Page 89 of Cut up
I freeze. “Too much?”
She shakes her head, biting her lip. “No. Not too much. Just… not here. Not the first time I meet your family. Your mum’s literally making dinner in the other room.”
I blink, then laugh, because—yeah. She’s right. What the hell was I thinking?
“Shit. You’re right. I got a little carried away.”
She smiles up at me, cheeks flushed. “You’re not the only one.”
I brush her hair behind her ear and drop a kiss to her lips. “Okay.Tour it is.”
I adjust myself in my pants before I unlock the door and lace my fingers through hers.
We walk the hallway slowly, her fingers warm in mine. I show her the living room, the sunroom with the good light, the timber floors I updated last summer with Patrick.
She listens to every word, asks questions, smiles at little things, even the photo of Patrick in year ten with the worst mullet known to man.
When we get to the height wall, I stop.
“This,” I say, pointing to the faint pencil marks on the frame, “was sacred ground.”
She leans in, inspecting them. “Lucas, Patrick… Nicole. You were the tallest?”
“Was. Patrick had a small growth spurt by the time we stopped measuring ourselves.” I admit.
Her gaze lands on a messier scrawl, a faded mark higher than the rest.
Dad.
She runs a finger gently over it.
“You miss him,” she says softly.
“Every day.” I swallow hard, blinking back the heat in my eyes. “I reckon he would have liked you.”
“Yeah?” She smiles.
“Yeah. You’re strong, smart, and you don’t pretend to be anything you’re not. He respected that kind of thing. You would have had him wrapped around your little finger.”
She smiles, soft and a little sad. “I’m sorry I never got to meet him.”
I tug her in gently, kiss her temple. “Me too.”
We finish the tour and loop back toward the kitchen, where Mum andNicole’s voices float down the hall, and I feel… settled.
She fits here.
She fitswithme.
And I think that maybe she’s ready to do this with me.
But I’ll wait as long as she needs.
She’s worth it.
Mum’s standing by the kitchen counter, her hands busy. She looks up as we walk in.
“So, what’d ya think?” She says, eyes sparkling.
