“I know.” He smiled. “They caught us off guard again.”
“They’re still married.” I blinked. “Wow.”
“I told you I didn’t want to get married because what happened to them scared me, but I’m not scared any more, Noah. Even if they did get divorced, I wouldn’t be scared. I was comparing our love to theirs when I shouldn’t have, because our love is ours and no one else’s can ever touch it.”
I swallowed and didn’t reply as his words sank in.
“I want it all with you,” he murmured. “I’ve lived without ye, sasanach, and they were the bleakest years of me life. You’re my happiness.”
My heart pounded, but I couldn’t think too much about what he’d just told me. I had too much to think about as it was.
“We’ll talk about everything, just me and you later, but right now . . . will you bring me to him?”
“Yes,” he replied gruffly. “I will.”
We said goodbye to his parents, and Elliot let me have a moment where I simply bathed in Bailey’s presence.
“I’ll find out what happened,” I whispered to her. “I promise, Bails.”
I hoped it wouldn’t become a promise I had to break, for everyone’s sakes.
I righted my crutches and Elliot and I walked away, leaving Mr and Mrs McKenna to spend time with their daughter in private. Elliot hovered close to me – I could feel his eyes on me and I knew he knew that I was physically hurting, but because I didn’t mention it, neither did he. We came to the end of the pathway that led to the car park and I blinked when I saw Elliot’s car parked up on the kerb at an odd angle. I looked at him.
“I was in a hurry to get to you,” he explained with a shrug. “I didn’t have time to park properly.”
There was a warden or security guard of some kind who Elliot spoke to and he explained our situation. I got into the front of the car with a murmur of apology, and not a few minutes later he joined me.
“Are you in trouble?”
“No.” He shook his head. “He saw you when ye arrived; he saw your face and knew somethin’ was wrong. I didn’t tell him everythin’, just that ye learned of me sister’s passin’ and were distraught.”
“Well, you didn’t lie.”
“No,” Elliot answered solemnly. “I didn’t.”
We drove out of the cemetery, and before I could blink we were on the road. It was a few minutes before I realised that I’d never told Elliot Anderson’s address. I glanced at him.
“You know where he lives, don’t you?”
“Ye lived with him, Noah,” came the response. “Of course I know.”
A feeling of warmth filled me.
“I love you,” I told him. “I was with another man and you still looked out for me, didn’t you?”
“I tried,” he admitted. “There was little I could do. I barely caught a glimpse of you . . . but a few times I drove by and parked out front just so I could be close to ye.”
“Elliot,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he replied, glancing at me. “You’re mine again.”
“I am,” I said. “I am yours.”
We pulled into the car park of a block of flats, and came to a stop. I breathed deeply as I gathered my crutches, grabbed my bag and climbed out. Elliot got out too and came around to my side, and before I could say a word he lowered his head and captured my lips in a kiss that both surprised and relaxed me. I returned the kiss until we both pulled apart, breathless.
“I’ll wait down here,” he said, shifting his stance. “Take as long as you need, but when I text ye, reply so I know you’re okay. Understand?”
I nodded. “I love you.”
“I love ye too, sasanach,” he said, running his finger down my cheek. “So much.”
“I don’t even know if he’s here,” I said with an exhale. “He could be at work . . . I don’t even know what he does.”
“He’s a graphic designer, he works from home. He’ll likely be here.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be back soon.”
I gripped the handles of my crutches, and walked across the car park, up the steps and into the building without pausing or looking back. I remembered the flat number Anderson had told me, and the floor. I entered the elevator, and hit the button for the fourth floor. When the doors opened, I made my way down the hallway, counting the numbers on the doors as I passed them. When I came to 406, I came to a stop.
I put my phone on silent just in case the noise of it interrupted an important conversation. I sent Elliot a text that I was okay and would speak to him soon, then I put my phone into the pocket of my dress, lifted my hand and knocked on the door. There was a period of thirty seconds or so where I felt like I couldn’t breathe, then the door opened and I inhaled.
“Noah.”
“Anderson,” I said, swallowing. “Hi.”
He tilted his head to the side and watched me with his dark eyes. I wondered what was going through his head at my unannounced arrival.
“Bailey is dead.”
Anderson blinked, then stepped aside without a word and waited as I silently passed by him and entered his home. There was a short white hallway that I walked down, and at the end was a kitchen that was paired with a large, open sitting room. There was another hallway to the right of the room that I assumed to be where the bedroom and bathroom were. I had no way of being sure, because I had no memory of the place.
“Do you recognise anything, baby?”
I looked around the strange place once again and then shook my head.
“Nothing,” I answered. “I can’t remember anything.”
“That’s okay,” Anderson said from behind me. “You don’t need to remember it.”
I couldn’t help but tense when his hands touched my waist, simply because he wasn’t my partner.
“You’ve lost a lot of weight,” he said,
