Chapter 84: Return to Innocence
Nicole was just looking at a few houses on the computer when Rafe opened the door, bearing fresh donuts from Krispy Kreme, as well as coffee. He closed the door a bit loudly. "Shh!" Nicole said, with her finger on her lips. "DR's still sleeping!"
"Whoops, sorry!" Rafe told her. They smiled.
"I don't blame you. I caught myself sleeping in and realized DR is actually sleeping well now!"
"That's good! Whatcha lookin' at?"
"Some homes. I'm trying to find a place for us to stay and call our own. Now that I have a job, it'll be easier to buy a house for me and DR."
"So now I see why you've been watching so much HGTV," Rafe teased, getting everything ready on the counter. "Are you sure you wanna do this? I mean, you're free to stay here, if you'd like!"
"Thanks, but I'm sure. I've got to be a bit more independent now. I feel like a freeloader, almost, and I've kinda been one for a while now. What would DR think of me?"
"He'd think you were right to move in with a man that loves you." Rafe walked over to Nicole and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. He took a glance at some of the homes on the laptop. One was in a suburb 20 minutes away from the Square, and had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms for just $350,000. Rafe pointed to it. "You should buy this one!"
"I've been thinking about it. I'll have to find a real estate agent soon. With housing prices this cheap, this one won't be on the market for long!"
"Yeah. So, you want chocolate or maple?"
"Chocolate. I'm not Canadian!" Nicole joked. Rafe giggled a bit. He brought it over to her on a paper plate, with her cup of coffee.
"Thank you for the breakfast!" Nicole said with a mouth full of donut.
"No problem. I also picked up some baby food for DR."
"Thanks. We can always use more. EJ already stocked up one of the mansion's cabinets with it."
"Really? Wow. Hey, how is EJ? He thanked me and everything, but seemed a bit tense the other day when I dropped by."
Nicole sighed. "He's glad to have DR, but still adjusting to it. He's also very busy with work, and he's been trying to convince me to move myself and DR back into the mansion."
"What'd you tell him?" Rafe nervously inquired.
"I said that I'm fine here, until I buy my own place."
"Ah, OK. That's good."
Nicole suddenly felt a bit uneasy. "OK, Rafe, there's something I have been keeping from you."
Rafe tensed. Nicole hadn't said those three words to him yet. Did she still harbor some feelings for EJ, even after all this time? "What is it?"
"When we were baby shopping before, I told EJ that we slept together in the safehouse. He's been acting kinda strange since then. Maybe that's why he was so distant when you came over the other day."
On one hand, Rafe was happy. EJ knew to back off, if he was even still interested in Nicole. But on the other hand, Rafe was upset. He sighed. "Why did you tell him?"
"I thought he had a right to know. I thought maybe it would make him stop pestering me about moving back in with him. And besides, I thought you wanted everyone to know about us?"
"Yeah, I do. But what if he comes up with some crazy revenge scheme? Like he did when I married Sami!"
"Why would he do that?" Nicole asked. "He doesn't want me back!"
"Are you certain?" Rafe asked. "Think about it, Nicole. After everything he did, he wants you moving back to the mansion now that he has the family he has always wanted. Plus, he's free of Sami! And that would explain why he acted weirdly when he heard the truth about us."
"Or he is just in shock about everything! This is a big adjustment."
"I suppose," Rafe began, "but I'm still keeping an eye on him."
"Well, now that that's out of the way," Nicole said, "have you got anymore information on Cameron?"
"Only that he got into a huge fight with Abigail in the coffeehouse recently."
"We need to take him down somehow. Even if we can't link him with the kidnapping, he still needs to pay!"
Rafe could see from the look on Nicole's face that she was *bleep*. He was too, and Rafe was sure EJ wouldn't be happy either. But suddenly, an idea dawned on him. "Nicole, I have the best idea," he said. Rafe moved closer to Nicole and whispered something in his ear as she sipped from her cup of coffee. She smiled.
"Then let's do it!" She said.