by Debra Webb
“Didn’t have enough.” Erica raised the empty bucket to indicate she meant paint. She headed across the street to the hardware.
Donna tried to make sense of what was happening, but her brain just wouldn’t work. Drugs, she thought ruefully.
She opened the clinic’s new door, uncertain of what she would find. Her mouth dropped open when she entered the building. The place teemed with activity. Teenagers were everywhere. Some stood on ladders painting trim. Others used extensions to roll paint on the walls. Still others sat on the floor painting baseboards. Drop cloths covered anything that didn’t need painting.
She looked up. The ceilings were blessedly white again. Amazing. Donna wandered down the hall. Even the charred area in the hall ceiling was in the process of repair. In each room the scene was much the same. The clean scent of new paint had all but replaced the odor of smoke. Donna found Hank in her office, cleaning as if the health inspector was about to descend at any moment.
“I’m sure this will sound like a dumb question,” Donna said, announcing her presence. “But, what’s going on here?”
Hank whirled to face her. “Hey, Doc.” He dropped his cleaning cloth and made his way around the displaced furnishings. He touched his lips to hers. The brief contact sent her pulse into overdrive.
“After I dropped you off this morning, I decided to deal with the situation.”
Donna read the hesitancy in his gaze. He was hoping she would be pleased. She surveyed the newly painted walls, the color an exact match to the previous one. “Somewhat presumptuous of you to deal with it without asking me first, Coach.” Donna leveled her gaze on his, holding back the grin that tickled her lips.
“I’ve been known to be presumptuous on occasion.” Sparks ignited in his blue eyes and the uncertainty disappeared.
“So I’m told.”
“It’s my biggest flaw,” he added, moving a step closer to her.
Donna threw her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. “You’re too good to be true.”
“I’m whatever you want me to be,” he murmured, his strong embrace restoring her strained emotions.
“Yo, Coach!”
Hank loosened his hold on Donna enough that she could turn in his arms to see who had spoken. Dodd. She recognized the team’s quarterback.
“Yo, Dodd,” Hank echoed.
“All the painting’s done except a little more in the lobby.” Dodd winked at Donna. She responded with a wide grin.
“Great,” Hank praised. “As soon as we get the furniture and equipment washed down, we’ll call it a day. I can clean the floors tomorrow when the paint’s had a chance to dry.”
“Gotcha, Coach.” Dodd acknowledged with a sharp salute.
Donna shook her head in astonishment. “I can’t believe all this.” She turned in Hank’s arms and looked up at him in wonder. “Where did the paint and all this other stuff come from?”
“Well, let’s see,” he started. “The hardware store supplied the paint. A friend of mine is a painter, he provided all the ladders and painting tools.”
“This is unbelievable.” Donna wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. People in the small town where she and Patty grew up would band together to overcome disasters, but she figured that was a thing of the past. Gone out of style like too many other good things these days. The light spreading across her desk from the brass table lamp caught her eye. The lights were on. That meant the electricity had been restored.
“The lights,” Donna said, staring at the lamp.
“Oops, I almost forgot,” Hank said. “I have another friend who’s an electrician.”
“It’s all done—fixed, already?” she asked in astonishment.
“It really wasn’t as bad as it looked. He finished in just a few hours. An inspector will be by on Monday just to make everything official.”
“How did you get an electrician on such short notice?” Just getting maintenance to repair a faulty light switch in her apartment back in Denver had been a major undertaking. And on Saturday, weekend overtime rates were horrific. She had no way to pay for all this.
“I told you, he’s a friend of mine.” Hank grinned. “He owed me a favor.”
Donna shook her head, her short-lived happiness dead in the face of reality. All this cost money. “I don’t know how long it will take to collect from the insurance company. I don’t even know what they’ll cover.”
“There’s nothing to cover.” Hank took her hands in his and squeezed. “Don’t you get it? The materials were all donated and the labor was volunteered.”
Donna closed her eyes and willed the tears to retreat. When it was safe again, she met his gaze. “Thank you,” she whispered, her throat constricting. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could manage to say.
“I like my gratitude in a little more tangible form, Doc,” he said with a look of mischief on his handsome face.
“I’m not sure I understand.”
Hank drew her back into his arms and kissed all her worries away.
~*~
Patty and Sam showed up with Melissa and their girls just in time for the pizza party Hank insisted on throwing for everyone who had helped at the clinic.
The sizable crowd kept the Main Street Diner’s one waitress hopping. Donna smiled as she scanned the haggard group. All sooty and paint speckled. They looked like the survivors of a cartoon explosion. Patty had been right. This was the right place for Donna to raise her daughter. She felt a deep sadness for all the years she had lost reaching for the brass ring that had long since tarnished. But after being deserted by Brick, Donna felt compelled to provide the best life she could for her daughter. She now knew that money wasn’t all Melissa needed. Donna looked around her again, she and Melissa needed this.
“Donna.”
She abandoned her deep thoughts to look toward the sound of her sister’s voice.
“Come here a minute,” Patty called in a stage whisper. She motioned for Donna to follow her into the hall that led to the restrooms.
“What?” Donna asked in the same hushed tone, though she had no idea why. Patty gestured impatiently for her to join her. Donna shook her head and walked over to where her sister waited.
Without further explanation, Patty pulled Donna into the ladies room and locked the door behind them. She crossed her arms over her chest and fixed her with a motherly gaze—one Donna had endured numerous times before.
“Oh,” she sighed. “It’s time for one of those.”
Patty made an impatient sound and rolled her eyes. “Just a little piece of sisterly advice.”
“Let’s have it.” Donna leaned back against the locked door. She might as well relax, Patty’s little pieces of advice usually turned into big chunks.
“I’ve been watching you and Hank together—”
“Patty,” Donna warned. “This doesn’t sound like advice, it sounds like nose trouble.”
Patty huffed an exasperated breath. “Shut up and listen, Donna.”
Donna pressed her lips together and passed her thumb and forefinger over them as if zipping them shut. She gazed at her sister in feigned anticipation. She was too happy right now to let even Patty’s matchmaking bother her.
Patty visibly steeled herself and then began, “I know Brick did a number on you—”
She wasn’t going down that road. “I don’t ever want to hear that name again as long as I live,” she warned, that old, familiar anger trickling into her pleasant mood.
Patty held up a hand in an attempt to stay Donna’s protest. “Just let me finish, okay?”
“Finish,” Donna grumbled. Refusing to look at her sister, she stared at the worn black and white squares on the floor.
“I can see what’s happening between you and Hank. I’d have to be blind not to.” Patty paused. When Donna finally gave in and looked at her, she continued. “Don’t let the past ruin the future, Donna. Hank is a good man and he’s crazy about you. Open your heart to him. You’ll h
urt him if you don’t. And no one will be more sorry than you if that happens.”
“And just what makes you think I haven’t opened my heart to him, Ms. Busybody?”
“Are you in love with him?” Patty asked, she arched one eyebrow in speculation.
“That’s none of your business, Patricia Jacobs Russell.”
Patty grinned from ear to ear. “You are. I knew it!” She looked heavenward. “There is a God!”
“If you’re finished, I’d like to rejoin the festivities.” Donna cocked her head and smiled a tolerant smile at her well-meaning sibling. “And don’t you dare say ‘I told you so’.”
“Have you told him?”
“This conversation is over.” Donna turned to open the door.
“Tell him, Donna.” Patty urged. She placed one hand on Donna’s shoulder to halt her retreat. “Tell him. He deserves to know. Don’t make him wonder. You know how it feels to wonder.”
Patty’s words hit home. Donna knew exactly how it felt to wish with all your heart that somebody loved you the way you loved them. Brick, damn you! She had prayed he would change and love her. That he would want the child they had created together. That he would somehow morph into the sweet guy she had thought him to be when they first met. But he hadn’t. She had trusted him. Told him how she felt. He never loved her. Never wanted her, not really. And he certainly never wanted their child. Damn him. Donna clenched her teeth to keep the tears at bay.
“I don’t know if I can do that, Patty.” She turned to face her sister. “He hasn’t mentioned love or commitment. What if that’s not what he wants?”
Patty sighed. “What does the man have to do to prove he’s worthy of your trust?”
All the things Hank had done to show how much he cared flooded Donna. Her heart swelled with the overflow. He cared a great deal. She knew he did. Could she allow herself to love him? The answer was easy, she loved him already. But knowing it in her heart and admitting it to Hank were two different things.
“I’ll work on it,” she promised Patty. Donna slipped back into the crowded dining room. Hank was sharing his pizza with Melissa, who sat in his lap. The way he smiled at the child pulled at Donna’s heart strings. Hank glanced up at her and winked. She smiled. That small, resisting piece of her heart yielded. Yes, she could trust Hank.
By the time Hank took Donna and Melissa home it was past the child’s bedtime. After a ride up the stairs on Hank’s shoulders, Melissa barely kept her eyes open for Donna to read the obligatory story.
She paused outside Melissa’s bedroom door. “You go on down and make yourself comfortable,” she whispered to Hank. “I’ll be down in a minute.” She smiled. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Don’t tease me, Doc, my heart can’t take it,” he drawled in a low, husky voice as he clutched his chest.
She ushered him to the stairs. “Go on. I’ll be there in a minute and I promise you won’t be sorry.”
With one final assessing look, Hank trudged reluctantly down the stairs.
Donna pulled in a breath and made a mad dash for her bedroom. She stripped her clothes off as she crossed the room. After freshening up and brushing her teeth, she touched-up her make-up, and worked her hair into the sexiest tousled do she knew.
She skimmed the closet until she found the lacy pink babydoll a friend had bought her as a gag gift two birthdays ago. She pulled on the sheer nightie with its matching panties then donned the slinkiest robe she owned. Donna stepped in front of the full-length mirror and analyzed the look.
“Oh, my.” The short, silk robe didn’t cover much, but the color looked good against her skin. She could do this. Hank played football with her daughter. His patience was seemingly unending with the child. She considered all the sweet and kind things he had done for her.
Yes, she could do this.
Donna bounded down the stairs to join him in the living room. They needed some quiet time together—just the two of them. No distractions and no disasters. She intended to show him exactly how she felt. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life afraid. Hank was worth the risk.
“How about we...” Donna stopped mid-step. Her lips spread into a wide smile.
Hank was fast asleep on the couch. Bless his heart, he’d been going non-stop almost forty-eight hours. She moved closer. Asleep he looked like a little boy, sweet and innocent. Thick, dark lashes shadowed his high cheek bones. Black stubble darkened his jaw, defying the look of boyish innocence. Those wonderful full lips were slightly parted. His relaxed body appeared soft and harmless. Donna knew first hand there wasn’t anything soft or harmless about that body. Hard and dangerous—dangerous to her heart—was a much more accurate description.
She sat down next to him. His rhythmic breathing made her ache to feel that breath against her skin. She longed to touch him, to see those eyes flutter open in a dazzling flash of blue, but she didn’t.
Instead she snuggled in close and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Ten
Hank watched Donna’s eyes drift open and he smiled. He couldn’t resist touching her soft cheek. Every muscle in his body tightened at the soft feel of her skin beneath his fingertips.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered.
She sighed and then smiled. “I’m glad you did. What time is it?”
Desire zipped through him, followed by a feeling of want that overwhelmed even the need to breathe. “Early. Melissa’s still sleeping.” He brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Last night you said you had a surprise for me, but I guess I fell asleep on you.”
She pouted those expressive lips. “You certainly did. And, after I got all dressed up for you.” She swept her hand down her silk clad body.
Hank’s heart dropped like a fumbled ball. “That was for me?” He could feel himself hardening. He wanted her so damned much.
Donna smiled. “I suppose you could have your surprise now, even if it is Sunday.” Before he could say a word she straddled his lap, untied the belt at her waist and allowed her robe to slip off her shoulders. “Unless, of course, you think it’s too wicked.”
For a moment Hank couldn’t breathe much less speak. “Not too wicked at all, Doc.”
He tried to calm the tension throttling through him. Not happening this side of the grave. He ached to wrap his arms around her, but this was her show. His blood sizzled in his veins, rushed to his heart and exploded into a fiery inferno that filled his chest.
She gathered fistfuls of his tee-shirt and pulled it loose from his jeans. He held his arms up and watched in silence as she pulled the tee over his head and dropped it to the floor. She touched him. He drew in a harsh breath and fought for control. He closed his eyes when the hot, wet feel of her mouth covered a nipple. She sucked hard while gliding her fingers down his chest. Hank groaned.
“Doc, you’re driving me crazy,” he growled. His grip tightened on her hips, pressing her more firmly against his arousal. He’d never be able to endure this. He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her mouth up to his. God, she tasted good. So soft. So sweet. He plunged his tongue into her mouth. She made a tiny sound in her throat and his chest constricted. Harder and harder he kissed her, drowning in her sweetness.
He felt her fingers in his waistband. He shifted and rolled her over onto her back on the sofa. His mouth continued to plunder hers, searching out her tongue; drawing it into his own mouth. Donna fumbled with his zipper. He lost it then. He had to get her out of those skimpy clothes—just as soon as he could bear to take his mouth from hers. God, he wanted inside her so badly it hurt.
“Hank,” she breathed against his lips.
He held her sweet face in his hands and lost himself in those wide, passion glazed eyes. He ground his hips against hers, showing her the evidence of his desire for her. “Yes,” he murmured, forcing himself to be patient. He hoped she wasn’t going to ask him to stop, if she did he might just die on the spot.
“I want so much to trust you, but I’m afraid you’ll b
reak my heart,” she said. The anguish in her voice grieved his soul. “I don’t think I could bear it if you did.”
“Never happen, Doc. Never.” He covered her mouth with his and kissed her with every ounce of feeling he could muster. He wanted this woman...wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life. She could make him complete. He wouldn’t need anything else.
“Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?”
The shrill little voice echoed from the top of the stairs.
“Oh, my god! Melissa’s up!” Donna shrieked.
The next thing Hank knew he was flat on his back on the floor watching Donna sprint across the living room struggling to cover herself with her robe.
He closed his eyes and groaned. He couldn’t live this way. If he didn’t make love to Donna soon he would explode. He reached for his tee-shirt and pulled it on. He needed a walk.
A very long walk.
~*~
“Are you sure you’re up to this,” Donna asked for the third time.
“Yes,” Hank answered again.
“In all the craziness this weekend, I’d completely forgotten about the picnic. It really is short notice for you, we could just forget about it and Melissa and I could go alone,” she offered yet again.
Hank looked up from tying his sneakers. “Donna, I don’t mind. I want to go.” He smiled patiently. “Besides, you’re a girl, Melissa needs a guy for this.”
Donna nodded uncomfortably and stood. “I’ll go drag Melissa away from your computer if you’re ready.”
Hank stood and pulled Donna to him. He brushed a kiss across her lips. “I’m ready.” He held her gaze for a reassuring moment. “I want to do this.”
She smiled tentatively and disappeared down the hall. He watched her go feeling bad that she’d been in a tither since Patty called and reminded her about today’s father-daughter picnic. Patty and Sam’s church had one last picnic every year in September. Hank wondered just how much Patty had to do with it being designated a father-daughter affair. Not that Hank minded going, it was just that it made Donna uncomfortable. He knew Patty meant well, but sometimes she went a bit overboard with her methods.
