Love in the Light (Hearts in Darkness, #2)(31)

Which was why at four o’clock on Sunday afternoon she was still in her pajamas and an entire pound bag of peanut M&Ms lay demolished on the end table next to her.

At least peanut M&Ms had protein.

Sorry lil’ nut. I’ll do better.

Makenna sighed.

And then she decided she’d had enough.

A woman on a mission, she turned off the TV and marched directly to the shower. Once clean, she awkwardly worked to apply Aquaphor to her tattoo, which had moved from being sore to being itchy. She threw on some comfortable clothes, stuffed her feet into boots, and grabbed her purse and coat. And then she headed to the store.

She had a care package to put together.

At the very least, she needed to see Caden, even if she didn’t stay.

Thinking of what she liked to have when she didn’t feel good, she roamed around the supermarket picking up chicken noodle soup and crackers, popsicles and ginger ale, tea bags for hot tea and bread for toast, among other things. As little as Caden had stayed there over the past two months, he couldn’t possibly have much food in the house, which made her feel bad for not doing this sooner. She threw in pain medicine and throat lozenges and Pepto Bismol.

And then she passed the aisle full of holiday items. Gift wrap, decoration, candy, and toys made it look like the North Pole had exploded in the middle of the Giant. Makenna grabbed Caden a bag of peanut M&Ms, because he liked them, too. A shelf of stuffed animals caught her eye, and even though it was a little corny, she was drawn closer.

What said Feel better! more than a cuddly stuffed animal? The fact that she was considering giving it to a big, tattooed, pierced, and scarred guy made it kinda funny, too—and anything that might make him smile seemed like a good idea to her. Besides, Caden might look a little rough around the edges, but he was a big teddy bear inside. And she’d always loved that dichotomy about him.

And then she saw the perfect little guy.

He was a brown bear with black stitching here and there like he’d been hand-sewn or put back together. He had a sweet face and an even sweeter red patchwork heart on his chest. And something about all that stitchwork and the heart reminded her of Caden. Without letting herself overthink it, Makenna grabbed him and threw him in the cart.

It was a short trip from the store to Caden’s townhouse. She’d always loved where he lived in Fairlington. Built in the 1940s to house workers for the then-new Pentagon office building, the neighborhood was all red-brick collections of townhouses grouped around small cul-de-sacs. They were charming and close to everything and some of the units were surprisingly spacious, including Caden’s, which had two bedrooms and a finished basement.

As she parked her Prius in one of the visitors’ spots, that got her to thinking.

Here she’d been wondering why he didn’t get rid of his place. Given the baby, it would make much more sense for them to get rid of hers. Caden’s house had easily twice the square footage of her apartment, and he didn’t even use the room next to his bedroom, which would make a perfect nursery.

As she stared at the front of his house, her belly did a little flip. Obviously, she was getting ahead of herself. But thoughts of where the baby would live represented just one in about a million things she now had to consider. Well, they. They now had to consider. She had to stop thinking about this like she was on her own.

She had Caden.

And right now, he needed her.

Makenna collected all the bags from the car and hefted them up to his front porch. She had to sit some down to knock on the door.

It opened in less than a minute.

“Makenna? What are you doing here?” Caden asked, clearly surprised to see her. Wearing a pair of old sweatpants and a threadbare T-shirt, he was a sight for sore eyes, making her want to throw her arms around him and burrow into his chest. But he also had dark and almost sunken circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days, and something about his color wasn’t quite right. He really did look unwell.

“I missed you too much to stay away anymore, so I brought you a care package. Well, it kinda grew into a care grocery order, but same difference.” She smiled, though inside she was bursting to tell him their news. “I won’t stay if you’re not up to it, but at least let me put this away for you and maybe make you a bowl of soup or something.” Was she imagining it, or did his face look thinner, too? God, she really should’ve come sooner.

He frowned but nodded, then reached down and grabbed the bags she’d rested on the porch. “You didn’t have to do all this,” he said, leading her inside. “But thank you.”

“Of course, I did,” she said as they walked through the open living and dining room to the small kitchen at the back of the house. “I’ve been dying to come take care of you, but I didn’t want to wake you up if you were sleeping or something. But then I started worrying that you were over here needing help or food or medicine and would be too stubborn to ask for what you needed.” She gave him a knowing smile.

He chuffed out a little laugh as they settled everything onto the counters. “Yeah. Well. You know me.”

“So what’s been going on? Is it a stomach virus? The flu?” she asked as she started unpacking the bags.

Brow furrowed, Caden crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “Yeah. Uh, my stomach. But, it’s starting to feel better.” Looking down at the floor, he gave a little shrug.