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“Lie back, man.” Therin moved the tray table back down the length of the bed. “Get your rest and lay off this a minute.” He could see the conversation was taking its toll on the younger man.
“Probably just need a little sleep.” Rick’s eyelids were already lowering. “I don’t think I’ll be able…to let go of this…for a while.”
Therin’s smile was more of a grimace as he watched Rick ease into sleep. He wholeheartedly agreed that he wouldn’t let go of this for quite a while, either.
Neche, North Dakota~
Kianti wrapped herself more snuggly in the heavy baby blue sweater and admired the stock of supplies in her pantry. She selected a can of chunky vegetable soup from one of the shelves and went to heat it on the stove.
One day she was going to have to find a better way of thanking her neighbors Vernon and Wren Shay. The couple always included her pantry needs when they went to market. Autographed CDs and concert tickets seemed to pale in comparison to the very important service they provided without being asked. In a place like Neche, a simple dusting of snow could turn into a blizzard in no time flat.
Kianti set the soup on to simmer and took a look at the winter wonderland beyond the glass doors in the kitchen, which led out to the deck overlooking the rear of the property. She recalled when her father bought the place all those years ago. She and her mother thought he’d lost it. Now, Kianti couldn’t think of another place she wanted to be when the pressures of her world got to be a little too much for her to handle.
Is that what happened in Cali? Had it all become too much to handle? She thought she’d behaved very maturely when he told her he suddenly had to go.
She’d been cool and unaffected enough when she told him they could pick up where they left off once he got back.
What else was she going to do? Tie him to her bed and make him stay? She smiled and went back to stir the soup while thinking what an enticing idea that was.
It was clear though that something had him on edge. She certainly hadn’t wanted to leave him with the idea that she needed him to stay. Once he left, though, she found that the relaxation she often enjoyed in Pacifica wasn’t working its usual magic. She headed north.
Brody and the guys were understandably concerned. They knew she only headed for the Dakotas when she was in need of complete seclusion. While the time away had its merits, a woman with her condition couldn’t afford to be too cut off from the civilized world.
Regardless, her time there so far had been well spent. It kept the one week from feeling like three. She’d spent an ample amount of time finding out as much as she could about Therin Darius Rucker—only child of U.S. diplomat Farris Rucker and his wife, Denise. The couple had been killed in an automobile accident two years after Therin accepted the U.S. Ambassador’s post. He resigned from the appointment three months later.
She’d studied every picture memorizing the lines and angles of his incredible face. In the midst of that, she wondered exactly when it was that she’d fallen in love with him.
Kianti shook off the silent admission and found a bowl for her soup. God, she hoped she’d done nothing to clue him in to that fact. She’d scare him away for sure.
But he hadn’t been scared yet, she pondered, spoon poised over the pot. He’d actually surprised her by how well he’d dealt with what she’d told him about her health. Even so, she’d been waiting for the other shoe to drop wondering when it would all become too much for him to handle.
She settled down to the gold tweed sofa in the mini living area in a far corner of the kitchen. She warmed her hands around the soup bowl and inhaled its aroma when she blew softly across the surface.
It’s been over a week and he hasn’t called your cell once. It took effort to swallow the soup then with that in mind. If he didn’t call by week’s end, would she do the deed? After all, hadn’t she boasted about being a woman who didn’t beat around the bush when it came to getting what she wanted?
Focused on that line of thought, she was halfway through her soup when a sound thundered somewhere in the distance.
“Jeez!” she hissed, and her heart lurched painfully as her hands tightened on the bowl. Gradually, she acknowledged that the sound radiated from the front. She took her time in making her way to answer and received another shock when she pulled open the door.
Therin bounded inside, not stopping until he’d gathered her tight against the silver-toned bomber jacket he wore.
Kianti only shivered a moment next to the jacket slick with melting snow. “Therin—”
He pulled away suddenly and gave her a tiny jerk. “What are you doing? What the hell did you think you were doing scaring me that way?” His face was dark with anger and a fair amount of concern.
