Page 20 of The Heart of a Capricorn
I felt her body stiffen when I asked the question. I stopped rubbing her back. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
Her chest rose as she inhaled, then blew the breath out. Her warm breath tickled my chest. I squeezed her body to mine to give her the encouragement she needed to talk about it, if that was what she wanted to do.
I looked down at her, and she had her eyes closed, but I didn’t miss the tear that slipped out. I wiped it with my thumb and put my hand back on her back.
“He died. We weren’t together when it happened, but still. It was the worst day of my life when I got that call.”
Damn. I didn’t know what to say. We lay in silence for a minute. I had to process what she said and find a way to move past this subject.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I rubbed her back again.
I heard her sniffle, and felt the wetness on my chest, but I didn’t make a big deal out of it. It wasn’t a lot, but I knew she dropped a few tears. It was understandable, and it didn’t bother me that she cried over someone else.
She lifted her head and looked at me. I wiped her face with my hand and leaned forward to kiss her nose. “I’m sorry I brought that up.”
We were having a good time, and I hoped that I didn’t ruin it by asking that question.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
“Still. Do you have any plans to do anything while you are here?”
She put her head back down and sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I told my team to have fun; meanwhile, I only planned to work the whole time. That’s usually what I did whenever we went out of town for projects, work, and more work. It was the same way at home too.”
I wasn’t surprised by her always working, especially after she shared what happened with her ex. I was sure she probably did it not to think about him as much. She was also like that in college. Lyric wouldn’t be at the parties that often, or for that long, because she was always working.
“I hope you find time to do something for Lyric. You deserve some time,” I encouraged.
“This is playtime enough for me,” she said as she traced her finger over my chest tattoo. She slid her finger under my dog tag and read it out loud. “Our faith can move mountains. What made you get that?”
The bible verse from Proverbs 31:28.
“I got that because it was one of the first bible verses I learned as a child. My grandmother was a firm believer in faith, and her faith was tested when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She would recite that verse every day, and it proved to be true. She went through chemo and went into remission. It has been three years since that diagnosis, and as of right now, she’s cancer-free. I pray every day that it stays that way, and this verse reminds me of that time, and to always have faith.”
“Wow, that’s sweet. I’m glad everything worked out for her. I lost both of my grandmothers. One was almost a hundred years old, and the other was in her late eighties. My grandma Laura passed down her love of crossword puzzles to me. It’s something I do in my downtime. It helps quiet the thousands of thoughts in my head. I always feel like I have to be doing something.”
“I can only imagine. I remembered in college how you would talk about eight different things in a matter of twenty seconds, and it would make my head spin.” I laughed as she lifted her head and hit my chest.
“I’m not that bad.” She giggled.
I held my thumb and index fingers close together. “A little, but that’s what makes you the unique person you are.”
Lyric’s brain reminded me of multiple open tabs on a computer. I didn’t know how she functioned so effortlessly with all the things that ran through her mind at any given time. It had to be some type of gift to be able to do that.
Lyric squinted her eyes. “Is that your unique way of calling me crazy?”
“No.” I chuckled. “Not crazy at all, just different,” I teased.
Lyric sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes. “Same thing.” She put her head down on my chest again and played with my dog tag. “Thank you for this. You’ve really giving me the chance to slow my thoughts down.”
I kissed her forehead. “I’m glad I could be of some service.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I would give her that chance whenever she needed it. I didn’t know how she would react, but I could blow my chance with her again.
“What if I told you I want to spend time with you outside of here? Like, once we get back to Spring Oaks.”
She stiffened again. I felt like I said something wrong, but I had to put that out there.
