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Ryan froh was hoh the kitchen door with our bags She was busy s upstairs," she ordered

Bill was sitting in a dark brown recliner chair in the fa the newspaper and peeking over the top of it to occasionally watch television Itin his favorite chair reading the newspaper

I followed Ryan up the tan carpeted stairs to his rooht open with his shoulder His old room had one four-panedcentered on the wall that overlooked the front yard He flipped on the bedroohtstand next to the bed The light cast a shadow on the plain beige walls and new tan carpeting

He had a dark oak desk with an old co on it On top of his tall wooden dresser were two baseball trophies and a small decorative lamp And in the corner of his roo

A tinge of sadness flowed intoup in, was obviously cleansed of s

He didn’t have an apartment, a house, or even an old bedroootten

I understood why he was dying to get in his car thethat was his… truly his More importantly, I nohy he hts of building a house by a lake My love was desperately craving a home… a connection… a safe haven to call his own - for he had nothing in this world but a suitcase and another lonely destination

I dropped rabbed the front of his jacket with both of my hands I wanted hih my lips I was desperate for hier alone in this world; that as long as I had a breath still left in s I would provide him shelter and be his safe haven in all this uncertainty

He slipped his fingers underneath my jacket and pushed it back over my shoulders His coat ca me doith hiether, passionately kissing each other

"I love you," Idirectly into his open eyes when I said it

"I love you too," he breathed back

I restedto his heartbeat while he softly stroked my hair He kissed hter, conveying his own e of love back to me

All too soon our unspoken conversation was interrupted by hisup the stairs that Nick and Janelle were here