Help Me Heal

Chapter 42

After the shopping trip, Hank had dropped Erin off at Jay's place. She had told him that she had some clothes there, so she would been able to get ready and travel with Jay to the restaurant for that night's family dinner. That was how she had described it, and the choice of words had meant a lot to him.

Hank and Kalinda had gone to her apartment. On the shopping trip, not wanting to go all day without buying anything, he had purchased some new black shoes, a smart pair of navy blue pants and a light blue shirt – a new outfit to wear to dinner.

"You look so smart and handsome," was Kalinda's first reaction to seeing him in it. He was well aware that she liked a smartly-dressed man. Luckily for him, he was used to dressing that way for social occasions.

"And you look stunning," he said, looking her up and down. She had a stylish sleeveless black dress on, which finished well above the knee. Leather boots completed the look, much to his pleasure. Her hair was inevitably up, but he looked past that.

"Thank you, passion fruit."

"Do not start calling me passion fruit," he said with sternness that he wasn't entirely faking. "Once was enough."

Kalinda laughed. "Aww. I like that name for you."

Hurriedly, Hank changed the subject. "I'm going to cover Erin and Jay's share of the check tonight. Don't say anything to them, but I don't think they're in great shape financially, with Erin only just starting at the agency and Jay having just returned to Chicago."

"Bless them," Kalinda said with sympathy. "You know, I've been doing some thinking about them. They're struggling to find somewhere to live. You and I have thought about living together, at your house. What if we did that and I spoke to the guy who owns this place to see if Erin and Jay can have it, maybe even at the same reduced rate I got it for? Might be stretching the 'friend of a friend' thing a bit too far, but you don't get if you don't ask."

Wait, wait, wait," Hank said, holding up a hand. "Did you just casually drop into conversation that you're ready to move in with me?"

"Yeah, I think I did," she said thoughtfully. "I mean, only if you want me to, obviously."

"Of course I want you to. That's absolutely what I want. And like you said, maybe Erin and Jay can take this place, if they want to. At the very least, it's an idea worth putting out there to see what they think of it. We could do that over dinner later?"

Kalinda nodded. "Let's do that."

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It was noticeable to Hank that there was a relaxed atmosphere at the dinner table. It had been that way throughout the evening. The four of them had become comfortable in each other's company. He liked that because it showed that Kalinda was being seen less as the woman he had recently started dating and more as a member of the family.

For the past ten minutes or so, Jay and Kalinda had been talking about soccer, or football as she called it. In truth, the conversation was quite boring for Hank, and he could tell that Erin felt the same, sitting there eating in silence and trying not to let her expression become vacant. Much as he liked to see Kalinda and Jay getting along, Hank decided to step in at the next opportunity, and he knew the right subject to bring up when he did so. When Kalinda stopped to pour herself more wine, he went for it.

"So, Kalinda and I have been thinking about living arrangements. We'd like to move in together as soon as it's practical."

"That's great!" Erin cried, immediately delighted for them. "Honestly, the two of you are made for each other. Like, to the fullest extent. It's been obvious for some time now."