Misty felt herself coming slowly up out of a deep, relaxing sleep as she heard the faint chime of her cell phone alarm sounding somewhere downstairs. She yawned and stretched, momentarily disoriented as she looked around the unfamiliar bedroom, but the events of the previous night flooded her memory and she turned over, hoping to find Alex beside her but already knowing he wasn’t there.
She reached under the covers to see if the bed was still warm enough that he might be downstairs, but the side where he’d been sleeping had cooled so much that she knew he had gotten up some time ago, and since she couldn’t smell any coffee, she assumed he’d already left. And the bastard hadn’t even woken her up to tell her he was leaving.
So why am I not surprised? Misty heaved her legs out from under the cover and reached for her kimono on the floor. Hurt, yes, and disappointed as hell, she admitted as she wandered down the stairs. But not surprised. He had told her last night that he didn’t know about tomorrow, and apparently he’d decided that tomorrow was not to be.
And that was a crying shame, she thought as she slammed a pod into Holly’s coffeemaker and shut the lid, cursing when Misty realized she’d failed to grab a cup. She quickly stuck a mug under the spout, but had lost so much coffee she had to make a second cup. She chided herself for her stupidity. Even though she should have known better, she thought that maybe, just maybe her little talk about Jimmy and Caroline had gotten through to Alex a little.
But apparently not. He wanted his night with her, but in the light of day he felt he still had nothing to offer.
She sat down at the table and picked up what appeared to be a note. His message mollified her a little, but his hasty departure still smacked of running away, and if she didn’t hear from him in the next few days she would know for sure that all he wanted was last night. And that was so, so sad, because she was willing to admit she wanted more, much more, with him than just one night in his arms.
Misty sipped her coffee and finished off the rest of the ice cream. She checked the time; it was still early, but with two kids to feed and dress and an office to get to, Caroline was bound to be awake by now. Misty scrolled down and hit Caroline’s number.
“Misty. I’m surprised to hear from you this morning. Don’t you and Alex need to get to the courthouse?”
“Alex had to go back to San Antonio.” Misty hated the catch in her voice. “I thought maybe we could get together this evening?”
“Sure, why don’t you come out for supper—no, maybe not. Will it freak you out to drive down the highway where Hutch attacked you?”
“Big time,” Misty admitted. “I can barely drive after dark in San Antonio. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Tell you what. Why don’t I pack a picnic supper and bring the family over for dinner? Jack and the kids can hang out with the Adamciks while we play catch up. And you can tell me what the hell is really going on with Alex Navarro.”
“God, I need to talk to somebody desperately.”
They agreed on a time. Misty drank the rest of her coffee and went back upstairs for a shower. Hoping that some pretty underwear would lift her spirits, she unearthed a pair of lacy panties and matching bra, but the lace on the bra brushed against her nipples so uncomfortably she took it off and replaced it with an older one with soft cotton cups. Misty looked at the bra with consternation—she didn’t remember it being uncomfortable when she tried it on in the store.
Since she would most likely spend the day in the holding room, she dressed in comfortable slacks and a simple knit blouse. She took her briefcase and her laptop with her to the courthouse, hoping to get a little work done, but the holding room was full of Verde County deputies and the crime scene techs all waiting to testify, and between the distraction of thinking about Alex and the noisy chitchat she gave up working after a few minutes and pulled out her e-reader.
The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. The judge recessed a little early, and Misty left the courthouse and indulged in a bit of window shopping at the antique stores on the Verde square before returning to the cabin. She changed her clothes and took her e-reader back to the dock. Honestly, she was about to develop an addiction to the serene view from the little floating platform. She was enjoying the play of the late afternoon sunlight on the water when Caroline and her family rolled up with a slow cooker and picnic basket in tow.
She walked back to the cabin to meet them. “I put this on after we talked this morning,” Caroline said as Jack put the slow cooker on the kitchen counter. “Chili and cornbread. You always liked my mother’s chili.”
“That I did. I can hardly wait to dig in.”
Dinner was lively with four adults and two children wedged around the tiny dining room table. Caroline and Misty made quick work of the dishes and Jack obligingly disappeared with the children.
“Shall we walk down to the beach?” Caroline asked as Misty dried the last dinner plate. “No matter how many million times I see it, sunset on the beach has to be one of the most beautiful sights in the world.”
Misty followed Caroline down to the small beach park and they sat down together at one of the redwood picnic tables. “So what is really going on?” Caroline asked. “The last I heard was that your dad and Alex were both being horses’ asses and then you went silent, and the next thing I know you and Alex are supposedly hot and heavy. So is the romance real or some kind of sham?”
“For the most part it’s a sham,” Misty admitted. “We thought it up as a way for us to get close to Los Muchachos Ochos. We think somebody in the band framed Kirby for the drugs, so we went for nightclub owner indulging new girlfriend’s desire to play her trumpet.”
“And are your dad and Alex still being horses’ asses?”
“No, they managed to cure each other of that.” Caroline laughed out loud at Misty’s description of them exchanging blows. “I’m doing this because I honestly think Kirby’s innocent.” Misty sighed.
“And?” Caroline prompted.
“Alex and I… Turns out we have the hots.” Caroline smiled. “Yeah, well, even though we’ve been together a couple of times, we’ve run our course.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s still in love with Leigh Anne and swears he’ll always be. I can’t compete with that. He’s told me flat out that he has nothing to offer me or any other woman but a physical relationship.”
Caroline thought a minute. “A fling.”
“Well, he didn’t call it that.”
“No, that was what I called it when I offered it to Jack. I didn’t think I wanted any more than that either, at first. But Jack was patient and I came around.”
“Worked for you, but for whatever reason, maybe because he lost the baby as well as Leigh Anne, Alex is in a worse way than you ever were. I guess you noticed how bad he looks these days? He’s not only caught up in a cycle of grief he can’t seem to break, he’s drinking.”
“A lot, from the looks of him.”
“Yeah, too much. You know, once you were reunited with Ryan, you had the motivation to build a new life and were able to move on. Alex hasn’t found that motivation yet, and at the rate he’s going I’m not sure he ever will.”
“So what’s the hots? Was it really just physical?”
“On my part, of course not. I feel a lot of things for Alex. Last night he admitted he doesn’t know how he feels about me, which is an improvement over ‘Let’s fuck,’ but it still leaves me nowhere.” She knotted and unknotted her fingers. “There’s no hope for anything ever developing between us. The last thing I want at this point in my life is an empty fling. Hell, even though last night he said he felt more for me than just the physical, he was out of here this morning before I even woke up.”
“He’s feeling more than he wants to and it’s scaring him to death,” Caroline mused. “I seem to remember feeling something like that about Jack. Listen, I know it’s not in your nature, but right now Alex needs a little time and patience to sort out his feelings before he can move on. If you’re the smart lady I’ve always known, and you think the man’s worth it, you’ll be patient and give him the time he needs to see a relationship is something you both want.”
“Like Jack did?”
“Exactly like Jack did.”
“But Jack had reason to hope for something to develop and I don’t. You were building a new life here with the child you and Jack share. Alex and I have no bond holding us together, and he’s stuck in the past and making no attempt to build a new life without Leigh Anne.”
“Isn’t that a rather bleak way of looking at it?” Caroline chided her gently. “You said he told you he’s feeling something for you. Maybe that will be his motivation to move on with his life. How about having a little faith and patience?”
“But what if nothing comes of that patience and faith? What if I keep waiting and caring and he still doesn’t come around?”
“Then at least you know you tried.” Caroline’s firmness surprised Misty. “You know you gave it your best shot. And that’s all any of us can do, isn’t it really? Just give it our best shot.”
“I guess so.”
“And if nothing else, you have the satisfaction of knowing you did what you needed to do for Kirby.” Caroline patted Misty’s hand. “So what progress have you made on that front?”
Misty filled Caroline in, and from there the conversation drifted to other things.
As the trial continued Misty had time to think over Caroline’s advice. Time and patience. Give him space. Have faith. But as the days passed, Misty began to wonder if she had the luxury of time and patience when it came to their relationship.
She hadn’t thought about it too much that first morning, when her nipples were overly sensitive, but as the days went by her breasts not only became tenderer, they were swollen and downright sore. She chalked that, and the frequent need to visit the bathroom, as signs of her impending period. But when that window had come and gone, and all she had to show for it was a bit of cramping and a spot or two, she knew damned well something was going on.
And she had a pretty good idea what, especially when she realized, to her horror, she and Alex were both so hammered that night in Corpus Christi, neither of them had given a thought to using protection. Misty knew better than to buy a pregnancy test in the Verde pharmacy—the news would be all over town by the end of the day—but she would buy and take the test as soon as she was back in San Antonio.
And if she was pregnant? That would change everything between Alex and her.
Or would it?