A Walk Along the Beach by Debbie Macomber Page 0,108

closed my eyes, it was a signal for my mind to start mulling over a dozen senseless thoughts. I’d tried counting sheep, counting backwards from one hundred. My mind would zoom off in a dozen different directions, none of which led to a peaceful night.

Then something Dr. Annie had said came to me. She’d asked, When was the last time I’d slept, really slept? It was the night I’d been with Sean, the night I’d slept in the same bed with him.

Could I go to him? The idea popped unbidden into my head and I immediately shook it off. Still, it persisted. The hope that being in his arms would help me refused to go away. Even if I did go, would he even answer the door?

Then I remembered him saying that if there was anything he could do…Well, there was. He probably wouldn’t like it; then again, maybe he would. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I was beyond desperate.

While still in my pajamas, I put on my slippers, grabbed my coat and my purse, and snuck out of the house.

All the way to Sean’s, I berated myself. This was ludicrous. I would be giving him the wrong impression. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t.

Despite all my self-talk, I pulled in to his driveway and sat for all of two minutes before walking up his front steps. I rang his doorbell. I could hear Bandit barking before a sleepy Sean opened the front door.

His concern was immediate. “Willa? What’s happened?”

“I can’t sleep,” I said, fighting back tears. “You said if you could help, you would.”

“Of course. Anything.”

“Do you mean it?” I pleaded, fighting back exhaustion.

“With all my heart. What do you need me to do?”

“Can I…Would you let me sleep with you? Just for tonight. Please.”

CHAPTER 34

Willa

I slowly stirred awake and rolled onto my back. My first thought was that I’d gone the entire night without waking. Then I remembered what I’d done, and where I was. I immediately bolted upright.

I’d gone to Sean, woken him in the middle of the night, and crawled into bed with him. The instant he’d pulled me into his arms, I was out. And I’d slept for…I paused to roll my head and look at the clock.

Nine o’clock. I should have been awake hours ago. I should have opened Bean There. With my pulse shooting toward the sky, I tossed aside the blankets and leaped out of bed. I raced around the bedroom, looking for my clothes before I remembered I’d come in my pajamas and didn’t bring anything more than my coat and purse with me.

“Willa?” Sean knocked before opening the bedroom door.

“Sean,” I cried in a panic. “I need to get to work, I—”

“I phoned Shirley,” he said, cutting me off. “She’s filling in for you, and so is Joelle. You have the day off.”

Because I’d been away from the shop for weeks on end, tending to Harper, I hadn’t taken a day off other than Sunday since my return. “But—”

He held up his hand. “It was Shirley’s idea.”

Sinking down at the end of the mattress, I brushed the sleep-mussed hair from my face as I slowly exhaled the tension from between my shoulder blades. “I slept so well.”

Sean sat down next to me and reached for my hand. “I know. Your snoring kept me awake most of the night.”

I was horrified and jerked my hand free of his grasp to cover my face. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

He laughed, letting me know he was teasing.

I playfully elbowed him in the ribs. “That was cruel.”

“I’m not kidding when I tell you that you cuddled me all night. I loved having you with me. I had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming.”

That embarrassed me nearly as much as the earlier taunt. “Did I really?”

“It helped you sleep.”

It wasn’t like I could deny it. “Thank you,” I whispered, unable to find any other words to express my gratitude.

“I’m at your service, Willa.”

“I was desperate.” He needed to know I would never have come to him if I didn’t feel this was my last option.

“I know you had to be to come to me. Never thought I’d be grateful for someone suffering with insomnia.”

He was so cute and clever that I found it impossible to hold back a smile. I loved it when he returned mine with one of his own. Sean had a dimple on one side of his face that I found fascinating. Unable to stop myself,