Page 87 of A is for Aftercare

Archie grins up at me. “What about Tuesday? You could come back to mine for dinner after work.” His cheeks flush. “Our house is nowhere near as swanky as yours, I’m afraid. We live in a townhouse in Basildon.”

I knew that from his CV. “I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

He laughs. “Beautiful is probably taking it a bit far. It’s…cosy. And yellow.”

“Yellow?”

“Yeah. All the houses on the street are painted in different colours. Our landlord chose yellow. Tuesday?”

“Tuesday,” I agree. “I’m looking forward to it.”

On a whim, I pull him to a halt, hold his cheek, and kiss him.

“What was that for?” Archie asks. “Not that I’m complaining. You can kiss me like that whenever you like, Sir.”

I chuckle. “I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me.”

Archie raises his eyebrows.

“I think…” I take a breath and kiss him again, making sure I mean what I’m about to say. The words carry too much weight to be said lightly. As I feel the press of his lips against mine, my heart swells, and I know I truly mean them. “I think I might be a little bit in love with you.”

Archie smiles and presses his cheek against my hand. “That’s a few stages up from being important to you, Sir.”

“It is.” I hold my breath, wondering if he’ll say the words back to me. I hope he will, but I don’t need him to until he’s ready.

He pushes up onto his tiptoes so he can instigate a kiss. His fingers wrap around the back of my neck, tugging me down to him. The kiss is slow and soft. Then he embraces me and rests his head against my chest. Knowing I haven’t scared him off by my out-of-the-blue declaration is more than enough for now.

“Let’s go home,” I say.

Archie tangles his fingers through mine, and we carry on walking. Everything about this moment with Archie is right. Being withhimis right. He’s the missing piece I didn’t even know was missing from my life. I can only hope that he’ll end up feeling the same way about me.

* * *

We finish work early on Tuesday so we can get back at a reasonable time for Archie to cook. The moment we walk into his house, a pint-sized girl with a cast on her left arm comes hurtling out of a room to the right and flings her arms around Archie's waist.

“Uncle Archie!” she exclaims. “I’ve missed you.”

Archie laughs. “That’s a bit melodramatic.”

The girl, who I assume must be Lexi, tips her head to the side and taps her finger against her bottom lip. “What does mel-o-dra-ma-tic mean?” she asks, sounding out every syllable.

“Over the top,” Blake says, popping his head out the same door.

I know it’s Blake by the tan and floppy hair. He offers me a nervous smile, which reminds me that I wasn’t exactly friendly to him the first time we met.

“Hello,” I say. It would be too awkward to get into an apology with an inquisitive five-year-old around. “You must be Blake?”

“And you’re Hamish.” He comes into the hall and offers me his hand.

“We’re playing,” Lexi says. “Do you want to play with us?” She looks expectantly at Archie and then at me.

“I was going to cook,” Archie says.

“Uncle Blake can cook,” Lexi says. “He’s better at it.”

Blake laughs. "Only because I've had more practice. Anyway, I thoughtwewere playing?”

Lexi shrugs. “But I’ve finished painting your nails.”