AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nodded, but she was looking at him in a way that made him feel more naked than when they’d been skinny-dipping in the pond.
He started packing their debris back into the basket. He needed something to do with his hands, because the urge to kiss her felt like more than just the urge to start something they didn’t have time to finish.
‘I didn’t mean to ruin the afternoon, this has been…’ She hesitated, then smiled, that sweet, straightforward smile that her son had inherited. His heart started beating in a jungle rhythm – deep and erratic and difficult to ignore. ‘It’s been really nice to talk to you properly.’
‘Nice wasn’t what I was aiming for,’ he said, letting his gaze drift over the bodice of her dress dampened by her bra. ‘How about I make up for it tonight?’ he suggested. They were just bonk buddies, that was the deal, he needed to remember that.
‘I’d like that,’ she said, but her smile had disappeared. ‘But, before we go, I have something I need to tell you. It’s…’ She tugged on her bottom lip, unsure. And his heartbeat became even more erratic.
What was this now? And how did he feel about it? When she’d shown up at the workshop a couple of hours ago in the middle of the day, he’d been so stupidly pleased to see her. Not just because she’d looked so hot and happy in the short summer dress, but because it felt important that she’d come to him in the daylight. And he had to wonder why. Because he’d been trying to convince himself for days now that he was perfectly happy keeping their affair on the down-low, the way she’d originally insisted. Trying to persuade himself that he wasn’t dissatisfied every time she slipped out of his arms after they’d made love, and got dressed in a rush so she could sneak back to the farmhouse ahead of him.
They couldn’t afford to complicate things. Neither one of them wanted to get caught, because it would confuse everyone. Toto and Josh most of all.
But each night, when he’d lie on the caravan bed, his body still humming from afterglow, and wait for her to finish getting dressed in the lamplight, his chest had begun to feel as if a heavy weight was lying on it. And each night he’d found it harder and harder not to give in to the urge to ask her not to go. To ask her to stay with him for the rest of the night. Not because he wanted to jump her again. But because he wanted her with him when he woke up in the morning.
And now, after everything he’d just told her, stuff he’d never told anyone, not even Dee, and the patient way she’d listened, and the compassion and fury shining in her eyes when she had, he was finding it even harder to ignore the boulder on his chest. He didn’t want to hope, because that made him feel pathetic. But surely she wouldn’t have asked him about all that shit from his past unless she felt the same way – that there might be more going on here than just recreational sex and small talk.
‘It’s about Toto,’ she said.
‘Toto?’ he said, as his heartbeat downgraded. It wasn’t what he’d been expecting her to say, but why was he so disappointed? What exactly had he been hoping to hear? ‘What’s up with Toto?’
*
‘Your daughter started her periods on Friday.’
Ellie watched Art’s face, for any adverse reaction, and saw the crease form between his brows.
‘She wanted me to tell you,’ she added.
One quizzical eyebrow lifted. ‘Why did she tell you about it?’
He didn’t sound upset, so much as surprised, but there was a wariness there that made the nerves jump and jive in her stomach.
Why did his reaction feel like a slap? Maybe it was just that shocking revelation about his injury, making her feel overemotional? That Art had opened up about his past had felt significant, even though he hadn’t seemed to need her outrage or her support – giving the horrific details in a monotone, as if he’d come to terms with those events years ago.
He was a remarkably self-sufficient man, which was what she wanted, wasn’t it?
‘Not exactly,’ she said. ‘She was busy raiding my bathroom for sanitary products.’
He swore, the frown remaining in place. ‘I’ll take her into Gratesbury tomorrow and get her what she needs.’
‘I already did that,’ she said, trying not to take the curt tone personally.
The frown deepened. ‘You didn’t need to. I could have handled it.’
OK, that was definitely a slap. She’d worried about overstepping the mark, that Art might resent her involvement, but she hadn’t expected his response to be this negative. Especially after the conversation they’d just shared.
He began to pack the rest of the leftovers into the picnic basket, his movements tense.
‘Art, I’m sensing a certain amount of animosity here and I’m not sure where it’s coming from,’ she said, determined to calm the situation for Toto’s sake as much as her own. The little girl had been worried her father would freak out about this. Apparently she’d been right. It was her job now to make sure he didn’t freak out with his daughter.
He didn’t respond, turning his back to tug his T-shirt over his head.
‘If you’ve got a problem with me buying your daughter sanitary products that she needed, when she needed them, I’d like to know why?’
‘Let’s just drop it,’ he said, standing up to stamp on his boots.
I don’t think so.
