Thankful for You (8 page)

“It happened to have a pet store for sale when I was looking for a business to buy. Plus the name appealed to me.” She’d been in such a rough mental state when she’d come here. Too bad she hadn’t overcome it as well as Sig. “Here’s an easy one. How old are you?”

“Thirty-six. You?” He lobbed her softball right back at her.

“Thirty-two.” She thought a minute. “Why haven’t you ever married?”

He lifted one eyebrow. “How do you know I haven’t?”

“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “The town grapevine wouldn’t have missed that. Now give, or pay the forfeit.”

“All right. It’s pretty simple. The only time I was interested, she told me she wouldn’t unless I left the Army. The fact that I wasn’t ready to do that convinced me she wasn’t the right woman for me anyway.” He looked her square in the eyes. “You have been married, haven’t you?”

“Yes.” The last thing she wanted to talk about was Gary. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Whatever color T-shirt you have on that day.” He shook his head. “Honestly, it’s entirely situational. I don’t have an overall favorite. Now, tell me about your ex. Did he hit you, or was the abuse all psychological?”

“Only verbal. I think I told you that before. But he was extremely good at it, and it took me a long time to have any sense of self-worth again.” She glanced down at her plate to avoid his gaze. “What kind of music do you like?”

“All kinds, depending on my mood. What’s his name?”

“Gary Rosenbaum. Where did you go to college?”

“In bits and pieces on base and on the Internet. Where’s Gary now? Chicago?”

She simply nodded. “Look I’m out of questions. Ask whatever you want.”

He reached over and covered her hand with his. “Is he completely out of the picture or is he the stalker kind of ex? Are you hiding?”

She shrugged again. “He’s been here—maybe a couple times a year. Mostly he whines. He lost a ton of money in the stock market and his law firm is floundering. He seems to think I have a fortune hidden somewhere, since I used to be a high-paid accountant.”

“Have you given him any?” He slid his hand down to her shoulder and his voice was exquisitely gentle, with no trace of recrimination.

“A few hundred here and there. Not much.” But it had been enough to earn her a few sleepless nights worrying about paying the bills. Thank God for steady customers like Sig.

To her surprise, he didn’t freak out and yell at her. “I figured. You’re too kind not to. But you know it has to end, right?”

She nodded. “He hasn’t shown his face in a while.”

“Next time, call me if you need backup.” He ate a few more bites. “How long were you married?”

“Three years.” The more questions she answered, the easier it got. Sig was truly a world-class listener. “Legally, a few months more, but the marriage was done.”

“What happened?” Again, there was no judgment in his tone or expression.

“He cheated. Then I was in a car accident. Afterward, I had kind of a…nervous breakdown. Spent some time in a psych ward, then a little more in a private facility. When I got out, I’d dredged up enough backbone to walk away and not listen to his rants anymore.”

“Good for you.” He tipped his glass to her. “Now tell me the rest. There was more to this than smashing a car, wasn’t there?”

She nodded. She’d barely spoken about this to the shrinks at the hospital, let alone anyone else. “I…I was four months pregnant when I got in the accident. I lost the baby. Gary blamed me, probably rightly, since I was leaving him at the time I crashed.” Her voice was thin and wobbly, but to her surprise, she got through the entire last sentence.

He dropped his knife and fork with a clatter on the plate to come around and kneel beside her, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “Oh, Jesus, sweetheart, I am so, so sorry.”

Elsie wept. She leaned into Sig’s arms and cried for her lost little girl and her lost dreams and her lost optimism. Through it all, he cradled her against his chest and murmured soothing words into her hair and ear.

“Sweetheart, it was so not your fault. Sometimes shit happens to the people who least deserve it. Life doesn’t always give us reasons or people to blame. But don’t blame yourself.”

She sniffled into his shirt. “I was going to call her Laura,” she said. “Nice and normal but not too old-fashioned. We were going to explore the world together, after we left her asshole of a father behind.”

“I’ll bet she would have been as beautiful as you.” He wiped her hair off her face. “No wonder you fell apart. There’s no shame in grieving.”

“According to Gary, there was. He kept drilling into my head that since I ran away, I must have intentionally….” She blew her nose on the napkin he handed her.

“I think we’ve established that Gary is an asshat. Do not believe a word he said. He badgered you into the breakdown, didn’t he?” He took the napkin and set it aside, showing no signs of being grossed out by bodily functions—also unlike Gary.

“Yeah.” It was the first time she’d admitted that to anyone. “He hated that I made more money as an account executive with my CPA firm than he did as an associate attorney. Wanted me to quit. At one point, he emailed in my resignation letter. I went to confront him and found him with his dick in another woman’s mouth. That’s when I lost it completely and blacked out. I woke in the hospital.” She looked away, still ashamed of her weakness.

“We all have scars, inside and out. Does my face bother you?” He kissed her forehead. “My hand? The rest of me?”

“Of course not. But you’re a hero. I’m only a….”

“A beautiful, kind, loving, traumatized woman.” He kissed her nose this time. “That’s all I see.”

She looked into his eyes and saw the truth. He meant absolutely every word. She gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you. That helps—a lot.” It would be a long time before she was fully healed, if she ever was, but she could be with Sig more easily, now that he knew all of her ugly secrets and hadn’t turned away. She turned to look at her plate, the wonderful food now utterly unappealing. “Do you mind if I don’t finish my dinner?”

“Not a bit.” He stood and quickly moved the plates to the sink. “I’ll do dishes in the morning.” Lids went on the casserole and salad and he popped them into the fridge. “Why don’t I show you the rest of the house? That is, if you still want to stay.”

“I do.” She drew in a deep, energizing breath. “Very much.”

“Cool.” He kissed her, laced his fingers through hers, and hauled her to her feet. “Keep in mind that most of the second floor isn’t finished yet.”

“Is your bedroom done?” She followed him up a set of back stairs that led off the kitchen door.

“Yep. Third floor. Hope you don’t mind the walk. I’m working on a permit for a small elevator, but the historical society hasn’t approved it yet.” His limp showed a bit by the time they reached the top. By mutual consent, they hadn’t bothered stopping at the second floor.

“I don’t mind, but isn’t this hard on your leg?” She looked around the enormous room that occupied most of the top floor of the house. Sectioned off corners were probably a bath and closet. Out by the front window was a desk and a sitting area with a small TV. Toward the back of the house was a king-sized bed, the cream-colored sheets turned down invitingly.
Nice!

“The exercise is good. I want the elevator, though, for later—in case, as I get older, the leg gets worse. One day I might even be in a wheelchair, if things go the wrong way. Does that worry you?”

“Not in the slightest.” She didn’t even pause to think that she wouldn’t be with him then. It didn’t matter what kind of physical shape he was in. He’d still be the best specimen of manhood she’d ever met.

With no reservations whatsoever, she joined him in the king-sized bed.

Sig looked over at Elsie, sleeping so peacefully on her stomach, with her knees drawn under her, pushing her butt into the air. She was adorable, even sound asleep. He couldn’t help wishing he could wake to her like this every morning of his life. They’d been dating for exactly two and a half days, and already he was head over heels in love with her. Hell, he probably had been from the first day he’d set foot in her shop.

They’d woken in the night for sex followed by a midnight snack, and this time they’d talked about his life. As he’d expected, she’d urged him to accept the job at the radio station. He’d promised to give it a try. Soon, he might be in a position for permanence in a relationship—he had a house that was almost done and a good potential job, if he could hack it. The relationship would have to be with Elsie, though. He simply didn’t want to imagine a future, a family, with anyone else.

He hadn’t asked if her miscarriage had damaged her physically so she couldn’t have children, or if her misgivings were psychological. It didn’t matter. He’d rather have Elsie than a houseful of kids. Maybe, after a few years, she’d be interested in adopting. He liked that idea. He’d seen so many orphaned kids in the Middle East. It would do his heart good to help take care of a couple here in the States. He’d have to wait before broaching that subject to Elsie, though. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off from their burgeoning relationship.

Elsie stirred, blinking at the bright sunlight that filled the room. When she smiled, Sig felt like he was on the top of the world. “Good morning.” He moved in for a long, hot kiss. “No time for more, I’m afraid. Not if you want to open the store on time.” Reluctantly, he eased away from her tempting nudity as she uncoiled and sat.

“Next time, set the alarm an hour early.” She leaned over and hugged him, then padded off to the bathroom with a yawn, not bothering to close the door.

“Is there going to be a next time?” He tried to keep the question light.

She returned, toothbrush in hand. “I hope so.” She tossed it and it clattered into the sink as she returned to sit next to him on the bed. “Sig, I changed my mind. I
do
want a real relationship. Is that okay with you?” Elsie’s eyes were wide and she bit her lip as she waited.

He folded her into his arms. “More than all right. It’s the best news I’ve heard in years. Maybe ever.” His throat clogged at the possibilities ahead. “I want that, too.”

“Even now that you know how messed up I am?”

“Even more. We’re all human, sweetheart. Nobody’s perfect” He kissed her until they were flat on the bed again.

“Best excuse ever to be late for work,” she said with a grin when she stepped out of the shower sometime later. “Thank you. For last night. For this morning. For…everything.”

“My pleasure.”

She started to pull on clothes from her tote bag. “Don’t you dare skip that interview today, do you understand?”

“I do. I told you, I’ll give the job a fair shot.” He was actually getting excited about the opportunity to help people, even if only by giving them someone to talk to on a lonely night. “I’ll come by the shop afterward and tell you how it went.”

“Good.” She grinned. “Do you want to sleep at my place tonight? Or was the bed too small for you?”

He watched every move as she finished getting dressed. “I’m okay either way.” As long as they slept together, he didn’t give a damn where they were.

While she gulped down some coffee, he bounced through a quick shower and was dressed in time to walk her to work. The fact that she openly held his hand the whole way brightened his day. He was still smiling when he left the radio station at lunchtime, a provisional contract in hand. He even stopped on the way back to the shop for a bundle of fresh flowers for Elsie, since he’d forgotten to give her the ones on his dining room table the night before. He whistled as he walked. Oh yeah, life was looking freaking great. For the first time in his life, the town of Haven lived up to its name.

A week later, Sig took the same walk, whistling again. He’d finalized his contract, he loved his job, he loved Elsie and he was pretty sure she loved him too—although she hadn’t accepted it yet. After a week of spending every night together, he was convinced she’d come around soon. Despite the sleet that began as he walked, he was as happy as he’d ever been.

He went through the back door to the shop, using his key since he wanted to surprise her. She wasn’t expecting him until dinner time. He stepped quietly into the back hallway and heard Elsie on the phone. He stopped outside the door.

“No problem, Martha. I’ll send him right over. Send Mindy all my best.” Sig had introduced the two only yesterday, at the welcome home dinner Elsie had helped him cook for his mom and her boyfriend. From the sound of it, his sister had gone into labor. No wonder she’d been feeling rocky and hadn’t come over last night. He kicked himself for turning off his cell phone during his meeting with Blake.

He started to step into the shop’s main room, then paused when the bell above the door jangled harshly—as if someone had slammed open the door. Bluebell let out a furious squawk.

Sig eased closer into the room so he could see what was going on without being noticed.

“Gary.” Elsie’s tone was flat. “What do you want this time?”

“Shut up, bird.” Gary glared at Bluebell but didn’t approach the cage. “I want those diamond earrings I gave you for a wedding present.” His voice was thin and ugly. Gary was a medium-height, balding man in a faded navy suit that had probably once been top of the line. How far the mighty had fallen. “I’ve got a great line on a new investment that will land me enough to open my own firm.”

Elsie’s shoulders relaxed as she shook her head and scratched Bluebell’s wing to shut him up. Demonstrating his fine taste, Bluebell continued to glare at her ex and fluff out his feathers. “Gary, I sold those off years ago. Why would I have kept any reminders of you?”

He stepped forward. “Listen, Beth. I bet you don’t want everyone in this Podunk town to find out you were a committed mental patient.” Sig started to move, but Elsie’s next words stopped him.

“Go ahead, you little asshat.” She used Sig’s term and decided it really was a perfect fit. “I don’t give a damn what you have to say. I’m done letting you blackmail or browbeat me. Get the hell out of my shop and don’t show your face again.”