I shut off the shower and wrapped a towel around my body before heading over to the large, clawfoot tub. Instead of fragrant bubbles or bath bombs, I dropped a handful of Epsom salt into the hot water filling the tub even though I knew it wouldn’t provide the kind of soothing Elijah needed for a hurt that ran bone-deep.
He returned promptly with a glass of red wine in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, highlighting our different alcohol preferences, although I did prefer an ice-cold brew with pizza or burgers. Waiting patiently for Elijah to share the details of his phone conversation went against my nature. I was a planner first then a hardcore doer. I was a woman of action, but there was nothing for me todoexcept show Elijah I loved him by giving him the space he needed. Luckily for me, he didn’t want a physical distance because I loved resting between his parted thighs and reclining my back against his chest. I loved even more the sweet way he kissed my temple and trailed his wet fingers up and down my arms once we were submerged in the soothing water. We abandoned our drinks on the small, antique shelf that made the perfect bath caddy once Elijah laid a piece of glass over the wood surface of the table to protect it from water damage when we…um…splashed about.
“You give me greater peace than I have ever known, Maegan,” he whispered huskily. “I can’t thank you enough for it.” He wasn’t worshiping my body; he wasn’t talking about the all-consuming desire that raged between us; he was showing his gratitude for the way I made himfeel.It was the loveliest compliment I’d ever received, and I discovered being patient wasn’t all that hard. A person just needed the right motivation and bringing peace to his riotous mind was all the reason I needed.
“I don’t just love you, Elijah. I adore you.” There was a difference.
“I adore you too, Freckles.” Elijah wrapped his arms around my chest and held me even tighter. I felt tension creeping back into his body just before he spoke again. “My father has lung cancer.” The words sounded rough and jagged like they were ripped from his soul. I wanted to turn and take him in my arms, but his hold around my chest didn’t allow movement.
“I’m sorry, Elijah.”
“That’s what he said too after he dropped the first bomb. Not ‘hello, Son,’ or ‘it’s good to hear your voice.’ Just ‘I have lung cancer’ followed by ‘I’m sorry, Elijah.’” It seemed like such a cold, brittle way of delivering the news, but then again, Elijah’s father picked the side of his older brother after he slept with Elijah’s wife while he was overseas, knocking her up in the process.
“Was he apologizing for his horrible communication skills or for the way he treated you ten years ago?” I made no effort to hide the contempt I had for the man.
Elijah chuckled and kissed my temple once more. “I think both. He wants to see me.”
“Do you want to see him?” I asked, softening my voice.
I felt the way his body trembled and understood the reason why he had me pinned against his body. He didn’t want me to see his tears. Screw that. I squirmed until he loosened his hold then turned around until I kneeled between his thighs. “I thought I was all cried out when it came to this,” he whispered.
I tapped on his thighs, indicating that I wanted him to close his legs so I could straddle them. I needed to get as physically close to him as I could. Once I was exactly where we both wanted and needed me to be, I said, “I don’t think that’s a real thing. Some hurts run too deep, and they sneak up and smack us upside the head out of the blue, causing tears of sorrow and grief to flow.” I wiped his face before I leaned in and kissed him. “Did he say how advanced his cancer is?”
Elijah leaned forward, resting his forehead on my collarbone. “He only said that he has a good prognosis. He’s completed chemotherapy already to shrink the tumor and is having surgery in a month or so. They want him to recover fully from chemotherapy first since it weakens the immune system. After that, he’ll have radiation therapy.”
“Do you want to go see him?” He never answered my question when I asked the first time. Elijah raised his head and looked into my eyes. I cupped the face I adored and said, “I’ll go with you.”
He didn’t say anything at first, and I half-braced myself for him to refuse my offer. Then an expression of relief washed over his face seconds before he nodded.
“You just let me know when. Mom can cover for me at work.”
“I—” His voice broke off, and he closed his eyes like he was trying to gather himself. I kissed his forehead, his eyelids, the tip of his nose, then finally dropped a soft kiss on his lips. The tension in his body lessened but didn’t quite disappear, and his eyes looked less turbulent when he reopened them. “Tell me what you imagined for our nursery. I want to think about hopeful things tonight.”
He made me feel hopeful all the time, and I wanted to repay that gift to him. “I would like to paint the bow window to look like the interior of a treehouse,” I said then told him about the other details I envisioned. “I don’t want to make it seem too feminine or too masculine.”
“It sounds amazing, Freckles. I know you’ll strike the right balance.”
“Some time ago, maybe a year, I found these vintage Beatrix Potter figurines at an estate sale. They were in pristine condition, and I knew a collector would easily pay more than double what I gave for them. I could never bring myself to upload them to my site or even display them in the curio cabinet at the store. They felt like they belonged to me and any future children I might have.”
“So, bring them home and place them on the bookshelf inside the future treehouse. It’s obviously where they belong. Just like you belong here in my arms.”
After our bath, we went downstairs to eat big slices of the cake Elijah bought as a surprise. I took Lulu out to do her final business while Elijah sat on the couch facing the fireplace. When I returned inside, I sat on his lap instead of sitting beside him.
“I have to admit that the humidor looks right on the shelf.” We both stared at it quietly. “Two things occurred to me while you were outside.”
“Yeah?”
“The Blissview Hotel logo is on the lid of that humidor, and there should be at least twice the amount of ashes inside it if they belonged to an adult male.”
“Are you saying they belong to an animal or something?”
“I think they belong to Anthony, but I have to wonder what they’re doing in a Blissview Hotel humidor and where the rest of his remains are?”
“Those are keen observations. I was too wrapped up in my emotions to notice those things. I can’t wait to hear what Lyric discovers in San Francisco.”
“I have a feeling he’s going to solve the case,” Elijah replied. “I’m also feeling optimistic about the outcome for the first time since the investigation started.”
“It’s only been a few days, but it feels like a wild ride nonetheless.”
