Love Me Back (Amelia and Daniel) novel Chapter 439

The hospital room was quiet after the nurse left. Ruby sat cross-legged on the bed, tiny but deadly serious.

Daniel took the chair across from her, just as solemn, as if they were about to negotiate a billion-dollar deal.

For two whole minutes, they stared each other down, neither one blinking. Finally, Ruby broke the silence. “Uncle Daniel, do you like my mom?”

This wasn’t a billion-dollar contract—this was a conversation worth far more than that. Daniel raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“Either you like her or you don’t. Just say it.” Ruby scrunched up her little brow. “Grownups have a way of never getting to the point.”

Daniel chuckled, then told her, “I do. I like her a lot.”

Ruby’s frown vanished. “If you like her, then listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

Daniel was quick to play along, pulling out his phone and tapping the record button. “I’m all ears.”

Ruby cleared her throat, imitating an adult, though her voice was still as sweet as candy. “My mom loves gardening, and she likes apple tarts. She doesn’t like spicy food, and she really hates sour things. Oh, and she loves cold desserts, but she won’t let me have any. In summer, she always sneaks ice cream when I’m not looking—even though I can always smell it on her breath, but I pretend not to notice.”

“She likes the color green, but when she buys clothes, she always picks white. She doesn’t wear perfume, and she can’t stand people who smell like they bathed in it. The way you smell—”

Ruby leaned over and gave him a quick sniff, puppy-like. “It’s nice. Subtle. I don’t think she’d mind.”

“And she doesn’t really like vegetables, but she pretends she does so I’ll eat mine. I’ve even caught her picking them out of her food a few times. You’ll have to convince her to eat more veggies, okay? If you don’t eat them, you’ll get sick.”

The longer Daniel listened, the more off this conversation felt. He interrupted, “Why are you telling me all this?”

Bunny’s words sounded almost like she was entrusting Amelia to him, like she was about to disappear and needed someone to take over.

Daniel’s mood took another wild turn. “What kind of spark?”

For a moment, Daniel couldn’t tell if she was complimenting him or roasting him. “So because I’m more passionate, you want to entrust your mom to me?”

Ruby nodded.

Daniel was caught off guard, silent for a moment.