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I slept late and spent a leisurely morning sending emails and making calls to check on people or make progress on my lists. I ate lunch at Hairy's and had a meeting with Rick and Gus to discuss the plans for the Cryptid Coffee Corner.
I took my museum list and spent some time in the space on Main Street imagining the museum. I came up with some big ideas Chance and I needed to discuss. The current schedule had him home for a full week, but I was hoping he might get John to take over the next hunt we had booked so we had more time to work on things together. I needed his comfort.
After a stop for supplies at the market, I headed home to hunker down until Chance got home. I knew I was working on things to distract me from what happened, but it was what I needed to do at the moment.
XXX
I groped around for my phone. I had fallen asleep on the sofa and the phone woke me, but I was still in a fog. A quick glance at the windows told me I'd been asleep for hours.
"Hi, Babe. I missed you."
"Chance. Thank God you're headed home," I said, sleep wiping out the plans I had to choose my words carefully.
"Are you OK, Babe?"
"I'm OK. It's just been a really long week. How are you?"
"Good. We're at the hotel. I'm anxious to get home tomorrow."
It was hard to keep the tears at bay. "I can't wait to see you. It's been hard without you. A lot has happened."
"Is everything OK?"
"We have a lot to talk about when you get home."
"Are you OK?"
"Yes."
"Are you at the A-frame?"
"Yeah."
"Do you still love me?"
"Yes."
"That's all that matters. The rest we can deal with."
"I'll tell you everything when you get home."
XXX
It seemed like weeks since I'd seen Chance, but it had only been a few days. I was hoping he and I could hunker down at home for a few days. I needed his undivided attention. It was going to take some time to recount what had happened since we parted ways at the airport last week.
I cooked, cleaned, and baked before Chance called to say that he was an hour from home. I was pacing the floor, when Chance pulled in the driveway. I threw the door open and ran out to greet him. It felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders when he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me.
We dropped his bags in the kitchen and collapsed on the sofa together. "That was quite a greeting," he said. "It's good to be home. What smells so good?"
"I did some cooking and baking today so we wouldn't have to worry about that for a couple of days. We have other things we need to do."
"I like the sound of that," he said, pulling me into his lap.
I knew what he thought we'd be spending the next couple of days doing, and I would have liked nothing more, but that wasn't what we needed to do.
"I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. We need to talk, and it's going to take a while."
"Can it wait 'til morning?"
"Probably not."
Chance took a shower and unpacked while I made coffee and tea for us and cut slices of pie. He started a load of laundry, then joined me in the living room. He pulled me in for another kiss, then eased me back down on the sofa. "OK. I think I'm ready."
"I need to tell you what happened since I went to Little Rock."
Chance stood up and walked to the kitchen and came back with a pad of paper and a pen.
I held up the piece of paper I'd made my list on. "Thanks. I already have a list, I don't need that."
"Good. It's not for you, It's for me. I've learned that I sometimes need to take notes to follow your stories."
I pulled the pillow from behind my back and smacked him with it.
"Hey, remember how glad you are to have me home."