Page 86 of Play of Love
“I’ll pay you back.”
“Jesus, no, you’ll do no such thing.” He smiled. “Come here.” He pulled me into his arms and held me. “I told you I’d take care of you. Here’s me trying.”
I buried my face into his chest and savored the safety I always felt.
He’d always referred to me as an angel, when all this time it was him.
He was the angel.
* * *
Josh
* * *
The journey to Atlanta was draining and lengthy. We left first thing in the morning and got to the hospital just before midday.
I did my best to keep Amy calm, but it was difficult. I knew I’d be a wreck, too, if it were me.
Her mother was still in surgery when we arrived so we waited in the waiting room with Amy’s brother and his wife. Both of whom thanked me endlessly for my help.
Amy fell asleep in my arms. She didn’t sleep last night from the worry. I hated seeing her look so frail and drained.
It was nothing for me to help, and honestly, I would have offered to do anything she needed when she first told me about her mother’s condition. I only hadn’t insisted because she said she had everything under control. I also didn’t want her to feel obligated to me in any way.
Tonight was a necessity, but I still wished I could do more. I wanted to make Amy feel better.
She’d looked so happy when she came back from the showcase last night, and she was practically glowing when we were reciting the poem. I’d never thought I’d see the day when I, Joshua Mancini, would be reciting poetry to a woman.
What woman could make me crazy enough to do that?
I looked down at her dainty figure, crumpled against me for support.
This woman had changed me so much. We hadn’t been together long, but I didn’t believe in putting a label on something because time qualified it. I’d always been a man of feeling. Someone who spoke my mind and called it what it was when I saw it.
She meant something to me, everything. Time didn’t have to tell me that. It was something that hit me like wild fire.
It did scare me, though, because I couldn’t control it.
I liked to be in control, I liked to have a say. But emotion and feelings were different. The only say you had when it came to that was with your own, my own.
She stirred against me and opened her eyes. I rubbed her arm and continued to hold her. She’d cried so much that her eyes were red. And she’d started to cry again.
“Hey, there.” I stroked her head. “It’ll be okay.”
“I’m so scared.”
“Don’t be, baby. I’m here.”
“Thank you so much for everything.”
“Anything for you, beautiful Amy.” I kissed her forehead. “Anything.”
“Thank you.”
Her hands shook so I took them into mine and thought I’d distract her a little with something easier to talk about. “So, I guess this confirms you really aren’t from Kansas.”
She looked up at me and offered a weak smile. “Nope, here we are in Atlanta. Our family home isn’t too far from here.”
