“Erin, honey, I—There aren’t words. I’m sorry. Tomorrow is the anniversary?”

She nodded as he helped her to sit again.

“Is she up here?”

Another nod.

“Let’s go then. Tomorrow we’ll take flowers and go. That is, if you’ll let me go along with you.”

She touched his cheek. “Okay.”

“Your brothers are worried about you. I want you to know I did call Brody while you were sleeping. Would you call them now? So they can hear from you that you’re all right? Or as all right as you can be anyway?”

She blinked. “You did? You spoke to Brody?”

“I’m sorry if you think it’s interfering but . . .”

“No, it’s not that. I—well, thank you. It means a lot to me that you’d call him.” She briefly put her head on his shoulder before picking the phone up.

While she spoke to her brothers, he cleaned her kitchen and changed over the clothes from the washer to the dryer. Earlier, he’d watched her sleep and then gotten up to call Brody. While he was up, he’d cleaned up the clutter and done her laundry, before setting her coffeepot for some hours later. The circumstances were not so sexy, but, in truth, they meant a lot. Yes, he’d had to essentially break into her place, but she’d finally turned to him and let him help.

15

Erin looked up at the chiming of the bells over the door of her café and smiled. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until later tonight.”

“I thought I’d come by and see if you wanted help closing up.” He held up a small shopping bag. “And to bring you this. I want you to wear everything in this bag tonight.”

She raised a brow but took the bag.

“No peeking yet.”

“Hmpf. All right, joykiller. I’m fine, you know. I can close up without being scared. It’s still daylight, Brody is next door.” After placing the bag on the counter, she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

He wore that grin of his and she couldn’t stop her body from responding.

“Stop being so defensive. I know you can close without being afraid. I just thought you’d like the company.”

“I need to do this stuff on my own. I appreciate this, I do.” She softened because she knew he did it out of concern for her. Out of love. In the weeks since she’d told him the whole story about Adele, they’d gotten much closer. “But I told you, I need to get my life back. These baby steps may not seem like a big deal to you, but they are to me. This place is concrete proof that I can have a life.”

He turned and locked the door, flipping the CLOSED sign, and then was on her in two steps.

“I love you.”

“I know.” She hadn’t told him she loved him yet, even though she knew she did. It wasn’t as if she held it back to punish or reward him. She just kept trying to find the perfect time. She realized there was no perfect time. None more perfect than simple, everyday stuff. “I love you too,” she said into the front of his T-shirt.

He froze and took a deep breath. She felt his lips press the top of her head before he leaned back and tipped her chin to look into her face. “You do? You’re not just saying it?”

She laughed. “Yes, I do, and no, I’m not just saying it. I love you, Todd. But if you leave me, if you get hurt or dump me, I will kill you myself.” She held on to his belt loops and snuggled her body into his.

“I’m not leaving you. I told you that. The sex is really good and you’re a rockstar in the kitchen. Oh, and in general.” He grinned.

“So go. I’ll see you at your house at seven. I suppose Ben and Cope will be there too?”

“Not Cope, but Ben. Does that bother you? He likes you. He likes to hang out with us, but he won’t stay super late. Now that Cope is seeing this new woman, I think Ben is sort of feeling odd man out.”

She did like Ben, a lot. Since he was around so often, she’d become friends with him as well as his brother. They clicked in a way she didn’t with most other people. He often cooked with her or hung around outside when she worked in Todd’s garden. She had the sense that he stayed out there if Todd wasn’t around, simply to make her feel safe. Which made her feel exactly that. He shared her intense love of music. She liked his easygoing manner, she liked his sense of humor and he’d taken on the gargantuan task of trying to teach her to play cards. She sucked at cards and most people just considered her a lost cause, but he kept at it and never lost patience with her.

He and Todd were close, really close, and they brought her into that bond they shared. There was this something between them sometimes. Nothing either would act on, but sometimes it felt like it was a relationship of the three of them because he was there so often and they’d all assumed such an intimate and close friendship. Todd never seemed bothered or uncomfortable and she always kept an appropriate distance.

“It’s fine. I like Ben. It’s not like I can complain about spending the evening with two very fine male specimens. I’m bringing the pizza, fully loaded, so don’t fill up on crap.”

“Speaking of you talking like my mother, don’t forget Saturday.” Saturday was Independence Day and they had plans to spend it with Todd’s family. Erin was nervous as hell. But she’d spoken to his mother on the phone twice now, and Lorie Keenan seemed like an incredibly nice woman who cared a lot about her children.