Chapter 29

Erik

“This garden is pretty pathetic,” I mutter as Blue and I walk hand in hand. We’re following along behind Billy as he maneuvers his motorized chair around what is loosely termed a “garden” behind the Cresson. It’s pretty much a large round, concrete path that’s crumbling with haphazard plantings on the inside and out. It’s as depressing as the building itself.

“I know,” Blue agrees, and then moves in closer to me. “But he won’t have to suffer it much longer.”

This is because Blue just received the insurance payout on her father’s policy. Whatever Dominik’s lawyers did to make it happen so fast, I’ll never be able to guess, but I’m grateful for it.

As is Blue.

She immediately started making arrangements to have Billy transferred. The home that he was in at the time of their parents’ death did not have an opening but she found an even nicer place for him. We’re set to make the move next week.

I suddenly stop, pulling Blue to a stop with me. Turning to face her, I take both of her hands in mine. She looks exceptionally gorgeous in nothing more than a pair of faded jeans and a Vengeance T-shirt. Her hair is in a ponytail and her face is free of makeup.

“I love you,” I tell her simply.

Her smile is tender in return. “I love you too.”

She shoots a quick glance at Billy who is happily motoring along, then back to me.

“No.” I give her hands a squeeze as if to reiterate a very important point. “I mean, I really love you. I’m not just overly fond of you, succumbing to all these new and amazing feelings and spectacular sex. I mean I love you like nothing I’ve ever loved. Not even hockey. I love you and will only ever love you until the day I die.”

Blue’s expression morphs into one of horror as she exclaims, “Oh God. You’re not dying, are you?”

“Fuck, no,” I hasten to reassure her with equal horror in my tone. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you’re talking about love and dying and I thought you were trying to tell me something—”

“Blue,” I say with a laugh, cutting her off. “I just want you to know that this is deep for me. Deeper than anything I could have imagined.”

She lets out a long breath of relief and shakes her head. After a quavering laugh, she tells me, “Erik…I really love you too. This isn’t a passing fancy. It’s deep in my bones. I knew it at Dave & Busters, watching you play games with Billy. I knew that you cared for him because of the way you cared for me.”

“I do care for him,” I reply to her. “And since you brought that up, I want to talk to you about Billy and his living arrangements.”

“The place we’re moving him to is top-of-the-line—”

“Not what I’m talking about.” My head turns, looking at Billy slowly moving along the path. I tug at Blue and we start following him again. “I want to remodel the second master suite upstairs. Make it handicap accessible. Add an elevator for his chair.”

A glance at Blue and I see her eyebrows drawing inward. She admits to me, “That’s an awful lot of expense just for him to stay a few nights with us at your house.”

I shake my head. “Not just a few nights. Permanently.”

We almost catch up to Billy but Blue stops dead in her tracks to face me. “Permanently?”

“Yeah…permanently.”

Her brow furrows deeply as her head tilts. “You want Billy to move into your home permanently?”

“Yes.”

“That’s weird,” she says bluntly.

There’s no hiding the offense in my words. “It’s not weird. How is that weird?”

“Well,” she drawls out with a mischievous smile. “I thought you might ask me to move in before my brother, but hey…I guess nothing weird about that.”

“Shit,” I reply with a bark of a laugh. “That didn’t come out in the correct order. Yes, I want you to move in with me permanently. Like right now. And where you go, so too goes your brother. So we’ll remodel for Billy.”

Blue doesn’t respond with words but actions.

Really awesome actions by throwing her arms around my shoulders and kissing the shit out of me. For a moment the garden and Billy disappear and it’s just us.

When she pulls back, she grins at me. “Yes, I’ll gladly move in with you. That’s a no-brainer, but it might not be what’s best for Billy.”

We both turn to look at him, and I ask, “How so?”

“There’s a huge social element to living in a group home environment. He’ll have friends and activities that are geared toward his limitations. If he lives with us, he’ll be alone when we travel with just an aide. It’s something to consider.”

“Never thought of it that way,” I admit.

“Let’s discuss it with Billy,” she suggests. “Let’s get him moved to the new place and give him some time to get settled. He’s excited about it. And after a few weeks, we’ll talk to him about how he’s liking it and if he’d like something different like the possibility of living with us.”

My hand goes around her neck and I pull her into me. Tipping my face down, I brush my lips against hers. “It’s a plan. Although I still say we remodel so he can come spend nights with us when we’re in town.”

Blue’s smile takes my breath away, which makes it semi-painful when she goes to her tiptoes and kisses me in a way that sucks the remaining air out of me. When her heels hit the ground, she tells me, “You’re amazing, Erik. You’re the best second chance I’ve ever had.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” I agree, and then add on, “Oh…and I’m trading my truck in for a van with a motorized lift so we can transport him rather than rent a vehicle each time.”

“I don’t think—”

“And I’m also buying you a new car,” I roll right over her. “Yours is a death trap and I don’t like riding in it.”

“You never ride in my car—”

I shut her up by kissing her. Hand behind her neck holding her tight and for extra measure, my other arm goes around her waist. Everything disappears again when our tongues touch.

Just me and Blue.

Until something bumps against my leg. I pull back and see Billy, gently bumping the edge of his chair against my leg. He’s mastered control of the joystick which operates the chair, and he pulls back and pushes it forward slowly so that his touching me is gentle.

There’s a broad grin on his face and I can see it in his eyes that he’s chiding me for kissing his sister in public. He waves his other hand toward us in admonishment.

“No public displays of affection with your sister?” I guess.

Billy’s head tips back and he laughs. “No,” he drawls and shakes his head slowly.

“Does it gross you out when I kiss your sister?” I tease him.

Didn’t think it was possible, but his grin gets bigger and he nods.

Releasing Blue, I crouch to get near Billy’s ear. I whisper to him, “How about you just close your eyes when we kiss?”

“Okay,” he says slowly and flashes teeth and sparkling eyes.

I straighten and Billy and I engage in a staring contest for a moment.

“Well,” I say with a nod of my head. “Close your eyes.”

Billy’s face scrunches up and he squeezes his eyes shut. I take the opportunity to pull Blue back to me for a kiss. I don’t make it long and I keep my tongue to myself, because I’m betting Billy won’t keep his eyes shut for long.

But it’s enough for me right in this moment.