Where She Belongs (Destiny Falls)

by Cindy Procter-King

  Loosen up, Jess.

  Sweeping a hand through her tangled hair, she snuggled beneath the sheets again. Adam slept soundly in the pre-dawn shadows. His cast rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing as it rested on his flat stomach. The quilt rode low on his hips, creating a picture that reminded her of an exquisitely carved marble statue.

  Except Adam was real and very much alive.

  Her heart fluttered. He’d asked her to marry him last night. Was his proposal sincere, or had he been caught up in the moment?

  She didn’t have a clue. Did she want to find out?

  One thing she knew. If he was serious about marrying her, he’d probably ask her each and every day of the two weeks remaining in her visit. Sooner or later, she’d have to reply. She’d have to reach a decision about their future.

  Our future. Our life together.

  A peaceful calm settled over her. Last night, when he’d offered her time, she’d felt a rush of love more powerful than anything she’d ever felt for Danny. She loved Adam with an intensity she hadn’t thought possible at eighteen. And that was okay. The memories of her first love weren’t any less precious because she loved Adam more. Had she at long last learned what it meant to feel grounded again?

  I could wait ten years for you to decide. Last night, those words had sent her, both eager and cautious, into his arms. How she hoped he’d meant them. Oh, how she prayed that he wouldn’t wake up and shatter her warm bubble of contentment by pressing for an answer right here and now.

  She caressed his whisker-stubbled jaw. His head turned to meet her touch. Her heart stumbled, and warmth and need spread through her. Cuddling him, she grazed his lower lip with a finger, then sprinkled kisses from the corner of his mouth to the hollow below his ear.

  He shifted again, moaning. Eyes closed, he smiled. “Please don’t wake me, whoever you are. I’m having the most wonderful dream.”

  She wriggled her fingers through his chest hair, tracing a small abrasion on his shoulder. “I’m checking out your injuries.”

  “My what?” His eyes opened, and he gazed in fake wonder at his cast. “Oh yeah, my wrist is broken.” He propped himself on his good arm. The quilt fell off his hips, exposing his morning arousal. His gaze dipped. “Nothing broken down there.”

  Curling her hand around his erection, she stroked him. Desire bloomed within her. “You’re right, Percy has never felt better.”

  He drew in a breath, expression blissful. “Percy?”

  She stroked again, nodding.

  “Let me get this straight, sweetheart. You’re naming my guy Percy?”

  “Mm-hm.” Lying on her side, she hooked her right leg over his hips and nudged him closer. “It’s short for Perseverance,” she said as he slid into her. “I think it suits him perfectly, don’t you?”

  Over the weekend, Adam avoided any further talk of love or marriage. He thought about the subjects often enough, but each time he considered broaching either of them, he’d sense Jess’s wary anticipation and remind himself to back off.

  When she felt ready to discuss their future, she’d let him know.

  The waiting wasn’t so bad. On Saturday, they stayed in bed until noon, making love over and over again between revitalizing naps. “Percy” received the workout of his life, despite Adam’s awkward cast. A couple of painkillers eased his discomfort, as did the ministrations of “Dr. Jess” wearing nothing but her birthday suit.

  Eventually, other appetites intruded. When Adam’s stomach growled through a particularly energetic bout of lovemaking, they submitted to the inevitable and went downstairs. After sleeping in the laundry room all night, Sheba craved the outdoors. Adam played with the dog in the fenced portion of his big yard while Jess fixed pancakes. He left Sheba to sniff her territory, and he and Jess ate standing at the kitchen counter, she wearing his good navy bathrobe and he slumming in the ragged one he kept for hot tub sojourns. After breakfast, he cleaned the kitchen while Jess phoned Molly to explain that they wouldn’t fetch the SUV until Sunday.

  “Let me guess,” he said after Jess had completed the laughter-infested call. “Molly thinks I engineered the bear-treeing incident to get us together again.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “Did you?”

  “I may act deranged at times, but even I wouldn’t stoop to such desperate measures.”

  “As long as we’ve got that straight.” She flipped through the Kamloops section of the telephone book. “I’d better call Mom at Aunt Marion’s, too. She’ll worry if she calls and I’m never home.”

  “Won’t she try your cell?”

  “She’s never had one, so she forgets I do. Speaking of my cell, I forgot it in my bedroom at home. Luckily, I memorized the Arlington calling card years ago.” Jess picked up the kitchen phone and punched in a string of numbers. Adam grabbed the phone while she held it. “Don’t even think about charging the call, lover. It’s on me.”

  She beamed at him, and a fist of emotion clenched in his chest. God, he loved her. What would he do if she returned to Toronto without responding to his proposal, if she went away?

  Patience, Wright.

  He wandered into the great room, granting her privacy. Sank onto the couch and thumbed through a logging magazine, then flicked on the TV. He stared at the screen without interest until Jess joined him on the couch. A smile curved her lips.

  He hugged her. “How did it go with your mom?”

  “Better than I expected, really. To be honest, I thought she’d be a little more old-fashioned about me spending the weekend with you.”

  “You flat-out told her we’re sleeping together?”

  “I didn’t have to. She figured it out when I said she could reach me here until tomorrow afternoon.”

  “That would be a major hint.” He squeezed her arm through the terry cloth robe. “Don’t sweat it, sweetheart. Your mother’s been married twice—she knows the score.”

  Jess rested her head on his shoulder, her little, burrowing movements reminding him of their last lovemaking session, when she’d nestled her face into his shoulder as she’d climaxed.

  His body stirred. Concentrate. She needs to talk.

  “It came as a surprise, though.” Her hand drifted onto his thigh. “I’ve never been very good at sharing my personal life with her, not even when I was with Danny. When I decided to go on the Pill, I didn’t ask her to take me to the doctor. I took care of it on my own.”

  Adam tilted his head. In her roundabout way, she’d told him that she and the Galloway boy had gotten it on. Not a problem. Danny Galloway was her past. He was her future.

  “Then I’d say you and your mom are growing closer.” She and Nora still had a lot to learn, though. If Jess married him and moved back to Destiny Falls, she’d have all the time in the world to nurture her relationship with her mom.

  He’d have to find a way to convince her of that over the next two weeks, all the while appearing the epitome of patience, of course.

  “So am I a hound in your mom’s eyes now?”

  “Actually, she gave us her blessing. She even cautioned me about safe sex.”

  “That was admirable of her.” His mind fixated on the word sex. As did his body.

  But then his feelings weren’t only about sex, were they?

  Rising from the couch, he killed the TV.

  Jess’s eyebrows lifted. “Don’t you want to watch the bowling?”

  “Hardly.” He grabbed her hand.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, all tousle-haired, wide-eyed innocence.

  “To Percy’s lair, for a safety drill.”

  She squealed with pleasure as he hauled her upstairs.

  Jess floated around her mother’s kitchen with a bowl and whisk, whipping the dressing for the pasta salad she and Adam would share at the waterfall in an hour. Mom nursed a mid-morning cup of tea at the table, her wide smile reflecting the joy bubbling inside Jess.

  The last five days had been amazing, both because of her happiness with Adam a
nd because she and Mom had shared several candid conversations. After Jess had vanquished her awkwardness over speaking frankly, they’d discussed everything from the painful period of time following the logging accident to how falling in love again didn’t have to mean erasing fond memories of the good times.

  Finally, they were talking like two women, not just mother and daughter. Yet the friendship that had blossomed between them strengthened their mother-daughter bond, enriching it more than Jess had ever hoped.

  Her visit home had certainly initiated its share of pleasant surprises. Discovering this new give-and-take relationship with her mother and falling in love with Adam topped the list.

  Especially falling in love with Adam.

  Continuing to whisk, she smiled. Without looking, without even wanting to, she’d found a man who respected her and was willing to give her all the time she needed to reach a decision about their future.

  One short week ago, she never would have believed Adam Wright could be that man.

  The bear attack had changed everything: her illogical fear of losing him to the bush, his pushing for a commitment. He’d survived, and, while a vague uncertainty lingered in the back of her mind, reason dictated that she couldn’t live out her days waiting for disaster to strike, rejecting love for fear of what might happen down the road.

  “Jessie?”

  “Hm? Oh, sorry, Mom.”

  “Daydreaming again? I asked about your dinner with Molly and Tim at Adam’s last night. How did it go?”

  “Great. He’s been working so hard on the Jamison bid that he really needed the break.”

  “Peter mentioned that contract once. Adam’s doing a marvelous thing for our young people.”

  “I know.” If Adam won the bid, several local university kids would enjoy well-paying summer jobs. For two recent forestry graduates, the work would extend into winter. Potential annual contract renewals were another bonus. “Wouldn’t it be nice if he didn’t have to keep working out of town?”

  “Nice for him, and for you too, when you visit again this summer. Did Molly bring her famous pecan pie for dessert?”

  “Yes, and it was delicious. After dinner, we had drinks on the sundeck and talked about her plans for buying The Clothes Horse. She’s partnering with a substitute teacher from the high school. They finalize the sale details next week.”

  Mom sipped her tea. “Good for Molly.”

  “Isn’t it?” Moving to the counter, Jess poured the dressing over the cooked pasta spirals. Last night, she’d almost blurted that she wanted to partner with Molly, which was ridiculous. Molly needed someone now. Not a silent partner, either, but someone willing to share the heavy load that building a successful business required.

  With Jess living halfway across the country, she wasn’t that person.

  “Tim and Molly left around ten, so Adam and I walked Sheba in the woods behind the house. Then we talked out on the deck.” And made love on a thick Mexican blanket with the stars twinkling overhead and the night air cooling their heated bodies. “It must have been two before I finally got in.”

  “No wonder you slept so late.”

  Jess tossed the pasta salad. “I’m sleeping in a lot these days.” A result of her long nights with Adam. She’d seen him at least twice a day all week, usually at noon and then in the evening after her mom went to bed. “I’ll try to get in earlier tonight. Then I can wake up in time to make us a big breakfast.”

  “That sounds nice.” Her mother’s gaze lowered, then rose again. “You know, dear, I hope you aren’t coming home every night, to sleep here, I mean, on my account. I understand you’d like to spend as much time with Adam before you leave, and I don’t want you thinking I disapprove.”

  “After everything we’ve talked about lately, how could I think you disapprove?” Jess ran a hand along the hip of her jeans. “I know you don’t mind if I stay overnight at Adam’s, Mom, but if I spent all my time with him I’d never see you and he’d never get any work done.”

  “As long as those are your reasons.”

  “They are.” She sealed the pasta salad in a plastic container, then dug in the fridge for cold fried chicken.

  The phone rang. Her mom got up and answered it. “It’s your office, dear. Mr. Lind.” She held out the receiver.

  “Gareth? I didn’t expect to hear from him today.” What is it this time? Sighing, Jess placed the plate of chicken on the counter. “Thanks, Mom.” Accepting the receiver, she injected false sincerity into her voice. “Hi, Gareth. What’s up?”

  His terse greeting soured her stomach. He spoke hastily and urgently—for good reason. A stone dropped in her chest. She listened while her mom moved to the sink and filled it with bubbly water. As Gareth finished, Jess murmured her acquiescence and hung up.

  She sagged onto a chair. “Oh, Mom.”

  “Bad news?” Her mother hung the dishrag on the faucet.

  “I’ll say.” Jess pinched the bridge of her nose. “I have to leave sooner than we thought.”

  “When?”

  “The first available flight. Tomorrow, I guess.” Melancholy pressed on her like a heavy, hot, wool blanket. She hated the thought of disappointing her mother—and Adam. How could she leave him now that she’d just found him? “Gareth needs me in the office first thing Monday morning, and he wants to brief me over dinner Sunday night. He had to bump up the buying trip by ten days to accommodate a factory owner in Asia. Mr. Wong is a new contact and my responsibility.” Supposedly her responsibility. Gareth and Sarah had been covering for her.

  “I thought you were traveling with a colleague?”

  “I am, but it doesn’t matter. I have my contacts, and she has hers. Besides, I’m her senior. If one of us has to go early, it should be me.” Her stomach clenched. Despite the emails and conference calls, she’d lost the pulse of the current buying season. She barely recalled the styles she’d studied at the European trade shows in March. Yet, in two weeks she’d be overseas, working with the factories to knock off those same styles. “I need to make this trip work, Mom. Gareth is bucking for a promotion. If I look good, he does. If he looks good, he moves up, and then I’ll have a chance at his job. That means less overseas travel, more money and vacation time. I can use that time and money to visit you.”

  “Oh, Jessie.” Her mother’s voice saddened.

  “What a mess, huh? I was counting on another week, too. But this factory could save Arlington a bundle on the new women’s line, and Gareth needs me in the office to prepare. I have to go back.”

  “I know.” Her mom’s chin trembled.

  Jess swallowed the lump in her throat. “Even if I don’t get the promotion, I’ll take time off in the summer for my birthday, like we talked about. And two weeks at Christmas, I promise.”

  “But you’ve taken so much time already. Can you manage Christmas?”

  “Even if I have to hijack Santa to bring me in on his sleigh. There’s no way I’m missing another Christmas with you.” Or Adam.

  Her mom smiled. “We’ll work it out.”

  “You know what? I believe that, too.” Getting up, she hugged her mom. “I’m proud of you, Mom. I know these past few weeks haven’t been easy. I know how much you miss Pete. But you seem so much stronger now. Do you feel stronger?”

  Her mom nodded against her shoulder. “Thanks to you. Thank you, Jessie.”

  Jess blinked back tears. “Will you be okay? Will you call me if you need me? Even at the office or on my cell. Any time of day or night. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I do.” Her mom pulled away and gazed at her, eyes shining with love and affection. “Jessie, my sweet girl. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”

  Jess paced the back porch. The summons to return to Toronto had tipped her entire morning off-balance. An investigation of airline websites had brought even more bad news. Where was Adam? They needed to talk.

  The horses in the pasture nickered. Needing the distraction, she approached the fence and stroked t
he chestnut mare’s muzzle. “You understand, don’t you?”

  The mare whinnied. Translation: I really don’t care. Get me a carrot.

  Jess’s nerves receded. She retrieved a carrot from the kitchen and fed it to the appreciative horse.

  Within moments, the rumble of Adam’s pickup in the driveway tripped her heart into overdrive again. She turned. He’d spotted her, and his long legs quickly swallowed the meters between them.

  Oh, he looked good—in boots, a blue T-shirt, and faded jeans. His scarred eyebrow quirked a hello as the warm breeze ruffled his dark blond hair.

  Her heart soared. Throwing herself into his arms, she kissed him with all the love and urgency coursing through her.

  He chuckled against her mouth, and the gravely sound vibrated through her. His cast tickled her arm.

  “Hey, I missed you, too. Ready for our picnic?”

  “I can’t go! Gareth called.” She blurted the schedule changes. “I checked, and the only available flight leaves tonight.”

  A dozen emotions flew over his face. “Tonight?”

  “I know! At nine-forty, out of Kamloops. It was the best I could do, because of the short notice. For the connecting flight, I mean. I had to book the red-eye out of Vancouver. I still need to pack and spend time with Mom.” And you. “The bus for Kamloops leaves at six.”

  “The bus?” Backing away, he scrubbed his good hand over his face. The mare nudged him over the rail, but he didn’t acknowledge her. “No. Don’t take the bus.” His tone flattened. “I’ll drive you to Kamloops.”

  His gaze lifted, sorrow reflecting in his eyes. A whipcord wrapped around her heart, squeezing until she could barely breathe. They’d both known this day would come, but that didn’t make the reality of their parting any easier.

  “You shouldn’t drive,” she said. “Your wrist is broken.”

  “Honey, I have a cast.”

  She touched his injured arm. “But it’s a three-hour round trip. I don’t want you driving that far when you don’t have to.”

  “You’d rather say good-bye to me now?” He pushed his undamaged hand into a front pocket. The mare startled. Snorting, she trotted away to rejoin the other horses.