The Right Thing (21 page)

“I’m sure he’d be thrilled to know he has another fan. Now go way, Tom,” Thea said, laughing at last.

After Tom left, Thea spent a long few minutes telling herself over and over that Tom, Amy, Lydia, and even Gerald were wrong. She did not need Morgan Reed in the way they thought she did.

All she needed was his pasta sauce recipe and a way to forget how good he was at kissing.

Chapter 15

Morgan was finishing up the fifth pan of lasagna when Pete came in with the remaining ingredients they had run out of in preparation.

“Need to layer about an inch of shredded mozzarella on each pan, before they go into the oven,” he said, glancing up briefly, but not really paying much mind to Pete.

Morgan was absorbed in what he’d come to think of as his pasta cooking zone. Plus he and Pete had worked out a companionable cook and apprentice relationship. Mostly he paid the man little mind until Pete made the move to talk to him which was happening more frequently.

As Morgan finished the last pan, he looked up, bringing his full attention to Pete and seeing a deep frown on the man’s face.

“What?” Morgan asked, looking at the pasta pans. “Something wrong with the pasta?”

“Thea had to leave,” Pete said quietly. “She got a call and took off after she dropped me here with the food. It was the nursing home. I think something has happened to Delilah.”

Morgan closed his eyes and breathed out a ragged breath. “Dad warned me it was coming. Did she want us to close up?”

“She didn’t say,” Pete told her, rubbing his face. “Amy can’t handle all the tables by herself.”

“No,” Morgan said quietly. “No, she can’t. I guess that will be up to me to help, since you’ll still need to run the grill. We’ll make it work. Can you run the credit card machine?”

Pete nodded. “Yeah. I used to know how. Amy might have to show me again.”

“Then we’ll survive tonight,” Morgan said, his mouth tight, his thoughts on Thea, and on his Dad and Lydia. He would rather have been with them, but he would do what was needed most.

They opened at five not having heard from Thea yet. Morgan and Amy waited tables, took orders, and kept things mostly afloat. Some regulars seemed to know that Morgan’s presence in the dining room meant Thea was in trouble. Some of them already seemed to know how bad it was.

A man showed up around seven saying he was a friend of Pete’s and began bussing tables without being asked. Morgan nodded to the man and went on.

Around nine-thirty there were just two sets of customers left when Morgan and Amy elected to lock the front door. Morgan was flipping the sign when Thea walked up the sidewalk, looking as pale as a ghost in the moonlight. Morgan held the door as she walked inside.

Amy stopped cleaning and looked up at Thea, who shook her head. “She’s gone.”

It was all Thea could manage without breaking down.

Swallowing hard, Amy nodded and went back to cleaning off the tables.

“Can I see you in my office?” Thea asked Morgan.

Morgan nodded and followed her across the restaurant and through the kitchen doors. She walked past Pete without a word, turned down the hall to her office. Once inside the room, she stood in the middle of the floor.

Morgan came in and closed the door behind him. Then he waited. Until he heard the first sniffle, and then Morgan walked to Thea, turned her, and wrapped her fiercely in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, his voice ragged with grief for her.

He could feel the sobs Thea was fighting not to release as much as the ones she was letting out softly.

“She came out of the coma tonight and asked for me by name,” Thea said. “I put my hand on her cheek, and she smiled. I guess she needed to see me one last time.”

Morgan tightened his hold. “You can cry. You can scream. Hell, I’ll even let you bloody my nose again. Whatever you need, Thea. Whatever you need. I mean that.”

Thea felt the un-clinching in her gut, felt the anger giving way, and she pulled free of Morgan’s hold on her until she could look him in the eye.

“I’m still mad as hell about the way you hurt me, but I need to be with you tonight,” she told him, seeing surprise and fear in his gaze that locked to hers.

Thea stood on her toes until she could reach Morgan’s mouth, and when she kissed him, there was nothing in her kiss but gratitude for his arms around her.

“I’m not going to argue. We’ll work on the mad stuff another time,” Morgan whispered against her busy mouth, letting her kiss be what she made of it while he spent the time absorbing the feel of her and the taste of her, until he could believe it was really happening. Thea was in his arms again. He didn’t care why.

“I don’t want to be alone, and it doesn’t seem to make any sense for me to be alone when I know you’re willing to hold me. I can’t think past that,” Thea said.

Morgan lifted a hand to her face, caressing her cheek in the gesture she had so often used with him and his father.

“I care about you, Althea Carmichael. I’m glad to be the one comforting you. I won’t take advantage again. I swear it.”

Thea closed her eyes. “You’ll get more than a bloody nose next time if you do,” she told him.

Morgan hugged her tightly against him. “I know. It’s one of the things I most admire about you.”

Before they all left that evening, Thea made a sign that she taped to the restaurant door.

Closed Due To Death In Family

Reopen Next Tuesday

*** *** ***

That night, following an instinct to take care of her, Morgan followed Thea into the shower, washed her and then himself. Then he kissed his way down her needy, aching body to pleasure her while she leaned weakly against the bathroom wall.

After she had calmed, Morgan kissed Thea, over and over and over, in every way he’d ever done to please himself and pleasure any woman.

Finally, despite the pain in his leg from bracing her weight, and the additional penalty he’d pay tomorrow, Morgan scooped her up into his arms and carried Thea to the bed, sliding without finesse inside her the moment they were horizontal.

This time he was slow and deliberate.

This time he told her how amazing she was, how sexy she was, how incredibly perfect she was in every way.

And then Morgan said what needed to be said, regardless of what had happened tonight or what changed tomorrow. He said what he hadn’t been willing to say to her before.

“Althea,” Morgan said, his heart beating frantically in time with hers. “You are the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

Unable to do anything else, Thea wrapped her arms around Morgan and cried.

Her world as she knew it had come to an end again in her life. With Delilah’s death, most of her family was gone.

And in her weakness, she’d let a man who was more enemy than friend comfort her.

Now he was saying he loved her.

It was more than she could deal with, more than she could handle knowing. So she cried—she cried about Delilah dying, about Angus, about the limited life she’d had for the last ten years, and about ending up in the arms of a man she couldn’t trust, but who was the only one she wanted.

Morgan rolled them to their side to remove his weight from Thea, but stayed inside her body until her tears were exhausted and she finally fell asleep.

Then he lay beside a sleeping Thea, staring peacefully into the dark while he marveled at how completely good it felt to know he was exactly where he belonged and doing exactly the thing he needed to be doing.

Morgan was more sure of the rightness of being with Thea when she needed him than he’d ever been of anything in his life.

But when he woke the next morning, he was alone in bed, and Thea was gone.

As humbling as it was, he had to accept that last night’s revelation had been just his.

And it hurt.

Thea might be grateful for his comfort while she grieved over Delilah. But she hadn’t forgiven him yet, and though Morgan believed she cared, he seriously doubted Thea was in love with him. She certainly had never used the words.

Morgan lay back down and stared at the ceiling while he thought about what Lydia had said about Angus waiting. Thea was worth it, but waiting wasn’t going to work out for him.

Unfortunately, his time in Sedona was almost up.

Chapter 16

Morgan carried the second pan of pasta into the dining room and placed it in the buffet warmers they had set up on several tables now slid together against the wall. Pete carried two large bowls of salad out behind him. They arranged the food and assembled dishes at the end of the serving line.

“Amy insisted on carrying drinks around,” Morgan told him. “I think she just wants something to do.”

Pete nodded. “I guess I’ll go prep the rolls. I won’t put them in until people show up. It should be any time now.”

Morgan followed Pete back to the kitchen, removing his apron and hanging it up. He was rolling down the sleeves of his crisp white shirt when he heard the lock turning on the front door. Peeking out, he saw Amy come in, followed by several older people dressed in black.

Morgan walked out and went to greet them.

Amy put a hand on his arm.

“Thea’s cousin showed up. She’s with him. Gerald is with Lydia and their friends. Based on the crowd at the funeral home, I’m guessing we’re feeding about fifty this evening,” she told him, sighing.

Morgan turned to her, lifted his arms, not surprised at all when Amy walked into them for a hug.

“I hate this,” she said. “Delilah used to keep milk and cookies here for me. I’d stop in on my way home from school. It seems so long ago now. Is this what growing up feels like?”

“Yes,” Morgan said, rubbing her back in comfort. “And in case you’re wondering, we all hate being adults in times like this.”

Amy pulled back, not surprised at all by the sincerity in his voice or on his face. “Well, that makes me feel a little better. Now I’m going to be an emotional coward for a few minutes and go make up some iced tea for our guests.”

Morgan patted her cheek. “Make me one. I haven’t stopped in two hours.”

She lifted to her toes and kissed his cheek before walking quickly away. Morgan had to swallow hard and stand really still until the emotion passed. Then he turned and went to chat with the people who were standing, not quite knowing what they should do. He talked them into food and tables. He took soda orders while Amy served iced tea.

Pete came out of the kitchen, apron gone, and sat at the table with one older couple he seemed to know really well. Morgan brought him a soda, having learned long ago it was Pete’s preferred drink.

Another wave of people came in, and this time it was Gerald and Lydia. He hugged Lydia and kissed her cheek. He put his arm around his father’s shoulders and walked them to the nearest empty table.

“Sit. I’ll bring food,” Morgan said, hurrying away to fix a couple of plates. When he brought them back, Gerald put a hand out and tugged Morgan down into a nearby chair.

“Stay and talk,” Gerald ordered, picking up a fork and eating a bite of ziti. “It was a nice turn out for the memorial ceremony. Thea is keeping the cremation ceremony brief and small tomorrow. I want you to be there. You need to be there. Ryan is in town, but Lydia and I are still worried about Thea. She’s being too much of a rock.”

“I held her while she cried some of it out last night,” Morgan said quietly, keeping his voice low.

Gerald nodded solemnly. Lydia smiled at him as she pushed the food around on her plate.

Morgan could hear the heaviness of his own breathing in the awkward silence hovering around them. “I’m keeping an eye on Thea all I can, Dad. I’ll be here if she needs me.”

Gerald nodded again. “Neither of Althea’s kids could get home for this. Her cousin Ryan was the only one who could come today.”

Morgan nodded, not knowing what to say in reply. He had zero experience in taking care of people, especially their emotional needs.

“I need to go put out another pan of pasta. I’ll be back.”

He rose from his chair and patted his father’s arm before he walked away.

“He’s a good man, Gerald,” Lydia said, when Morgan had passed through the kitchen doors.

Gerald stopped and studied his food. “I know. I don’t want him to leave now, but I can see he’s going to.”

Lydia patted his hand. “Things have a way of working out the way they need to most of the time. He’s in love with Thea. Anyone can see that—well, maybe except Thea.”

Gerald nodded and sighed.

Lydia laughed. “Thea’s a stubborn woman when it comes to forgiving a hurt. I doubt Morgan realizes the significance of her letting him be with her last night. That’s tantamount to an apology from her.”

“Lydia Roberts, I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” Gerald said softly. “In six months, I want you to marry me.”

Her fork hit her plate and Lydia had to work at swallowing the bite of food in her mouth.