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Leaning over, he kissed the top of her head, and then said, “Okay. I will, then.”
After finishing the rest of their meal, they walked back to Deacon’s. Grabbing Sara’s bag, they walked back down to her car. After giving her a long, hard kiss, she got in her car and drove away, leaving him to his own devices until Chris and Chloe showed up.
Chapter 17
Sara woke up slowly, stretching. Able to take a few minutes before getting up to go into work, she just laid in bed, smiling. Life was going really well.
The business was doing great, things with Deacon were amazing.
Over the last few months, a pattern had begun to emerge. She would spend time at his place, or he at hers, whenever they were free. They were together so often that there was a level of comfort now that Sara couldn’t remember ever having with another person.
The initial rush of feelings, the overwhelming passion, was giving way to something entirely different. It was sweeter, more honest, and incredibly powerful. They talked to each other about stupid stuff, but also about important things. It felt like they were building something together. When she took the time to consider that, it scared the shit out of her.
Deacon was just a great guy. He was smart, funny, gorgeous. The sex was unbelievable and seemed to be getting better as time moved on. They wanted the same things in life.
No matter how perfect things were, that insecure part of her kept worrying that, at some point, the other shoe would drop.
Smitty loved him. Hell, Even Elle had given her official seal of approval. A group of them had gotten together and gone out dancing one night. Chloe had gone with them. Now that she had gotten to know her a bit better, she really enjoyed Chloe. She was a fun girl.
Poor Deacon looked like he was in the seventh level of hell all night, but had managed to be a good sport. She didn’t find out until they got to the club that he despised dancing. She felt kind of bad, but how was she to know he didn’t dance. Ever. Chloe just kept laughing at him every so often. It was kind of funny, but Sara felt kind of disloyal for enjoying it.
Smiling, Sara thought back fondly on how she’d been able to make it up to him. She realized that she had been daydreaming for a little while now. She decided it was time to get up. She headed in to take a shower. Hearing her phone ring as she was rinsing her hair, she let it go to voice mail and continued to rinse. When she was done, she got out of the shower and grabbed her towel.
After wrapping herself in it, she went to go check her phone. Seeing an unfamiliar Florida number, she called it back. On the third ring someone answered, identifying themselves as from the Greenwood Hospice Care Center. Feeling a wrenching in her gut, Sara identified herself and indicated that she had missed a call from them.
She held briefly while the receptionist connected her to a case manager. She listened in polite tones as the nurse explained that her father had passed away earlier that morning after a long battle with kidney disease. After informing her that she was the only listed next of kin on their records, she confirmed that Sara would be making some sort of arrangements.
They briefly discussed the next steps. Sara agreed to contact a local mortuary.
Numbly, Sara remembered saying that she’d be flying in within the next day or two and that she’d come to collect his belongings.
After hanging up, Sara didn’t even remember the name of the person she had spoken to. Hands shaking, she dialed Elle at the office. She briefly explained the situation and let her know that she needed everyone to cover for her. She’d probably be in Florida for a few days, at least.
Elle assured her that she’d make sure everything ran smoothly and agreed to feed Smitty while she was gone. She even asked if Sara wanted her to come over, telling her that she would forward calls.
Telling her no, that she just needed to pack and take care of some details, Sara thanked her and disconnected.
Sara got dressed, still numb, then sat on the bed for a few minutes. Feeling a little lost, she wasn’t even sure where to begin. Knowing that sitting there wasn’t accomplishing anything, she pulled her luggage off the top shelf of the closet and began to pack a few days’ worth of clothes into it.
When she was packed, she moved to her laptop and started to search for airfare. She was startled when she heard a knock at the door. When she looked through the front blinds, she was even more startled to see Deacon standing there.
Opening the door, she blinked at him confused for a second and then burst into tears. She vaguely remembered him grabbing her and pulling her into a hug. He held her tightly, standing in her doorway until he had to shoo Smitty back inside.
Backing her up into the house, he closed the door and moved them to the couch, pulling her into his lap. He didn’t say anything, he just stroked his hand over her back until she was finally done crying.
Kissing the top of her head, he said, “I’m so sorry, honey.”
A new wave of tears started, but she was mostly able to stop them. Wiping her face, she glanced at the clock and said, “Why are you here at 10:43 a.m. on a Thursday? Not that I don’t appreciate it.”
“Elle called me. I left work because she said you wanted to be alone and work on details. That seemed like a bad idea to me.”
Sniffling again, Sara said, “Yeah. Probably. Thank you.”
Moving off of his lap, she moved into the guest bathroom, wiping her face and blowing her nose. When she returned to the living room, she felt calmer.
“I’m not sure why it hit me so hard, considering the history.”
Hugging him again, she said, “Thank you for coming over. I probably needed to do that.”
