Page 40 of Holding Grace
“Whatever makes you happy. Ready for lights out?”
Michael nodded and I hit the button on the remote, extinguishing the light.
“Good night, Michael.”
“Night, Grace.”
I lay in the darkness, inhaling and exhaling carefully, not wanting to breathe too loudly or too quickly, listening for any tiny sound Michael made as I did so. I willed myself to relax, listening to the cracks and creaks of the building around me, knowing that if Michael wasn’t there, I’d be up checking doors, windows, and closets for the first of probably a dozen times over the course of the night.
With Michael there, I wasn’t worried about it.
I turned over, settled for about a minute, then shifted onto my back. The minutes went by as I changed position again, settled, then flipped over one more time.
Michael’s voice came out of the darkness. “Having trouble getting comfortable?”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually so restless. I didn’t mean to keep you awake.”
“You’re not. And don’t apologize. My mind is still going, too.”
Maybe, but... “I’ll try to be quieter.”
“Since we’re both awake can I ask you a question?”
Hmm. Okay. “Of course.”
“I’ve been wondering...when I found you, how did Travis know my name?”
Oh. That.
I thought back to the day Michael had seen me at the diner, when he’d come with me to my apartment to talk. Travis had seen us together and called him by name. Michael hadn’t said anything about it then and I’d forgotten about it since.
I guess it had been wishful thinking to hope that Michael had forgotten about it, too.
“That bad, huh?”
Michael’s voice snapped me back to the moment. What could I tell him? The truth?
“It’s not bad. I hope not, anyway. It’s just embarrassing.”
“Okay.” He sounded curious and a touch wary.
“It’s” – I let out a breath – “Travis isn’t a bad guy, as least as far as I could tell. Now that he covered for me, I believe that even more. It’s just that he kept hitting on me, even after I tried to politely turn him down. I didn’t want to be rude or make him mad, not when he knew where I lived and knew my schedule.”
“Did you feel like he might be a threat to you?”
I had the feeling if I said yes Michael would get up, get dressed, and drive four hours to show Travis the error of his ways, whether Travis had just lied to protect me or not.
“No, it just seemed smart to be careful. When he kept hitting on me, I told him I had a boyfriend, and when he asked me his name, I said ‘Michael’. I didn’t plan it, it just popped out. So, I went with it. I felt a little guilty, but I didn’t think I’d ever see you again and it helped to have a real person to talk about when Travis asked questions. Does that make sense?”
“It does,” Michael responded slowly.
“I’m sorry I did it. There didn’t seem to be any harm to it at the time, but...”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m honored you chose me to be your imaginary boyfriend. If it made you safer, or even just made you feel safer, even better.”
“It did. Thanks for not being mad.”
“Hey, a pretty girl wants to go around telling people she’s giving me the time of day I see nothing to be mad about.”