In fact, the apartment looked exactly as it had before—no, not exactly. Something was different.
Copper noticed it first. After dashing inside and sniffing at every corner, he trotted to one particular corner of the living room and sniffed all around.
Then Griffin got it. No more shrine. The table with all the photos of Jason and memorabilia was gone, replaced by a potted ficus tree.
“It was time,” Raleigh said simply. “Six years is way too long to mourn. I’m ready to move forward.”
Griffin was happily stunned. “I wouldn’t want you to forget him entirely,” he said, surprising himself.
“I couldn’t do that. Look, I left one picture on the mantel. See?”
Yes, there was a small, framed picture of Jason, a candid snapshot of him laughing. But other pictures surrounded him—photos of Raleigh’s parents, a picture of Beth from Project Justice dressed like a mouse for Halloween, another picture of Copper and an unidentified cat, one of Raleigh at her law school graduation.
When he turned to look at her, her green eyes shone bright with hopefulness.
“I love you, Griffin.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off.
“Now, I know you might not be ready for that, and that’s okay. I don’t want that to stand in the way of Daniel’s job offer. I can work with you under any circumstances. Even if you tell me that I misunderstood, that we don’t have anything special, I can handle it. I’m the strongest person in the world—”
“Raleigh. Stop.”
“No, really. It’s important that you know that. You don’t have to feel uncomfortable around me.”
“I don’t. I won’t. Can I get a word in edgewise?”
“Sorry. I don’t usually babble. Guess I’m nervous.”
She wasn’t the only one. He’d never been in love, never had to tell a woman of his feelings before.
Here goes.
“I won’t feel uncomfortable around you. I love you too, Raleigh. You
are
strong. But you’re smart and compassionate and loving and generous. I could never have moved to New York, so far away from you. I was willing to wait until you were ready to love again.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Griffin.”
Enough talk. They would have a lifetime to talk. He pulled her to him and captured her soft, incredible mouth in his and kissed her until he was light-headed and her knees buckled.
“There’s one room you haven’t shown me,” he said, holding his breath. Too much too soon?
Raleigh, clearly beyond words, pointed to a doorway. He swept her up into his arms and carried her toward the bedroom as she issued an uncharacteristic giggle.
“Your apartment looks great, Raleigh. But I think you’ll be moving soon. Into a bigger place.”
Raleigh sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.
NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
Copyright © 2011 by Karen Leabo
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