Addie wrapped her arms around him again. She held him, his back to her, as he stood stiffly near her. When she turned him around forcefully, he pushed her away from him, but she wasn’t having it. Taking his body to hers, she told him to hold her.
“I’m not going to be able to be a good person for long. This has been the longest that I’ve gone without needing to have some help. I go for a while and do okay, but I have depression so bad sometimes that I want to join my sister.” Addie lifted her head from his chest and looked at him. “You might be better off leaving me here. I’m damaged goods. I should never have fallen in love with you.”
“I see. And I get no say in this? Because I have to tell you, you’re a fucking idiot is what you are.” He looked at her then, really looked at her. “You think that after hearing that story that I want to just go, leave you here? Well, of course you do. I would bet that most of your life that’s what you have had happen to you. Get over it. I’m not leaving you.”
“What if I hurt you?” Addie asked him why he thought he’d do that now. “Didn’t you just hear me? Weren’t you listening to what I said to you?”
“I heard you. And I’m so very sorry that it happened to you, more than I could ever say, but you’re stronger now than you were then. And I don’t mean physically. You’re a better…you’re not even related to him. How do you…do you think you’ll turn out like him?”
“No. That’s not what I meant. I meant…I meant….” She asked him what he meant. “What if I decide that I can’t take this anymore and kill myself? What if I decided to take drugs and become like—?”
Addie slapped him across the face. He stared at her with his hand over the place she’d hit him. “Stop that right now. What if you do all sorts of things that you shouldn’t? I do them all the time, and that doesn’t mean that I’m going to kill myself over them. I might hurt me being stupid, but not because I tried to kill myself. You won’t either. Do you think that I’m not going to be here for you? Be someone that you can talk to? And if you were going to be a drug addict, I’m pretty sure you would have done it before now.”
“You hit me.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she glared at him. “You actually just hit me. I can’t believe you hit me.”
“Why not? I mean, when you’re going to act like a baby, then I’m going to have to treat you like one.” Addie pulled his hand from his cheek. “It’s not even red. Stop being a whiny puss.”
Nick pulled her to him; his body was shaking, and it took her a few seconds to realize that he was laughing. When he dropped her on the bed, she bounced twice before he grabbed her ankle. But before he could do anything else, someone knocked at the door. Nick bellowed for them to go away, he was busy.
“Addie’s grandmother is here. She really wants to see her.” Kari giggled before continuing. “I would also like to suggest that you dress nicely before coming down. She’s a very prim and proper looking kind of woman.”
Addie nearly knocked Nick back to find something to put on. Her shirt was inside out and one of her socks was missing. Instead of wasting time looking for it, she left one on and one off and headed to the door. Nick grabbed her arm and held her until she looked at him.
“Marry me.” Addie stared at him. “Marry me and make me the luckiest man in the world. Please. I love you.”
“Yes.” Giggling like a kid at Christmas, she kissed him on the mouth and opened the door. “Hurry. I want you to meet my best friend and ally. You’ll love her.”
~~~
Evie was sort of nervous. It had taken them a little longer to get here than she’d thought, but that was because she’d been so nervous that she’d had Bentley take a few side trips and had delayed them on purpose. They knew that they weren’t being followed, but there was no point in taking chances this late in the game. She loved her granddaughter more than anything, but it had been a long time since she’d seen her too. But the moment she came into the room, Evie burst into tears and knew that she was just being silly.
“Oh, Grandma.” Addie ran to her, wrapping her up in her arms until Evie could hardly breathe. But it was fine…she was fine, and she sobbed right along with her. Her little Addie was with her now.
Neither of them finished a sentence. She told her that she loved…and Addie told her that she missed…. Each of them knew what the other meant, but to others she was sure it was gibberish.
Bentley was hugged too, his big body bent double to hold Addie to him, and the tears fell from his eyes. He handed her the tin of scones that he’d made for her. Told her that she was gorgeous and held her again like she was his own child come home. In a way Evie supposed she was. Addie had been the world to them both since she’d been born.