With one last shout of, “Sven!” I thought that I had failed. He didn’t want anything to do with me. I was convinced that he heard the story from Blake somehow, and he believed that it was true. I started to slink away from the kitchen door when it opened.

Turning back toward the sound, I saw Sven’s face, and he shouted, “Lowell!”

I stepped forward and nearly collapsed into his arms. I choked back the sobs and buried my face in his shoulder while he hugged me tight.

He said, “Get the fuck in here, Lowell. I think I’ve got some news that you haven’t heard.”

I was shuddering as Sven held me tight and kicked the kitchen door closed. I asked, “News? Don’t believe it, Sven. I didn’t do it. Really, I didn’t.”

He was silent for a moment, and I pulled my head back from his shoulder to look into his eyes. I reached up to wipe away tears so that I could see clearly. He shook his head slightly and then said, “I just talked to Blake on the phone.”

I desperately pleaded, “They’re wrong, Sven. I hope you understand.”

Sven said, “They caught the thief.”

I blinked and then said, “They…what?”

Sven nodded and said, “Blake told me. They caught the thief red-handed. He said they had to call the cops and everything. I expect that Sally has been too busy to call you.”

I started to ask, “Did you believe…” and then I cut myself off. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Sven was holding me in his arms. The thief was caught, and the suspicion of me as the culprit was lifted.

Sven reached a hand around the back of my head and leaned forward for a kiss. His lips were gentle and comforting. I felt like I was melting into his arms. The shaking of my body was slowing down, and he led me into the living room where we settled on the couch.

I said, “It’s been a horrible evening, Sven.”

He responded, “It’s been a horrible day.”

I asked, “Someone told you. When did they tell you? What did they say?”

He said, “First, they made a big mistake. In this case, it was a really big mistake, but I hope we can both forgive them. Blake is a really good friend, and Sally runs a great business.”

I nestled my head into Sven’s chest and said, “If I can have you, Sven, I can forgive almost anyone of anything.”

He slowly rubbed the top of my head and said, “Ian told me. He called to have lunch. Apparently, Blake and Claw talked to Sally in the morning to try and figure out what to do.”

“I bet he said awful…”

Sven cut me off. He said, “Ian wanted to talk to me, because he cares about us. He cares about both of us. He didn’t want me to just hear the news from someone I didn’t know or worse yet from the cops or something.”

Exhaling, I said, “Yeah, I guess so. That makes sense.” Then I thought about Sven not answering my calls, and I wanted to ask, but I decided it was irrelevant, too. It was most important that he knew that I wasn’t a thief, and I got caught up in something that had nothing to do with me.

Sven placed his hand over my chest and said, “Your heart is still pounding, Lowell. It’s okay. It’s over.” Then he looked into my eyes. “It is over, isn’t it?”

I slowly nodded and said, “Yeah, I got really upset, but I didn’t do anything crazy. I was just hanging out in a bar up on the East Side drowning my sorrows in a glass of Jack Daniels.”

He chuckled softly and said, “I guess random shit really does happen, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does, Sven, but there’s a point to staying confident and knowing that those who really care about you are going to be there, and they will figure it out.” I slipped a hand up inside Sven’s T-Shirt to feel the warm skin.

Sven sighed and said, “It really has been a crazy day.” His phone rang, and I watched him look at the screen. He said, “It’s Ian. Is it okay if I answer it?”

I asked, “Can you put it on speaker so we can both talk to him?”

With a grin on his face, Sven said, “Of course. Yeah, I can do that.”

The next thing I heard was Ian’s voice asking, “Sven, are you okay? Have you talked to Lowell? Where is he?”

I said, “I’m right here, Ian.” Then I added, “Boy, you and Blake really fucked up this time.” I tried to sound stern, but then I followed it up with a little laugh.

Ian said, “Oh, fuck, yeah. I’m so incredibly sorry, and Blake said he feels like hiding for a week. You have our biggest apologies ever, Lowell.” Then there was a pause, and he added, “But you’re with Sven. Does that mean the two of you are okay with each other?”

Sven looked at me, and then he answered, “More than okay, I think.” He inclined his head and kissed me on the cheek.

I asked, “So how did you catch the guy? I’m imagining Claw shoving him up against a wall while Blake called the cops.”

Ian said, “Here, I’ll put him on speaker.”

The next thing we heard was Blake speaking in an unusually soft voice. He said, “I’m so fucking embarrassed, but yeah, that’s sort of the way it happened. Except as soon as he was caught, he knew he couldn’t get away, so he cooperated until the cops arrived.”

“You got the money back?” I asked.

Blake said, “He had almost $1,000 bucks this time, so we got that back immediately. Sally is likely to get the rest eventually. The important thing is we got it stopped, and we learned some lessons about keeping the money secured in the future. Sally said she’s going to install a safe.”

Ian spoke on the phone again and said, “We’ll let you two go for tonight. I’m just really happy this is cleared up and you’re with each other. We’ll see you at the next softball practice, and, please, accept our apologies.”

Sven and I spoke in unison, “Apologies accepted.”

As soon as he hung up the phone, Sven asked, “Are you staying the night?”

I smiled and said, “I hope so. I think this is a good enough reason to take the day off from work tomorrow. What about you?”

Sven said, “I’ll drop Anita a note that I won’t be in until noon tomorrow. Are you ready to go up to bed?”

I sighed heavily and said, “Definitely. I’m exhausted.”

I followed Sven up the staircase and into his bedroom. He gestured toward the bed and said, “Sit.”

Then he sat beside me and slowly began to undress me. It wasn’t something highly sexual. Instead, Sven was very gentle and comforting. He slowly tugged off my shoes, and then he gently pulled my shirt off over my head.

I reached out to wrap my arms around him and we shared a a lingering, gentle kiss. Then Sven slowly laid me down on the bed and he unzipped my jeans. I reached out and began to push his shirt up.

Sven smiled at me and pulled his shirt off. Within a few more minutes, we were both naked. He pulled the sheets and blanket down from the bed and we both slipped inside. As Sven rolled over and wrapped his big muscular arms around me, I felt safe, and I felt wanted, too.

I stared into his deep, blue eyes, and I said, “Thank you.”

“Thank you for what?” asked Sven. “For freaking out when our friends said you might be a thief? I really do feel horrible about that.”

I couldn’t help but laugh softly. Those comments answered any of my remaining questions. I said, “No, thank you for being mine.”

He said, “I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else, Lowell. You’re amazing.”

I said, “Sven, I want to say something to you, and I hope it’s not too early to say it.”

He grinned, and it was the kind of smile that I was learning to understand usually meant that we were thinking the same thing. He said, “Say it, Lowell, but I think I know what it’s going to be.”

I put my hand on his cheek and said, “Sven, I think I’m falling in love.”

He answered, “I think I am, too.”

My heart skipped a beat, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say but, “Goodnight, Sven.”

“Goodnight, Lowell.”