Now and Forever 4, The Renovated Heart (7 page)

He laughed, put his hands on her waist then
pulled Sarah up against him. She lifted her chin and he kissed her,
slowly. Sarah moved closer, her breasts crushed into his chest, her
arms around his neck. He tightened his grip on her while he angled
his head to deepen the kiss. She opened her lips, eager for his
affection. Her tongue rose to meet his. She felt a shiver rocket
down her spine as her body softened against his. His tongue
caressed hers.

Her pulse began to beat faster, heat
traveled through her veins, she wanted more. Jim lifted his head
and moved his lips down her neck slowly, placing small kisses on
her skin. He slipped the strap of her dress down to kiss her smooth
skin.

He bent her back slightly so his lips could
trail down further, stopping where the fabric began, kissing the
swell of her breast again and again, his tongue darting out to
taste her skin while his hand crept up. Sarah felt his body harden
against her as he sampled her flesh. She moaned quietly at the
sensuous softness of his touch and closed her eyes.

Her nipples tightened, and heat sparked deep
inside. His hand moved down to her waist continuing to hold her
close to him. She stepped back to look into his light brown eyes,
smoking with desire. His gaze traveled down her neck to her hard
nipples showing through the thin fabric. Embarrassed, Sarah folded
one arm over her chest to hide her body’s response.

She tried to control her breathing, to calm
her fluttering nerves. His eyes came back up to hers with enough
heat to burn the dress right off her shoulders. As he reached up to
put his palm on her cheek, she flinched.

“What the?” he whispered, his eyes wide.

Sarah cast her gaze to the floor. He leaned
over, brushing her lips lightly with his. Quickly, she moved into
his embrace, closing her arms tightly around him to stop her
trembling. He folded his arms around her. Her cheek rested on his
chest, her eyes closed. His palms held her gently against him,
keeping her close while his fingers played with the ends of her
hair. For a few moments, Sarah forgot how it felt to be alone.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Scottie came barreling into the kitchen.

“When is dinner—” he started but stopped
abruptly when he saw his mother in Jim’s arms.

She pushed away from Jim reluctantly,
turning to Scottie and smiling.

“Soon,” she said.

Jim smiled at the boy then resumed his
position cutting tomatoes.

“What were you doing to my mother?” Scottie
asked Jim, with suspicion in his eyes.

“Giving her a hug,” Jim said casually.

“Oh, okay.” The youngster returned to the
backyard, his soccer ball under his arm.

Sarah let out the breath she had been
holding.

“A close call.”

“Would it be so terrible if he saw me
kissing you?”

“I don’t know. Something else for him to
adjust to?”

“Maybe not. He seemed to take the hug in
stride.” Jim stacked up tomato wedges on a plate.

“True. I know he likes you. He needs to have
a man around occasionally.”

“Only occasionally?” He looked up at
her.

She blushed.

“I don’t think it’d be great for him to run
into you coming out of my bedroom in the morning, do you?”

“I honestly don’t know; I don’t have
kids.”

“Jim!” The heat in her cheeks flamed
hotter.

“So you’re not going to have a life until
he’s grown up?”

“Not forever, but maybe not this minute,
either. Can we slow this down a little?”

“If we got any slower…” He took a handful of
paper napkins and opened the silverware drawer.

“Please?” she said, moving closer to him,
touching his face, kissing his cheek.

“Sarah, I’m a patient man but I want to be
more than your friend,” he said, slipping his arm around her
waist.

“Me, too.”

Jim kissed her, sighed, then returned to
retrieving utensils while she finished shredding lettuce. She threw
leftover chicken, green peas, scallions, cheese, walnuts,
cranberries and Jim’s tomatoes into the salad. He carted the heavy
ceramic bowl to the table for the family dinner.

* * * *

A week later at the Old Victorian on Bay
Street

Kit was so excited, she couldn’t sleep.
Trading her small apartment for this big house brought unexpected
pleasure she needed to share with Zoe.

“A house? You bought a house?”

“I rented a house…a big house…a huge house!”
She cradled the phone in her neck while she unloaded groceries.

“For two people? Why?”

“Because the house is beautiful and we
deserve to live in such a grand place.”

“You’ll be living there alone.”

“You can come for weekends. There’s plenty
of room to bring friends.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t fall all over yourself with
enthusiasm, Zoe.” Kit put her half-filled coffee cup in the
microwave to reheat.

“Gotta go. Good deal on the house, Mom.”

When the microwave dinged, she took a mug to
the kitchen table.
I finally did something right.
Kit blew
out her breath in a sigh and took a sip, then called Sarah.

“I’m here. I’ve moved in, if you can call
unpacking one suitcase moving in.”

“Congratulations! Your first place on your
own.”

“Don’t remind me. What if something breaks?”
Kit took a sip of her coffee.

“Call Tunney. You said he’s cute, so…”

“He thinks I’m married.”

“What?”

“I told him I’m married…first night…I…” Kit
plopped down into a wing chair in the den.

“Mistake number one.”

“Probably. But at least I don’t have to
worry about him coming on to me or anything.”

“His coming on to you would be bad…how?”

“Hell, the ink on the divorce papers isn’t
even dry.” She put her mug on a side table.

“Don’t worry about Tunney. Enjoy your
freedom and your first place. You’ve got enough on your plate right
now. You deserve to be happy, Kit.”

“Thanks. You’re the best.”

Kit pulled out a small pad and pen.
List
time. Place to live, check. What’s next? Take care of business.
Back to New York.
The next morning, Kit caught an early bus
back to the City and checked into a hotel. Then she put her
apartment on the market, filled out a change of address for the
post office, moved her bank account and gave her lawyer her new
location. Anxious to have the no-fault divorce over so she could
begin again with a clean slate, Kit was impatient to be rid of the
last remnants of her old life.

Upon returning to Willow Falls, she found a
small, barely affordable vehicle at Delsey’s Used Cars. New sheets,
towels and duct tape, plus other household necessities were
purchased next. In the morning sitting with her coffee, she made
lists again. Setting up house energized Kit. Plunged into her new
life, she could almost enjoy her fresh start if Johnny and her old
routines would fade into the background. Tunney questioned her,
when he saw her move into the house with only her suitcase. She
lied, explaining her possessions were in storage until Staid got
through with his world tour. Tunney bought it. After all, she
didn’t need furniture; the house was already furnished.

Her first nights in the house…in a new place
without Johnny…felt odd. Kit listened for the sound of his
footsteps on the stairs, or his voice, yelling complaints or asking
her to do something yet nothing but silence greeted her. She was
completely alone in a strange place.

If the house had been new, the transition
might have been easier. But an old house makes noises, the
well-worn, wooden boards creak with changes in temperature, the
wind whistles through old shingles and tiny gaps in the windows.
Kit didn’t know what to expect. She got into bed, turned out the
light but couldn’t sleep. She tossed for a while, tried reading
then changed position again. Finally still, listening to the house
whine and moan freaked her out. Did Tunney’s parents haunt the
house… never having left?

Turning on her laptop, Kit looked up Blue
Waters tour. She clicked on a YouTube video showing the band
leaving a concert with groupies chasing after them. There stood
Johnny right in the thick of the young women, grinning like an
idiot, while the girls threw their arms around him, kissed him,
ripping at his clothing, and bared their breasts.

While she did feel a twinge, the pain wasn’t
nearly as strong as expected. She did not throw herself down and
sob into her pillow. Oddly, a sense of relief washed over her. He
was there, she was here in this delightful, spooky old
house—strangely enough, right where she wanted to be. Maybe she
didn’t love him any longer, just like he didn’t love her. Maybe
their love had died a long time ago. She turned off the laptop,
ready to sleep. But in the dark, she swore she heard the faintest
of footsteps on the third floor stairs.

A tremor shot through her. She called
Tunney.

“I hope you don’t want your money back
already.”

He yawned into the phone.

“I’m calling because…because…is the house
haunted?”

Tunney let out a roar of laughter.

“Seriously, Tunney…come on…” She chewed her
lip.

“You’re joking! If the house was haunted,
I’d charge you an entertainment fee. No, the house isn’t haunted.
Why? Are you seeing ghosts?” he chuckled.

“Hearing them. Sounds like someone creaking
up the stairs, opening doors…”

“I’ve never heard anything. But I haven’t
slept there in years. Old houses make funny noises…you know when
they cool off at night.”

“Are you sure?”

“Are you scared?”

“A little…” she lied, petrified.

“Oh, come on. Really? You’re scared of the
house?”

“Of what else might be living here.”

“Do you want me to come over and hold your
hand while you fall asleep?”

“I couldn’t ask you to…” But she liked that
idea.

“Don’t think your husband would like that
much. How about if I talk to you for a while. Get comfortable, in
the bed.”

“Okay.” She got back into bed then pulled
the covers up, curling up on her side keeping the cell phone at her
ear.

“All right. Let’s talk about something not
too taxing.”

“How about politics?” She punched her pillow
into a comfortable position.

“You’re joking!”

“I am.”

“How about…how about plans for the
future?”

“Oh, God. I don’t…I don’t have a lot of
plans for the future.”

“No? You gonna have more kids?”

“Not now,” she said, blushing.
Of course
not now, not by myself.

“Yeah, I guess it’d be hard to get pregnant
long distance.”

His soft chuckle came through from the other
end of the phone.

“No kidding. Do you want to have kids,
Tunney?

“Sure. Someday. With the right woman.” He
cleared his throat.

“Tell me about your plans for the future.”
she said, stretching out, closing her eyes.

Tunney talked about his building business,
vacations he wanted to take and within ten minutes, she had drifted
off to sleep.

* * * *

Through the open curtains, the sun nudged
Kit awake early. She turned off her cell phone and smiled recalling
Tunney’s kindness the night before. Padding downstairs to make
coffee, she noticed the house didn’t sound scary when the sun
shone.

After putting on work clothes, Kit cleaned
the first and second floors. Finding her favorite corner in the
parlor, she set up her writing place with her laptop and a
comfortable wing chair. Kit curled up on the sofa for a coffee
break. She scoured sites about renovating old houses for
information about styles, traditional colors used in homes of the
period, reading about the history of the era, too.

Her mug empty, Kit turned off her machine
and headed to the kitchen. The insistent tinkle of the doorbell
interrupted her. She swung the old door wide to admit Tunney. Her
gaze swept over him. He wore a snug t-shirt outlining his broad
shoulders and powerful chest to perfection. Close-fitting jeans
hugged his hips and thighs. A curious heat swept through her body
when her eyes stopped at his chest. Moving up her gaze met his. For
a moment, she couldn’t stop staring into his dark pools, lit by
mischief mixed with a flicker of desire.

“Coffee?” she asked him, when she found her
voice.

“Great.”

He followed her into the kitchen and sat
down at the table while Kit measured grounds into her new
coffeemaker for a second pot. His stare heated her body. She wore a
pair of cut-off jean shorts and a low-cut tank top in a blue that
matched her eyes. Her hands, roughened by detergent, plucked
nervously at her shirt but couldn’t make the skimpy material hide
more of her cleavage from his curious eyes.

“I trust you got a good night’s sleep.”
After adding milk and sugar to his coffee, Tunney picked up his mug
for a sip, his eyes never leaving her body.

“Thank you so much for putting me to
sleep.”

“This is the first time I actually
tried
to put a woman to sleep with my conversation.” he
chuckled and put his mug down.

“You were great. Thanks,” she said, stopping
to plant a light kiss on his cheek.

Tunney cleared his throat, shifted in his
seat. His neck got red and she smiled at his discomfort.

“We’ll do repairs first, like fixing cracks
in the walls, the ceilings and checking out the plumbing…the
fireplaces,” he said, picking up his mug, sipping his coffee,
shifting his gaze to the floor.

“Don’t you own a construction company? Why
didn’t you do this when your mom was alive?”

Kit sat down at the table across from him.
Noticing he’d missed a spot with his comb, she longed to reach over
and pat down his thick, glossy dark hair with her fingers. Instead,
she placed both hands around her mug to keep them occupied.