I lightly smacked his chest. “Stop doing that.”
“What?” He acted like he didn’t know.
“Making me love you even more.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Then he went right into another topic. “I’ve got some paint outside. I’m going to need to paint the ceiling before we can get the sheets on the bed. I bought you the nice thick ones like we had growing up.”
I rolled over, slowly, taking my time so I didn’t hurt too much. “I guess I’ll just lay here and watch.”
He sat up and kissed me on my nose. “Sounds good to me.” Brooks stood up and before walking out of the room, he turned around and looked at me. “So, did you get everything taken care of today?”
I leaned up on both elbows. “For the most part. The church is basically taking over and everyone pretty much made it clear that I wasn’t going to be welcome. They all think I’m a terrible person. I know you don’t see it, but maybe they’re all right. How else could I feel so happy to start over with you, in the midst of a tragedy?”
Brooks walked over to the bed and kneeled in front of me. “Kat, you’re human and you’re coping. If I wasn’t here life would be different, but I can’t let what’s happened come between us. I won’t. Only you and Bobby know what happened in that truck. You can blame yourself for the rest of your life, if that will help you cope. The fact is that, he forced you into that vehicle, after breaking a protective order and hunting you down, with every intention of harming you, or maybe even worse. Wake up and see what I see, because nowhere does it say that defending yourself can be construed as murder. You were trying to survive in a dire situation, one where your life felt threatened. If they can’t understand that, then screw them. They weren’t your real friends anyway.”
He patted on my leg before standing up and walking out of the room.
After I knew he’d gone outside, I looked down at the mattress and the new rug. He was going to have to cover the whole room in plastic while he repaired the black mark from the flames. It was a good thing that ceiling paint was easy to come by.
Brooks entered the room with a bunch of trash bags that he started spreading out over the floor, and once I got up, the bed as well. He opened a can of primer and held it and a paintbrush as he climbed onto the bed. “I need to seal the spot. I checked earlier and it didn’t go through. He must have put out the flames as soon as they started to get high. One coat of this primer and couple coats of the paint should do the trick. If you hate it, I’ll rip out the drywall and replace the whole area.”
“You know how to do all that?”
“Do you think I just wear this uniform and walk around all day looking sexy?” he kept preparing while he spoke.
I laughed at him. “Of course not. I just didn’t think they taught you stuff like this.”
“Woman, you’ve got a lot to learn about the things I know.” He bent down and touched the tip of the wet brush to my nose.
I reached over and ran my hands up his camouflage t-shirt. “I’m a more hands on kind of learner.”
He sat the paint can down on the nightstand and hovered over my body. “Let’s get started then.”
Even though I was aware of everything going on in my life, taking a reprieve from it all was exactly what I needed.
Chapter 57
The funeral service for Bobby didn’t take place until five days later, being that his body had to be transported and then prepared. They assured me that we’d be able to have an open casket and that his head injury wouldn’t be noticeable.
My worry increased as the days got closer, and while my house was finally getting back to looking new again, I felt like my life was a spinning tornado.
Danica continued offering her support and spending every second with her granddaughter. I’d managed to make progress getting around better on my own and insisted on attending the service by myself.
Although Brooks had been staying at my house, and even sleeping next to me in my new bed, we weren’t exactly talking about our future. He knew I needed time to sort my problems out before I could focus on our relationship.
So I did what every person does on the day of a funeral. I put on a little eye makeup, wore a black dress and grabbed my sunglasses.
My anxiety was through the roof as I pulled into the tiny parking lot at the church and found that it was already full of cars.
Then I spotted Dave, standing outside talking to his father-in-law, the pastor. Both of them stared as I turned off the vehicle and started to climb out.
It took me a good bit to make my way to where they stood. Although I was mobile, my hip still hurt when I went from sitting to walking.