Page 47 of From the Ashes

She chuckles and pats my back as she moves to inspect a couple of paintings herself. “I just wish I could offer him this area to paint. But they have strict rules about flammable products and having the correct ventilation.”

She sighs and runs her thumb over a particularly thick swoosh of purple oil paint, hardened over time.

Something sparks within me and I step back, my gaze sweeping over the contents in the room.

“Mrs. Delacroix,” I say, the giddiness I was feeling before returning twice as strong. “I reckon I’m overdue for a big romantic gesture. What do you think?”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” she says with a cackle.

I couldn’t agree more.

CHAPTER 20

Zahir

“Areyou ever going to tell me where we’re going?” I grumble, even though there’s no bite in my words. I can tell Colt knows this by how he grins at me.

“Are you ever going to understand the concept of asurprise?Be chill. We’re basically there now.”

He pulls his car into an industrial complex I’m not sure I’ve been to before, which is unusual considering how work has pulled me all over town throughout the years.

It looks like one of those areas that used to be factories and warehouses but got shut down during one of the recessions in the eighties or nineties. It appears the space in is the process of being split up and sold off to be repurposed. As we drive down the central road, I see an accounting firm, a T-shirt printing business, a nail salon, and a pet grooming parlor.

I wonder if he’s brought me here to tell me he’s setting up his own practice to put some distance between him and his father. That’s probably selfish of me, but he seems so excited, I feel like this has to be something kind of big for it to make him so jubilant. It’s a shame that I think getting out from under his parents’ control would make him happy, but I don’t think there’sany point in sugarcoating it, especially if I’m just thinking it to myself.

In any case, I’m not going to say anything one way or the other until I know where our destination is. We could be going to an escape room or laser tag or one of those places that you get into giant inflatable balls and run around. I have no idea what’s on the other side of this complex. There could be open fields or forestland or a damn quarry for all I know.

It strikes me that I don’t get many surprises in my life, and I’m nervous. Colt leaving me like he did at a formative age left me feeling insecure about a lot of things. It seemed at the time like he was the only person in the world who really knew me. So no wonder I’ve spent most of my life avoiding situations that would make me anxious. The station therapist we all check in with regularly was pleased when I pieced that together on my own a couple of years ago.

Knowing this about myself hasn’t stopped me from rejecting change and being resistant to the unpredictable. My job has enough surprises every day, but my training and experience makes me feel prepared for that. In my everyday life though…yeah, no wonder I never wanted to go speed dating when Yara tried to set me up or join in with Sawyer and Anton’s spontaneous plans. In my defense, sometimes those plans have later involved bailing Sawyer out of jail, so I stand by my reluctance there.

Right now, I don’t want that old baggage clouding an experience that Colt is clearly enthusiastic about. He’s been playfully secretive about something for the last couple of weeks, and I assume this is the culmination of that effort. I don’t want my apprehension to make me come across as ungrateful.

Because what have I been reminding myself of over these past several weeks? That I trust Colt. He’s given me his heart again and I have to let him have mine if this relationship is evergoing to have a chance at growing into something bigger and long-term.

So yes, I trust him. I know he’s not tricking me right now. Wherever we’re going and whatever we’re doing, he thinks it’s something I’ll enjoy. Even if he’s missed the mark, it’ll be the thought that counts.

It’s taken me a hot minute to get used to the idea that Colt thinks about me as much as I think about him. I’m having to re-write all my old assumptions in my head. They’ve been there a decade and a half, so switching off the knee-jerk reactions is going to take time. But Colt cares about me a lot. I know this from all the big and little things he does for me.

So while I might not be able to completely sweep away my nerves, I can at least keep a lid on them. I’ll soon know what’s going on, then hopefully I can relax.

Finally, Colt swings into one of the parking lots and kills the engine. He turns and looks at me, practically vibrating. “Ready?”

“Ready if you are,” I tell him sincerely.

He unbuckles and hops out the car, running around to open my door before I get the chance. Once he’s locked his car, he grabs my hand and tugs me toward the front door of the rather gray building we’re apparently going inside.

As he punches in a security code he double-checks on his phone, I see a sign that reads ‘Monarch Studios.’ For a brief moment as I follow him inside, I wonder if it’s a photography studio and he wants to prove his commitment by doing a couple’s photoshoot. Then I wonder if it’s a recording studio and he wants me to sing.

Then I realize how ridiculous both those ideas are and shake my head as we go up a flight of stairs. Maybe it’s a dance studio and he wants us to learn something together. That might actually be quite romantic, but surely he’d have told me to wear comfortable clothes if that was the case, and he didn’t.

I’m so preoccupied by my thoughts that I almost bump into him when he stops. He’s holding up a key and for the first time since he picked me up, he looks a little nervous. “Um, this is for you. It’s yours. But if you don’t like it, we can change it up or get rid of it or…” He huffs and shakes his head. “Sorry. I steamrollered into this and now I’m scared it was a terrible idea.”

My heart melts and I step closer to gently kiss his lips. “I’m sure whatever it is, it will be wonderful because it’s from you.”

He lets out a tiny, relieved whimper and nudges his nose against mine. “Okay,” he says breathlessly. “I suppose I should just open the door and let you see, huh?”

“Sure,” I tell him, rubbing the side of his arm to give him some reassurance. His nerves tell me he’s put a lot of thought into whatever’s waiting on the other side of the door. The fact that he cares so much is all that really matters to me.

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