Page 48 of Louisiana Protector

“That makes a sick kind of sense,” Gramps said.

“Let’s change the subject and talk about something more pleasant,” Johnny suggested. “Mimi, how was your day?”

“Good…quiet. I played with Danny for a while, and I cooked dinner.”

“Is she a good cook, Gramps?” he asked.

“Fair,” Gramps replied with a teasing twinkle in his dark brown eyes.

“Fair,” Mimi echoed with mock outrage. “Well, you’re the one who taught me everything I know about cooking, so if I’m only fair in the kitchen, that’s all your fault.”

Johnny and Gramps laughed, and that seemed to set the mood for the rest of the evening. Gramps told stories from his childhood that kept Johnny and Mimi laughing as Johnny began building a tower with Danny.

However, beneath his laughter, Johnny had a building tension. He wanted…needed to have a very serious conversation with Mimi. He needed to know if she was never going to allow him into her life completely.

He wouldn’t be happy until she agreed to marry him. He wanted to spend every night with her in his arms instead of having to leave the shanty by ten or so each night.

“By the way, I ran into Jean-Luc on my way here,” Johnny said when there was a lull in the conversation. “He wanted me to tell you he misses you and Danny.”

Mimi frowned. “I know it sounds crazy, but I miss seeing and spending time with him, too. I consider Jean-Luc a really close friend.”

“It’s understandable that you’d miss all the men who were so supportive of you through the last five years,” Gramps said. “But things have changed, and your first priority has to be keeping yourself safe and sound.”

“I know. The only positive thing is that if one man is guilty, then two of my friends are innocent,” Mimi replied.

“Once we have the guilty person in jail, I wouldn’t mind occasionally visiting with the other two men. The key word is occasionally,” Johnny said.

“Johnny, could you maybe play more and talk less?” Danny asked.

Once again, the adults laughed at the little boy’s request, but when the laugher died down, Mimi looked sternly at her son. “Danny, that was very rude of you,” she said.

Danny looked down and his lower lip began to tremble. “Sorry, Johnny. I didn’t mean to be rude. I just wanted you to add more blocks to our tower.”

“It’s all right, Danny. But it’s never nice for a child to tell an adult to stop talking,” Johnny said.

Danny looked up at him, his face a study of misery. “Are you mad at me, Johnny?”

“No, son. I’m not mad,” Johnny replied softly.

Danny looked worriedly at Mimi. “Are you mad at me?”

“No, honey. I’m not mad,” Mimi said, and Danny sighed in obvious relief.

It wasn’t long after that when it was bedtime for Danny. As had become the habit, Johnny followed Mimi into the room where Danny was already in bed with Mr. Wiggles in his arms.

As they went through the bedtime routine, Johnny once again felt a tremendous love for the little boy.

When they returned to the living room, Gramps told them good night and then disappeared into his bedroom, leaving Johnny and Mimi alone.

“This has been quite pleasant, but then every evening I spend here is quite pleasant,” Johnny said when they were once again seated side by side on the sofa.

“I’ve enjoyed having you here every evening,” she replied with a warm smile.

Damn, he wanted to kiss her, and he wanted to confront her about where he stood with her. “Mimi, I need to know what we’re doing here. You know how badly I want you and Danny in my life as my family.”

His gaze searched her beautiful features, and his love for her welled up and tightened in his chest, “Mimi, I need to know now if you’re ready to fully commit to me. Marry me and let’s get on with our lives together.”

She frowned at him. “Johnny, I’m just not ready yet to make that kind of commitment to you. I need more time.”