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I smiled. “You missed me, huh?”

She nodded solemnly. “You know it.”

She was too serious. I couldn’t have that. “You just want me for my body heat,” I accused. “I bet you had to wear sweats again last night to stay warm enough.”

The corner of her mouth twitched as she fought a smile “Your shirts smell like you.”

She’d lost me. “So, no sweatshirt?”

She shook her head. “I went for five of your shirts instead.”

My chest tightened. It wasn’t the ribs, it was the feelings. She really had missed me. I let the moment linger too long before clearing my throat. “What? Are you going to do my laundry too? How am I going to have anything to wear?”

Her eyes lit, joining me in my game. “I needed to be warm, and you weren’t there to do the job. I had to manage without you.” She sobered, and I didn’t like the way the sparkle faded from her expression. “I didn’t like managing without you.”

I abandoned my teasing tone. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t have to.”

“What? You can control everything now?,” she scoffed gently. “You don’t need to apologize; just focus on getting healthy, so you can come home.”

Home.The word suddenly loomed big. It used to mean a cold and empty apartment. Nothing special. The word had taken on new meaning since Melena and I moved intoourhouse. Home was holding her as we slept. Home was lazy mornings with multiple cups of coffee. Home was watching TV, cuddled together on the couch. Home was Melena.

My gaze met hers. “I want to be home with you more than anything.”

She smiled, her face relaxing. “Good. Let’s see what we can do about making that happen. I’m going to go find your doctor and see when we can spring you.”

She left, and I took a deep breath, wincing as my ribs twinged. Melena was home. She may not realize it yet, but she was more than home to me. She was everything. But how to tell her? And would she stay once I did? Our agreement was for one year. Not for all the years. But that’s what I wanted. All of her years.



















Chapter 21

Melena – Mom Knows Best

Mom called as I wasgetting Jimmy settled on the couch. We’d only been home five minutes, and I couldn’t keep the peace. I hit ‘ignore’ on the call and went to get him a drink of water to take his meds.

“Here. The doctor said I could only take you home if you stayed on schedule. Swallow this.”

Jimmy had never been ill-tempered with me. Until now. I was learning to manage him the hard way. I knew he was going to test my patience when he tried to convince me he could still drive us home from the hospital. Not. Gonna. Happen. I could understand wanting to pretend things were as normal as possible, but ignoring his injury wouldn’t heal him any faster. I wouldn’t let him hurt himself further.