Page 29 of Forever Fallen

That was a tremendous mistake, and she couldn’t have been more wrong!

It was Thursday so she wanted to turn in a copy of her hard-won marriage license at the small government building just off the town square.

The official facility was a little bit of everything rolled into one. The Department of Motor vehicles was in one office, the water department was in another office, the judicial courthouse was in another office… and that is where she was headed.

Walking in, she took a number and sat down – only to be waved forward immediately. Ten minutes later, Sophie was back in her car, feeling sucker-punched.

Ryan was going to flip his lid.

CHAPTER11

REAPER

“Was Sophie okay…Snookems?”Armadillo grinned.

“Reaper,” Ryan corrected, glaring at the man who had been teasing him all day. He’d been watching the clock, distracted, and kept checking his phone for text messages because he was worried about Sophie – with good reason. “Because you obviously have a death wish.”

“It’s cute. Y’all are cute together… and I’m happy for you buddy. You two are weird, running hot and cold apparently, ‘cause Sophie looked mad this morning. All that garbage about you wanting steak and potatoes for dinner,” Armadillo chuckled and shrugged.

“You two are odd, but you actually seem to work – and Reaper? You probably should have been at the funeral home with Sophie this morning. If I had known…”

“She didn’t want anyone to see her crying again,” Ryan said evasively, feeling incredibly guilty. “I told her I was coming with her, and she insisted I come here instead.”

“Ahhh… she’s the self-sacrificing type. No wonder y’all get along. You are just alike.” Armadillo smiled knowingly. “Take care of her for once. Why don’t you beat her home, have a nice bath waiting for her with some smelly candles or how aboutyoumakeherdinner instead?”

“That’s not a half-bad idea…” Ryan said, looking up at his friend. “Thank you.”

“Of course. My sweet Delilah likes it when she’s had a rough day, that I take care of Luke and give her some time to unwind. Girls are different. It’s like they have to mentally unpack everything and justify it somehow – and if they can’t? They freak out because it bothers them to no end.”

“That’s definitely Sophie.”

“Bubble bath, glass of wine, candles… it’s a win-win. Trust me on this.”

* * *

Ryan hadArmadillo drop him off at the house – only to realize he didn’t have a key. Walking around the building, he jiggled the kitchen doorknob several times and the old door gave.

He’d noticed it was awfully loose yesterday when he’d taken out the trash, adding it to his mental note of things to do… but this actually worked in his favor this time.

“Sophie?” he called out, just in case she was home and had parked that awful Toyota egg-shaped car somewhere else.

Hearing silence, he opened the freezer and got out a package of meat, gathered a few items from the pantry, and set about to make dinner for her.

He noticed a small six-bottle wine rack that was functioning as a plant stand in the corner of the dining room – and selected a deep, dark red wine. Intending to take Armadillo’s advice, he looked around the house for candles.

It was strange, and he felt like some criminal casing the house, simply because this didn’t feel like home in the slightest…but it was getting there,he realized, glancing at the pink couch where he’d sat with Sophie and held her for a while.

He’d liked the way she felt in his arms.

Picking up a Yankee Candle off two separate dressers from two of the guest bedrooms. He grabbed a few wax tapers, and several dusty votives that were still wrapped in cellophane plastic, before taking the stairs, two at a time to set up the surprise.

Walking into the bathroom, Ryan got out a fresh towel and washcloth, drew back the curtain and cleaned the tub easily, before putting the candles in place around the room.

"Shoot..." he muttered. "Where am I going to find matches or a lighter?"

Ryan ran back down the stairs noisily, darting into the kitchen and jerking open several drawers before glancing at the clock on the wall to check the time.

He thought she would have been finished earlier in the day, but maybe it took much longer than he realized.

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