by Brenda Novak
“I’m not talking about that. You’ve become so…distracted. Even Gabe mentioned it the other day. He said he’s asked you over or to go out with him and Hannah several times, but you always make excuses.”
“Stop worrying about me. I’m fine,” she said, ignoring the slipper issue, for the moment, and holding the phone with her shoulder so she could respond to Isaac.
Don’t you need to get some sleep? she wrote.
I’ll sleep with you, came Isaac’s reply.
Somehow we never close our eyes for very long.
That’s not my fault.
It was true. She couldn’t sleep when Isaac was around, because she didn’t want to waste a single moment of their time together. She loved it when his larger body cradled hers. Loved the way he kissed her, how he touched her, the stories he told of Africa, the sound of his laugh.
“Lucky said you rarely return her calls,” her mother continued to complain.
“There just aren’t enough hours in the day,” she responded. Isaac had started milking the cow and feeding the animals before he left each morning, but she still didn’t have a minute to spare. “Things will slow down once school ends, I promise.”
“Keith thinks you’re seeing Isaac. That’s not true, is it?”
Reenie straightened so quickly Spike skittered away. “What makes him think that?”
“The puppy, I guess.”
“Oh.” She let her breath go in relief.
“You’re not, are you?” Celeste persisted.
Reenie couldn’t lie to her mother straight out. “Not exactly. Why?”
“When I asked Keith if he planned to apply for a better job, he said he’d be sticking around for a while. He said you’re infatuated with Isaac right now, but when Isaac leaves in a few weeks, you might come to your senses.”
Reenie froze. “In a few weeks?”
“Didn’t you hear? Isaac’s grant came through. He’ll be going to Africa soon.”
A sudden hollowness engulfed Reenie. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure. It was Mica who told Keith.”
Her heart began to pound so loudly it seemed to echo off the walls. Isaac hadn’t said anything to her. Not one word.
“Reenie?”
She couldn’t breathe. She’d been living in a fantasy world, ignoring the fact that it was all going to come to a crashing halt. The end hadn’t seemed important. Goodbye was always going to happen later. But three weeks? That made Isaac’s leaving very real. “You can tell Keith I won’t change my mind,” she managed to say.
“I already tried. For his own sake, he’s got to move on. But there’s no reasoning with him.”
“I have to go, Mom. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Are you okay, honey?”
“Of course. Just tired.”
Reenie hung up, then ducked her head between her knees to stop her head from swimming. As usual, she’d been too impetuous. She’d put the inevitable out of her mind, held nothing back. And now she was head-over-heels in love with a man who was going to walk away from her in three weeks.
When she sat up, there were several lines of text on her computer screen.
Are the girls asleep yet?…
Want me to bring you an Oreo shake?…
Hey, I got that movie you wanted to see…
Are you there? Where’d you go? I want to kiss your neck, feel you against me, make you moan…I like it when you moan.
A single tear slid down her cheek as she thought of how badly she was going to miss him. Certainly she wouldn’t be very good company tonight.
I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? she wrote.
There was a long pause. Then, What’s going on?
I’m tired.
So we’ll sleep…
Not tonight.
Seriously?
She told herself to say yes and sign off, to let it go at that, but she couldn’t.
When were you going to tell me that your grant came through?
Several seconds passed, but finally, she got another response. I told you from the beginning that it would, Reenie.
I guess you did, she said. Good night.
SLEEP SHOULD’VE COME easy. Isaac had been so involved with Reenie he’d barely closed his eyes the past five weeks. But he didn’t feel as though he belonged in his own bed anymore. He missed having her head on his shoulder while they talked and laughed, missed rolling over whenever he wanted to make love, missed waking with her arm tossed possessively over his torso.
They had so little time left. Why was she wasting it?
The amber numerals on his alarm clock flipped from 3:43 a.m. to 3:44 a.m. He’d be exhausted in the morning.
With a frown, he wondered if whoever had coined the phrase Thank God, it’s Friday, had experienced what Isaac was experiencing right now. He’d never been so grateful to know that Saturday was just around the corner. Only one more day of school. Then Keith would take the girls and he and Reenie could spend the entire weekend together.
If she’d see him. At this point, he wasn’t sure what she was thinking. But he knew what would’ve been the fastest three weeks of his life would turn into the slowest if she decided to break things off early.
Frustrated, he got up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. As June approached, the days were getting longer and warmer, but it was still chilly early in the morning.
A light wind rustled the trees as he slipped out the front door and strode to his truck. As usual, the houses around him were dark, the streets empty. He drove through town, parked at the periphery of Elzina Brown’s property, which had become his favorite spot, and walked the rest of the way.
Fortunately, the key Reenie always left out for him was still under the geraniums next to the door, which made him feel slightly better. He let himself in as quietly as possible and peeked into Reenie’s bedroom to see that she was sleeping soundly. Spike was there, lying at the foot of the bed. But he didn’t bark. He knew Isaac. He simply lifted his head, jumped to the floor and followed as Isaac went out to do the chores.
The horse whinnied when he patted her; the chickens followed him, scratching in the dirt until he spread their feed. He was a little earlier than usual, but Jersey, the cow, merely looked back, swished her tail and continued to chew as he milked her.
Once he finished at the chicken coop, he left Spike in the yard to do his business, and took the eggs he’d washed in a basin near the barn into the house. A moment later, a noise down the hall caught his attention. He expected to find Reenie there, but when he looked up, he saw that it was Isabella.
“What are you doing here?” she asked with a curious tilt of her head.
He and Reenie had slept together a lot over the past month or so. Other than that time in the supply closet, they hadn’t come close to being discovered. So he found it rather ironic that Isabella would catch him at the house the one night he hadn’t spent in her mother’s bed. “Feeding the animals and milking Jersey,” he said. “What are you doing up, little one?”
“I had a bad dream.”
She looked flushed. He wondered if she was getting sick. “Come here.”
She padded closer, staring up at him with eyes almost as lovely as Reenie’s while he pressed his palm to her forehead. Sure enough, she felt warm.
“How does your tummy feel?” he asked.
“Kinda rumbly.”
“Rumbly as in hungry?”
She shook her head.
“Do you think you need to throw up?”
A grimace passed over her face. “No. Will you lie down with me?” she asked, instantly brightening.
Isaac didn’t know how to respond. He didn’t mind helping her get back to sleep, but he was fairly certain Reenie wouldn’t approve of the contact. She’d been pretty militant—too militant as far as he was concerned—about keeping him away from her daughters.
“My daddy lies down with me sometimes,” she said when he didn’t answer rig
ht away. “When I don’t feel good.”
But Isaac wasn’t her daddy. He opened his mouth to tell her she’d better go get her mom, then paused. He hated to wake Reenie. “Grab your blanket and bring it out here,” he said. “We’ll sit in the rocking chair, okay?”
* * *
AT SIX-THIRTY in the morning, Reenie stumbled through the living room on her way to the kitchen. She had to take care of the animals, then shower so she’d be able to get the girls off to school before eight-thirty. But she was having difficulty waking up. Not only was she sleep deprived, she was mentally resisting consciousness. She didn’t want to think about Isaac, and she knew, as soon as she came fully awake, he’d be the first thing on her mind.
“Life goes on,” she muttered to herself, angry that after everything she’d been through, she could still be so vulnerable. But then she saw the basket of eggs on her counter, heard a movement over by the television, and realized it wasn’t Spike.
Heart pounding at the unexpected intrusion, she whirled to find Isaac sitting in the rocking chair next to the fireplace. Isabella was bundled in a blanket on his lap. The noise she’d made while getting up must’ve awakened him because he was shifting in his seat and his eyes were open.
When their gazes engaged, Reenie felt a whole bunch of mixed-up emotions. “What are you doing here?” she whispered, pressing a hand to her heart to slow her pulse.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
She waved to the counter. “So you came over to gather my eggs?”
He grinned. “I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
She didn’t. It had been wonderful having his help over the past several weeks.
She nodded toward Isabella. “What’s up with my baby?”
“She came out while I was putting away the eggs. She wasn’t feeling well and wanted me to lie down with her. I figured this was a better option.”
“Why didn’t you wake me? I would’ve taken care of her.”
“There was no need. I was up already.”
She was tempted to be angry with him for going against her wishes. She’d been very clear that she didn’t want him in her children’s lives. But she had to admit that was pretty much a moot point now. “I guess it’s okay. Given the situation, there’s not much danger anymore,” she said.
“The situation?” he repeated.
“You’ll be gone in three weeks. I’m sure they can’t get too attached in that short a time.”
When their eyes met again, Reenie had to admit that she’d gotten pretty damn attached—and in a much shorter time than she wanted to acknowledge.
“So you’re backing off, Reenie?” he said softly. “Already?”
Isabella began to stir. Reenie moved close and pressed a hand to her cheek instead of answering. “She is warm. I’ll have to get a sub for today.”
“Do I have to get up, Mommy?” her daughter murmured, her little rosebud mouth stretching in a yawn.
“No, honey. You’re going to stay home with me until you feel better. Isaac will put you back to bed, okay?”
“I don’t want to go to bed,” she said.
“Would you like something to eat?”
“No.” She snuggled against Isaac’s chest and closed her eyes again. “I’ll just stay right here.”
Reenie couldn’t blame her. She wanted to be in Isaac’s lap herself. She wanted to cry and beg him not to leave her. But she knew better than to give in to that impulse. If Isaac didn’t know what they had, if he didn’t value their relationship, nothing she could say would make any difference.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Isaac said.
Reenie continued to stroke her daughter’s soft cheek. “What question was that?”
“Are you backing off?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
The doorbell rang.
“Who could that be?” he asked.
“This early, it has to be Keith.” She looked down the hall, out the back window, in the kitchen, wondering how she was going to hide Isaac.
“I’ll put her to bed and slip out the back,” Isaac said, making the decision for her.
Fortunately, Isabella’s eyes remained closed. Either she was too comfortable to move, or she’d fallen back asleep.
As Isaac hurried down the hall, Reenie went to the door.
Surprisingly, her visitor wasn’t Keith. It was a neighbor, Elzina Brown.
“Hi, Elzina,” she said. “What brings you by so early?”
Elzina was young for her sixty-something years. She generally wore blue jeans and boots and Southwestern jewelry, with her long gray hair pulled back into an attractive chignon. “Sorry to bother you, Reenie,” she said. “I was just hoping you could ask Isaac to move his truck.”
“What?” Reenie said.
“He parked over at my place. But Jon Small and his brother are coming to cut down the dead limbs on some trees, and I’d hate for anything to fall on his vehicle.”
“I see.” Reenie swallowed hard. “But what makes you think he’s here?”
With a wink, Elzina pulled on a pair of leather work gloves and started toward her own truck. “Where else would he be? He comes here ’most every night, doesn’t he?”
Reenie wasn’t sure how to respond, except to be completely honest. “Elzina, I’d rather no one else found out.”
“Well, your secret’s safe with me,” she said sympathetically. “Just have Isaac hurry, before they show up.”
“I will,” she said. But Isaac was already gone when she went to find him. And she had no way to reach him until he got home.
She put the eggs in the refrigerator, hoping and praying he’d slipped away in time. But her phone rang a few minutes later. It was Elzina again. She said Isaac had jogged up after Jon arrived—five minutes too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
REENIE PASSED THE next week and a half dodging personal questions and meaningful grins from almost everyone she saw—especially Guy, Beth, Deborah and everyone else who worked at the high school. Her own brother shook his head when he saw her on his way to football practice. Earl down at the feed store grinned knowingly when she stopped by to pick up more chicken scratch. Judy at Jerry’s Diner asked how she and Isaac were getting along. Shirley at the Gas-N-Go said they made a handsome couple and wanted to know what Liz thought of the whole thing. Even Jennifer asked if Isaac was Reenie’s boyfriend.
But Keith didn’t call and harass her as she’d anticipated. When he came to pick up the girls for the weekend, he acted smug, as if he’d been right about her and Isaac all along. But he also seemed content to bide his time. Reenie understood why. He believed he’d have another shot at a relationship with her once Isaac left—and she didn’t disabuse him of the notion. She was dealing with enough already. For the same reason, she rescheduled her brunch with Liz until the following week. Then she focused on her children and her work while waiting for the gossip to die down.
To help combat the sudden deluge of outside interest, she refused to see Isaac. Angry that she’d landed herself in another no-win situation—especially since she’d known from the start what to expect—she was determined not to let his imminent departure upset her routine or ruin her life.
When the next Sunday rolled around, Reenie still didn’t feel up to seeing Liz. But it had taken courage for Liz to call, and Reenie was afraid Isaac’s sister wouldn’t reach out to her a second time if she postponed the meeting again.
So, taking more care with her appearance than usual—she curled her hair and tried on several different outfits before settling on a pair of black pin-striped slacks and a white blouse—she got ready to meet Isaac’s sister. Then she loaded the girls in the van and drove over to the Running Y.
When he developed the resort four or five years ago, Conner Armstrong had built a beautiful, walnut-colored lodge. The inside smelled of expensive potpourri and gleamed with polish. The restaurant, located to the left of the main set of doors, next to the gift shop, branched off an expansive
lobby with a rock fireplace, antler lighting fixtures and slate floors covered with Navajo rugs.
Generally, Reenie liked to come to the resort. She enjoyed the Southwestern flavor of the artwork and furniture, and the food at the restaurant was always good. Today, however, she would rather have been anywhere else. Especially when she saw Liz and her two children already seated at a table, waiting for them.
“They’re here!” Angela said, and hurried right in.
Following her daughter at a much slower pace, she forced a smile when Liz raised her eyes. “Hello.”
While she took the seat directly across from Liz, the children gathered around the other end of the table and began talking and laughing as though they met for brunch every week.
“Isaac wanted to come, but I told him no,” Liz volunteered softly.
Reenie nodded. “I appreciate that.”
Isaac’s sister fiddled with her water glass. “You really don’t want to see him?”
Worse than ever. But what good would it do? In another week, he’d drive to Boise to catch his plane, and she’d be no better off than she’d been when Keith used to leave. “I—I…” She searched for something to say that would fend off the question so she could continue to protect the part of her that was hurting so badly. But the way Liz was watching her, as if she could read her pain in spite of all Reenie’s efforts to conceal it, brought tears to Reenie’s eyes. She swallowed hard, struggling against the sudden emotion, but her throat was too tight to speak.
Did she have to break down in front of Liz? Of all people?
She started to stand. She had to escape, go to the restroom and pull herself together, something. But then she felt Liz’s hand close over hers and squeeze as though she understood.
“I love him,” Reenie whispered. She couldn’t hold it back any longer, couldn’t hold back the hurt.
