I gaped a bit. “Well,” I stuttered, “I am hungry.”
“Oh, good.” She jumped up. “It’s been ages since I had anyone to cook for but myself.”
I marveled as I watched Debbie take control of my kitchen, pulling a meal together as she kept the conversation going, asking me my thoughts, feelings and plans about every subject she could imagine.
A bit of melancholy slipped into my heart, realizing how much I had missed her, and wishing I could get that time back. But she was here now, and I was more than ready to soak it all up.
♪♫♪
Nick’s job became almost superfluous once people realized that Sean was making appearances all over the east coast. Proving that, just as I suspected, I became a lot less interesting when Sean wasn’t around.
Still, he was my faithful shadow and Debbie and I had a good time teasing him and asking his opinion whenever we went shopping.
As the weeks went by and the end of Debbie’s visit loomed closer, I finally worked up the courage to ask her something that had been rolling around in my head for a long time.
We were in the kitchen making sandwiches for lunch when I drummed up the nerve, my muscles tight with uncertainty. “So, would you consider maybe…being here when I have the baby?” I snuck a look at her face but couldn’t hold her gaze. It was a big ask. I knew that. But I didn’t have a mom. And I didn’t have a sister. And I didn’t have Serena.
“Oh, sweetie.” She immediately crossed and wrapped her arms around me. “You know I would love that. And I’m honored you asked me, but—”
My heart sank, hearing the denial in her voice already.
“I think there’s someone who deserves that privilege more than I do.”
My brow furrowed and I pulled back to look at her.
She smiled sadly and tucked my hair behind my ears. “Don’t you think Jonas’s mom would want to be here?”
I blinked. Having Jonas’s mom here hadn’t occurred to me. I hadn’t considered that Louisa would want to be there, but of course she would want to be here for the birth of her granddaughter. Why was I so self-absorbed that I hadn’t thought of that?
I closed my eyes and shook my head, upset at myself.
“Do you not want her to come?” Debbie asked, sounding worried.
“No, it’s not that,” I assured her. “Of course you’re right. Of course I should ask her. I just…” I blew out a breath. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
She gave me a side hug and rubbed my back. “It’s okay that you don’t think of everything.”
It didn’t feel okay.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Here I’m gone again
My heart consumed with guilt
Away from my one love
Who finally confessed
That love is what we built
With trust and care
Through pain and lies
Overcoming all the hurt
My love is granite
Unbreakable adoration
Diamond resolve
Pure gold
—Sean Amity
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The last four weeks had felt endless. Not only because I was so well-rounded and uncomfortable, but because now that I really knew how I felt about him—and how he felt about me—having Sean away from me was torture. We had tried to talk several times a week, but his schedule really was insane. Finding time to call me when there weren’t people surrounding him was quite a feat. Besides, talking on the phone and texting simply wasn’t the same as having him in the same room with me.
Originally I’d planned to wait for him to get back to the duplex, but when the day arrived, I couldn’t sit still. Nick and I arranged with Sean’s security team that I would go with them to pick him up at the airport as a surprise. Debbie had kindly offered to stay behind, likely knowing that I wanted him to myself for a while.
As we pulled to a stop at the curb where Sean had agreed to meet the car, Tucker looked at me through the rearview mirror. “Whatever you do, do not get out of this car.”
I snorted a little. Tucker had been Sean’s driver since the beginning. He should know me well enough to know I wouldn’t be that stupid. “Yeah, I don’t think that temptation will be a problem.” I craned to look out at the dim sidewalk in front of the airport but didn’t see Sean.
“It’s going to be a few minutes,” Tucker reminded me, and I swear he was holding back a laugh.
“I know,” I said, sitting up taller as I pushed down on baby girl’s foot, which was poking me in the ribs.
Tucker didn’t say anything else. I think he wanted to but was too professional, which was probably for the best. The last thing I needed was to start blubbering to some poor security guy about how much I had missed Sean.
I got so caught up in thoughts of missing him that it was Tucker who alerted me to Sean’s presence.
“Here they come,” he said. “Remember, stay on your side of the car with your face turned away until he gets in and we have the door closed.”
I looked out and caught sight of the small mob heading in our direction. Sean and several security guys were surrounded by about ten photographers, cameras flashing madly, but they stayed back enough that his forward progress wasn’t impeded. It had to be annoying though. The non-stop flashing, the barrage of questions.
When he got closer, I pulled the bill of my hat low and turned away, the giant bag at my side hiding most of my body from anyone who might get a glimpse inside the SUV.
The door opened and the cacophony of “Sean! What’s next for you?” “Sean! Are you going to marry your girlfriend before your baby is born?” “Sean! When can we expect another tour?” filled the interior of the car before the door shut, muffling the voices. The SUV started moving right away and the din of questions fell behind us.
I let myself turn to Sean and found him slumped back against his seat, his eyes closed, his guard down. Either he hadn’t seen me, or he was so used to being surrounded by people that he didn’t notice one extra person in his car.
As I turned my body to face him, the bag beside me crinkled loudly, startling him. “Geez!” he hollered as he sat up and looked at me. “Libby?” He quickly scooted toward me and threw the bag to the ground.
I eagerly reached out as he enveloped me in his arms.
“You scared me,” he chuckled close to my ear. “You were going to wait at home for me. Oh, you smell good,” he practically moaned. “I hate the smell of airplanes.”
“You could always get a private jet,” I joked as he burrowed his nose into the space between my neck and my shoulder.
“Too pretentious.” He pulled back to look at me, his eyes tired but full of love. He placed his hand on my abdomen and rubbed his thumb back and forth. “How’s my little girl?”
“Giving me heartburn.”
He let out a genuine laugh. “I love you,” he said, almost on a sigh before pressing his lips to mine.
When he tried to pull back, I wouldn’t let him. I was pregnant and lonely and I wanted to kiss Sean. I mean really kiss him.