Anchor - M. Mabie Page 0,28
sound crazy, since I’m so invested in this Seattle branch, but after these past few weeks, I really feel like this is the best move for us.”
Yes. Say it. Ask me. I’m yours.
“Move to San Francisco. To my house. It’ll be our house. We can keep this place if you want; we can even look for another house here if you want something close to your family and somewhere that’s ours when we come back. I want my home to be yours. I want that to be our home base. We’ve been floating around for so long. I’m ready to slow down a little. But I’ve realized that house isn’t my home without you in it.
“And if you don’t like that plan, that’s okay. We’ll figure it out. But that’s what I want. I know that’s where we belong. That’s where we drop our anchor.”
It wasn’t what I thought he was going to say and still, I was feverish with excitement. Just in a different way.
It made sense. Troy could stay here and look after Audrey. I was glad to go somewhere with little to no chance of running into him. I could work in either city, as could Casey now. We could live wherever we wanted. And when it came right down to it, I loved that house. I missed that house when I was gone. He was right. That was where we’d build our foundation.
It wasn’t an engagement, but it was so damn close that I’d take it. I’d take it all.
Casey watched me closely trying to read my mind. His eyes bounced back and forth from my right eye to my left, like he was going to miss my answer appearing in one or the other. Anxiously waiting, he bit at his bottom lip.
“Yes,” I agreed with an emphatic nod. “I really want to.”
He shot off the bed like a rocket. He did some fist pumping, then quickly reined it in, sitting back down beside me.
I love making him happy.
“Okay then, now you get this.” I saw the long box when he jumped up. He bought me jewelry. Not that I wore a lot, or that I’d ever really given a damn about gifts, but I couldn’t help but be excited to see what it was he’d picked for me.
“Turn around,” he commanded softly.
I heard the creak of the box as it opened and a few seconds later he was putting a necklace on me. He kept the pendant behind me so I couldn’t see what it was, and then he walked us to my full-length mirror. I stared at our reflection. We looked good together. Like a couple. Like two people who had everything in front of them.
His long fingers spun the charm to the front and placed it on my skin.
An anchor.
“You see where this sits, honeybee? Right here,” he said as he tapped my chest and my heart tapped back in response. “It didn’t really matter if you said you’d move there or if you wanted to stay here. This is my home. This is where I want my anchor. Right in here.”
I didn’t turn around, but I looked up at him over my shoulder. He looked content and strong and so damn handsome.
“Kiss me, Casey,” I requested and he did.
He kissed me slow and tingles spread through my veins like fireflies glowing in the summer grass.
So much for being on time to dinner.
We weren’t that late, but the restaurant was buzzing with dinner traffic. When we walked in we told the hostess we were meeting a party already seated. She smiled at us, relieved, as she continued with the people in line, taking names and head counts. We walked through the bar and paused at the main entrance to the dining room, where I scanned the guests for my family.
“I see them. They’re over there,” Casey said in my ear.
He placed his hand on my arm to steer me that way.
My blood ran cold and I froze in my spot.
No. Not again.
My arm. The same arm Grant had …. Let go. Please let me go. Please.
“Don’t.” I pulled away almost automatically. His eyes met mine; he was confused. “Don’t pull my arm.” Let me go. Don’t touch …
Casey stopped immediately, letting go before the words were even all the way out. My feet didn’t want to move. Couldn’t move, like they’d been filled with lead. My head knew I was all right, but my body disagreed. My thoughts conflicted with my actions. Reality