Crash Into You (29 page)

             
He abruptly stood up.   “I’ll take a shower.  When I get out, we’re going to Whitefish to celebrate Larissa’s birthday.  That fucker isn’t going to interfere with our plans or our relationship.”

             
Her color turned hectic; pink wings colored her cheeks.    “Relationship?”

             
“Whatever this is.  You’re leaving eventually and I’m cool with that.  But while you’re here, there is not a man alive who can touch you.  Certainly not that piece of shit coward, Seth.  We can talk about what to do with the FBI and crash investigators.  But I’m done talking about Seth tonight.”

Aimee sat on the bed, staring at the place Mark had been just a few seconds ago.   She felt crushed.  
You’re leaving eventually and I’m cool with that.
   The sentence kept rolling through her mind, tearing at her heart with every repetition.  

             
What the hell did you expect, she demanded of herself?  She’d made it clear that she wasn’t staying.  She had a life to live in Portland, with her sister and her sister’s husband.   What did she expect?  That he would complain, beg her to stay?   Sheesh, it wasn’t as if she even wanted that. 

It would be nice for him to ask anyway.

              So why did she feel so upended?  

             
She chose a pair of underpants, then slid open the second drawer.   The blue canvas bag was still there, exactly where she’d left it.

             
The shower turned off in Mark’s wing and she shut the drawer.    She dressed in some of the new clothes she’d bought at Flowers Vintage, a pair of palazzo pants and an off-the-shoulder top white top with a black flower on the shoulder. She slid on a pair of patent leather maryjanes with three inch heels. 

             
She dried her hair, trying to avoid the feral little secret scratching at her.  That money.  If she sent it back to Seth, maybe he’d leave her alone.   And then what?  She would be able to stay here in Montana with Mark and live happily ever after?   That was the  thinking that had gotten her into so much trouble in the first place.   Staying here was not an option, it was the only possible way to experience the life she wanted.   The big world, glowing with promise and possibility, would have to be experienced first hand. 

             
And yes, she did in fact want the money.   Wanted to punish him.   She was keeping it.

             
She walked downstairs.   When May didn’t come bounding up to her, she checked out the window and saw Mark throwing a ball for her.  Strength and kindness, she thought glumly.  He had the daunting, lethally attractive combination of strength and kindness.    

             
May ran to him, delivering the slobbery blue ball to his feet.   Mark bent down and pet her.

             
Aimee walked to the front door and opened it.                

             
It was late afternoon; the sun was starting to go down, casting an eerie glow over the tall craggy mountains.   Mark turned and looked at her.   May ran to her, and she pet her ears.  “Sweet puppy.”

             
“You look pretty,” Mark said as he approached.

             
“Thank you.”

             
They were being too polite, a mask for the rawness that had been exposed between them, and she hated it.

             
She followed Mark inside.  He turned on some lights for May, set the alarm, and led Aimee to the garage.

             
As he opened the door for her Mark caught her by the waist.   Aimee gasped with surprise.

             
“I’m sorry,” he said.   His voice was low and injured.

             
“Me too,” Aimee replied. 

             
He kissed her, awakening her body again under his molten sexuality.    Too soon, he broke the kiss, told her to buckle up, and shut the door.

             
Aimee waited until they were on the road toward Whitefish before speaking.   “The fact is, Mark, I don’t know what I’m doing.   I am scared of Seth and I don’t know how to stop being afraid.”

             
He let that sit for a while.  She expected him to offer a platitude about confronting her fears or whatever, but he just kept driving.  He reached over to squeeze her hand.

             
“The investigators know you’re here, Aimee,” he said gently.   “I told them I hadn’t seen you but they know there was a passenger on the plane whose DNA was not accounted.  So we need to figure out what to do about that first.   You’ve committed no crime, so they can’t arrest you.  But they aren’t going to leave you alone.”

             
“It isn’t a crime to walk away from a plane crash?”

             
“No, sweetheart.  Of course not.”

             
Mark looked up ahead.  “There’s the Whitefish mall.   Let’s stop there and get Larissa a present.”

             
“What does she like?”

             
“Cooking, and apparently yoga.”

Whitefish Shopping Center definitely wasn’t Tyson’s Corner or the chichi Georgetown waterfront, but it was indeed a place to shop.   Mark was utterly indifferent to it, which was no help at all, not when Aimee really wanted to find a good gift for Larissa.  She had been a good friend and Aimee wanted to find something that would delight her.

             
“I can’t believe I’m just now finding out it is her birthday.  Some warning would have been nice,” she said.

             
“John forgot.”

             
Aimee gasped, as if he’d said something so scandalous she couldn’t bear it.  “What?  No!”

             
Mark laughed at her response.   

             
“That’s sad,” she said, shaking her head.

             
Mark shrugged.  “It happens.”

             
She knew first-hand that it happened.  Seth had been shocked every year on June 1 when her sister would call to say happy birthday and Seth was caught flatfooted, with no present, no card, nothing.

             
She supposed that Larissa and John’s relationship might be strong enough to withstand little snafus like that, but for Aimee, Seth forgetting her birthday had always been an indication of the low regard he had for her.

             
Aimee was surprised to see a Coach store amid the Gaps and Marlene’s Crafts.   It smelled richly of leather and perfume.   She was drawn to a sexy metallic leather bag.  She thought of Larissa’s life at the Glacial Outfitters, the harsh Montana winters of snow and tire chains, her busy homelife taking care of two kids.

             
It was an escape – a trifle, an indulgence, something Larissa would never buy for herself.   It was perfect.

             
And it was something that Larissa would remember her by.

             
Aimee took it to the check out.   Mark opened his wallet, but Aimee shook her head.  “I have it.  I want to buy it.”

             
He looked at her queerly.

             
“Really,” Aimee insisted. “I really want to buy this myself.”  Her sincerity was plain.  “It is the least that I could do.”

They arrived at Latitude 48, a stylish, modern bistro, and immediately spotted the boisterous crowd seated in the back of the room.   They had pulled tow tables together to accommodate Sarah and Robert Reid, Carrie, Jane Flowers, and sundry others who had come to spontaneously celebrate Larissa’s birthday.

             
Mark and Aimee ordered some appetizers and drinks while conversation swirled.   Mark felt tension emanating from her, and wished he could explain to her that she wasn’t going to be arrested or in trouble if she would just talk to the investigators.  Despite her angst, now was not the time to discuss it anyway, he supposed.   Not amid the festive atmosphere of a party.    Larissa looked happy and rather sexy in a plum-colored dress with a plunging neckline.   Maybe Aimee was right about that ridiculous bagatelle of a gift.  Perhaps it was perfect for Larissa.

             
He watched Aimee drink and chat with her girlfriends.  How naturally she fit in.  She’d been accepted by his friends with open arms.   How she belonged here.  And she couldn’t see it. 

             
Her scared bunny energy was undetectable among the others, but Mark saw it.  She shook Robert Reid’s hand over the table, saying she liked him in In The Light Of Day, her smile radiant.  But there was a distractedness, and a tightness around her eyes that she could not hide from him.

             
They would talk later, he thought.  They would get it worked out.

             
Fifteen

Mark left Aimee sleeping and wandered downstairs.  He felt stiff and annoyed; they’d fallen asleep without resolving anything.  Aimee had slept in his arms, but he had the feeling she wasn’t really sleeping – just like him, she was lying awake, ruminating about the plane crash investigation and what it would mean.

             
Tromping outside, May followed him to the stables where he fed the horses then led them out to the paddock to graze and exercise.   The sun had just come up, bathing the valley in amber light, but the temperature was still in the forties.  

             
Despite the chill, he thought it was a good time to start working on the cabins.  He needed some space and wanted to do something physical, work with his hands.

             
Back in the house, made some pancakes, bacon and a fruit salad.   His knocking around the kitchen, or perhaps the smell of the cooking cakes, drew Aimee downstairs.    She wore one of his sweaters and yoga pants.   Even annoyed with her, he found her unspeakably beautiful.  “Hi.”

             
“Hi,” she replied.   She pet May and fed her.  

             
“I was thinking we could head out to the cabins and start making some plans,” he said.

             
“I think I’ll stay here, if that’s okay with you.”

He set a plate of food in front of her and they walked to the table.  They ate in silence for a while.  

              “Do you want to talk?” Mark asked.

             
She shook her head.  “No.  I get really upset when I think about the FBI.  I don’t know what to do about it, so talking about it is only going to scare me some more.”

             
“Alright then.   When you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

             
She mustered a small – but genuine – smile.

             
After breakfast, Mark dressed in work clothes, then went downstairs to find Aimee outside, throwing a ball for May.  Her back was to him,  her vibrant body in a t-shirt and the yoga pants she wore constantly.  That was probably his fault; it was all he’d bought for her at first.  She’d gotten hooked on the comfort of stretchy cotton, and he was just fine with that.  She looked great in them, and free.    Her hair blew around in the stiff Montana wind, and she tried to move it out of her face with her shoulder, so as not to get the slobber from the ball on her face.

             
He felt weirdly like he was seeing her for the first time again.   Except this time she was totally healed, strong and whole.  He felt a wobbly feeling of affection and lust and love that was so pure it threatened to knock him to his knees.

             
He walked up behind her, grabbing her around the slender waist.  She jumped with surprise, then relaxed into him.  “I love you,” he said into her neck.

             
She stiffened, then turned in his arms to face him.   “What?”

             
“I love you. I will never do anything that puts you in harm’s way.  I will never embarrass you, or hurt you.  And I know the one thing you need right now is to feel free to leave anytime.  I will never hold you back.  The world is big.  I understand you want to explore the world after having been rather sequestered by Seth and I support that.   So don’t think I’m trying to guilt you into staying here, or giving more than you want to give willingly.  Just know that I love you and that means as long as  you are here, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you.  Do you understand?”

             
Her awed, goggle-eyed stare nearly drew tears from him.   She blinked, then her cheeks flamed with a beautiful pink hue.  “I love you too.”

             
She flung her arms around his neck.   He burrowed his face in her neck, smelling her delicious girl skin, her sweetness, holding her close.   He felt poised on the edge of a knife, in a dangerous area.  Loving her was easy.  Being loved by her… that was daunting.