Noah’s Journey(48)

“You’re mad,” he insisted.

“I was,” I added before I took in a calming breath. “I was pissed and hurt. I wanted to say that if she meant so much to you that you had to leave me to save her, then we shouldn’t be together.” His eyes widened as he squeezed me tighter. “But now I don’t feel that way.” His features relaxed, yet he never released me, not even a little.

“Now the only thing I have running through my mind is fear.” My voice vibrated as I spoke. “Fear that my crazy actions could have pushed us apart. I should have stayed and listened to your reasoning, but I ran.”

“You were hurt,” he replied as if that made my reaction okay.

“I shouldn’t have run. It was a stupid reaction.” Now that I was thinking clearly, I realized just how immature I’d been. I knew Noah loved me, and he had told me so many times that what we had was real. Stacey was his first love, yes, but that love had long since faded. It was something I had to let go of. They would always be connected because of Austin, but that was the only reason.

“I love you, Alena.” He rested his forehead against mine. “No one could ever change that.”

“I needed to hear that,” I said in return as the tightness in my chest slowly faded.

“I’ll never stop saying it.”

A single tear escaped down my cheek. Silence set in as we continued to stand in the open doorway holding one another, the last hour slowly becoming a fleeting irritation that no longer felt important.

“Do you want me to leave?” His question filled the silence, and I whispered a no in return. “Good, because had you said yes, I would have had a long walk home. Jackson wouldn’t let Bailey leave my truck. He said if I needed a ride to call, and being the stubborn ass that I am, I would have just walked home.”

I smiled because I knew he wasn’t lying, then reached down and took his hand. I pushed the door closed with my other hand, locked it, and led him up the stairs.

As we walked past the living room, Trinity waved at us with a knowing smile. “Good night,” she said as we went down the hallway.

“Night,” Noah said with a soft chuckle. “She really is a sweet girl. I’m glad she has you.”

I closed my bedroom door behind him and began removing the clothes I had yet to change out of.

“I’m actually really glad I have her,” I confessed. “She’s become a really great friend.”

Noah sat down on the end of my bed, watching me as if what I was doing was fascinating. He had a way of making me feel like I was the center of his world when I was doing the simplest of things. As I slipped a nightshirt over my head, I turned to face him, and he held out his hand. “Come here.”

And I went to him without hesitation. I was sure I needed his touch just as much as he needed mine. As he wrapped his arms around my waist, he rested his head against my stomach and took in a deep breath.

“I don’t like when we’re apart.” He sounded sad, and because his face was snuggled against me so tightly, his words came out muffled. “I hate when we fight. And I hated the look in your eyes when you opened the door tonight. I don’t like the idea of you hurting.” He looked up at me, and I combed my fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

I placed my finger against his lips to stop him from apologizing any further. “Don’t,” I said. “It’s over and we learned from it.”

I waited to remove my finger from his lips until he nodded in agreement. Lowering my hand, I placed my lips against his. Slowly, he rolled back onto the mattress, taking me right along with him.





Chapter Twenty-Eight





Noah



I watched Austin out of the corner of my eye as he imitated my movements. He was holding a toy hammer and had his shirt off just like I did. I had decided to build a tree house in the old oak tree just to the left of my back deck. I knew it would be the perfect placement for me to be able to sit back and watch my son play, and one day maybe another child or two.

At that thought, I looked up to see Alena sitting on the deck, her feet propped up on the railing as she read the book she’d been glued to for the last few hours.

“Like this, Daddy?” Noah asked as he tapped away at the screw with a plastic hammer.

I chuckled as I grabbed the screw. The way he was beating on it, he would break his toy.

“Come here,” I told him as I motioned with my hand.

He laid his toy down and eagerly moved in my direction, positioning himself in front of me.

“Like this,” I said as I placed his hand on my drill, then covered it with my own. The moment I pressed the button and it began boring out a hole, Austin’s face lit up with amazement. He looked back over his shoulder, so proud of himself. It was one of those moments I could have watched over and over, had I been recording his reaction.