Page 12 of Merrily Ever After
“I don’t know. Somewhere sunny. The Canaries.”
“The Canaries?”
“Uh-huh.” My mind whizzes with the possibility. “We’ll get a cheap last-minute deal. Spend a few days by the pool. It will be great.”
“Great,” she repeats. “Sure.”
I pause, confused by her flat tone. “You don’t like the Canaries?”
“Oh, I love the Canaries,” she mutters.
“Then why—”
“Because I’m not being serious!” She laughs a little. It’s not a nice one. “I have work, Oliver. I can’t just take off on a whim like you do. Can’t just quit my job whenever I get bored. I have patients and actual responsibilities and—” She breaks off, staring at me as though suddenly hearing herself. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“It’s okay,” I say, even though the discomfort is back.
“It’s not. I’m just projecting. You’re being nice and I’m—”
“Tired.”
She shakes her head, rubbing the space between her eyes. “I don’t think that about you. I never have. I admire you.”
“Lara—”
“I do,” she insists. “I wish I could be like you. I wish I didn’t care what people think about me or worry about all the things that could go wrong. I wish I could live my life like you do. Like I deserve to have the best version of it. But every time I try, it’s like …” She trails off, looking lost. “You make it look so easy,” she finishes, and one of the burning logs pops and crackles in the ensuing silence.
“I care what some people think of me,” I say eventually, and her eyes seem impossibly dark in the warm light. I turn back to the front, and a full minute passes before she speaks again.
“I’d love to go on holiday with you,” she says, and when I glance over, she looks calmer than she did before.
My mood picks up. “Yeah?”
“In a few months,” she warns at my eagerness, and scoots down on the couch until she’s lying flat. “I need plenty of notice and I definitely need to wait a while. I’ve already taken too much time off with Mum.”
“Sounds less fun your way, but I’ll try.”
She snorts and draws the blanket up to her chin. “A pool would be nice, though.”
“All inclusive cocktails.”
“They water those down.”
“Which means you can have more.”
She snuggles in the pillow, her expression turning drowsy. “That’s true,” she murmurs, sticking out her hand. “Thanks for staying.”
“Any time,” I say as her eyes drift shut. I reach for her fingers and squeeze gently. “Any time.”
Chapter Five
I am deliciously warm when I wake. Deliciously warm and exceptionally comfortable, which is odd considering that no matter how many blankets Lara gave me, a floor is still a floor and I don’t remember being so …
My eyes snap open as something soft presses against me and I see nothing but a tangle of black curls. A tuft of it is practically in my mouth, and I slowly crane my neck, trying not to move.
At some point during the last few hours Lara came down from the couch to me. I don’t know why or how, but I’m going to guess she didn’t fall because, despite being a deep sleeper, that definitely would have woken me and she doesn’t seem concussed or annoyed in any way. She’s tucked up against me, cocooned in a blanket and sleeping soundly.
It is not an unwelcome development. But it is a fragile one.
