Home for Love (An Adult Contemporary Romance) (8 page)

The rattle of the doorknob jerked them
apart. Panting and disheveled, they stared at each other, stupefied;
reassessing if they’d woken up from a tantalizing dream of the past or an
earth-shattering moment of intimacy in the now.

Mrs. Stewart’s voice cut through their
stupor. “Bree? Todd? Are you in there?”

Bree found her voice first, quickly
adjusting her clothing, “Yes, Mrs. Stewart.”

A head poked around the door and
regarded them, “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you not to close the door.”

They looked at her in bafflement.
Alaskans always closed building doors in winter. Not doing so was asking to
freeze your behind off.

“With my son being sick, he hasn’t had
time to fix it,” Mrs. Stewart explained. “He got stuck in here the other day
and luckily I was waiting for a call from him and got worried. Joe next door
came, checked it out, and found him. Else Lord knows what would’ve happened to
my baby being stuck in here in the freezing cold.”

Bree cast a glance at Todd and nodded in
agreement. There was no need to upset the poor woman further with more
questions. “That’s okay, Mrs. Stewart,” Bree consoled. “Your son got out okay
and so did we, thanks to you. So all’s well that ends well.”

“Bree, why don’t you go and make Mrs.
Stewart a cup of tea?” Todd suggested. “I’ll start carting the bags to the
truck.” And you can give me a moment to let the bulge in my pants go down
before I advertise what we’ve been doing to the town, he thought.

Realizing what he was getting at, Bree’s
eyes flicked down to his crotch and widened. “Er…, okay,” she stammered.
“That's a good idea.” Gently steering the older woman out the door, she stated,
“Now, let’s go and get you inside and settled and we can have a nice, cozy
chat. I bet there are loads you can tell me about what I’ve missed the last few
years.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Mrs.
Stewart said with such eagerness that Bree felt a twinge of guilt. Well, she’d
make up for it by indulging Mrs. Stewart with an ear so she could natter on about
seven years of saucy gossip.

Chuckling, Todd set to work on the sacks
of hothouse supplies, feeling stirred up and glad to have something to put
physical energy into. Hitting his home gym later would take some more of the
edge off. The problem was that it just wasn’t going to be enough.

“So,” Shelly leaned forward, elbows on
the kitchen table and a mischievous gleam in her eye, “anymore steamy visions
of our local hunk?”

Bree looked at her, a blush creeping up
her neck and inflaming her cheeks. “That’s so random, Shelly.”

“Of course,” Shelly acknowledged
indifferently with a flick of her hand. “But, that’s not the response I was
looking for and your blush confirms your wicked thoughts.”

Bree’s cursed cheeks, blushed redder in
response.

Cocking her head to the side, Shelly
stared at Bree. “That’s also not a normal response from you.” Eyebrows lifting,
she belted out, making Bree jump in her chair, “Uh-huh! You made the visions a
reality! And it’s about darn time too!”

“Shoosh,” admonished Bree. “Don’t
advertise it to everyone.”

“Who’s everyone?” inquired Shelly, with
skepticism. “Your gran is upstairs with Amber and your granddad and with them
being sick, they’re not likely to come walking in on this conversation.”

“This isn’t a conversation,” countered
Bree, “this is an interrogation. And speaking of our two patients, thank you
for looking after them. Gran needed to see to the farm and I didn’t like the
idea of taking time off work when I’m so new.”

“You’re welcome,” Shelly smiled. “And
you’re also changing the subject. But, I’ll concede to you this time around.
Next time, I want the details. I gotta head on home and call Laura to check.
She’s good at managing the boutique, but you know me, I’m a bit of a control
freak, so I just need to make sure all went okay. Really, coming here did me a
favor. Otherwise I would’ve fretted about leaving it in someone else’s hands
and probably would’ve gone into work.”

Shaking her head, Bree grinned at her
friend’s true self-observation. “You’re welcome.”

After exchanging hugs, kisses, and
seeing Shelly off. Bree headed back to the kitchen to finish up the chicken
soup - a winter-bug curing remedy she firmly believed in. When she’d been
beyond broke and Amber had gotten sick as a toddler, enough good, hearty
homemade chicken soup helped speed Amber onto recovery and saved further
medical bills and trips to the local clinic.

“Your toes look so cute, my baby,” Bree
said lovingly while spooning soup into Amber’s mouth. Her baby looked so weak,
but despite that and her tired eyes. Setting the soup aside, she leaned over
and hugged Amber before commencing the feeding again.

Amber wiggled her sparkling toes,
courtesy of a manicure given by an indulging Shelly. “I love them,” Amber
responded. “But, you mustn’t call me ‘baby’, mom. We’ve had this conservation
Mom. I’m a big girl now. Honey is okay or Amber.”

“Conversation, big girl,” Bree corrected
both of them and received a brilliant smile from Amber.

“Granddad had this toes done too,” Amber
shared.

“Is that so?” Bree asked; a grin spread
on her face while her gran softly chuckled. Her granddad was snoring away, his
natural exuberance around Amber depleted by his mirroring cold.

“Uh-huh,” Amber giggled. “I asked Shelly
to and grandpa said something. Shelly told him not to be grouchy and he said
okay. What’s grouchy?”

Bree threw a glance at her gran who
abdicated all assistance and then answered, “It’s when you don’t feel like you
do every day. You feel tired and not all that well because you’re sick.”

“I feel grouchy too, mom,” Amber said in
a confessing tone.

Bree’s heart hurt a little for her baby
and she leaned in to kiss her. “I know, big girl. But if you eat, drink lots of
water, and sleep, you’ll be back to running around and playing in no time!”

“Is my little angel sick?” Todd asked,
looking debonair in a formal pair of pants and shirt.

“Daddy,” Amber's, face brightened at the
sight of her dad, and held out her arms for a hug.

“Your mom told me you caught a cold,” he
said worriedly. “I didn’t know it was this bad.”

“Do I look bad, Daddy?” Amber asked
disappointingly.

Todd caught Bree’s eyebrow wiggles of
warning and answered, “No, you look as pretty as a princess.” The age-old
compliment, used by Dad’s to make their daughters feel better, worked and Amber
beamed up at him. “I’ve got a surprise for you downstairs. I’m just going to go
get it and I’m taking your mom with me to help, okay?” Amber nodded weakly in
response, the excitement of a pedicure and manicure from Shelly as well as her
dad’s appearance having over-taxed her.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was so
sick?” Todd asked Bree when they reached the hallway.

 The retort Bree was about to utter
got stuck in her throat when she noticed his ashen face creased with concern,
brows knitted. This was his first experience with Amber being sick, she
realized and it tugged at her empathy. “Oh Todd, I know she looks really sick,
but it’s really just a cold. She’ll be fine. She just needs some rest, the
right food, and some medication. We’re all, you included, giving her that and
love and attention, so she’ll be back to her chirpy self in a few days’ time.”

 “You sure?” he probed, worry not
lessened. “She’s had a cold before?’

 Bree resisted the urge to giggle.
It was adorable that he was concerned, but he was having a bit of an
over-reaction to the circumstance too! “Yes,” she said gravely, lips twitching
at the corners, which he thankfully didn’t notice. “I’m sure. Look, I know as a
parent you want to cuddle her and wish her better. And, because she’s your
child, she looks more fragile than she actually is. I promise.”

 Todd nodded, not entirely
convinced, but looking more relieved. “Okay, let me take her the corsage.”

 “Oh, I forgot!” Bree exclaimed.
“We all did. No wonder you’re all dressed up. It’s your daughter-dad dinner
date. Amber was so looking forward to it too, but with her and granddad out for
the count we all completely forgot.”

 Todd shrugged, “Really. It’s okay.
I’ll take her out when she’s better.”

 Bree smiled up at him gently. “You
better go give our baby her first flowers.”

The flowers thrilled Amber, a delightful
traditional corsage consisting of baby’s breath and tiny pink flowers. Flowers
were not something that was naturally grown during the Alaskan winter so Todd
must have paid a pretty penny for it, flying the tiny gift hundreds of miles,
just to see a smile on his little girl’s face.

“A pity about your dinner reservations,”
Moira quipped from a wing-back chair in the corner of the room. “Why don’t the
two of you go out, have some fun?”

“That’s okay, Gran,” Bree replied. “I
appreciate your suggestion, but Todd and I couldn’t enjoy ourselves knowing our
big girl was sick.”

“Oh, go on with you,” Moira admonished.
“Granddad’s snoring and will most likely be doing that until the morning. And,
Amber’s just about to nod off herself. Her fever’s broken and there’s nothing
more you can do, but sit and stare at her. You’ve been cooped up in this room
or working and I think you need a break. And Todd,” Moira threw a stern glance
his way, “there’s nothing you can do here either.”

Amber, who’d been silently
eavesdropping, piped in, “I want you to go to dinner, Mom.”

Bree looked at Amber in surprise.
Whenever she’d been ill in the past, Bree'd had to do much persuading to get
her to stay with a sitter so Bree could go to work. That the sitter hadn’t been
a stranger, but their friendly neighbor and landlady, an elderly, kind-hearted
lady with grandchildren of her own, hadn’t made much of a difference. “That’s a
first, honey,” Bree stated. “You’ve never wanted me to leave you when you were
sick before.”

“I know, Mom, but you never have fun and
Daddy’s the best fun. You’ve never eaten in a big person restaurant before.”

Bree smiled and mussed her angel’s hair.
“That’s because we had more fun at kiddie restaurants where you could play and
got toys with your meals.”

“Uh-huh,” Amber nodded in understanding.
“Those restaurants were way cooler. But, I’m okay. Gran’s with me. She’s going
to read me a story from the new book Daddy bought me, while I drink milk, eat
cookies, and then she’s going to cuddle with me ‘til I sleep.”

Amber’s face reflected eagerness for the
treats offered in a way that only grandparents could. She hadn’t left Amber
alone with her grandparents for an extended period of time since the New Year’s
Eve dance. Softly touching her palm to Amber’s forehead, it was met with soft,
clammy skin that gave no indication that the fever was returning.

“Okay,” Bree nodded, casting a glance in
Todd’s direction, shaking her head at his puzzlement to ward off further
argument. Mercifully, a raised brow was the only challenge he gave. “But if I’m
to go out, I better get dressed. Why don’t you and your dad spend some time
together while I get ready?”

“Yay!” Amber squeaked. “Gran, we’re
gonna have so much fun.”

Grinning at Amber’s enthusiasm and
satisfied with her accurate evaluation of the situation, Bree went to her room.
Only then did it strike her that she’d made her decision purely with Amber in
mind, without recognizing that she was agreeing to a dinner at a possibly
romantic restaurant with Todd. Yikes, she squealed inwardly. What the heck was
she thinking?

xxx

On the way to the restaurant Todd
received an education in childhood illness. That was thankfully something that
he had no experienced with. When he and his siblings were very young, his
mother had not been in a self-pitying, drunken stupor most of the time, so she
had been able to still care for them at that point. The more Bree enlightened
him, telling him Amber’s whole medical history as well as her various reactions
to being sick, the less anxious he felt.

Unfortunately, it also meant that he
became more aware of Bree and the challenges he faced in getting them back
together again - at least in bed and on paper. She was right when she said that
they’d bonded well and speedily and he was anxious to have Amber with him
fulltime in his home with both of her parents present. A phenomenon he’d longed
for, but had barely been privileged to. Mentally brooding whilst keeping up
with the light-hearted chatter Bree was maintaining, he continued to ignore the
‘elephant in the room’ as he led her into the restaurant.

The Lodge was one of the newer
establishments in Devil’s Peak, catering to tourists who wanted to experience
Alaska at more of a distance than the older establishments offered.

“This is beautiful,” Bree whispered,
awestruck. The lobby of the hotel was elegant in tones of cream and champagne,
a theme that was carried through to the restaurant. “It must have caused quite
a stir with the locals.”

As are you Todd, thought nodding, unable
to take his eyes off her when she shed her coat and scarf. She wore a flowing
back dress that left her long, elegantly-shaped arms bare. It was just to the
knee so her great legs were free to his eyes and while not revealing, it was
darn provocative. It nipped in under her substantially larger breasts and
tempted a man to snake his hands up the floating skirt and hike it up. Lust hit
hard and strong. He really needed to get her into his bed and soon.

Bree stared at him, waiting for a
response. “Sure did cause a stir,” Todd nodded. “But the town council handled
all the changes well, positioning The Lodge as just another required one. The
owner’s local too - that helped.” At Bree’s frown he explained, “You remember
Jack Thornton?”

“Jack? The sophomore that irritated the
crap out of me, our senior year?” Bree asked, flabbergasted.

Todd grinned. “The one and same. But
he’s okay really. He only irritated you because he had a crush on you.”

“But he can’t be above twenty-four.
How’d he do this?”

“Drive,” replied Todd. “He went to the
Lower 48 after high school, developed some computer program, made millions and
came back a success. I know he irritated you and frankly, if someone moped
around behind me with every step I took, I’d feel the same. But, you ladies
didn’t always see what happened in the boys’ locker rooms. He wasn’t physically
bullied, but they sure did pick on him. I tried to intervene when I caught it
happening, but I wasn’t exactly round the guy twenty-four, seven."

“Well good for him,” Bree responded.

Todd smiled. “I know what you mean. It’s
always great to see folk, you know, do well.”

He held out his arm for her to take as
the host showed them to their table. It was a beautiful setting. Very French -
or what she’d seen French looked like in the movies - small tables comfortably
seating two or four were scattered around the dining area, covered by long,
ivory tablecloths that complimented the warm wood of the bistro-styled chairs.
The soft notes of a piano, gently caressed by masterful fingers, emphasized the
ambiance, and relaxed the diners. The far side of the restaurant was comprised
entirely of floor to ceiling, ivory-painted French doors that led out to an
expansive lawn and even wider lake. Their table was situated in front of the
doors. Two chairs opposite each other, with a third holding an oversized
stuffed toy, in front of it, a prettily-wrapped pink box that looked more like
confection than a gift.