Page 62 of Up All Night

“I guess so.” Denver sounded dazed, eyes staying glassy even as the Honey family leader announced the business sale details would be worked out by the lawyers at a future date. The room started to empty, and Denver and Tammy accepted congratulations from various folks, but Denver was the far more stunned of the two.

“Yippee.” Tammy did a little dance toward the door. “Now I have to skedaddle. I’m expecting a phone call from my daughter.”

Denver’s face went uncharacteristically soft. “Go. I’m so happy for you.”

“And I’m happy for all of us.” Tammy wagged a finger in my direction. “Don’t let this one get away.”

“Hey, I’m trying my best.” I wasn’t sure whether she’d meant me or Denver, but I was grateful for the order either way. “And thank you for convincing him to offer for the place.”

“Oh, he convinced me.” Tammy cackled as she exited, leaving Denver and me to head toward the parking lot.

“Need a ride?” Denver gave me a knowing smile.

“Always.” I followed him to his truck, but Tammy’s words continued to echo in my ears. “Offering to buy the place was your idea?”

“It was.” Denver put the truck in Drive before continuing, voice emotional, “For the first time, I didn’t want to run away. I realized I didn’t want to leave, and as Tammy would say, I sat with that feeling a while.”

I swallowed hard. “I hate that I can’t take the pain of the past away for you.”

“But you make it easier to bear.” Denver turned toward Prospect Place.

“I guess that’s my goal—not fixing the past or your hurts, but being there to sit with you.”

“That’s a good goal.” He nodded solemnly as he parked near his place, which still had the blasted for sale sign out front. “Did you mean it about coming with me if I did leave?”

“I did.” I put a hand on his shoulder before he could exit the truck, making him turn to meet my gaze. “I want to show you that I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere, and I want to give you the time and space to trust me. Trust us. And trust that even if you need to go—for a week, a month, longer—you’ll always have a place to come back to.”

“Yeah.” He exhaled hard, and I couldn’t tell whether he was actually agreeing or simply overwhelmed. My pulse sped up, that urge to fix a hard habit to quit. Denver wasn’t the only one working on trust.

“Can I show you something?” I asked, my voice as shaky as my hand.

ChapterTwenty-Nine

Denver

Sean led me across the street to the carriage house. The main house was quiet, sitting majestically in the early summer sun. The kids were still in school for another week or two, and Eric and Jonas were both at work. Meaning, there was valuable daylight Sean and I were wasting. I had gallons of adrenaline surging through me like three quad-shot coffees and a powerful need to fuck Sean through the nearest mattress. But Sean wanted to show me something, so I supposed sex could wait.

Or I could drag him onto our chair again…

My brain started to spin up a fantasy as Sean unlocked the carriage house, and I followed him in, not really paying attention until Sean cleared his throat. “Well?”

“Oh.” I looked around. A few days prior, when we’d had sex in our chair, the place had already looked much improved but remained very much a work in progress. Now, Sean had cleaned up the various construction and cleaning supplies. The counters and sink gleamed and a new apartment-sized fridge and stove had joined the kitchenette. Someone had fixed and polished the little dinette set we’d found while working on the space. “You finished everything?”

“Hardly. There’s plenty to do.” Sean gave an uncertain laugh as I continued to look around. A braided rug sat in front of the wood stove, and while our chair remained near the stairs to the loft, a few other pieces of furniture had been added, including a plant stand near the front window with pots of herbs. “The herbs are for you,” he said like he hadn’t done this whole darn thing for me.

My tongue felt thick and unwieldy as I struggled for words. “Oh?”

“I fetched a few furniture items from my storage unit, but a couple of things are new, like the plants. And the bed.” He pointed at the loft area. “And I wanted to show you this.”

He dug a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed the handwritten receipt to me.

“You paid Eric for a year?” My mouth twisted as my head spun. “I thought you said you’d come with me if I decided to leave.”

“And I would.” Sean patted my upper arm like I’d been replaced by a nervous poodle. And perhaps I had. After today, nothing could shock me anymore. “I paid Eric rent, so we’d have a place to come back to, no matter what. A home base, so to speak. Like I said, I’ll go where you go, but I also want to give you a place to come home to.”

A home.The one thing I’d never had, and had stopped letting myself wish for decades prior, and here Sean was, just handing one to me.

“I’m…” I was no closer to being able to speak. “I’m not sure what to say.”