Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
So with lots of hugging and “I’ll check in tomorrow” and “Try to get some sleep” and “If you need anything, you know how to find me,” (with every single one of them, even the men, sending Harry speculative or grateful looks) her friends left.
Then came more hugging and murmured words, and Ronetta and George left, with George leaving behind the Macallan and Ronetta leaving behind her instructions to Harry about when to take out the mac and cheese.
Harry made sure Lillian had a full glass of wine, he grabbed what remained of his whisky, and he took them to the couch.
She cuddled close immediately.
Harry welcomed it and pulled her closer.
“It’s stupid,” she whispered into his neck.
“What’s stupid, baby?” he whispered into her hair.
“Me crying and carrying on. I knew it. I’ve known it for years. They would never have left me behind.”
“It’s still a shock,” he noted.
“I guess,” she mumbled. “But even if in the meantime I honed my talents with denial to a sharp edge, if I didn’t know it before, I would have known it when you first came to visit me.”
He gave her a gentle admonishing shake. “You’re allowed to react, now, sixteen years ago, sixteen years from now.”
She pulled her head off his shoulder and looked at him. “I love Amina and Saira and Momtaz and Bisma and Ayesha, but I need to watch something mindless tonight.”
She was talking about the characters in their show.
“We’ll find something,” he muttered.
“Do you mind staying with me?” she asked shyly.
Harry rounded her jaw with his hand and dipped close. “Honey, if you want me here, I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
Wet filled her eyes again, she sucked in an audible breath and said, “Thanks.”
“Are you gonna be able to eat mac and cheese?” he asked.
“Ronnie’s mac and cheese is the awesomest,” she told him something he could already tell by sight and smell. “But I’m not sure how my stomach would respond to something heavy.”
“Salad?”
She curled her lip.
He smiled at her. “Want me to make you a sandwich?”
“Are you going to let me get away with having wine for dinner?”
“No.”
Her lips turned down and she gave in. “So I’ll have a little mac and cheese and some salad.”
“All right, sweetheart.”
He reached for her remote.
She snuggled into his side.
He found a home improvement show, they settled in, and he got up when it was time to get the dish out of the oven. He made them both a plate. After they ate, Lillian insisted on helping him wash up.
This commenced them taking in two hours of watching people extol the virtues of shiplap and fight over the price of tile, during which Lillian fell dead asleep against him.
He let her sleep another half an hour before he clicked off the TV and lifted her again in his arms.
She roused on the way to her bedroom.
Ronetta had taken care of things in there too, with a light on one of the bedside tables giving a soft glow.
When he set Lillian on her feet beside her bed, she gazed around vaguely, and he asked quietly, “Where can I find some blankets for the couch?”
Her head tipped back, she reached out and took his hand.
“Please stay with me?” she requested.
He didn’t fight it, there was no purpose.
She wanted him there, that was where he’d be.
And incidentally, that was where he preferred to be.
“You get ready for bed first. I’ll shut down the house.”
She nodded.
Harry kissed her forehead then moved out of the room.
He heard her shuffling around as he checked windows, turned out lights and locked the door, at the same time he texted Rus.
Dogs good?
Fine, Rus replied. Then, Lillian hanging in there?
Yeah, Harry told him. Then, You’re a good friend, Rus.
You’d know, Rus returned.
Yeah, Rus was a good friend.
He went to the bedroom to retrieve his dopp kit and the pajama bottoms Rus packed and saw Lillian curled up in bed, her pretty green eyes to him.
She looked cute tucked up under her white quilt, her thick, amazing auburn hair stark against the white pillowcases.
Cute and vulnerable and sweet and expectant, a little scared, a lot sad.
And right then, his.
His.
On this thought, Harry felt something move inside him.
No, it was more like a shift.
And then it locked into place.
Sturdy, strong.
Immovable.
His.
“Be right back,” he said, his tone gruff.
Gratitude saturated her features, and what room it left, there was the slightest hint of peace.
In this time, the worst of her life, Harry being there gave her that hint of peace.
His.
Her head moved on her pillow with her nod.
He took his kit to the bathroom, did his thing and returned to Lillian.
She flicked back the covers.
He accepted the invitation, folding in beside her and reaching beyond her to turn out the light.
When the room was dark, he settled in, pulled the covers up high over them, then drew Lillian into his body. When he got her there, he tangled them up.