Chapter 40

Inside the nearly finished drawer had been the last invitation. To meet him at Bradford Beach, where she’d taken that one incredible winter dawn picture. He wanted to give her the chance to recreate the picture, to have another memory of the city to torment her in Rosehill. Then he’d get her to the lake house for dinner and in-bed sex with candles the way she wanted, the way circumstances had prevented them from having yet. Alone.

Uninterrupted.

He zipped the cooler closed. If anyone had told him even a week ago that he’d be planning to decorate a room to make it sweet and romantic for sex, he would have given whoever it was a manly sock in the jaw.

Candace had him. Any idea that she wasn’t his “type” had been firmly subjugated to the intensity of his feelings. Never before had he felt this… much.

After the candelit sex he wanted to hold her all night, and when it was time for her to leave the next morning, not let her go.

He couldn’t keep her here. She felt she had a duty to her grandparents, which he understood and admired, even though he’d spent so long struggling to where he could finally understand that he also had a duty to himself. And he also suspected she was gun-shy about getting too involved too quickly, which, given her mother’s apparent behavior, he also understood. If that were the only thing keeping her from staying, he’d do whatever he could, playing fair or foul to change her mind.

But… He would love the chance to convince her to stay. Another day. Another week. Even if, by then, he’d be so crazy about her it would hurt ten times more when she left.

He heard a phone ringing and hesitated. Michelle wasn’t home, but he recognised her ringtone. He didn't want to pick up but their grandparents could be calling again. He strode over to the living room, checked the phone. Yes.

“Hello?”

“Oh…. Who is this?” The voice was surprisingly firm and cheerful. For some reason he expected Candace’s grandmother to sound at death’s door.

“Nolan Carrington. Michelle isn't home right now.” He wasn’t sure he should identify himself as Michelle’s roommate in case she hadn’t told them a man was living with her.

“Of course, Nolan dear, it’s nice to talk to you finally, Michelle’s been keeping you from me. This is her grandmother, Edith Hawthorne.”

“Nice to talk to you, too, Mrs. Hawthorne.”

“No, no. Just Edith.” She sounded younger than he expected, too.

“Edith. Is the hurricane gone yet?”

“Oh, yes. Just passed.” She sounded completely matter-of-fact.

“Must have been frightening staying through it.”

“I don’t know, I found it quite exciting. Nature’s power is truly awesome.” A deep voice rumbled in the background, Edith’s voice murmured a response. “Yes, tell the girls we’ve heard from the president of the association and our condo survived just fine. They shouldn’t worry, though I’m sure Candace has anyway.”

He chuckled. “Maybe a little.”

“Poor thing. She gets so worked up. Always has. How are the girls getting along?”

“Uh.” He had no idea how to tackle that one. “Okay.”

“Not good, huh. I’d hoped by now…Well, it may take a few more years, but they’ll end up best friends, you watch. They’re more similar than they realize.”

Interesting. He wanted to ask more, but wasn’t sure it was his place. “Candace’s looking forward to seeing you.”

“Ah. Yes.” She sounded distracted. “When is she coming now?”

“She’s planning to leave in the morning.”

“I see.” She passed along that information in a loud whisper. The rumbling in the background responded again. “Thanks for letting us know.”

Enthusiasm was missing from her tone. Nolan's hope perked up its eternal ears. “That’s not convenient?”

“Oh. It’s fine. We’ll adjust. She is so anxious to move down here…”

Nolan walked to the window. “But?”

“Nothing, really. Edwin and I are a bit concerned about the timing.”

“Because of your injury?”

“My what?” She sounded so astounded he started questioning whether he was mixing this story up with someone else’s. Except Candace had mentioned it barely an hour ago.

“The leg you injured after your fall.”

“Oh, that.” She laughed dismissively. “I put a Band-Aid on the scrape, had bruises for a few days, that was it. I was back in my skates within a week.”

“Your…skates?”

A louder rumble in the background. Edith gasped. “Oh, I wasn’t supposed to tell. Rollerblades. Edwin and I have taken it up. We’re having a ball down here.”

Nolan took two beats to be absolutely flabbergasted, then started grinning. “Do Candace and Michelle know how you hurt yourself?”

She cleared her throat uncomfortably; he grinned harder. “We…didn’t want them worrying, imagining accidents and so on. We wear helmets and all the padding. All the folks do down here. It’s very safe. I only fell because someone bumped into me while I was bent over fastening my skates. I’ll do that in a chair from now on.”

“Good idea.” He rubbed his forehead, pacing the room now, not sure how much was appropriate to ask, but his immediate future—and maybe his heart—depended on her answer, and he wanted that answer spelled out in plain English before he’d trust it to be true. “So…you aren’t relying on Candace to take care of you?”

She sighed. “Candace needs to be needed. Her mother, our daughter… well, maybe they’ve told you.”

“Some, yes.” He still didn’t have what he wanted, but that was close enough to make him want to leap around like a complete fool. Candace wanted someone to need her? He was all over that. “You mentioned the timing of her visit being off.”

“Oh, yes. See, after the hurricane settles down, we’re planning to drive to Lake Wales. But if she’s arriving soon, we’ll postpone it.”

“That would be a shame.”

Shame—something he was completely without at the moment. “Can’t you go after she gets there?”

“Well, to be honest…” She laughed uneasily. “I’m not sure she’d let us.

We’ve always wanted to do this. I suppose it’s on our bucket list, except we’re not ill, just not getting younger. After we moved down here, we were talking one day and said why not do it? You can talk things to death, but sometimes you have to get up and act.”

“I agree.” He was nearly as crazy about Candace’s grandmother as he was about Candace. “So if I’m getting this right, you’re afraid Candace moving to Rosehill will cramp your style.”