Chapter 35

Six months came to pass but Matthew was nowhere to be found. At some point, we considered him dead. But having no proof of his demise led us to maintain the measures we put to safeguard ourselves.

It came as a surprise when my family, Kayleigh, and Lionel moved with me temporarily to another state. They left their lives behind to be my support system till we could apprehend Matthew. It had been months now but they still stayed. I didn’t know what to do for them. I felt indebted in a good way.

“Hey, Pumpkin.”

A grin spread on my lips when I heard his voice, spinning around quickly to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating since it was a Wednesday and it was unusual for him to show up. He always dropped by every Friday to Monday. Dumping the novel I was reading on the bench, I jumped to my feet.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, grinning from ear to ear as we walked to each other and embraced.

“Aren’t you excited to see me?”

I pulled back to look at him. “Of course I am. I meant to say this is a good surprise. If my wide smile isn’t enough to show my excitement, I don’t know what is.”

“I know.” He pinched my cheeks lightly and I frowned. He enjoyed doing that, I didn’t. “I got work done early so I decided that I deserve a vacation, don’t you think?”

I threw my head back in laughter. When our vacation ended, we scouted for houses to buy before finding this vast property close to the beach and bought it. Lionel considered being here a vacation whenever he could get away from work.

“I missed you.”

My cheeks heated up as I reoccupied my seat and bookmarked my novel, glancing anywhere but him. I was yet to get used to him saying that. “How long are you staying for?”

“The rest of the week. I asked my PA to forward any queries and rebook my meetings for Monday,” he said, seating beside me, his pearly white teeth catching my attention. He smiled a lot.

“Every single day we spend together, I get more and more attached to you. I can’t get over the feeling that I’ll get deeply hurt when you finally get tired and leave,” I suddenly said. It was the first time voicing out my fears but regretted it at the expression that crossed his face.

Lionel was a gentleman but there was only so much he could take when it came to matters like mine. I could tell he was facing emotional battles from the way he conducted himself, but the front he put up wasn’t as convincing to me.

It seemed like he’d encountered some sort of loss and was having difficulty getting by. I couldn’t get myself to ask because I feared opening wounds that were probably trying to heal. If he trusted me enough to share, I wanted him to do it at his pace.

“You’re saying this because you don’t know me. I’m not the kind of guy who leaves because a situation is too hard to bear. I can only do that for justifiable reasons. Otherwise, I’m here to stay.” His gaze lingered on me, his hand reaching out to touch mine. “I got your back regardless of whatever will happen. I promise.”

I couldn’t mask the sensation that overcame me after his words sunk in. We’d grown closer the past months and he was open about his feelings towards me but I wasn’t ready so he chose to wait.

“You’re one in a million,” I said, absentmindedly bringing his hand to my cheek.

He leaned in to kiss me, jolting me to my senses. I slowly let go of his hand and slid back, putting some distance between us. I liked him a lot but diving into another relationship was almost overwhelming.

“Baby steps.” I reminded him as that was what we agreed on.

“Sorry, I was caught up in the moment.” I nodded. We both were. “I came with the boys but they headed straight for the guest house to freshen up.”

A smile graced my lips at that, it was fun having them around. They easily lifted my spirit and Lionel’s sweet gestures made our time together unforgettable.

“I want to go for a ride, I’ve barely left these surroundings in weeks.” My parents both got a job transfer which helped them get by. Ashlie joined a nearby school, leaving me by myself every day. I had bodyguards but their presence did nothing to help my loneliness as they were only here to protect me. It was a bummer not being able to work because of the peril it would put me in. My life was more or less at a standstill.

“It will be fun. You should go wear something warm and I’ll let the boys know.” He stretched his hand to help me up and we both headed in different directions because the guest house was at the back of the house.

Once I made a call to my parents and dolled myself up, I met Lionel in the back, greeting the boys on our way out.

“Where exactly are we going?” He stopped outside the gate, unsure of whether to take a left or a right.

“I don’t know. Maybe just drive around like we’re on a road trip with no destination?”

“Alrighty. Nowhere in particular, here we come!” he hollered, taking a right and speeding down the quiet road. I threw my arms up, giggling at his cheeriness that had spread on to me.

“Quick question,” I started, his nod compelling me to continue, “What drew your attention to me?”

He stole a glance at me, a smile creeping to his lips as he said, “I don’t know how to explain this and it may not make sense but I felt a deep connection. I wanted to get to know you, on a personal level.”

His revelation brought forth a surge of happiness. A grin spreading across my face as I stared at the trees aligned on each side of the road, swinging in rhythm with the wind. The scent of the flowers scattered all over wafted to my nostrils, prompting me to breathe in to appease my love for nature.

“When we get back, I want to talk to you about something very important.” The urgency in his voice had me spinning around fast, fear clogging my breathing. “What is it?”

“Don’t panic, it’s not something bad. I want to tell you about someone very important. I would love it if you met her.”

Now calm and with my breathing back to normal, I said, “Okay. If she’s special to you, I will be glad to meet her.”

I could only hope it wasn’t someone that would ruin what we had going on because I yearned for more of him.