Noah walked me to the thick railing that lined the edge of the porch, and we leaned on it as he stared off into the dark. I hooked my arm through his to link us together. We stood in companionable silence for a while, two minutes or twenty—who knew, time was floaty. Finally he looked down at me and pressed a kiss on my temple.
“It’s after two—we should go to bed.”
“Okay,” I agreed, my heart beating faster which was completely inappropriate right now, but I didn’t seem to be in control of anything, so I went with it and prayed I could be cool. However, he hadn’t stepped back, so my desires were getting a hell of a lot of mixed-up messages.
“Can I ask one more favor of you, Jules?” His voice sounded on the verge of breaking, and I wanted to smother him in hugs for the rest of his days, but I stayed stock-still.
“Of course, you can ask as many as you need,” I said, wishing I could do so much more. Being able to read his mind would be helpful right now, but I was glad he couldn’t read mine. I was here as a friend, but my body was shouting that being attracted to the man wasn’t keeping me from offering him comfort. Good Lord.
“Do you mind sleeping in the same bed with me tonight?” Noah whispered.
His chin rested on the top of my head, which prevented me from looking in his eyes to see if there were any signs as to what he meant. I had to just go on what he’d said.
He let out a small laugh. “Sorry, that sounds like I’m making some type of move on you when you’ve been amazing all night.”
“I didn’t think that.” I quickly spoke up, which was partly a lie. Also, a lie of omission was that I might be okay with that.
“I just mean not being alone tonight sounds really good.”
Damn. I wanted to slap the side of my brain. The man lost his parents, and while they didn’t sound like pillars of humanity, they were his parents. I was a writer for Pete’s sake. How did I not have a better grasp of the human condition than this?
“Of course,” I said and finally wrapped my arms around him like I’d wanted to do all night. While we stood there, I mused over the fact that I’d known the man just over a week. We’d kissed for the first time a couple of days ago. We were friends, sure, with several things standing in the way of becoming more—though that hadn’t been ruled out. And now I was standing in his childhood home, comforting him after the loss of his parents. How did we get here? And more importantly, where did we go from here?
Apparently to bed, that’s where.
Chapter 16
By Your Side
Noah
I lay still, watching Jules sleep in my childhood bedroom, not that any part of this room showed a hint to the memory of the child who grew up here. It looked like a room that a decorator had likely come in to erase any trace of my existence shortly after I left for college, not that there had been much in the way of my possessions anyway. What I could say for the space was that it was comfortable and allowed me to get my thoughts together, not that I slept much. Was that due to everything swirling in my brain or the sleeping beauty next to me? It was impossible to tell.
Last night I’d asked Jules to sleep in my room and immediately wanted to take it back. Not that I hadn’t meant it. The reality had been that I knew I didn’t want to be alone. But Jesus, the woman had known me for just over a week. Who did I think I was to ask for more than she was already giving me? I felt unbelievably selfish. I didn’t know what Jules was typically like as a friend, but she seemed to be kind on a level I hadn’t experienced. She’d uprooted her entire life for the next few days to make sure I wasn’t alone. That wasn’t something I’d forget. And while I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep, it had been comforting tohave her next to me, her light snore reminding me that I wasn’t here by myself.
I moved as slowly as possible to the edge of the bed, not wanting to disturb Jules’s sleep but needing to see what was what in the light of day. My mind jumped from work items I needed to deal with to talking to the lawyer—did Mr. James say his name was Barry? And Jesus, the memory of Jules’s face upon meeting the Jameses. I hadn’t met her parents, but Ivy’s and mine were typical for their crowd, though anything but typical for the folks I’d met in Highland Falls. In some way it was reassuring to see her reaction. It confirmed for me that they were just as bad as I’d imagined. In other ways I was almost ashamed, like it reflected on me how Ivy’s parents and mine had always behaved. Of course that made no sense, but it was there.
Sighing, I continued down the hall to the kitchen. At least I could get coffee started and potentially some breakfast. I came up short when I saw an older woman bustling around the kitchen, then sighed with relief as I realized it was Mary. While my parents had a revolving door of staff over the years, Mary had been here since I was small. She was old enough to be my grandmother and had cooked and cared for me far more than either my mother or father ever had.
And then I realized she didn’t know. Damn. I hadn’t counted on having to tell her.
I cleared my throat so I wouldn’t startle her, and Mary turned, surely expecting one of my parents, but her face absolutely lit up when she saw me.
“Oh, Noah.” She rushed forward, folding me into her arms. I immediately relaxed into her embrace, remembering when she’d surrounded me as a kid. Now I towered over her. “Your mother didn’t tell me you were coming.”
I kept my eyes closed for just a moment, selfishly soaking in this feeling, which felt a whole lot like love. Mary’s scent wasalways sweet, like she’d just baked cookies, combined with a light floral smell. It was the background of the majority of my happy memories in this house.
Taking a fortifying breath, I stepped back and looked down at her. “I have bad news, Mary.”
She stiffened a bit and nodded. As I began to fill her in, one of her weathered hands reached out for mine. Was she getting strength from me or giving me some because she sensed I needed it? I had a feeling it was the latter. When I finished telling her all that I knew, she blotted her eyes, then seemed to take stock of what was needed.
“I don’t what the will says yet, Mary,” I shared. “And I have no idea how many folks my parents were employing now. While I’m sure I am not getting anything from them, I hope they’ve provided for you all, and if I have any say, I will ensure it.”
“Oh, Noah,” Mary said, “you don’t think they’ve left you everything?”
I gave an incredulous laugh. “They didn’t hesitate to cut me off when they were alive, I cannot imagine they’d want me to benefit from their deaths—which is just fine with me.”
She shook her head but didn’t say anything, which was nothing new. I knew Mary didn’t approve of my parents’ behavior when I was younger, but she never said a word against them. “Okay, let’s think. What needs to be done? I can help you.”
