Page 39 of Forbidden Kisses

She beamed. "Of course he is. And so am I."

“I’m just going to see if he’s ready,” I said. “He needed to get his magic pillow.”

“Oh yes. Don’t worry, Riley, I’ll go.” Susan walked straight to Jeremy’s bedroom.

"I'll come with you," I said. "I want to tell him goodbye before I leave."

"Sure."

"Actually," Duncan said, "I have a proposition."

I looked up at him. My heart stuttered.

"Since Mom is taking Jeremy anyway, why don't I drive you home?"

I shook my head. "You don't have to do that."

"Oh, let the man drive you if he's offering to. It’ll be quicker," Susan said from the doorway.

"All right,” I said. My stomach was full of butterflies. I was super nervous, but I also was looking forward to spending a bit of time with Duncan even though it wasn't the way either of us had imagined.

Susan and I went to Jeremy’s bedroom. He’d taken out half the contents of his closet and piled it on the bed.

"Jeremy, what's the meaning of this?" Susan asked.

He turned around, eyes streaked with tears. "I don't know where my magic pillow is. I can't leave without it."

My heart broke for the poor little guy. How could he be so inconsolable about a pillow?

"Jeremy, don’t worry. We'll find it, okay?" I said.

He nodded. "I just don't know where it is."

"Let's go through things together. Where have you looked?"

"Everywhere," he said.

That was impossible, of course.

"I’ll check as well, okay?"

I looked at the dresser, but it wasn't anywhere. Then I opened all the drawers of the tallboy next to his bed and glanced under the bed itself.

"I'm going to check in the playroom," I said.

"Okay," Jeremy replied between sobs.

The magic pillow was in the lap of his favorite giant panda bear. "Found it!" I called, then immediately headed back.

Jeremy ran toward me, grabbing the pillow from my hand as I stepped inside the room. He pressed it to his chest. "Thank you, Riley."

"Now, let's put everything back before we leave," Susan said. Her voice wasn't stern at all, but Jeremy immediately nodded and started folding his clothes.

Between the three of us, it took no time at all. When we returned to the living room, Duncan was already waiting by the door, car keys in hand.

"Dad, are you coming with us?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.

"No, I'm driving Riley home."