Page 39 of Don't Leave Me
“What is happening?” The question was mostly for myself.
Marc stood then. “Hi.”
“Explain please,” I said, a bit tersely.
For over a year my life had order and routine. And yes, part of the order and routine included being sad and scared. Missing George, missing Marc. Hating that he was in prison with only George to visit him. Scared my cover wasn’t good enough. That I’d left some trail behind for Evan to find.
Now, it was like everything had been flipped. Marc was here, Evan was dead, and my orderly existence of loving Daniel, grieving my family and always looking over my shoulder had morphed into this.
“I rented this place. Convenient, right?”
“You rented. This house?” I looked at the bungalow not too dissimilar to mine.
“Yeah, it’s furnished, and my lease is month to month.”
“So you can leave whenever you want,” I pointed out.
“So I can stay for as long as I want,” he countered. “In fact, I told George about it and he’s already put the cabin up for sale. Once he gets things settled up there, he’ll come down and live with me.”
I bit my bottom lip. “You two are going to live around the corner from me?”
“Yes. How does that make you feel?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Scared, I’m sure. But this is the only way I’m going to get to know Daniel.”
I looked at him, and, for a second, got distracted by his chest. It was broader than I remembered. His arms were thicker, too. “You’ve gotten bigger,” I blurted.
“Not much else to do in prison besides lift weights and get tattoos. And you know I’m—”
“Scared of needles,” I finished for him.
He smiled at that.
Back to what he’d said, though. “Are you saying you have to get to know Daniel before you decide you want to be in his life?”
Shit. I sounded shrill. I sounded defensive, too. This was too much. Things were moving too fast and I couldn’t keep up.
“Nope. I’ve only spent a little time with him, but I know I like him. He laughs when I make silly faces.”
“Since when do you make silly faces, Marc?” I charged.
“Since I found out they make my kid laugh,” he retorted.
His kid.
He moved closer to me and took my hand. Just holding it. I looked down and thought his fingers didn’t seem exactly straight.
“Don’t be scared, Ash.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes. “It’s too much.”
“No, it’s not enough. But we’ll get there.”
“Where, Marc?”
He smiled. “To the place we were always meant to go. We’re just going about it in a highly unique way.”
