“Of course.” When he smiled at me, it was so sad. I could see he was fighting the sorrow that was near the surface. “Claire?” I yelled.
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to go help Henry clean out the truck. Thomas, can you stand guard? And Nick, help Claire consolidate our supplies even more than we already have. We’ll all be riding in Henry’s truck.”
I put on my big girl panties, and stepped up to the plate. Henry needed help, and I was going to be his rock for a change. Thomas grabbed a gun, and the three of us headed outside.
***
Nick stood, looking at Claire. “Little bossy, isn’t she?”
She looked at him. She was still a little upset that he yelled at her. Then she sighed. “Well…someone has to fulfill the role of Sophie. I guess, naturally, it would be Elaina. Besides, Henry needs some extra support right now. He still loved Sophie. It was obvious.”
“I hate to even think that. Does that make him not fully committed to Elaina?”
“No. I don’t think so. I think his love for Sophie was, more or less, situational. They developed a bond because they understood each other’s issues. He’s very much in love with Elaina. I don’t doubt that.” Claire was talking and reorganizing, while Nick admired his newfound love.
“If he breaks her heart…,” Nick growled.
Claire looked up at him. “He has broken her heart many times during this insanity. And I’m sure it won’t be the last time, either.” She stood up and walked over to him. “We all have had our hearts broken in one way or another.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” He pulled Claire close and kissed her. “But sometimes they can be mended.” Claire smiled at his effort, but pulled away. “What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s just hard. I still have feelings for Marc, and I know you still have feelings for Jenna.” Nick looked down. “It’s true. You know that.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “But, like we discussed before, they would want us to move forward. I know it’s quick, but I can’t help the way I feel. Don’t question us.”
“Can I be completely honest?” Claire was nervous.
“Yeah. I would hope you would be.”
“How do I know that you aren’t just sweet-talking me and looking for sex?” Nick put his hand over his heart and rubbed for a moment with a grimace on his face. “This was always your M.O. You always moved on quickly, and I don’t even want to guess how many women you have hooked up with.” She was embarrassed to even say that, but she felt it had to be brought up at some point.
“Claire…” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes. “I understand why you would feel that way, but it’s different with you. I feel like it’s supposed to be. You are amazing, and this should have happened ages ago. Hence why I never settled down. Don’t you see? We are supposed to be. The first time we were together, I knew in my heart that you were what was missing in my life. I knew you were the only woman I wanted to ever be with again. It’s you, and that’s it. I can’t imagine feeling that magic with anyone else.” Claire thought about every word Nick said. “What brought this on?”
“I don’t know. It’s just something I feel that is hanging over us.”
“Well, you put away those fears. As long as I’m alive, and you’ll have me, I will be here and only here.”
“I needed to hear that,” she whispered. Nick pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “We should work on this mess. I have no idea how we are going to fit all of this in Henry’s truck.” Nick grumbled because he had other things in mind besides reorganizing.
“We may have to leave some stuff behind.” Nick stood looking at the mountain of supplies, pushing his hands through his hair.
“I have no idea what we could do without. The good thing is we’ll only have to worry about gas for one truck.” Nick and Claire sat down on the floor, elbow deep in supplies.
***
Henry stood just outside of the doorway, staring at Sophie’s truck. “I don’t know why I look at this truck as an extension of Sophie. It’s a company-supplied vehicle. It’s not like it was actually hers.” I didn’t say anything.
He walked to the vehicle while watching the surroundings. Thomas leaned against the house, covering us. Henry opened the driver’s side door, and immediately stepped back. I stood strong next to him.
“I can do this if you want.”
“It’s just hard. I feel like she’s just going to come around the corner, you know?” He continued to stare at the driver’s seat.