The One I Trust by L.N. Cronk Read Free Book Online Page B

right into her eyes and then he asks her if she needs anything.
    “Sometimes she’s worried about something or just has a question and he explains things to her until she feels better. Sometimes she wants him to sing a song with her and he sits there and sings with her. Sometimes she just wants to pet his face or kiss him. Whatever she wants, he makes sure she has it. Usually it doesn’t take long, but sometimes he’s there like ten or fifteen minutes. And I have the feeling that if she needed him for two hours he’d sit right there until she was okay with him leaving.”
    I looked at her and she went on.
    “I’ve just never seen a parent interact with their child the way he does with her,” she said, shrugging. “I think that says a lot about him.”
    I nodded and had to agree: Hale had the best heart of anybody I knew.
    “And so based on Hale’s recommendation,” I clarified, “you’re just going to hang around with me no matter what?”
    “No. Not no matter what.”
    I looked at her.
    “I just broke up with Ethan,” she reminded me. “I’m not really in a big hurry to be in another serious relationship. I mean, if things work out between you and me, that’s great, but if they don’t . . .”
    She shrugged slightly.
    “If they don’t work out,” she finished, “then I’ll leave.”
    I searched her eyes for a long moment.
    “I don’t want you to leave,” I finally said quietly.
    She looked back at me and answered simply, “Then give me a reason to stay.”
    I moved closer and kissed her. I felt the warmth of her lips and I felt them part beneath mine and I felt something that I hadn’t felt in years.
    It didn’t matter that there were people milling around us. When I pulled away from her, I looked into her eyes again and said, “When I’m with you, I feel better.”
    She gave me a small smile and reached up to touch my cheek with the back of her hand.
    “I’m glad,” she said.
    I almost smiled back.
    That evening, after Molly was in bed, Anneka asked if anyone wanted to get in the hot tub. Soon all four of us were out on the deck with the French doors open a crack so that we could hear Molly if she called out.
    Hale and Anneka stayed out there with us for a grand total of about ten minutes before they both commented on how tired they were and how they were going to go to bed.
    It was nine thirty.
    I rolled my eyes at Emily as they got out of the hot tub and she covered her mouth to hide a silent giggle.
    After they were gone I looked at her again. Now things were awkward.
    It wasn’t that I minded being alone with her, but we were in our bathing suits and she was on one side of the hot tub and I was on the other and was I supposed to just fling myself over there and demand a second kiss? I actually wouldn’t have minded a second kiss at all, but awkward kisses have been known to ruin things and I really didn’t want to ruin things right now.
    “What’s that?” Emily asked, pointing to my wrist.
    I held out my arm so she could see in the dim light. On my wrist was a tattoo: NOAH.
    “Oh,” she said softly. “That’s really nice.”
    “I told you I remember him all the time,” I said, giving her a little smile.
    “I can’t believe I never noticed that before.”
    “I usually have a watch on,” I explained.
    She thought about that for a moment.
    “Why do you keep it covered up?” she asked.
    “I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “I guess I don’t really want people asking me about it all the time.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry.”
    “No, I don’t mean it like that. I mean, I guess it’s just kind of private, you know?”
    “I’m sorry,” she said again.
    “My watch is waterproof. If I didn’t want you to see it, I would have kept it on.”
    She gave me a little smile and I smiled back.
    We sat and talked for a long time. I learned that she was going to be doing her student teaching in Garner. We talked about how she was going to be with a class of fifth graders