120 days... (19 page)

“Well, since that’s all taken care of, why don’t you help me for a change, lazy bones.”

“Ha!”

They worked together, laying everything out, or drying it off and putting it back in the van. Once that was done, Ethan was surprised when she asked him for a tour of his home and was genuinely interested in how the two houses had become one and what he’d changed. She wasn’t that interested in his art collection, but since it was abstract, he wasn’t surprised. When she stopped in front of one in the hallway leading to his home office, he looked at it and wondered aloud what she saw in it.

“Don’t you see it?” She didn’t look at him, just kept staring at the canvas.

“What am I looking for?” He tilted his head one way and then the other, trying to figure it out.

“There.” She pointed to the canvas and moved her finger around, tracing in the air what she was seeing.

“Oh. Well, now, that’s interesting.”

“Back up and take the whole picture in, if you can, unfocus your eyes a bit. Do you see how many there are?”

“There are so many.” He couldn’t keep the awe out of his voice.

“Butterflies. All colors, all sizes.”

“It reminds me . . .” He stopped, embarrassed to tell her what he thought.

“Reminds you of what?” She turned toward him. “You can tell me.”

Looking away, he said, “In the garden, the day after Patty died, I was putting her handprint up when I saw hundreds of butterflies. It . . . it almost felt like they were there to greet her.”

When she placed her hand on his arm, Ethan finally looked at her and noticed the serious expression on her face.

“They were. I’ve never said anything to anybody because I figured no one would believe me, but every time I’m in the garden after someone has died, I see so many butterflies. It takes my breath away. As far as I know, I’m the only one who has seen them.”

“What do you make of that?” Ethan wondered if she was thinking the same thing. If the current owner was the only one who could see the butterflies, what did that mean for him? Was he right, that Sam was the one for him? He’d been leaning toward staying up there with her and being a part of the resort. The fact that they were showing themselves to him, could this mean he was a part of the larger picture?

“It could mean so many different things. Maybe others have seen them, but never said anything.” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Ethan decided to let the subject drop and led her back to the living room. “Hey, are you hungry?” Ethan didn’t wait for her to say anything and pointed outside the window. “Looks like we’re going to have a break in the rain for a bit. I don’t have any food here, but we could run out and get something. There are some really good restaurants around here.”

“But I’m not dressed for anything. This was supposed to be a quick trip to town, remember?”

He waved her objections away. “No worries, there’s this amazing casual place around the corner. We can stop there after we grab a few things from the store.”

Sam frowned at him. “What do we need?”

“Honey, I don’t think we’re going to make it back up to the resort tonight.” He tried to speak calmly so as not to panic her. “This way we have fresh coffee for the morning, and anything else we may need.”

“But–”

“Samantha.” He pointed to the window and where the clouds were still overhead, but not as dark as before. “This isn’t letting up anytime soon. You’ve been checking the radar all day. This is just a break, and more rain is coming. All reports say it will be early tomorrow morning before it stops. Then we have to wait for all the water to make it down the mountain to make sure none of the bridges are washed out. We’re looking at lunchtime if we’re lucky.” He rubbed her shoulders, trying to ease the tension out of them.

“Fine. Besides, if for some reason we can get back up there tonight, it’s not like the coffee will go to waste. I’ve seen how much you drink.” She gave him a small smile.

He tapped the tip of her nose softly and leaned in close. “You’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?”

“And then some.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“If you know me so well, what am I going to do next,” he asked in a whisper. Her cheeks turned pink and her breathing increased as he waited for her to answer.

“Kiss me.” Her voice was barely audible.

He moved closer. “Your wish is my command.” Smirking at her, he took full advantage of the moment when she opened her mouth to correct him and slid his tongue into her mouth. He knew she wasn’t going to argue when her tongue started dancing with his and her arms came around his shoulders. Carefully, he backed her up and gently eased her onto the couch until she was laying down.

After a few gentle kisses, Ethan forced himself to pull away from Sam. The couch was not the ideal place for an intimate moment. He smiled when she whimpered. “Honey, we need to get something to eat.”

She wrapped her arms tighter around him and tugged him back toward her. “Just a little while longer.” She peppered his face with soft, quick kisses. “What harm could that do?”

“I think you know exactly what would happen.”

“And your point is?”

Sighing, he tipped his head so his forehead rested on hers. “So much has changed for me. Hell, I’ve changed so much. I need for you to understand this means more to me than it would have six months ago.” He pulled away from her and sat down on the floor with his elbows resting on his knees. “Do you know I’ve never had a woman come back to my place?” When she snorted, he looked over at her. “Not very ladylike there, Samantha.” He sighed. “But it’s true. I never wanted commitment. Having someone come back here would mean they held part of my heart, even if it was only caring for them as a friend. The only person who has ever set foot through that door, besides employees, is Evan . . . and now you.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow.” He turned to face her, capturing her ankle in his hand, and casually tracing the lines of her foot. “You need to understand what a big deal this is.” He cocked his head to the slide. “And know, sometimes I’m going to slip up, go back to being the selfish bastard I was.” He looked up and locked eyes with her. “But know this, I will do whatever it takes to prove to you I’m more than I once was. I’m asking for you to cut me some slack once in a while until I’m comfortable with becoming the man I should have been years ago.”

She reached out to him with a shaking hand, cupping the side of his face. “Ethan, I think we’ve both learned there are no guarantees in life. Nothing is set in stone, and all we can do is try to be the best we can.” Letting out a small laugh, she shook her head. “Sometimes I get the feeling you think I’m some kind of saint for what I’m doing. But I’m not, far from it. I mess up like everyone else. There are times I’m selfish, lazy, and sometimes, I’m in a nasty mood. In any relationship, all we can do is try our best. Try to think of the other person before ourselves. Try to do what is right. No one can be perfect all the time. Think how boring that would be. No Ethan, we are both far from perfect, but our imperfections together, become perfect.”

Her words touched him. She understood, and wasn’t that all anyone ever wanted, to be understood and accepted by another human being? “That sounds wonderful to me.”

Smiling, she held out her hand to him and he placed his hand in hers. She stood up and pulled him to his feet. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she lay her head on his chest. “See . . . this . . . this is perfection.”

“I can’t argue there.”

“Well, there’s a first.”

“Hush.” He squeezed her. “I’m enjoying this.”

“Me too . . .”

“But . . .”

Leaning away, she looked up at him. “How did you know there was a ‘but’?”

“There’s always a ‘but.’”

“I was just thinking–”

“As you always are.”

“Stop.” She slapped his back. “I was thinking, we should get going because I’m starting to get hungry and that rain isn’t going to stop forever.”

“And we all know you can get a little . . .” He stopped and looked down at her before continuing. “ . . . Just a little . . . ummm . . .
impatient
when you’re hungry.” When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “What? It’s not some big secret.”

She smiled at him. “No, no, it’s not. And sadly, I can’t deny it. So yes, we’d better get going.”

“Yes, ma’am. Your chariot awaits.” He bowed to her. Laughing, they left and enjoyed the beauty and simplicity of being with each other.

Walking into the small restaurant, Sam felt out of place, and tugged at her faded, well-worn shirt. There was a difference between a ten-dollar casual shirt from a box store and a hundred-dollar causal shirt from an exclusive boutique. Looking around, no one, not even the wait staff, had anything this cheap on. She should have known better. Ethan was stinking rich, and while she had money, it all went into the resort. There was no way she was going to waste money on nice clothes when they were only going to be ruined because she worked in them.

She stood behind Ethan trying to hide from everyone, and hated the fact that she felt this way. While her parents had money, they never used it unless they had to. When she was in school, she never had enough to hang out with the rich kids, and had too much to be with the other students. Both circles made her feel inadequate. Her old insecurities came back to her.

Ethan reached back and grabbed her hand, pulling her gently along to the table. They were almost there when a voice stopped them.

“Why if it isn’t Ethan McGregor,” a booming voice called from the other side of the room. “Boy, come on over and say, ‘Hi.’”

“This will only take a minute. Then we’ll eat.” He smiled down at her. “I promise.”

“Peter, how are you? And Marissa, you look well.” Ethan leaned down and kissed the cheek she tilted toward him.

“I’m fine, boy, just fine. We’ve missed you around here.”

“Yes, well, you know, my brother’s death hit me hard.”

“Such a tragedy.” Marissa shook her head. “Do you know I was laid up for a whole week with a cold last month? It was just terrible. There were so many committee meetings I couldn’t attend. I don’t know how they carried on without me.”

Sam had been trying to hide behind Ethan. She didn’t want to meet these people, and after how heartless Marissa was she was worried she was going to end up punching her for being so insensitive.

“Oh, come on, Riss,” said Peter, “you can’t compare the two. I’m sorry for your loss. It’s never easy losing family.”

“No, it isn’t.” Ethan’s voice was level, showing no emotion. “I’d like you both to meet Samantha Truman. She runs Last Resort, north of the city. It’s a place where people who have a terminal illness can go to live out their last days, fulfilling everything they ever dreamed of doing.”

“Except living.” Marissa waved her half-empty glass around. “Oh, come on. It’s true. What do we call that place, darling? Waste of good land, that’s what it is. Seriously, Ethan, you should talk her into selling. You’d both make a killing.” She giggled. “It’s like that Eagles song, you know the one, something about people going there, but never leaving. They all die there. It’s such a joke. Whoever started something like that has to be seriously messed up in the head.”

“Marissa!” Peter hissed. “Stop this instant.”

“Oh, please, as if we haven’t had this discussion before.”

Sam felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. It never felt good to hear the bad things people thought of her, but to be told so casually was a shock. All that kept going through her brain was she needed to get out of there. She didn’t care where she went. She tugged her hand out of Ethan’s and turned, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and walking toward the door. She had to make her escape, before she did something that would get her in trouble or hurt the resort’s reputation.

Once the cool fresh air hit her skin, she didn’t know what she was going to do, or where she was going to go. Looking in all directions, she tried to remember exactly where Ethan had parked one of the cars he’d taken from his garage, but Marissa’s words kept going around and round in her head. She knew what she did wasn’t a joke, but to hear someone discount it as if it meant nothing, that the people who came to her meant nothing, hurt her down to her core.

Turning to the right, she started to walk, she had no idea where she was going, but she needed to get as far away as she could from those people.