at the clock and noticed it was five-fifteen in the evening. “Heck, yeah. Let me grab my purse and tell the guys I’m out.”
Jonah pecked me on the lips and then left me alone to go through my shutting down the office routine. Even if people stayed, I still made sure that the doors were locked, everything with personal information about clients was locked away, and any staff that were hourly left on time. Jonah busied himself shooting the breeze with his dad and brother.
Over the last month a lot had changed. Jonah and Luca had made amends and the Fontaine clan were back to having dinners every Thursday together. His parents were ecstatic and gave me all the credit.
After we’d cleared out Tabby’s house, I started that very next week working at A+ Construction. I’d been there three weeks now and it felt as though I was in the perfect place for me. I had only a month more to work on my coursework and I’d be done. Marco and Luca were thrilled with my skills and the rest of the staff had been giving them a thumbs up about my performance so far. All in all, it was awesome. I’d never been happier at a job and I couldn’t wait to learn more and work my magic wherever I could.
Since I was too freaked out to go in my old apartment, and I wanted absolutely none of my sisters or Mama Kerri in that place, Jonah, Luca, his dad, and his mom went and packed up everything that was salvageable. It wasn’t a lot, but at least I didn’t have to buy a new wardrobe, books, CDs, and replace some of the special items I’d saved over the years from my family. The furniture was all gone, and I couldn’t have cared less. What they could save was currently all boxed up and in Jonah’s storage unit where he kept the few things he’d taken from his time with Helen.
We still slept at Mama Kerri’s most nights. The first two times we tried to sleep at Ryan’s I ended up waking up Jonah and making him take me to Mama Kerri’s so I could check on Addison. I didn’t need to crawl into bed with her in order to sleep anymore, but the need to physically see her alive was still wearing on me. Jonah, Mama Kerri, and Sonia were openly worried about this coping mechanism so last week I started therapy. I’d only had one session so far, but I told the therapist what was happening and how it was a bit disrupting and she told me it was perfectly normal. She also gave me tips on how to slowly minimize the issue. The first was not getting into bed with her. Which was why I was now able to just peek in, see that she was breathing, and feel more comfortable. According to her, this would take time because my brain had created some connection to the trauma with Addison in a way that manifested itself in this need to see her alive.
Jonah left the back just as I put my purse over my shoulder.
“Ready?”
“Yep.” I put my hand in his and let him lead me out to his car. I still hadn’t gotten a vehicle yet. It was on the list of things to do but I had Jonah bringing me to and from work which he told me flat out he needed to do in order to cope with his fear for my safety.
Basically, we were all a little messed up but working through it and getting healthier every day.
After twenty minutes I realized he was heading to Mama Kerri’s neighborhood. “I thought we were going to dinner?”
“I have a surprise, remember?’
“Oh yeah. Is your surprise at Mama Kerri’s?” I laughed.
He shook his head. “Nope, but close.” He reached over and put his hand on my thigh where he gave me a little squeeze.
I rolled my eyes and sighed overly dramatic. “FBI hot guy and man of mystery. You sure you don’t have a big red S and a blue spandex suit hiding under those government threads, mister?” I prodded at his ribs and he laughed.
Randomly he put on a blinker and turned down a street two blocks from Mama Kerri’s. Then he pulled to a stop alongside the front curb of a pretty two-story house. It had a single big oak tree to the right of it that would give the house awesome