Page 57 of Chasing Dreams
From time to time in the past, a tenacious relative or detective had sought him out. And he’d been able to convince them that nothing—not money or guilt tactics or threats—could make him break his vow.
Why then, when she hadn’t even asked, had the crazy thought of actively joining Shaine’s efforts skimmed across his mind?
He was tired, that was it, and antsy to get back to his mountain retreat. He was eager to get this thing over with and get his life back to normal.
Lying facing him, she sighed and kicked off the covers, the light from the streetlamp fingering through the blinds and revealing her slim form.
He touched her hair, straight and silky, her shoulder, smooth and lustrous. Sleeping with her was the most significant commitment he’d ever made to a woman. It was also one of the poorest choices he’d ever made concerning his own welfare. Sleeping together was more personal, more intimate than the act of lovemaking. Sleeping together meant knowing another person’s personal traits, their bathroom habits, their idiosyncrasies. Sleeping together meant waking up together.
And all that meant more involvement than he’d ever planned on. It meant caring. And he didn’t want to care.
She stirred beneath his hand, and he flattened his palm, thinking how perfect she was, how she seemed made just for him.
“Was I dreaming?” she asked sleepily.
“No.”
She snuggled closer. “Good. That means you feel this nice for real.”
He smiled against her marvelous hair.
She lay in the crook of his arm, her head on the pad of his shoulder and savored the steady beat of his heart beneath her palm. He was thinking of leaving.
The alarming knowledge wounded her, though she’d known all along theirs was a fated relationship. He’d always been honest. But she’d been hungry for his attention, his affection.
Their relationship was one of the best things that had ever happened in her life, and not only because of his help with Jack. For the first time she felt important so someone, as temporary as that feeling may be.
She’d go on after it was over. Even living on the outskirts of the city with people in and out of the inn every day, she was pretty much a loner. She wasn’t her sister. She could get along fine with her own company. She had friends. She had the inn. A man was nice, but she didn’t have to have one to make her a whole person.
But after Austin, going on alone would be different. Because with him, she’d known more joy than she’d believed could be hers. In him she’d found someone who really knew her and liked her for herself, in spite of her differences. For the first time she’d been herself without hesitation or reservation.
And although she told herself she could be a complete person without him, she wondered who she was kidding.
* *
Shaine helped Maya with the morning jobs and did the week’s shopping. They still had a week and a half left before the baby came, and after having left her friend and partner for so long, she wanted to help all she could.
Dumping flour into a canister, she paused, the white cloud settling on the front of her sweatshirt, and digested what she’d just thought. A week and a half. She knew the exact day Maya’s baby would arrive. How?
She called up the vision of the baby in the hospital, the flower-strewn room, the blue name card on the bassinet. There. The date had been there.
She grinned to herself, and continued putting the food away. This insight could have its advantages, she thought wryly. Should she tell Maya what she knew?
Footsteps sounded overhead, and she stopped. Their guests had checked out, and more weren’t expected until the following day. Craig had another day job, but maybe Marge Andersen was doing some heavy cleaning.
Shaine climbed the stairs and peeked into the room she’d heard the sounds coming from. A clunk and a few grunts led her hesitantly to the bathroom doorway.
Fully clothed, Austin stood in the antique bathtub wrestling with the shower head and a wrench.
“What do computer geeks know about plumbing?” she asked.
He turned to where she leaned against the doorjamb. “I live a long way from maintenance men, remember? Besides, you can learn to do anything on YouTube.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and watched.
He finished and placed the tools in a metal box. “So, some old cow used to drink out of this tub, eh?”
“And before that,” she countered, “when it was an original fixture, some old cow probably took a bath in it.”
