Page 55 of Alone With You
His heart beat against the hollow of her palms, though she hardly remembered raising her hands to his chest. Was this really happening? Was he drawing her close like a promise? She couldn’t stop shaking. Creases deepened at the edge of his eyes. She took in the love in his smile but couldn’t stop staring. He really wasn’t saying good-bye?
“I have one more surprise.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “About this job…it’s in Seattle.”
She jolted a little, her heels rising. “Ilive in Seattle.”
“I know. John told me.” He searched her face, his thumbs grazing her cheeks. “Would it scare the hell out of you if I followed you there?”
A laugh lurched out of her before she could catch it back.
She said, “Yes.”
He pulled back, hesitant. “It’ll scare you?”
“Yes. But I want you to live with me anyway.”
He leaned down and planted his beautiful mouth on her lips. She ran her hands up his chest and locked them behind his neck, feeling another tear fall loose from her lashes.
“I should warn you,” she said, rising breathless out of his kiss, “my bed is big, but my apartment is small.”
“We’ll have to buy a place together, then.” He rocked her, swaying like a slow dance. “A little cabin of our own.”
She could hardly see him through the blur of her gathering tears. “Why am I crying?”
“Because you love me,” he said, against her lips. “And because I love you back.”
EPILOGUE
Jenny opened the oven door to a cloud of smoke. Waving it away with a pot holder, she pulled out a tray. The stuffed mushrooms clanked on the rim of the pan like lumps of coal. With a shrug, she walked the tray across the kitchen of their new home, tipped her toe on the hinge of the garbage can, and dumped the failed experiment into the trash. Ah well. She would do better next time.
She reached for her cell phone, hoping it wasn’t too late to call the caterer and add another appetizer to the order for this afternoon’s housewarming gathering. While she chatted, she heard familiar footsteps coming up the basement stairs. Logan’s warm hands slip around her from behind just as she finished the call and laid the phone on the counter.
“The mushroom experiment was a bust,” she said, as she turned into his strong, hard chest. “I’ll look for more chanterelles after the next rain.”
A wicked grin split his face. “I’ll go with you.”
She slung her arms around his neck and enjoyed a frisson of expectation. They’d bought this house, in part, because of the reservation land that abutted their backyard. In those deep woods, they’d already found some secluded places to enjoy a frolic or two in the open air, reliving their woodland pleasures without the emergency tracheostomy interfering. She couldn’t get enough of Logan and suspected she never would.
She ran her fingers through his thick hair and a wood shaving fell into her palm. Lifting it up, she tilted her head in question. “You’ve been unpacking.”
“Maybe.” His eyes were half-lidded as he stripped off her clothes with his gaze. “I was looking for the grill basket and tools, just like you asked me.”
“You didn’t pack those tools in wood shavings, darling.” The wood shavings were a certain kind of packing, for a specific pile of goods that didn't weigh much but held a ton of meaning. “Any chance those birds will make a showing today?”
Her heart squeezed as the expression on his face shifted. When they’d left John’s rented cabin months ago, Logan had packed up all his carving equipment as well as the flock of wooden birds. He put them in storage because there was no room for all that in her tiny apartment, and no work room, either. But now that they’d bought this house together, all those boxes had been stowed in the basement. Considering that today they were throwing a party, it was a strange time for Logan to dig through the past.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, taking her hand to rock her in a slow dance. “John is bringing his baby daughter Lily, and three of my younger nieces will be here this afternoon, too.”
“That’s why you made the macaroni and cheese.” She tilted her chin toward to the foil-wrapped tins as they sashayed by
“I thought they might like the birds.” He shrugged. “Maybe the kids could take a set home, one set for each of them.”
She caught her lip against a gasp. The kids wouldlovethe carved birds. Their other guests would love, them, too. Everyone would marvel that Logan had carved and painted each one with his own hands in those terrible months when he’d avoided everyone, lost in his grief.
“I adore that idea.” She ran her fingers across his smooth-shaven jaw. “But are you sure you’re good with it?”
“It's time." His smile was soft. “I'll set them on the railing around the deck. The kids can pick their favorites.”
“And then those birds,” she whispered, “will finally fly free.”
