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arms around me.
    “Same here and it’s all because of you. I never imagined ever winning your heart, but damn it feels good to be here now,” he smiles.
    “Who says you’ve won my heart? So many times, back in the day, I prayed for you to see me as more than a friend, but it never worked. Why now all of a sudden? Is it because I might die and this is only temporary?”
    His smile drops from his face and anger fills his eyes. “This has nothing to do with that . It’s just the first time you’ve picked up on the hint and I’ve been brave enough to step up to the plate. How dare you think so little of me? Your brother and sister have known since we were kids that I’ve been in love with you. Yeah, maybe your health is partly why I’ve stepped up so bluntly. I don’t want to miss the chance to love you the way you deserve. Nevertheless, for me this is not now nor has it ever been temporary for me. If it was, I would have fallen out of love with you years ago." His eyes soften, "I haven’t. I love you more now than I have ever before. Please don’t degrade my feelings toward you like that.”
    Tears well up in my eyes. “You really do, don’t you?”
    He sighs. “This is what I’ve been trying to tell you woman!”
    Giggling, a tear trails down my cheek. “I’m hard headed, what can I say? To be very honest, you have been away for two years. It’s going to be hard to believe that you could possibly feel that way about me.”
    He walks over to the dining chairs, pulls one out and sits down. Resting his elbows on his knees, Garrett lets out a frustrated sigh. Leaning forward, he shoves his hands in his hair pulling at the ends. Slowly, I walk toward him and pull out a chair next to him.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I left because I needed to improve some things on me before I finally took a step over that friendship line. More importantly, I left because I was so scared with your parents passing… I wanted to be able to be in the position to help you completely should… well this happen. Then when—when I came back a year later, you were already dating someone. It was hard to even see you from a distance with someone else. I couldn’t do it up close. Thank Heavens for fate—fate is what brought you to my office and I couldn’t be happier.”
    Touching his cheek gently, I swallow. “What, uh, I mean can I ask…”
    Maybe it was too personal for me to ask. On the other hand, just too soon. Either way I just couldn’t bring myself to ask him what he had to fix that took a year. The fact of the matter is that was before me. Therefore, really, I didn’t need to know.
    “Forget I said anything. It’s none of my business. It’s in the past and that’s where it can stay.”
    He smiles up at me, leans forward placing a small kiss on my lips. “I really do love you, Dee.”
    Gazing up at him, I smile. We get lost in each other’s smile. A sudden pounding on my front door, breaks the silence and the moment. Garrett’s eyes turn questioning.
    “You expecting someone before nine o’clock in the morning?”
    “No, but I have a feeling I know who it is,” I huff.
    “If it’s who I think it is, you are not answering that door,” he says walking in front of me.
    “The only way I’m going to get rid of him is letting him get his say. Believe me, I’ve tried leaving him once before. Though before he’d never hit me.”
    He sighs and pulls me into his arms. “Okay, I’ll give you that, but can we compromise and say just not today? Let’s have today for just us before we let the crazies in.”
    Looking up at him, I smile for the millionth time already today. “I like the sound of that. Let’s go upstairs and watch movies and veg all day. It’s Friday. We can have the weekend of fun and us. I’ll just need to tell Josh and Hailey or they’ll worry.”
    We walk upstairs, ignoring the incessant knocking. Giggling as Garrett starts to tickle me, I run the rest of the way up the stairs. Garrett is