“Besides”—she shrugged—“I’ve been driving my whole life. I learned when I was eight years old from Kevin.”
I know she didn’t mean for it to, but that felt like a sucker punch. The man who was supposed to teach me things like that taught some other kids instead.
I knew in my heart that wasn’t Stella’s fault, but it still bothered me.
“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling me away from my thoughts. “That he wasn’t there for you.”
“How did you…?” I started, startled that she almost pulled my thoughts from me. I prided myself in my poker face skills. When things bothered me, I didn’t show it on the outside. My demons remained within.
“The corner of your mouth. It twitches when you’re sad.” She smiled a little. “You’ve been able to pick up cues about me as my husband, but I’ve also been noticing things about you as your wife.”
“What else have you noticed?”
“The wrinkles around your eyes deepen when you’re mad, and your nose flares up. If you eat something you don’t like, your jaw clenches. When you’re stressed with work, you release a row of heavy grumbles. When you’re nervous, you scratch the palm of your hand. When you’re worried about me… you hold eye contact.”
“What do I do when I’m happy?”
She frowned and tilted her head. “I’m still trying to figure that one out.”
“All right, lady and gent, you are all ready to go. Here is your discharge paperwork,” the nurse said, coming in beaming. “You be careful on that ankle, will you?” she warned Stella.
“I will.”
The nurse turned to me. “And you take care of her, mister.”
I looked over at Stella, who was looking at me. “I will.”
We arrived back at the property as the sun awakened the sky, and I walked Stella to her bedroom and helped her get settled into her bed with the crutches.
“Are you okay?” I asked once she was tucked into bed.
I did that.
I tucked her into bed.
Since when was I a guy who tucked people into bed?
What are you doing to me, woman?
“I’m okay. Thank you for everything, Damian.”
“Rest,” I told her, and then I said good night.
20
Damian
* * *
I woke to the smell of food. The smell of chocolate chips filled the space, and my stomach growled from the mere smell of the baked goods.
Rolling out of bed, I glanced at my phone.
1:03 p.m.
That was the latest I’d slept in in a long time, but to be fair, Stella and I didn’t get home from the emergency room until around six in the morning.
I pulled myself out of bed and paused the moment I heard singing outside my door.
There was a knot in my chest as the sounds emerged. “Wake up, grumpy face, time for your morning happy taste.”
It turned out the knot in my chest wasn’t a knot. It was my heart. My heart was skipping. My heart was skipping because of her. Stella singing outside of my door with a voice that reminded me of a heaven that I hadn’t even known I’d believed in made my heart skip.
Beat, beat, skip, skip.
All because of her.
I stood, walked over to my door, and opened it. There she stood with a tray in her hands and a lopsided smile plastered across her face as she balanced her body on crutches and held a tray of food in front of her, with a black rose sitting in a small vase.
“Jesus, Stella, what are you doing?” I griped, taking the jam-packed tray from her hold. “You shouldn’t be carrying all of this. How’s your ankle?” I asked, concerned that she was doing too much on her injury.
She pulled up her sweatpants and showed me her ankle, which luckily was down in size. Still swollen, but worlds of improvement.
“It hurts, but I’m okay,” she said quickly.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you drunk still?”
Her head shook. “No.”
That muscle in my chest?
Beat, beat, skip, skip.
“You didn’t have to cook for me.”
“I owe you a lot more than a plate of food. This isn’t even just for last night. It’s for every day that led to today. Every moment you chose to be honest with me. Even when it hurt.”
The left side of my mouth twitched a little. “Can I tell you some corny shit?”
“I love corny shit.”
I couldn’t believe I was about to say what I was about to say, but I couldn’t help it. I cleared my throat, feeling ridiculous. “You do something to me that I didn’t know I was able to do anymore.”
“Like what?”
“You make me care again.”
She smiled, and man, that smile…
I felt a tug in my chest that I hadn’t even known I could feel, so I shifted the conversation to something not as foreign to me. “Did you take your meds?”
“I did.” She blushed a bit and shrugged. “Thank you for caring.”
“Thank you for making me.”
She nervously balanced on the crutches and looked down at the wooden floor. “Anyway, I wanted to bring you breakfast. I whipped up some pancakes with apple pieces and chocolate chips.”
“That’s my—”
“Favorite,” she said, nodding. “I noticed you make them every weekend. I doubt they are as good as yours, but I tried.” She blushed slightly as she raised her head, and we locked eyes. “I owe you the biggest apology for how I acted last night. I normally don’t drink,” she softly spoke, embarrassed and ashamed of herself.
“It’s okay,” I replied. “I’m more concerned about you being okay.”
She smiled the most broken grin I’d ever witnessed in my life. “I’m okay,” she lied. She turned to walk away, and I called after her.
I gestured toward the tray of food as she followed my stare. “There’s enough for two.”
Her full lips parted, and she narrowed her eyes. “You want me to stay?”
“Please. I mean, if you want.”
Please stay.
I gestured toward the tray once more. “As I said, there’s enough for two.”
Her saddened eyes glistened a little with light as she took in a sharp breath.
Then she walked past me, entering the room. She took a seat on the left side of the bed, and I sat on the right, placing the food right between the both of us.
We ate in silence for a while before she cleared her throat and said, “I need to talk to Jeff today. He’s been calling me nonstop, but I haven’t answered. I’m sure Kelsey told him that I knew what was going on.”
“I’m sorry you have to deal with this.”
“Don’t be. I was an idiot. There were so many red flags that I chose to ignore.”
“No. You were taught at a young age that red flags weren’t red. It’s not your fault for not seeing them. Speaking of… why were your stepmothers such monsters to you?”
“I don’t really know. Growing up, I looked up to them. After losing my mom, I think I secretly hoped I would grow close to them. Not for them to replace my mom or anything, but because I just would’ve loved to have another woman in my life to confide in. It wasn’t that at all, though. They put up with me because of Kevin, that’s all.”