He knew Elizabeth was still lovely, though very different from the woman he had married. He knew he was still attracted to her. He knew he missed the wife he had loved with a deep, yearning ache.
“Not much. She doesn’t look the same. You wouldn’t know her if you bumped into her on the street, but I do know she’s been back to Haven Point at least a few times over the years. I recognized her and realized I’ve...seen her around town before.”
Megan’s outrage seemed to pop and sizzle over the phone line. “What? And she never stopped to see the kids? Every time I think I can’t despise the woman more, I discover I’m wrong.”
For one crazy moment, Luke was almost tempted to defend Elizabeth. She seemed so fragile, so vulnerable, the sort of wounded creature he had always tried to nurture back to health.
What the hell was wrong with him?
She had left him. Worse, she had left the kids. That was unforgivable, as far as he was concerned.
“How’s the wedding planning?” he asked, a blatant ploy to distract her.
To his relief, the diversion worked. “It’s good. But next time I decide to plan a winter wedding, remind me not to.”
“I hope you don’t plan another wedding ever,” he replied.
“So do I.”
“What do you hear from Elliot?”
Megan sighed. “Nothing. I know it’s the job and one of the things I’m going to have to learn to live with, but I hate having him out of contact. I need him here, you know?”
He didn’t like thinking about Megan and Elliot together, especially considering recent history between them. While it would take a long time to repair the damage of the past seven years when the FBI agent had suspected him of harming his wife, Luke still respected him. Elliot had always focused on doing the right thing. He had been the one to locate Elizabeth, through tireless investigation that he’d undertaken for Megan’s sake, not for Luke’s.
The man came close to being good enough for Megan, though nobody could ever really hit that bar.
“Oh, that’s Cyrus. I need to take him out.”
He pictured her funny-looking little dog and almost smiled. “Okay. I’ll let you go. Thanks again for taking care of the kids. I can’t tell you exactly what time I’ll be back but I’ll be in touch.”
“Be careful,” she said. Luke had a feeling she wasn’t just talking about the roads.
“Yeah. Thanks. Give them both a hug for me in the morning and tell Bridger to stay away from Jedediah.”
“I will. Maybe I can get him to tell me a few more details about what set him off.”
After he said goodbye to his sister and ended the call, Luke sat for a long moment in the lobby. He had a feeling the desk clerk wouldn’t be happy if he just stretched out in this comfy chair and went to sleep down here, but he really didn’t want to go back to that hotel room to face Elizabeth yet.
Outside, the storm was either on momentary hiatus or had slowed a little. The intensity seemed to have decreased. Instead of blowing horizontally, the snow seemed to be falling in the usual manner.
He was so tired from hours of driving but knew he would be too restless to sleep. On impulse, he headed for the front desk, where the same clerk who had checked them in earlier still worked.
His family had run an inn for most of his life. Megan still oversaw the Haven Point Inn. He knew exactly how many little details went into giving guests an enjoyable experience and how hard it could be to accomplish everything necessary.
“Hi. I’ve been sitting behind the wheel all day and need to burn off some energy. Do you mind if I take a shovel and clear off the front walk?”
The woman’s face brightened. “Mind? Are you kidding? Our maintenance guy is up to his eyeballs trying to fix a problem with the swimming pool. We’ve got twenty kids who want to swim and the situation is getting desperate. You would be a lifesaver.”
Luke grabbed the shovel from the closet she pointed to and headed out into the storm, grateful he’d still been wearing his coat when he walked down to use the phone.
In the end, he shoveled the walks all around the small inn. The physical exertion helped calm his brain, almost a form of meditation. By the time he finished, his muscles burned, but he felt much more able to rest.
“Thank you,” the clerk said when he came inside again. “That was so kind of you. The least I can do is give you a coupon for a meal at the restaurant next door. We offer a free breakfast of muffins and fruit, but they have a more elaborate spread.”
“Thanks, but I’m hoping we’ll be making an early start and won’t have time for a sit-down breakfast. There was a nice young couple just ahead of us when we checked in. A couple with a little girl. You could give it to them.”
“I’ll do that. That’s very nice of you. Thank you.”
“Good night.”
He couldn’t put it off any longer. He had to go to the room. Cheeks still cold from the elements, Luke made his way up to the elevator, bracing himself the whole way to deal with her again.
When he opened the door to the hotel room, he found it mostly dark, illuminated only by the bathroom light. It took his eyes a few moments to adjust to the dim conditions. When they did, he saw she had picked the bed closest to the window and was under the covers, unmoving. Was she asleep? He couldn’t say. Her breathing seemed regular and steady but she might have been faking.
He grabbed his duffel and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. He hadn’t been planning to stay the night but also hadn’t known what he would face in Oregon. He was glad some sixth sense had prompted him to be prepared for a night on the road. He at least had a T-shirt and gym shorts he could sleep in.
When he came out of the bathroom, he couldn’t see that she had moved.
Odd. She had always been a restless sleeper. He couldn’t count the number of nights he had awakened with her sprawled across him, warm and soft, the comforter somewhere at their feet or on the floor. He used to love wrapping his arms around her and holding her, cherishing the pure perfection of the moment while he counted the moments until he could legitimately awaken her with a kiss.
He pushed away the ache and slipped into his own bed, wishing it were a little farther away so he didn’t have to listen to her breathing.
He had become the restless sleeper now. Since she left, he rarely slept all the way through the night, as if something in his subconscious continued to wake up, looking for her. It made him furious and empty at the same time.
He stared up at the ceiling in the room, tinted red and green from the snow-covered Christmas lights filtering in through a gap in the curtains.
Finally, exhausted from hours of driving and from the emotional tumult of the day, he slept.
He awoke to whimpering coming from the other bed. For a moment when he first awoke, he couldn’t remember
