Internal Fixation - Tawdra Kandle Page 0,58
sofa and patted the space next to him. “C’mere. This is the best seat in the house.”
I hesitated only a beat. I wasn’t sure I could trust myself to sit that close to Noah. But he was right; the placement of the loveseat was perfect for watching the sun set over the distant tree line. I could’ve dragged over one of the single chairs, but that would have made things awkward, since Noah had specifically requested that I sit down next to him.
With a deep sigh, I sank down on the loveseat, kicked off my sandals, and propped my feet onto the small wicker table in front of us. Noah grunted softly and stretched out his arm along the back of the sofa. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, aside from the fact that my heart rate had picked up.
I wondered if this was Noah making a statement, showing me in many subtle ways that he was ready to take things between us to the next level. There were evenings when, after I’d spent an entire day with him, I was convinced he did want more than friendship. But then there were other days when I was sure he was happy with things as they were between us. Jenny swore that if I gave Noah a sign, even the smallest of signals, he’d be all in, ready for love and a sweet happily-ever-after.
Maybe she was right. Maybe she wasn’t. But I was tired of second-guessing everything I did, every move I made, and every word I said. It was time to just relax and let things happen as they may.
With that thought in mind, I settled back, resting my head against Noah’s arm. Almost as if he’d been waiting for me, he curved that arm around me, drawing me close to his side. I was in the cocoon of his making, totally safe and protected.
“It’s going to be beautiful.” His voice rumbled against my ear, pressed into his side.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “The colors tonight are gorgeous.”
“Mmmm. Are we talking about the sunset? I guess that ought to be pretty nice, too.”
“You’re such a goof.” I swatted at him, and he caught my hand in his much larger one, tenderly folding his fingers over mine and holding them against his middle. If I had thought my heart was thudding before, now it was positively racing.
“I’m so comfortable here,” I mused. “I might drift off to sleep. Don’t let me burn the veggies.”
“Don’t worry. I can hear the timer go off from out here. I won’t let our dinner get ruined.”
“Thanks.” I lifted up my free hand, pointing. “See those rows yonder? That’s the work Jimmy and I did. I love that I can see my gardens from the deck.”
“It’s a great view,” Noah agreed. His thumb was moving slowly up and down over the back of my hand.
“When I was growing up and we spent the summers in Virginia with my grandparents, we had a deck like this. Bigger, of course . . . their house started out about this size, I think, but over the years, the family added on to the original cabin kind of willy-nilly. A room here, building out the kitchen or the great room . . . anyway, I used to love to sit out on the deck with my grandmother and look at the woods. Deer would come out, and rabbits and raccoons, and when the sun set, the owls would fly over and talk from the trees. Nana would tell me stories about when she was growing up. It was the most magical part of my entire year. I lived for those weeks in the mountains.”
“It must have been a wonderful place for a kid to visit.” Noah shifted a little, securing me against him. “Do you still go up there?”
“I haven’t gone the last two years, but I hope that I will this summer. I think I’m about a due a vacation.”
“I’d say so.” Laughter shook his body. “You should plan to go. Set it up now, or you know you’ll end up getting busy at the hospital, and the next thing you know, it’ll be October again.”
“That’s true. You know me too well.” I wasn’t wrong. Noah did seem to have an endearing sense of intuition about me. He paid attention to what I said and to how I reacted, and that was incredibly gratifying.
“It’s not a bad thing. You just get caught up in what your patients need, and