Rest and Relaxation

Paige

I trudged up the stairs after a long day at the shelter, exhausted but pleased with the work. Cat had begun helping with dinner after weeks of refusing to come down during mealtimes at all. I’d take the progress. And Miranda had sworn to me on the way in that she’d stopped Tom from ever leaving the room. I pushed open the door quietly, trying to catch him out of bed if he was.

Tom sat, propped up with a few pillows, in the middle of our bed with the TV on. I smiled. “Did you survive your first day of bed rest?”

“Somehow.” He switched off the TV. “But it’s a lot better now that you’re here.”

I dropped my bag and headed for the bathroom. “I’m proud of you. I really thought you wouldn’t be able to—”

On the tile floor sat a discarded suit. And not the one he’d been wearing when we got home yesterday. I turned slowly back to him.

“What?” he asked innocently.

I snagged the tie off the floor and held it up. He went pale.

“I’m sorry!” He held his hands up. “Do you have any idea how bori