“I’m glad you’re home, Little Lamb.”
Home. Even without my mom here, being with Austin does make this feel like home. I just hope I’ll be able to fight through the feelings building deep within me when the time comes.
Chapter 11
Lea
I pull up in front of Austin’s house and look up through my windshield, smiling at the deck, where I can see Austin standing, looking down at me, waiting.
Today had been a really good day. After Austin left, I started going through some of my mom’s stuff that she hadn’t had a chance to go through before she was too sick to do it herself. I hated watching her getting rid of stuff while she was alive, asking what I wanted to have and what she could give to Goodwill, but now that she’s gone, I know she did it for me, so I wasn’t left sifting through memories alone.
After I went through some boxes of pictures and paperwork, I went to the bank and set up the paperwork for my loan. When I walked into the bank, I was surprised to see Shelby. We were friends in high school, but like everyone else from my past, I had lost contact with her. Surprisingly, she wasn’t mad, and even seemed to understand why I left.
She too had just come back into town after being gone since before graduation. I knew that she left shortly after her and her high school boyfriend Zach, who is now the sheriff, gave their baby up for adoption. I didn’t know much about her story, though I could still see pain in her eyes when she spoke about moving back. Then she brought out pictures of her son, who had just turned seven, and her pain transformed into something completely different, something I knew only a parent could understand, like whatever she was feeling was worth it, because she had her child with her.
“You gonna sit out here all night, or are you gonna come inside?” Austin asks, scaring me as he opens my door. I was so caught up in thinking about today that I didn’t even realize he had come down the stairs.
“I’m coming inside.” He brushes his mouth over mine then presses the button for my seatbelt, unlocking it, then pulls me out with him, slamming the door.
“Do you have a bag in the trunk?”
I shake my head no and then show him my purse. “I have panties and a toothbrush. I figured I could wear one of your shirts to bed.”
“Or nothing.” He smirks, making my insides flutter, and a blush creep across my cheeks and down my neck.
Clearing my throat, I step away from him, open the back door, and lean inside, pulling out the bags I did bring.
“What’s this?” he asks.
“I figured you didn’t have anything here to cook, so I stopped off at the store and got some basics, and I also picked up stuff to make you dinner.”
“You’re gonna cook for me?”
“Well, I’m going to put a premade lasagna in the oven, open a bag of salad, and cut up some French bread.” I shrug.
“Smart ass.” He slaps my ass.
“I didn’t think you’d have any stuff to cook with here.”
“I have one pan and a coffeemaker.”
“I knew it.” I smile as he takes the bags from me and I follow behind him inside.
“Do you want a glass of wine?”
“Yes, please.” I slip off my coat, laying it on the end of the large island, and walk around, taking the stuff out of the bags he brought up for me. Once I have the lasagna unpacked, I turn on the stove and place it in the oven.
“I have something for you outside.”
“You have something for me?” I ask, but instead of explaining, he just takes my hand and leads me to the deck, where there is a large telescope set up with a red bow on it.
“This is the perfect place for you to use it.” His hand tugs mine, but my feet are frozen to the ground below. This is something I had dreamt of, a wish I shared with him, something I never, ever believed I would have, and yet, here I am, in the house I fell in love with when I was a little girl, with the man who holds my heart, and he’s giving me a piece of a dream I never believed would come true.
“You got me a telescope?” I whisper, looking from the equipment to Austin.
“I did.”
“You remembered.” I close my eyes briefly, overwhelmed with emotion.
When I open them again, his eyes go soft and he takes a step toward me, touching my cheek. “I remember everything, Lea, every conversation, every touch, every kiss, every single thing about you, about us. I remember it all.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask him what happened, why he didn’t come after me, why he let me go, but I can’t. I don’t want to ruin the moment, so instead, I step toward him and wrap my arms around his waist, laying my head on his chest and say a quiet, “Thank you.”
He grunts, making me smile, and I pull back, looking at the telescope then the sky, which is just turning dusky. “I wish it was really dark.”
“In a few months, you’ll have hours of darkness to sit outside under the stars,” he tells me.
“True, but I’m still going to use it tonight,” I say as I get up on my tiptoes and kiss him, and he smiles against my mouth.
“Mom and Dad are coming this weekend. They’re driving a bunch of furniture down from Anchorage for me,” Austin says as I snuggle in his lap on one of the deck loungers, where we came out to sit after we ate dinner standing in the kitchen.
“That’s nice.” I hug my sweater closer around while looking out at the ocean, watching as the sun sets on the horizon.