He got up and went to her, stopping when she placed her hands on his chest.
“To be continued?”
Nodding, he kissed her quickly.“Let me get my keys.”
In the kitchen, Julian took two seconds to breathe and get his head straight before he followed her to the garage and into the G-Wagon.They were quiet on the short ride down Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the store.He pulled up next to her car, which was the only one left in the lot.
“Let me know how Mila is feeling,” he told her, desperate to ensure he’d hear from her again soon.
“I will.”She released her seat belt and leaned over the center console to kiss his cheek.“Thank you for tonight.You were just what I needed.”
She got out of the car before he could formulate a response.
He watched her until her car was started and her lights were on.Then he waved and drove back up the hill toward home, changed forever by the past two hours.
Isla endedup with two kids who were sick all weekend.Thank God for Mrs.V, who was by her side through it all, until they fell into bed, completely exhausted at the end of each day.By Sunday, the delightful interlude with Julian might never have happened, even though he’d texted to check on her and the kids a couple of times and offered to bring them anything they needed, which she appreciated.
As she settled into bed and closed her eyes on Sunday night, she relived every dreamy, perfect moment with him, recalling his heated kisses and the way he obviously wanted her as badly as she wanted him.
It'd been so, so long since she’d felt wanted like that.She actually couldn’t remember the last time.No, wait, it was once about two years ago, and from that, she’d gotten her precious Mila.But jeez… two years?No wonder she’d been so shameless with the incredibly sexy Julian Remington.Not that she regretted it, because she didn’t.It had felt so good to be held and kissed anddesired.
She fell asleep, smiling as she relived every minute of the two hours she’d spent with him, from their near collision in the store to making out on his sofa.He showed up in her dreams, handsome, smiling, listening to her as if everything she said was the most important thing he’d ever heard.
He was reaching for her, and she was melting into his warm embrace when her ringing phone woke her out of a sound sleep.
As she reached for it on her bedside table, she felt her heart beat hard with the kind of fear that came from crack-of-dawn phone calls.“Hello?”
“Isla… This is Maggie Santana, Gabriel’s mother.I’m so sorry to call you at this hour, but I thought you’d want to know that he passed away at four o’clock this morning.”
She sat up in bed.“What?Already?”
“Yes, it was very sudden.He was still in the hospital.The tumor… It possibly caused a hemorrhage.They said it happened fast, and he didn’t suffer.”
“I… I don’t know what to say.I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sorry for you, too.And the children.”
God, she’d have to tell Theo…
“We’d very much like to meet them…”
“We’ll make that happen soon.I promise.”
“Gabriel told us you were a wonderful wife and mother and that he hoped you’d find a way to be happy.He also said again how sorry he was for what he put you through.”
“Thank you for telling me that.”She wiped away the tears that streamed down her face.“Is there anything I can do?”
“We’ll need your help to settle his estate, but we don’t need to worry about that today.”
“Whatever I can do.I’m glad you were with him.”
“We’ll be thankful for these last days with him for the rest of our lives.We’d missed him terribly.”
“It may sound strange to say, but I’d missed him, too.Who he used to be.”
“I understand.”
“I know you do.”
