The Healing Touch - Apryl Baker Page 0,24
boxes, but here he sat sipping wine or something. Not a care in the world. Didn’t he understand how much there was to do? Or was he just going to ignore it and hope she’d do it for him?
The asshole was SOL because she wasn’t going to do it for him. She might relent and help him, but not if he wasn’t going to even try. He always took her for granted. Always expected her to bail him out of situations. Well, not this time.
“What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Looking at the city.” His voice came out soft, almost somber. It made her frown. What was he up to? “Take a seat, Becca. Have some champagne and enjoy the view.”
“Are you okay?” She dropped down into the seat on his left.
“Yeah, just thinking.”
“About what?”
He shook his head, finally turning his attention to her. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you earlier. I was smiling because you made me happy. That’s all.”
“I made you happy yelling at you?” Now she knew he’d really lost his marbles.
“You always do, Becca. It’s why I call you sometimes late at night. You’re the only person I know who can pull me out of my depression. I never thanked you for that.”
“What are you talking about, D?”
“After we figured out my legs weren’t going to heal on their own, I got mad. I got sad and finally just downright depressed. Some nights, I went down some pretty scary roads. That’s when I’d call and ask you to talk to me. Your voice always pulled me out of my funk.”
She’d had no idea. She thought he’d just been ignoring time zones. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Say what, exactly? ‘Sorry to disturb your sleep, but if you don’t talk to me right now, I might go eat a bottle of pills?’ No, I wasn’t going to put that on you.”
She stood and moved until she was standing behind him before wrapping her arms around him, burying her face in his hair. “You should have told me, Dimitri. I would have come to LA and helped you.”
He laughed, and it shook her arms. “You haven’t left your apartment in two years, Krasivaya. You might have wanted to, but I doubt you would have.”
She thought about that before answering him. There were only two people in this world important enough to her to make her get on a plane and risk a panic attack—Jackson and Dimitri.
“You’re wrong, Dimitri. If you really needed me, I would have forced myself out of my safe haven and come to help you. Do you know why?”
“Why?” He swiveled his head, and she stared down into those beautiful blue eyes.
“Because no matter where you are or what you’re doing, if I called you and said I needed you, you’d be on the next flight out. It’s what best friends do.” She kissed his forehead. “You’re as much my family as Jackson is, and I would have come running.”
He twisted in his chair and pulled her onto his lap, hugging her so tightly, she couldn’t breathe. “I love you, Becca.”
“I love you too.” She pinched him so he loosened his hold.
“Ouch. What was that for?”
She shrugged. “I couldn’t breathe.”
“So, you didn’t consider my needing you to come to this book signing something vital, eh?”
“No.” She snuggled into him, loving having him wrapped around her. These memories would last her a lifetime. “I thought you were just being pissy. If you had told me about your legs, I would have tried my best.”
“But you might not have made it out that door?”
“Probably not.” Dimitri shifted her on his lap and reached over to pour out more champagne. “It’s not the same thing as swallowing a bottle of pills. I’d have gotten on a plane and dealt with the panic attacks until I reached your house for that. Don’t ever not call, Dimitri. If I lost you, it would be like losing a part of myself. Don’t you dare put me through that.”
“You’d have to get in line behind Mama and Babushka.”
“Your grandmother is quite the character.” Becca smiled thinking about the little woman who terrified all her grandsons. She’d met her back when she’d visited Virginia during Dimitri’s senior year in high school. She and his uncle came to pick him up from school, not knowing he was in detention. Laughter spilled out when she remembered the look of horror on Dimitri’s face when he’d seen her and had to explain why he was