Page 49 of Tell Me You Love Me

“Maybe.” Done with my shoes, I push up to stand and take a moment to find my balance, now that I’m three inches taller than usual. Finally, I stride to the dressing table and position the baby monitor I never got rid of, just in case. I point it straight toward the bed and pray that in just a couple of hours, I’ll check in and find him sound asleep. “You can stay in my bed, and you can even lie right there in the middle. When I get back, I’ll scoot you over and snuggle in. Oh, and Colin said that he was planning to call tonight. So you should grab your chess board and get ready.”

“Okay.” Uninterested now that he’s reading, he rests his book on his knees and writes notes in the margins. “I think Doctor Pepper was the killer in this one. But Officer Lockemup isn’t very good at his job.”

“You’ll solve the crime like you always do.” I cross the room and press a kiss on his forehead. “I love you so much, Franky. More than anything else on the planet.”

“I know.” His lips curl into a sweet smile that ends with deep dimples pulling at his cheeks. “You say it all the time.”

“And I mean it all the time.” I brush my fingers through his hair and pull him back, forcing him to meet my eyes. “Like I mean it when I say you need to try to sleep while I’m gone. Grandma Bitsy is in her room watching her shows, but the door is open, and you can visit with her anytime. She said you could.”

“Do I have to?”

I choke down a laugh and peek across at the door. Then I look back to Franky and wrinkle my nose. “No, you don’t have to. You spent most of today with her. Did you like that?”

“Mmhm. I like it when we hang out, just the two of us.” But then he scowls. “I don’t like when she takes me to see all her friends because then it’s loud and she’s pushy and tries to make me hug that other old lady.”

“Sadly, that’s how these people are. They think they have to compete with each other, even thoughrealfriends are happy for each other’s successes. And back when I was younger, kids were expected to do as they were told. Like,allthe time. That included hugging people we didn’t want to hug or visiting people we didn’t want to visit. Grandma and her friends think I’m crazy for not following those same rules.”

“You don’t make me hug people. You don’t even make me hug you.”

“Exactly. Because kids are only kids for a short amount of time. I’d rather teach you that sayingnois okay now and not make it a lesson you have to heal from as an adult. That’s considered hokey parenting to some people. But do you know whatyou’vetaught me?”

“Me?”

“Mmhm.” I tap his nose and earn a cute smile. “You taught me that it’s okay to not care about what other people think. In fact—” I straighten and head back to the dresser drawers. “What they think is none of my business. I only care that you’re happy and safe.”

Behind me, he lowers his book and meets my eyes in the mirror. “If that were true, then I think I would be most happy and safe if you stayed home tonight.”

I snort. “Nice try. Go get Grandma’s iPad so you have it near you. Then I’m walking out the door. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back.”

“Fine.” He very carefully, very thoughtfully, places his pen between book pages and sets the book on the bed, then jumps to the floor and dashes out the door. His shoulder bounces off the doorframe as he passes, a solid thump that elicits a grunt of pain from him and a hiss of sympathy from me. “I’m okay!” He darts down the stairs. “I’m alright!”

“You’d hurt yourself less if you slowed down.”

“The sooner you go, the sooner you come back!”

ROUND SIXTEEN

TOMMY

“This is Rebekah.” Oliver drops a blonde in front of me, the way a cat presents a dead mouse at its owner’s feet. While music pounds in the air, the jukebox inside Darlene’s is rich with quarters, and the tracks are lined up for hours, he wraps his arm around adifferentblonde and beams.

Look what I did, Tommy! I caught you a juicy fish.

Rebekah and the other one look similar enough to be sisters, maybe. Cousins, perhaps. But they’re definitely not from around here.

“Rebekah, that’s Tommy. He’s recently suffered heartbreak and could do with a little soothin’.”

“Hi, Tommy.” She’s small in the waist and large in the chest. And when she offers her hand, taking mine and smiling up with big ol’ baby blues, I know Oliver’s game. He didn’t go fishing for justanychick. He tried for a lookalike. Like blonde and blue will do—it doesn’t matter whose brain or personality they’re attached to. “I’m so sorry to hear about your breakup.”

“He’s exaggerating.” I shake her hand and take mine back just as soon as she releases me. “A girl I dated in high school is back in town, and Oliver likes to create drama where there is none.” I look down at the almost empty glass in her hand. “You want a new drink?”

“Oh, sure.” She beams, pleased with my offer, but her smile falls into a pout when I spin away and head to the bar. Without her.

“Hey, Tommy.” Caroline slaps a napkin by my arm and glances over my shoulder. “I see you and Ollie have been shopping from the kiddie section.”

“Just him,” I chuckle, nodding in thanks when she grabs a glass and begins pouring. “And she already had a drink in her hand. You card her when she ordered?”

“Yes.” She burns me with a side-eye. “Of course I did.”

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