"You really don't need to stay with me tonight," she told him as the hour grew late. "I can drive you out to your parent's house, if you want."
"I don't want you staying alone," he told her, his eyes not moving from the TV program.
She sighed. "I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for years now."
His eyes narrowed, but he continued to look straight ahead. "I can see that now, thanks."
Maybe if she had some sign that he wanted to stay, or wanted to be with her, it would be different. He was willing to leave, but then got upset when she mentioned packing his things. She couldn't think of any other reason for his bad humor. Instead, they had spent the last hour in silence, watching television. Well, he had. She had stayed busy doing various chores around the house.
She looked around the home she had built. Maybe it would be best if she were to listen to her family and move into her father's house in Scotland. Katie would have plenty of cousins to play with, and Allie could work at her family's business. Living there, she might even have the money to fly Katie to see her grandparents, as well as her Nana, every couple of months. Her cousins had been trying for years to get her to move back. While Katie was young, maybe it was time.
Sighing, she got up from the chair where she was sitting and made her way outside. Sitting on the front porch in the swing that she and Katie had put up last year, she looked unseeing at her surroundings. A single tear escaped down her cheek and she absentmindedly wiped it away.
He watched her, wondering what was going through her mind. He knew his bad mood had caused it, but always before, Allie would fight fire with fire. He wasn't used to her like this. Rarely did she let things get the better of her.
He shuffled out and sat quietly next to her on the swing. His arm went around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I don't know how to fix things," he began quietly. "I don't know how to take them back to the way they were. I wish I did."
She sat silently, absorbing his words. She was about to speak when she felt the vibration.
She sat up and took the phone from her pocket, reading the message.
"I'm sorry. I have to go. I'm not sure when I'll be back," she said, frowning.
He watched her go in the house and in a few moments return, wearing a jacket and holding car keys.
"Do you want me to drop you off at your parents?" she asked, and as she reached in her pocket to take out her cell once more, he saw her jacket move and reveal that she was armed.
He looked at her, concerned. She correctly interpreted his look and answered, "It goes with the territory. I'm not normally called in unless it's an emergency. Did you want me to drop you off somewhere?" she repeated again.
He shook his head. "I'll wait for you here."
She shrugged. "Don't forget to set the alarm. I need to be going," she said, glancing at her phone once more. "Make yourself at home."
He watched her drive away, sighing himself, then pulling himself up off the swing and going back in the house to wait for her.