the blanket over him and found another movie.
Then he sat next to him, and Conrad leaned against Forrest, soaking in the heat that radiated off him.
“You feel so good,” he said with a sigh, resting his head on Forrest’s shoulder. “I already knew you were a good guy, but I didn’t know you were this good a guy. If you know what I mean.” He closed his eyes as Forrest put an arm around him. “What are you watching?”
“The new Frankenstein,” Forrest said. “I wanted to see it in the theater, but you have this crazy big TV, so do you mind?”
“Of course not.” He wanted to see it too, so he forced himself to stay awake and managed to watch until the creation met the blind man. At that point his eyes grew heavy, and the next thing he knew, the credits were running and he realized he had missed the last part of the story. “Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s okay. You’ve been sick. How do you feel?”
“A little hungry,” Conrad answered, and Forrest slipped away, returning with a couple of pieces of buttered toast and a glass of juice. Conrad ate and drank all of what Forrest had brought, finally feeling a little better. He set the plate on the coffee table and stood, suddenly wobbly on his feet.
Forrest was there to catch him, and he guided Conrad up to his bedroom.
Conrad slipped under the sheets and closed his eyes.
“Thank you,” he said into the darkness, knowing Forrest was there.
It was surprising, but in that moment, he knew just what the kids in Forrest’s class felt: his strength and kindness, and that they were safe with him.
Forrest was gentle, and he would watch over him if necessary.
It was a wonderful feeling, and one he hadn’t thought he could ever have again.
Trust. It was such a small word, and yet such a big thing.
With his sucky past, trust was hard for him to come by, and yet he had fallen asleep with Forrest there.
Hell, he had been in bed and Forrest had stayed downstairs with his daughter and he hadn’t given it a second thought.
He was just sinking into sleep when Forrest’s lips touched his forehead.
The soft kiss filled him with warmth from being cared for. He knew what that was, and he pulled Forrest closer. “Stay…,” he whispered as the last vestiges of control stole from his mind and he slipped into slumber.
It wasn’t until he got up hours later to use the bathroom that he got the answer to his question if what he remembered was real. Forrest lay on the other side of the bed, his wide back to him. When he returned, Forrest hadn’t moved, and Conrad got back into bed, drawn closer to his warmth.