Page 113 of On the Ropes
I raked a hand through my hair. “That’s the way she made me feel.”
His eyes darted back to the computer screen. “And you’re sure Tabitha didn’t want a relationship with you or had feelings for you the way you did?”
I didn’t answer right away. I watched her pull back from me this morning. That was real. So was everything else that was good between us the past two weeks—the bright light of her tempting me to open, to soften, to trust again. Every secret, every teasing joke, the sound of her laughter, muffled against my chest in the morning. The desperate, urgent way she clung to me every time we had sex. The tender way she’d stroked my hair when I was sick, promising to stay all night.
And, most of all, her stubborn belief that people coming together could always make a difference. Tabitha had shown me her heart, time and time again. That was as real as anything I’d ever experienced.
“I’m not sure,” I said slowly. “I don’t know if she’s scared. Or running away for some other reason. But what’s been going on between us isn’t temporary.”
He turned his computer around. It was a website with Tabitha’s videos, linked to the pocket park donation page. I cringed when I saw all those names again. People we’d probably have to return money to. “Did you ever watch any of the videos Tabitha made about Tenth Street?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
Rowan hit Play on the most recent one. “She uploaded this a day ago. She said it was a bunch of random segments and some behind-the-scenes shots.”
Curious, I leaned in to read the caption: There are a lot of things to love about the neighbors working together on Tenth Street’s pocket park. It’s almost impossible to capture. So I present to you a short compilation of random moments that never made it into any of the videos I posted. I’m even in the background of a few of these from the day I set up my camera to record a long before/after piece. After watching this, you’ll see why this place means so very much to me.
I couldn’t help but smile at the images appearing on the screen, many I recognized from days Tabitha had jumped around with her camera. But there were some I hadn’t seen: Rowan and me laughing, telling stories about Eddie’s stoop. Me, helping my mothers plant tomato plants, Midge clearly teasing me as I grinned. Alice patting my cheek as I brought her a cup of coffee on the bench.
Tabitha and me playing a game of hopscotch with Lía and Marco. The two of us, gardening together. Cleaning together. There was a quick shot of me, leaning against the wall as Tabitha told me some grandiose story, her hands moving around her face. The expression I wore was amused and affectionate.
Focused. Only on her.
“It was that obvious then?” I asked, face hot.
“What was obvious?”
I indicated the screen. “I was in love with her this whole time.”
Rowan stopped the video with a wry laugh. “That wasn’t what I was showing you.” He clicked back, waved the mouse over the handful of posts about the park. “If you watch all of these, there’s one thing they all have in common.”
“Everyone can see I’m a fool for her?”
“Nope.” He pointed at the screen. “Every single one of these videos is about you.”
I froze. Replayed what I’d just seen until I understood what Rowan was trying to show me.
“Maybe she is running scared,” he said. “And I can’t blame her. This fallin’-in-love stuff sure seems scary to me. When I watch these? It’s clear to me you weren’t the only one acting like an obsessed fool.”
I dragged my attention back to the screen and shivered with goose bumps. The paused image was a shot of me and Rowan, talking with Eddie as I hauled a bag of trash over my shoulder. My body language was relaxed and I looked happy and content.
Tabitha stood off to the side, clearly enjoying whatever it was we were saying. She was biting the tip of her thumb with a wide grin, brown eyes shining up at me, and only me, like I was…like I was…
“See what I’m sayin’?” Rowan asked.
I huffed out a surprised breath. “Yeah,” I said, stunned. Talk about a hit I hadn’t seen coming: Tabitha Tyler, looking at me like I was the love of her life.
