by Dean, Taylor
Mary approached and held his hand. “Fix things between the two of you, Josh. Whatever it is, you can work it out. I know you can.”
“Thank you, Mary,” he said as they embraced. “It’s good to have you back where you belong.”
That evening Josh entered Marisa’s room to find her awake as she lay in her bed, vacantly staring into space. She’d slept the afternoon away and he was worried about her. Her gaze was wary, understandably so. Mary was taking a walk with Jerome in the Folly, along with Bethany, and this was the perfect time to talk with her and explain his actions. She looked adorable in her pajamas. They’d cut a lengthy strip up the side of the pant leg, just to accommodate the cast.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Why don’t we elevate your leg? I didn’t want to disturb you earlier, but the doctor recommended elevation.”
“All right,” she answered without looking at him.
“It’s nice that you can bend your leg at the knee. I had a friend who broke his leg so severely that the cast went all the way from his ankle to his hip. Very uncomfortable.” Josh placed a few pillows under her leg until it was comfortably elevated. “There we go. That ought to relieve some of the pain.” She was still taking the pain pills on a regular basis, telling him her pain was significant. Constance poked her head in the doorway then.
“Do you need anything, Miss Marisa?”
“No, I’m okay right now. Thanks, Constance.”
Josh hid his annoyance as he contemplated placing a ‘do not disturb’ sign on Marisa’s door. He’d hardly had a moment alone with her since the accident and it was weighing on him. Josh knew they would be alone for the next little while and this was his chance. He loved Mary and was thrilled that she was home, but it had left him with no time to speak with Marisa privately. And they needed to talk, desperately.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, hoping to start a dialogue with her.
“Okay.”
Not exactly forthcoming, but then, what did he expect? Noticing her water glass was empty, he filled it from the ice-cold pitcher Constance had placed on the nightstand. Sliced lemons floated in the water, making it look appealing.
“Thirsty?”
“Yes, please.”
Josh helped her into an upright position as she sipped from the glass. She felt good in his arms and more than anything, he wanted to hold her and kiss her. If only physical contact could heal the rift between them and smooth everything over. She collapsed onto her pillow as if the act took all of her strength.
“I’m sorry to be such a bother. I’ll be out of your house as soon as I’m well enough to travel.”
“There’s no hurry, Marisa. You’re not an inconvenience at all. Please, I want you to stay for as long as you need to.” And even longer than that. But he didn’t say it out loud. He wasn’t sure how she’d react. He sat on the bed and took her hand in his. She didn’t pull away. But her eyebrows furrowed slightly at the sight of their hands entwined.
Josh heard fast footsteps on the stairs and sighed heavily.
“Marisa, I picked these for you in the Folly. Aren’t they pretty?”
It was Bethany with a handful of petunias. Constance followed with a small vase of water. They arranged the flowers and placed them on the dresser where Marisa could see them.
“Thank you, Bethany. That was very sweet of you,” Marisa said with a smile as Bethany hugged her tightly.
“Aunt Mary’s waiting for me in the kitchen. I’m helping to make dinner tonight. It’s almost ready. I’ll be back to visit you later. I colored a picture for you.”
Thrilled to be back home, Bethany was enjoying her time with Mary almost as much as she enjoyed her time with Marisa. It warmed his heart to see her so happy. After Bethany left, Marisa’s smile faded abruptly. He longed to see her smile at him the way she used to.
“She loves having Mary here,” Josh said, grasping at idle chitchat. Mary, Jerome, and Bethany’s walk in the Folly was already over. He didn’t have much time.
“Me too.”
Ugh. Another conversation ending answer. It was more than obvious that Marisa wanted nothing more than for him to disappear and leave her alone. He couldn’t help himself, he reached out and ran his fingers over her face lightly. There was one thing that had always worked between them, one thing that she’d never denied him, not once. If he initiated a kiss, she always responded in kind and he loved it, he absolutely loved it.
“Marisa,” he said, so quietly he wasn’t sure she heard.
She had.
Her eyes moved up to his, cautiously, guardedly. She looked scared to death, her chest rose up and down with deliberate breaths.
“I really messed things up, didn’t I?”
She nodded in the affirmative.
“I want to make things right. Please let me.”
She nodded again and blinked heavily. Her expression was so sad, so heartbreaking, that he couldn’t stop himself from leaning down and pressing his lips to hers. He hadn’t planned on kissing her, as a matter of fact, he knew he shouldn’t, there was too much to say first, but it was his first instinct, the one thing that he knew could make everything temporarily better. When she responded, he leaned even closer, letting his body weight press against her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He parted her lips and let their tongues tangle together, letting his kiss do the talking for him. She tasted like lemons and he longed for more than a kiss. Her willingness was only fuel for the fire. He knew exactly what he wanted and it was her. No more doubts. He deepened the kiss as his passion ignited. He pulled her up to him as her head fell back. She was completely soft and compliant in his arms. At last, her hands reached up and held his face, her fingers traveling to his hair and burying themselves in it. Everything was going to be okay, he was sure of it.
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted their embrace.
Josh tore his lips away as he looked toward the offending doorway. There stood Mary, carrying a tray of food, her eyebrows half way up her forehead, her mouth slightly ajar, as if she was in shock.
“Excuse me, Marisa’s dinner is ready.”
Was it his imagination or did she actually glare at him? Not only that, Marisa sunk back down onto her pillow, turning her head away from him as if she was mortally embarrassed.
“I’ll let you eat your dinner, Marisa,” Josh said as he took his leave. Mary’s timing couldn’t have been worse. The kiss was good between them, as it always was. But he hadn’t said what he wanted to say to her, not at all. What must she think of him?
Josh retired to his office, needing time to think. Mary followed almost immediately.
“Josh?”
“Yes, Mary, what is it?”
“Sorry I walked in on you. The door was open and I wasn’t expecting it. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I can’t get Marisa to speak about it either. You two are very closed lipped about your relationship. She seems pretty upset about something though. From your embrace, I thought maybe everything was fine, but judging by her state of mind and lack of appetite, I’d say no. Am I right?”
“Probably.”
“I thought maybe the two of you just needed a push in the right direction or something, but after witnessing your kiss, I’d say you need a shove to the altar.” Mary shrugged. “I was picturing a light flirtation going on between you, but I was so very wrong, wasn’t I?” At Josh’s continued silence, she said, “It’s okay, don’t answer that. It’s none of my business. But I love both of you and I want both of you to be happy. I will say this though, oh my, that was quite a kiss.”
Josh smiled. “It was, wasn’t it?” It also told him a lot. Marisa was willing to give him a chance. She was amazing.
“I’m feeling a little hot and bothered.” A look of aversion must’ve crossed his features because she said, defensively, “Quit looking so disgusted. People my age still feel hot and bothered, you know.”
Join the club, Mar
y. He’d been hot and bothered since the day Marisa arrived in Texas.
It was time to do something about it.
It was only about an hour later that Josh wandered towards the kitchen, his mind working on overtime. He hadn’t eaten much dinner and his stomach was grumbling. The sound of voices stopped him from rounding the corner.
“Can you tell me what happened between Josh and Marisa, Constance?” Josh heard Mary ask in a loud whisper.
He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but he found himself standing in the shadows, listening intently.
“You know I can’t say anything, Miss Mary. Please don’t ask me to.”
Good for you, Constance.
“Please, Constance. I wouldn’t ask you to break a confidence unless it was extremely important. It’s a matter of life and death. Josh’s life and Marisa’s life.”
“Now Mary, don’t be overly dramatic.”
Josh couldn’t help but smile.
“I just want to know what’s going on and I can’t get a thing out of Josh and Marisa.”
“I think we all thought they’d be getting married soon,” Constance admitted, seeming to choose her words carefully.
“It was that serious?”
“It appeared to be. They were practically inseparable. Every single one of us caught them kissing at one time or another.”
“Every single one of you?”
“Me, Jake, even Bethany…”
“Bethany?”
“She asked me one day, ‘Constance, do you think my Dad and Marisa will get married?’ I told her, ‘Yes, I think they might.’ Then I asked her if she would be happy about that. She said, ‘Yes, Marisa would be my mom.’ Then she added, ‘I saw them kissing once. They thought I was asleep. They kissed for a really, really long time. I don’t think they could breathe.’ I had a good chuckle over that one.”
“Were Josh and Marisa trying to keep their relationship a secret?”
“I don’t think so. But they didn’t exactly announce it either.”
“What did you see? Tell me.”
“First of all, everyone saw them at the barbeque.”
“The annual barbeque?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m still fielding questions about their relationship. As if they think I would gossip. It’s quite insulting.”
“What happened at the barbeque?”
Constance sighed heavily. “Everyone knows about it. I guess it can’t hurt to tell you,” Constance said slowly, clearly struggling with her conscience.
Josh loved her discretion, even though it seemed clear to him that she was dying to tell Mary all of the particulars.
“They were out on the dance floor kissing with…a lot of enthusiasm, shall we say? It was the kind of kiss that usually happens behind closed doors. Neither one of them seemed to care that they had a captive audience.”
“Oh,” Mary said. “I’ve already witnessed something similar.”
“Living here, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Prepare yourself for more.”
“When did you personally see them? Or was that the only time?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, Mary. Joshua would be very angry with me if he knew I was talking about him.”
Constance is a gem. Thank goodness for her loyalty.
“You know as well as I do that Josh would be lost without you. He relies on you.”
That was true.
“And I’d like to be worthy of his trust. Housekeepers tend to be the eyes and ears of the home. They know everything that goes on. If I gossiped, I’d be out of a job in no time. Joshua and Bethany are much more to me than a job. Marisa as well.”
“Oh Constance, Josh looks upon you as part of the family. We all do. It’s just that, well, I’m so worried about both Josh and Marisa. Something bad happened and I can’t figure out what it was. Please tell me what you know. They’ll never know that I know and that’s a promise.”
It was quiet for several moments and Josh knew Mary had convinced Constance to spill the beans. What exactly did Constance know? It would be interesting to hear just how much she had gleaned.
“All right. But I only tell you this because you’re family and you might be able to help them and for no other reason than that.”
Josh knew he should make himself known, but as Constance began her story, he was hooked.
“There was this one time when I awoke in the middle of the night, sure that I’d heard an unfamiliar noise. I wandered out of my room and that’s when I smelled smoke. Wondering if the fire in the fireplace hadn’t been properly extinguished, I made my way to the living room.”
Constance hesitated and Mary, sounding eager, said, “What? What did you see?”
“The lights were off and it was very quiet. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone. I didn’t mean to invade their privacy.”
“So it was Josh and Marisa?”
“Yes. They were spread out in front of the fire together. It was nearly four in the morning and I wondered why they were up. I was about to say something, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see that it was an intimate moment.”
“Intimate?”
Her voice turned into a whisper and Josh had to strain to hear her. “He was on top of her and he kissed her with…awe. It was soft, slow, and sweet, as if he worshipped her. For just a moment, I couldn’t look away. It was a beautiful scene. I knew right then that their relationship had progressed much further than any of us had realized.”
“Oh my,” Mary breathed.
Josh nearly laughed out loud at the rather poetic description of their late night tryst. Mary’s breathy response deserved a little chuckle too.
But he wasn’t in the mood for laughter. He didn’t relish having an audience. Not at all. He’d had no idea that Constance had seen them that night as they’d lain by the fire. Josh suddenly felt very uncomfortable. What was it his father used to say? Something about eavesdroppers never hearing any good about themselves? This was too much.
“At four in the morning?” Mary questioned and Josh’s hand hit his forehead. After all those juicy details, her only comment was about the time?
“I later noticed that they were often up and about in the middle of the night. I heard them on several occasions, but let them have their privacy. I suspect it was the only time they could steal for themselves, uninterrupted.”
“I see,” Mary said thoughtfully.
“Of course, they rode the ranch together every day during Bethany’s nap, but somehow I don’t think they went out just to ride their horses,” Constance added.
We were just playing tag, I swear it.
“If things were going so good, why was Marisa leaving? I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure what happened the night before she left. They were in the office for a long time. Their voices were raised, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.”
“Were they fighting?”
“It sounded like it. Someone threw a vase and the crashing sound seemed to echo off the walls. I was in the kitchen and it made me jump. Then Marisa ran out of the house, slammed the door, and rode off on her horse. Josh soon followed. They don’t know this, but the noises of the night woke Bethany up out of a sound sleep. I tucked her back into bed and told her I dropped a glass in the kitchen. She was very upset, I think she sensed the tension in the house.”
At the time, Josh hadn’t given a thought to anyone else in the household. It disturbed him that Bethany had awoken to the sounds of their argument.
“They didn’t come home till after three a.m. They’d stayed out nearly all night. Whatever happened, Joshua informed me the next morning that Marisa was going home. Marisa looked very upset, it was obvious that she didn’t want to leave. Marisa took off in Josh’s truck and Josh followed her. I’ve never seen him so distressed.”
“I wonder what went wrong.”
“I don’t know, Mary. But those two belong together. They were so happy all summer, constantly laughing and playing with ea
ch other as if they were teenagers again. It was heartwarming to watch the romance unfold. I’ve never seen Josh so happy. Bethany too. Marisa’s a sweetheart. You raised her well, Miss Mary.”
“Thank you, Constance. I’ll do whatever I can to bring them back together,” Mary promised.
That was when Josh made a hasty exit, feeling guilty for listening in on a conversation that was not meant for his ears. At the same time, he felt just a little bowled over with Constance and Mary’s concern for him. Both Constance and Mary were mother figures in his life. Although he didn’t savor his life being an open book, he appreciated their motherly hen attitudes. He wasn’t angry with them, instead he felt…loved and watched over. It was an entirely new feeling. He’d always thought of himself as independent and self-sufficient. And he was. But who would’ve thought that—at the ripe old age of twenty-eight—he would like having a motherly influence in his life. Two of them, at that. He thought he was above such a need.
Perhaps not.
–17–
After lying around in bed for the next four days listlessly and spending the majority of the day sleeping, Marisa was finally ready to be up and about. While her leg would be in a cast for another five weeks or so, she was beginning to feel like herself again. The gash on her forehead was healing nicely and her head no longer pounded with pain. Josh was at her bedside nearly every second, fussing over her and seeing to her every need.
Kissing her.
But then, she knew that was just an aberration on his part. He’d never denied his attraction for her. It didn’t change anything. And she was mortified by her reaction to him. Why was she kissing a man who had just told her he wasn’t in love with her? Did she have no pride whatsoever?
It wouldn’t happen again. She wouldn’t let it.
That he felt guilty was obvious. With Mary hovering over her with motherly concern, they were never alone, thus preventing another awkward conversation. What was there to say anyway?
