Part 9 (1/2)
”How about I come for breakfast? Would that be soon enough?”
”Yes,” she said, drawing him into another pa.s.sionate kiss.
”Keep that up and I'll forget all about my big plan to sleep on all of this.”
”You could sleep on it here.”
”If I stay here, we won't sleep and you've been sick. You need your rest.”
”Do you promise you'll be back?”
”I promise,” he said with another kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. ”Come on, time to get comfy.” He pulled back the covers and tucked her into bed. ”Now close your eyes and have sweet dreams about tomorrow.”
She did as she was told. ”And the day after.”
”And the day after.” He kissed her once more. ”I'll see you very soon.”
Kate heard the door click shut behind him. She was afraid if she opened her eyes, she'd discover it'd all been a lovely dream. He still loved her. He'd never stopped loving her. He'd thought about her and come to her shows and remembered all the moments that had made their brief months together so special.
She was nearly asleep when it occurred to her that she still had his number programmed into her phone, if it was even still in service. He'd probably changed his number years ago when he moved to the island. Thinking about their late-night phone calls after they first met, she reached for her phone. After scrolling through her address book, she found his number right where it had always been, and pressed send.
Kate waited to hear that the number was no longer in service.
Instead, she heard his soft chuckle. ”You still have my number, darlin'?”
Apparently, he still had hers, too. ”I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it.”
”Neither could I.”
”G.o.d, we're a couple of hopeless cases, aren't we?”
”I don't know about you, but I feel a little less hopeless after today. In fact, I'm feeling positively hopeful.”
”So am I.”
”Why do I hear a 'but' in there?”
”I keep thinking about my parents and Ashton and Ms. Martha and all the people who didn't get it before. Why would they feel any differently now?”
”For one thing, you're no longer eighteen, and for another, clearly whatever we had came with some staying power if we both still feel the same way we did then.”
”That's true.”
”Don't worry about it tonight, darlin'. It'll all work out the way it's meant to.” After a short pause, he said, ”You know what I've missed?”
”What?”
”Listening to you sing to me while I drive home. Will you sing my song for me?”
”I'd love to.”
Chapter 5.
Jill peered out the back window as the limo traveled down a long driveway lined by white split-rail fences. Rolling meadows stretched as far as she could see. They drove past a small Tudor-style home, as well as buildings that might've been stables and then, at the top of the hill, a ma.s.sive stone house.
She expected the car to stop outside the house, but it proceeded around the house to a dirt road that led to another building in the distance. Out the back window, she tried to get a better look at the house, but trees obscured her view.
What was this place?
The car came to a stop, and through the window, Jill saw Ashton leaning against a red pickup truck. Wearing faded jeans, a yellow Vanderbilt T-s.h.i.+rt and cowboy boots, he looked nothing at all like the successful lawyer he'd been in the office the other day. Here he looked like a country boy-an extremely appealing country boy.
Ashton opened the door and held out a hand to her.
Jill wiped her hand once more on her jeans before she accepted his help out of the car.
He closed the car door, and the limo drove away.
Jill watched it go, wondering where she was and what he had planned. ”What is this place?”
”My childhood home. Been in my family forever and a day.”
”You don't live here anymore?”
He shook his head. ”I live in town, but we still board and breed horses here, so I come out to ride as often as I can.”
Jill took a second, more detailed look and noted there wasn't another house in sight. ”Is that a runway?”
”Sure is.”
”That's right. I remember Kate saying your dad flies. He flew her home when our sister got hurt.” Stop babbling, she thought as she linked her fingers because she didn't know what to do with her hands. For a horrifying moment, she wondered if she'd annoyed him by mentioning his dad and Kate in the same sentence.
”We both fly.”
”Oh. You do?”
”Uh-huh. My dad taught me to fly before he taught me to drive.”
Jill began to get nervous about where this was heading.
He leaned back against the truck, eyeing her and smiling at her in that s.e.xy, devilish way he did so well. ”You wanna go for a ride?”
”In the truck?”
Grinning, he shook his head. ”In that.” He pointed to the open doors of the hangar, where an airplane nose peeked out. How had she missed that?