“Not now. We’ve both had enough for now.” Walking toward her, he thought, was as hard as it would be to walk away. He sat on the side of the bed, ran his hands down her arms. “You need to sleep.”
“So do you. Nathan, we’re alive.” She took his hand, pressed it to her heart. “Getting through and going on—that’s important. It’s a lesson I learned the hard way.” Leaning forward, she touched her lips to his. “Right now, let’s just help each other get through the night.” Her eyes were dark and stayed on his as she tilted her head to warm the kiss. “Make love with me. I need to hold you.”
He let her draw him down, let himself sink. She would hate him before it was done, but for now love would be enough.
***
IN the morning he was gone, from her bed, from Sanctuary, and from Desire.
***
“HE left on the morning ferry?” Jo stared at Brian, wondering how he could fry eggs when the world had just turned upside down again.
“I passed him at dawn, heading back to his cottage.” Brian checked his order sheet and spooned up grits. Crises came and went, he thought, but people always managed to eat. “He said he had some business to take care of on the mainland. He’d be a couple of days.”
“A couple of days. I see.” No good-bye, no see you around. No anything.
“He looked pretty ragged around the edges. And so do you.”
“It hasn’t been an easy twenty-four hours for anyone.”
“No, but I’ve still got an inn to run. If you want to be useful, you could sweep off the terraces and patios, see that the cushions are put back out.”
“Life goes on, right?”
“There’s nothing we can do about that.” He scooped the eggs up neatly, the glimmering yolks trembling. “You just do what has to be done next.”
He watched her drag the broom out of the closet and head outside. And he wondered just what in the hell he was supposed to do next.
“I’m surprised people can eat, the way their mouths are running.” Lexy breezed in, exchanged an empty coffeepot for a full one, then slapped down new orders. “One more person asks me about that poor woman, I’m going to scream.”
“There’s bound to be talk, there’s bound to be questions.”
“You don’t have to listen to them.” She gave herself a break, resting a hip against the counter. “I don’t think I got more than ten minutes’ sleep all night. I don’t guess any of us did. Is Jo up yet?”
“She’s out clearing off the terraces.”
“Good. Keep her busy. Best thing for her.” She huffed out a breath when Brian sent her a speculative look. “I’m not brainless, Bri. This has to be harder on her than the rest of us. Harder yet, after what she’s already been through. Anything that keeps her mind off it for a five-minute stretch is a blessing.”
“I never thought you were brainless, Lex. No matter how hard you pretend to be.”
“I’m not going to worry about your insults this morning, Brian. But I am worried about Jo.” She turned to peek out the window and was satisfied to see her sister sweeping violently. “Good manual labor should help. And thank God for Nathan. He’s just exactly what she needs right now.”
“He’s not here.”
She spun back around so fast that the coffee sloshed to the rim of the pot. “What do you mean he’s not here?”
“He went over to the mainland for a few days.”
“Well, what in blue hell for? He should be right here, with Jo Ellen.”
“He had some business to see to.”
“Business?” Lexy rolled her eyes and grabbed the tray of new orders. “Why, isn’t that just like a man, just exactly like one? All of you, useless as a three-titted bull, every last one of you.”
She stormed out, hips twitching. And for some reason Brian found himself in a much lighter mood. Women, he thought. Can’t live with them, can’t dump them off a cliff.
***
