Chapter 43
LENNON
Three Weeks Later
I kicked my shoes off with a groan that was half agony, half relief, and flopped on the sofa with a tired but happy sigh.
A mobster and stalker couldn’t take me down, but my mad dash through the woods had resulted in three stitches, a staph infection, and a strained tendon.
Doctors had ordered me off my feet for three weeks, which meant that Jeremiah’s fulltime job was carrying me around. Neither of us were complaining.
But now I was finally cleared to use my feet again.
Today had been my first day back in the kitchen.
It had been weird, being there. Memories of Cecily were everywhere.
I kept turning our conversations over in my mind, looking for clues.
Amos was shaken to his core. He loved Cecily—still did.
He’d visited her twice at the in-patient facility where she would be for at least the next year.
She was doing okay, considering. I wished I could see her, talk to her, scream at her, hug her.
But her doctors said seeing me could set her treatment back. Maybe someday.
Jeremiah entered the apartment smelling like hay and sunshine. He noted my shoes by the door and me on the couch and shook his head. “I told you to ease into it. Don’t do a full shift.”
“I’m fine. A little sore, that’s all.” I tilted my face up for a kiss. “How is your day going?”
“Busy. Do you still have your key to the Orion cabin? Someone booked it for August.” He dropped his phone on the coffee table, swiped the bottle of lotion, and sat on the couch, pulling my feet into his lap.
I tensed even though his hands felt like magic on my tight, aching feet.
We were at the end of July—the end of my reservation.
We hadn’t talked about what came next. I’d started putting feelers out, figuring out options.
Leaving Mercy River was not an option. But other than that…
Hell. I didn’t have a clue. I’d thought maybe I could extend my reservation.
Kick the question down the road for another month.
But with all the cabins booked for the rest of summer, that wasn’t an option, after all.
“Why are you grimacing like that? Too much pressure?”
“Way too much pressure.” I flopped my head back on the armrest and contemplated the ceiling. His hands gentled and I craned my neck to look at him. “No, not my feet. I mean…” My voice trailed off.
I didn’t know how to tell him all the fears running through my mind.
A relationship started in a pressure cooker was bound to explode, right?
Jeremiah was so precious to me. We needed to do this right.
I had never had a relationship like this before, but I was pretty sure couples who moved too fast didn’t last long.
I’d watched my mom move boyfriend after boyfriend into our small trailer, and none of them had lasted more than a year.
Jeremiah raised his eyebrows at me, waiting for me to continue.
His phone buzzed on the table and he kept watching me while he answered it.
Then his whole demeanor tightened as he gave the phone his full attention.
A loud, muffled voice pricked my attention.
Whoever was on the other end of that call was frustrated… and familiar.
My breath caught. I lunged forward, snatching the phone from Jeremiah’s hand.
“Hector?” I asked breathlessly.
“Lennon.” He heaved a sigh. “Jesus, honey, you gave me a scare. I’ve been calling you every day for three weeks. Benny was about to send the cavalry for you.”
“Benny?” I croaked. “He’s alive?”
“Of course he’s alive. You would know that if you returned any of my calls.”
I blinked. The phone Hector had given me was in the nightstand. Dead, probably. I hadn’t checked it since I’d been kidnapped. Thinking about Benny hurt too much.
“We got wind that one of Benny’s former associates would be paying you a visit.
They planned to use you to send Benny a message.
Keep him from talking. But it had the opposite effect.
He didn’t take kindly to them threatening you, so he told the FBI everything he knew.
He’s in protective custody now, but he left a little something in an account for you.
He said you’d know how to access it. And you can stay at his apartment as long as you want. ”
My brain felt like it was processing everything in quicksand. “The New York apartment? It’s safe for me to go back?” Jeremiah’s hand shackled my ankle.
“It’s safe. You can come home now, Lennon.”
I hung up, stunned. Home. I lifted my gaze to Jeremiah. “Benny is alive.”
“I’m glad, honey.” His voice was rough. His hand tightened. “Don’t go.”
My heart threatened to beat right out of my chest. God, this man. Didn’t he know there was nowhere I’d rather be than right here with him? “I wasn’t planning on it.”
He smiled and it was like the sun breaking through a storm cloud.
“I need a job. And a place to live,” I said.
He looked genuinely puzzled. “You have both those things already.”
“Until tomorrow, I’m still a guest here. You need to officially hire me to work in the kitchen. And you just gave away my cabin, remember?”
“What do you need a cabin for? You moved in with me a month ago.”
“I didn’t move in with you. I stayed at your apartment for safety reasons while my stalker was on the loose, and then I stayed at your apartment while my feet healed, and by the time that was done, it didn’t make sense to move back into the cabin when I would be checking out soon anyway, so I stayed a little longer. ”
He stared at me.
I braided my fingers together. Why was I so nervous? “Emma said I could stay with her and Blair while I figure out what to do.”
“Or you could just stay here.”
I wanted to say yes so badly. The thought of sleeping without him was honestly sad. I felt homesick for him and I hadn’t even left yet. But…
“Jeremiah,” I said softly. “I want to. So, so much. I—” I took a deep, shuddering breath. “But it’s only been two months. That’s how long we’ve known each other. We can’t move in together after only two months. That’s ridiculous.”
“Someone once told me that life was a lot more fun when we don’t confuse can’t and shouldn’t.
We can, and dammit, Lennon, we should. Maybe two months isn’t enough time for other people, but it is for us.
If you tell me you need to slow things down, all right.
I’ll accept that. But for me, it doesn’t matter if it’s two months or two years.
More time won’t change a damn thing. I know what I want, and what I want is to spend every moment I can with you. ”
I searched his eyes. “Are you sure?”
He laughed and pulled me into his lap. “It’s not two months for me. It’s thirty-eight years. I’ve been waiting my whole life for you, Lennon. You’ve been a long time coming, and now that you’re finally here, I’m not letting you go. I’m settling in for forever.”
I held his face in my hands. Kissed his mouth. “I love you.”
“Then stay.”
Happiness broke over me like a wave, sweeping away all the doubts. “Okay. I will.”