AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The day passed happily.Jenny and Toby, who was very grumpy due to the teeth thing, popped by for a rainbow cookie and a coffee.At two, I headed back to Jess’ place to make sure everything was tickety-boo for her imminent arrival.I also spent a happy hour making a WELCOME HOME banner to string across her doorway, decorating it with whatever craft items I could scrounge from around her house, like mini pom-poms and scraps of ribbon.The result was… Eccentric, but lovable.Or so I hoped.
Rick called just as I was wondering what to do for dinner.
“Wanna drive out to the highest point in town later and go stargazing?”
I all but sighed girlishly into the phone.“I really do.And make out?”
He chuckled.“Mostdefinitelymake out.”
He invited me over, made adivinechicken pot pie for all for us, and then he drove me to a place known for people taking photos there.
We spent some time looking at the view, but longer making out in the truck bed.
Rick had connected a string of fairy lights to a little electric battery and strung them across the back of the cab, filling the truck bed with blankets and pillows.After the sun bled out below the horizon, we were cocooned in the golden glow from the tiny bulbs.The effervescent light warded off the dark, and my increasingly frequent thoughts about what would happen when I left.
He made love to me slowly and tenderly, our bodies cushioned by the layers of blankets.I wrapped myself around him, keeping my legs tight around his hips.We moved languidly.I didn’t want us to be separated by even an inch, relished the feel of his skin on mine, the rasp of his scruffy stubble against my neck, the sound of his groans.
I wanted to record our moments together to store in my heart forever, keep them crystal clear so I could get them out and sigh over them whenever I wanted, like a teenager with one of those instant photo booth strips, or a regency heroine with a miniature portrait in a locket.
He held me close as the stars winked at us overheard, and I knew that I might be going home in a few days, but a large piece of my heart had already broken off and settled down with Rick Callahan.
I wouldn’t be able to take it back; and I didn’t want to.
* * *
I’d like to say that I woke up naturally on Wednesday morning, delighted to find Jess and Connor home, but instead they crashed through the front door at two a.m., startling me out of sleep, and I rushed down the stairs in a panic thinking the house was being burgled.Instead, I saw them in the hallway, a jumble of tired eyes and bulging suitcases, and I leapt down the last two steps to greet them.
Jess and I shared a long, tight hug before she pulled back to say, “I’m aware that somethingshave happened, but I am in no state to talk about it now.I’m practically asleep standing up.”
After helping them get everything inside and bidding them goodnight, I lay awake in the darkness for a long while, staring at the ceiling, my gaze trailing the little crack of light across it spread by the glow of the moon through the curtains.
My cousin’s return twisted up joy and sadness inside me; delight at being close to her again and anticipation of seeing her holiday snaps, twinned with a wrenching dread at leaving the happy alternate life I’d settled into here.
Sleep evaded me for some hours.
On Wednesday night, after rounds of catching up with people, haranguing Aunt Laurie for hiding her fractured arm, sleeping off jetlag, and assuring herself thatCake Awayhad not, in fact, burnt down or been otherwise harmed, Jess threw a going-away party for me.
Upstairs in the guest room, I smoothed down the skirt of my cheongsam, eyeing myself critically in the mirror.The rational part of my brain said, “Stop focusing on how you look!Just be in the moment!”The vain emotional part of my brain argued, “You want him to remember you like this, not with unwashed hair and in jogging pants.”
Stupid brain.
I applied the finishing touches of my make-up and grabbed my purse to go next door.When I opened the door, the scent of barbecuing hot meat reached me, and my stomach sat up and begged.I crossed the short distance to Rick’s house, heard the clink of glasses and snatches of laughter, kids running about in the big yard.I rounded the house and let myself in through the gate.Rick was manning the barbecue with Eddie, and as if he’d heard me, he looked up as I shut the gate behind me, and his gaze went soft.Something inside me yearned to stay longer.Maybe forever.
He said something to Eddie, passed over the barbecue tongs, and crossed the yard to greet me.
I tipped my face up towards his, and he obliged me with a kiss.I tried to keep it light, but all I could think was that by midday Saturday, he’d be an ocean away from me, and my lip wobbled as I pressed into him.
“Baby, what’s this?”he asked, cupping my cheek, thumbing at a stray tear.
“Nothing.”I hiccupped a sob at the endearment and then laughed sadly at myself.“I don’t want to leave you.”
He curled his arms around me, and I pressed my face into his chest and breathed him in.“It’s just for a little while, sweet thing.”
“Really?”
“Soon as I can get things under control with work, I’ll come out and see you.”
My heart clenched.Over the last few weeks, I’d got the distinct impression that Rick only ever said things he meant, but sometimes, holiday romances didn’t work out.What if I crossed back over the ocean and he didn’t miss me?
