Chapter 34
Harvey pulled up outside a gorgeous-looking red brick building in Back Bay. This neighborhood was beautiful, filled with older houses and green trees. She glanced around, trying to take it all in.
It felt scary being away from the cabin. It was weird. She thought she'd be excited to be back in the city, but the cabin had become more of a place of refuge.
It had started to feel like home.
But it was time to keep moving forward.
These last few weeks, she’d been lost, completely in her head.
She’d barely done anything, gone anywhere.
It wasn’t until she’d started seeing a therapist that she’d begun to fight her way back, to function better.
She’d started getting up and showering and moving around on her own, without him having to do so much for her.
That was why he’d finally felt comfortable moving them back here to his house. She couldn’t hide forever. It was time to be a bit braver. She wasn’t going to let the doctor and her mother rule her life forever.
“We don't have to do this if you're not ready.” Reaching over, he took hold of her hand.
What would she do without him? He'd been there for her through everything.
And she couldn't imagine not having him in her life.
She just hoped that once things settled down, they still felt the same way about each other.
Although Harvey seemed to be very certain in his feelings, so she guessed it was just her.
“I'm ready for this,” she said. “It's time.”
He nodded. “I'll be glad to see what the place looks like after Fiadh's friend redecorated.”
Harvey hadn’t even had a chance to see his place with all the changes because he'd been so busy with her. She squashed the guilt that thought brought. She'd needed him and she knew that he didn't regret any time spent with her. That was just the sort of amazing man that he was.
He came around and opened her door, helping her out, before clasping hold of her hand to lead her inside. “I'll come back for the bags.”
They had a couple of suitcases with them, mostly filled with her clothes. Some stuff had been left at the cabin. Harvey had assured her they'd go back during the weekends.
As they stepped inside, the smell of fresh paint hit her first and made her wrinkle her nose.
“We're going to have to open some windows in here,” Harvey said as he glanced around.
She studied the living room off to the right. Everything was gorgeous and very clean and brand new. There were some older features, like the crown molding on the walls, but for the most part, it was a very modern, sleek look.
Different from the house she'd grown up in, so that was good. But it had a slightly cold feel to it. Everything seemed untouchable. The couch was a pale beige. The floors were a white tile with gold fleck. There was a rug on the floor, but even it was a shade of beige.
Harvey moved over to the couch, drawing her with him, and then sat down with a groan. “Christ, this thing is as hard as rocks.”
Lily sat next to him and tried to make herself comfy. “I guess we might be able to soften it up.”
He huffed out a breath. “I think I should have paid more attention to what was going on here. I just figured that my taste was obviously crap so I’d leave her to it.”
“I think you've got great taste,” she defended.
Harvey turned to grin at her. “Yeah, that's because I chose you, so of course you think I have great taste.”
She let out a surprised giggle.
His shoulders relaxed. “It's kind of cold in here, isn't it?”
Lily grimaced, glancing around. “ It's very beautiful.”
Harvey cupped her chin, turning her to face him. “Come on, you're talking to me. You don't need to sugarcoat things. It's cold and a little scary. I'm almost afraid to touch stuff.”
“Harvey, you own everything in here. Of course, you can touch it.” But that had been very similar to her own thoughts.
“Come on, let's go explore the rest of the place. Maybe it has some personality in the toilet.”
She let out another surprised giggle. At least she was laughing. And as they moved through the rest of the house, his comments on the different rooms made her laugh even more, the tension leaving her.
Maybe, just maybe, this was all going to work.
Lily stared at the fridge. Why was this blasted thing so damn temperamental?
It had two layers of doors. You had to open the first layer to get into the shelves that she could see, and then the second layer to get into the back stuff. But do you think she could get that first layer open? She attempted again, but only managed to pull open the entire thing once more.
With a groan, she slammed the door shut, and then kicked the fridge.
Pain slashed her toes, and she let out a cry of pain, grabbing her foot with both hands as she hopped around the kitchen.
“What is it? What happened?” Harvey raced into the kitchen and stared over at her. “What's going on?” He was staring around the room as though searching for whoever had harmed her.
“The fridge attacked me.”
“What?” He gaped at her.
“The fridge hates me. It attacked me, and it hurt my toe. I think it might be broken.”
“The fridge attacked you, and your toe is broken. Did you kick the fridge?” he asked.
“Yes, because it's mean.”
Walking over, he grasped hold of her hips and lifted her onto the kitchen island.
Grasping hold of her foot, he examined her toe, pressing it and getting her to wriggle all of them. “Well, it doesn't seem to be broken.”
“No thanks to the stupid fridge.”
Yes, she knew she was acting crazy. But it seriously felt like the appliances were conspiring to get her.
“What happened?” he asked as he put his hands on countertop on either side of her hips.
“I can't get that front door part of the fridge open,” she complained. “Whoever designed that fridge is a freaking sadist. They have to be to cause this much pain to people.”
“So you couldn't open the front part of the door and thought the best idea was to kick the fridge?”
“It sounds crazy when you say it.”
He just shot her a pointed look.
“I thought it would make me feel better,” she muttered.
“And how did that turn out for you?” he said, his lips twitching.
“Not very well,” she admitted.
Harvey bent over so his face was hidden from her. Oh, no. What had she done? Had she insulted his fridge? Was he upset by that? What could she do to make it better?
His shoulders started to move. Oh, hell. He was really upset. She was an idiot. Maybe he was attached to that fridge.
And then a burst of laughter filled the room, and she realized he wasn't upset. He was laughing.
She gaped down at him. She didn't think she'd ever heard anything like that come from him.
Lily stared at him in amazement for a long moment, and then she started giggling herself.
It was pretty ridiculous, but that wasn't why she was laughing.
She was laughing because she loved how happy he sounded, how relaxed.
In that moment, she realized that she actually made him happy. It wasn't just about wanting her. It wasn't just about needing to protect her, or keep her safe, or take care of her. He was happy.
And so was she. Perhaps for the first time in her life.
He straightened up and wiped his eyes with his hands. “Sorry, baby. I shouldn't laugh. Not when you've hurt yourself.”
“No, no, it is pretty funny,” she said. “I get it. I'd laugh too.” She giggled as he grabbed an ice pack from the fridge.
“Last night, I tried to turn the jets on in the bath, and they sprayed water right in my face. And I seriously thought the vacuum cleaner was trying to attack me this morning. I think your house is out to get me.
“I think this place might need a new renovation,” he said.
“You can't do that. It must have been expensive to do all of this.”
He slashed his hand through the air. “The money doesn't matter if the house is trying to kill us.”
Well, she guessed that was true. He lifted her down onto one of the stools at the kitchen island, then placed her foot up on another stool with the ice pack on top of her sore toe.
“Now, what were you trying to get out of the fridge?”
I was trying to get into the front part to get one of those bottles of flavored water,” she explained.
“I don't know why Fiadh's friend bought this kind of fridge.
“Oh, so it’s brand new?” she asked. “You didn’t choose it?”
“No, why would I choose a fridge this annoying?”
“Good, because I hate that fucking fridge.”
He let out another surprised laugh. “Fucking fridge? I don't think I've heard you swear like that.”
“That’s because I've never met that fridge before.”
He shook his head and got the drink she was after from the fridge. Then he sat on a stool next to her foot.
“Do you want to go out tonight? We could go to the movies and I could feel you up when the lights go out.”
“Feel me up?” she repeated, nearly choking on a mouthful of water.
He wriggled his eyebrows. “One of my favorite things to do.”
Hmm. Did she want to go out?
The idea was kind of frightening but she had to start doing things that were a bit scary and the movies was probably a good start.
“I mean, provided we don’t have to amputate your toe.” He moved the ice pack to stare down at her foot. “Yeah, amputation might be all that we can do to fix it.”
“I think we can save it,” she told him. “I like the idea of the movies.”
He knew she was scared.
But she was trying to be brave and that made him so proud. She clung to his hand as they walked into the movie theatre entrance.
“All right, I have the tickets already. What are your favorite snacks?” He led her to the concession stand.
“Um, I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Popcorn? Ice cream? Chocolate? Candy? Pretzel bites?”
“I, well, I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies,” she said, glancing around. “So I’m really not sure. Maybe I won’t get anything.”
“Not happening. Unacceptable.”
“What? I can’t go without snacks?” She gave him a startled look.
All right, maybe he was acting crazy. But he couldn’t handle this sadness.