Closing my eyes, I reply, “What kind of sign are you waiting for?”
“A little of this and a little of that. You’ll know when you see it type of thing.” Leo stands. “You should go back to bed.” I’m not ready for him to leave yet. “Make sure Coal stays warm. Offer a bit of food before you go to bed. Keep that heating blanket on for him.”
“I haven’t gotten a notice yet about work tomorrow,” I say, carrying Coal to the kitchen island where my cell phone has been charging since after work. I click my email icon and scroll for Margaret’s name. Nothing. Nothing from the command either. “I think we’ll be going in. Why don’t you sleep in the guest room for a few hours? We’ll go in together.”
He looks like he’s about to refuse, but he closes his mouth. “I guess that’s a good plan. Your husband won’t mind a man in his guest room?” There’s been a man in his guest room since the day Leo Callaway walked back into my life. That’s not for public consumption, though.
I shake my head. “There’s an attached bath if you want to shower. All Juliet’s products are still in there, so use whatever. You must be cold down to the bone after spending all that time in the snow.”
“Don’t worry about my bones, Simmons.” Leo grins. It’s predatory. “Go to bed.”
“You’re filthy,” I remark, shaking my head.
“You love it.” I do. Unfortunately, I do. Leo passes me on his way to the guest room. Laying a hand on the door where Adam is sleeping, I pause and meet Leo’s searing gaze. “Admit it.” Leo leans against the door frame.
“Thank you for not listening to me. For finding Coal.”
Leo bites his bottom lip. “It’s the least I could do.”
The urge arises again. To take Leo into my arms and love him the way my whole being wants to, but I go into the kitchen to feed the cat instead. I listen to the shower turn on in the guest bath and imagine what Leo might look like naked. I bet the water is cutting down the hard ridges of his muscles, warming his body. My response to the thought makes my skin crawl.
Coal eats a whole can of food while wrapped in a blanket. I put him in the corner of my bedroom with everything he might need. He curls up into the electric blanket and begins purring. I go back out to lock the front door and notice the guest room door is cracked, and the shower is off. Is it an invitation? The damn sign everyone is talking about?
Tiptoeing to the door, I peek in the crack. Leo’s chest is exposed and a small light from the window falls across his face. When the world is encased in snow everything seems like daylight, even the night.Go in. Go in. Go in. He left the door open. He wants you to go in.
Morality, as shoestring thin as it may be, wins out. I go to bed with my husband instead. Wishing I was strong enough to reach out and take what I want, and weak enough to admit defeat.
_______________
Leo’s scrambling eggs when I wake up a few hours later feeling as if I never slept a day in my life. I threw on a pair of black Ponte pants, a button-up velvet blouse, and pinned my hair back into a bun. “I made breakfast!” Leo exclaims, waving the spatula like it’s a magic wand. “Adam ate and took off.”
“He went in to work?” I ask, wrinkling my brow. “But why? When he can work from home if he wants to?”
Leo shrugs and slides me a plate. “How did you sleep?”
“Not enough,” I deadpan. “Coal is doing so good today,” I say. I tell him how he ate all the food I gave him last night and seems to be acting like nothing happened. Leo seems happy. My phone buzzes with a text. It’s my mom. I reply back that the snowcopalypse didn’t take me down, and that Coal is back home. Because she’s my mom, she immediately calls after I send the text. You can never give a mother too many details.
I answer before the first ring finishes. “Hi, Mom, I’m getting ready to leave for work. I don’t have a lot of time.”
“They are making you work in this? How will you get there? Your SUV can’t handle all that snow, can it? Did Adam shovel the driveway yet?”
I clear my throat. “Leo is taking me to work, actually. He has a big truck with snow tires. Yeah, Adam shoveled and used the snow blower Aidan sent us last Christmas. You’ll have to let him know it worked really well. Much easier with all of this snow.” I lie to avoid conflict. Leo grins at me as he takes a long draw from his coffee cup. My mouth waters. Equal parts from desiring caffeine and his mouth. He passes me his mug and I make sure to put my lips on the rim where his just were.
I take a long swallow of the black bitterness, and then another as I listen to my mother lecture me on being careful in the weather and how Aidan wants me to come for a visit.
“Mom, you mean you want me to come home for a long visit. You’re essentially telling me you want me to be a snow bird. Like an old woman. Spend the winters down there with you and I can come home to Cape Cod for the summers. Job security doesn’t pay well with that plan. It only works if you’re retired. I’ll get down there eventually.”
“Kendall, it’s frigid. Aren’t you homesick in the least bit?” Mom asks. I meet Leo’s eyes and hand him back the cup—fingers grazing his slightly. He refills it and drinks, watching me over the edge. “I miss you and Aidan misses you and your brother misses you. Surely you can take time off work at some point and spend it with us?” She pauses. “I’d go there, but let’s face it, we all prefer the heat.”
“We do.” I lick my lips, watching Leo’s back as he washes the frying pan. “This summer I’ll take my vacation time and come to Bronze Bay. Right now, I need to go to work.”
Magnolia, the gabber, doesn’t hear me. She goes on to tell me how happy she is Coal came home. She tells me about Aidan’s workup schedule and how Weston will love to have a cat come stay for the summer, too. I make noises to let her know I’m still listening, even though my mind is somewhere else completely.
“Weston will try to kill Coal, Mom. Let’s get real for a second. I love the boy, but hasn’t he broken everything in your house? Twice over?”
Mom laughs and tentatively agrees with me. I laugh. Leo smiles as he looks on—a dreamy look transforming his features. I finally get to the point in the conversation where I can tell my mom goodbye and end the phone call. I lean against the counter as Coal weaves between my legs. Leaning over, I pet him. “You have no idea how close you were from leaving us, do you, Coalie boy?”
The cat meows. “I like seeing you like this,” Leo says, pushing away from the counter.
