Page 51 of The Restoration Program

Ryan’s hand curled around her shoulder. “Don’t worry sir, I don’t plan on letting her out of my sight.”

“Within reason,” the older man said, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course.”

Relief rushed over her. She didn’t have to be alone. Not today.

Nicole went to extend her hand towards Callahan, but Ryan pulled her into his careful grasp.

“I can’t thank you enough for your understanding, Mr. Callahan,” she said. “It was a pleasure to meet you—even in these unusual circumstances.”

“And you, Nicole.” His eyes darted between her and Ryan. “I hope this helps.”

They passed no one else on the short walk from Callahan’s spacious office, but Ryan still kept her tucked halfway under his jacket to conceal her. She was thrilled to be riding in his hands again and not in his satchel.

Once secured in the privacy of Ryan’s office, they both let out a collective sigh.

“I think he really liked me!” Nicole pulled at the lapels of his coat until he looked down and mirrored her grin. “Did you hear that? Future partner material here.”

She bobbed in his hands as Ryan dropped into his seat behind his desk and leaned back with a sigh. “You played him like afiddle,” he said.

“Guess I got lucky.”

“Well, to be fair, it’s nearly impossible to saynoto you.”

“Very true.” Her haughty smirk sobered. “I didn’t know about his nephew. How old is he?”

“Not sure. He doesn’t usually talk about his family.”

“Really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?” Nicole smiled breathlessly. “For all we know, there’s even more people around here who have someone Restored in their life.”

“See? The world’s already changing. It’ll all feel normal before we know it.” Ryan’s gaze became thoughtful, his thumb brushing her loose hair. She was tempted to get lost all over again in his touch, his warmth. She turned instead, scanning over the space before them.

“I can’t believe I never got a chance to see your office in the month we’ve been here.” She wrestled away the urge to imagine where she would be right now if she’d never been in the car accident. She closed her eyes and took a breath, brightening her face. “So, do I get a tour?”

Ryan rolled his chair back to the corner to give her a full view. “Better late than never,” he said warmly.

The flourishing plants held her attention first. She’d given them to him the first day he started work, telling him they would make the place more welcoming. She looked further along the walls and found his framed college diploma and a corkboard with reminders pinned to it. Beneath that was a stout bookshelf stuffed with thick volumes. She swore she could feel a phantom ache in her arms from hauling those things during the move.

If she could, she would have waltzed over, grabbed a book at random, and quizzed Ryan on the first thing she found. She settled on throwing a smirk up at him. “Do you really use those books?”

He snorted. “Rarely. I pulled one out to pretend I was looking up something for a tricky client. Remember, the one who tried to argue with me to buy three timeshares?” He turned toward the window, whisking the bookshelf out of sight. “But hey, check out the view.”

Ryan had scored a corner office with two sets of windows. The sun had fully risen, but it wasn’t blinding. Puffy clouds lazily drifted along the soft blue sky. In the distance, taller buildings composed a loose skyline. From up here, she could pretend that everything below was normal-sized.

“Ry, it’sgorgeous,” she sighed. “I’m glad we went through with moving here. I’ll bet there wasn’t any office space like this back home.”

Ryan lowered her to his desk. He waited for her to climb off, then squeezed her hand between his finger and thumb. “This is home now,” he said.

A surge of warmth began in her chest and reached her smile. She nodded, pulling away to explore the desk. The top was the size of a dance floor. Ryan’s computer and phone took up one side, along with a set of binders and folders stacked neatly in one corner.

The other side held a framed photo—a familiar one that she had a copy of on her former desk. Feeling Ryan’s eyes on her, she walked in front of the frame.

The picture had been taken at a friend’s engagement party months before she and Ryan had moved away. Her in a coral pink sundress. Him in a dark green dress shirt. They were posed by an old tree, multi-colored paper lanterns strung above their heads. Ryan’s hand fit neatly around her waist.

She wondered if Ryan would keep that photo there forever, or if he would replace it with a new one that reflected their new reality. She reached out to touch their image.

Before either of them could say a word to break the heavy silence, the phone rang. For a tense moment, she worried that Callahan was calling to say that he changed his mind. When Ryan pressed the button to put it on speaker, there was a woman on the other end of the line.