Page 23 of Courageous Yearnings

It was like he lived here – but only barely.

Swallowing, she stepped into the apartment, sincerely glad she did not have Maya come up with her. No, she just wanted to set down her bag of things and get some rest. The remainder could wait until tomorrow. Right now, she was so worn out she didn’t even care that a set of what had to be double-d’s was staring at her from the kitchen wall.

Nope.

She just wanted hot tea, a blanket, and decided that the recliner might be safest to sleep on in the meantime. She wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to lie down in the bedroom anyhow.

Setting her bags on the counter, she put fresh water in the kettle and opened the package of herbal tea that she purchased at the store. It was so easy to fall into a judgmental mindset. He’d opened his home to her at a time when she had nothing and no one. That spoke volumes, and right now?

She could forgive anything at all.

As the kettle began to whistle, she turned off the heat and poured it in the single ceramic mug she found in the cupboard.

He’s single, obviously doesn’t spend much time here, and currently has more than I will for quite some time, she thought silently to herself.

Walking back toward the recliner, she didn’t even bother to kick off her sneakers just yet and pulled the throw that was on the couch across her lap. Gulping down her hot tea, she closed her eyes and sighed heavily, already slipping into oblivion.

7

LANCE

Two days later, all the ‘romance her’ thoughts were shoved to the side of Lance’s mind as exhaustion gripped him. Man, it had been a hard night full of issues. A car had slid into the creek, four other car accidents, three house fires, and one cat stuck up a tree.

“Why were they worried about a stupid cat in a tree at three in the morning?” Lance muttered, putting his key in the door lock and bracing himself. As he opened the door gingerly, trying not to wake or scare Blythe, he paused as he noticed her resting in the recliner.

She was sound asleep and breathing evenly. Her breath didn’t rasp and rattle like it had at the hospital that first evening he was there. Gosh, that sound would haunt him for years. Shutting the door silently behind him, he carefully set down his keys, kicked off his sneakers, and hesitated.

She cleaned his place.

Gone were the socks, the debris, and his magazines and at this point, he really didn’t care. Swallowing, he felt a twinge of embarrassment and saw the new soft-looking throw on the couch. Her flowers were sitting on the counter in the kitchen. It was almost ‘homey’ in his apartment… and he liked it.

Instead of waking her, he took advantage of the moment and simply plopped down in exhaustion. Sitting on the edge of the couch, he glanced at her once more. He didn’t care if he was still covered in sweat or soot – he just needed to rest.

Closing his eyes, he collapsed.

Hours later, Lance winced as the sunlight streamed directly in his face and he sniffed the air. He smelled something fresh and fragrant, and then heard a slight buzz in the distance. Cracking open a bleary eye, he glanced at his watch and hesitated. Blinking, he rubbed his eyes, and then looked at his watch again.

It was three in the afternoon.

He winced. So much for going on a date and spending the day with Blythe. The entire morning was already gone and he slept the entire time. Sniffing himself, he rolled his eyes and hesitated. He stunk, which means that even if he got a shower right now, it would be four or five o’clock before they headed out.

Sitting up quickly, he looked toward the recliner where Blythe had been sleeping only to see it was empty. The throw was folded neatly, and he could hear someone moving around in the distance.

“Blythe?”

Her head appeared in the doorway of the laundry room.

“I’m almost finished in here. I made coffee if you’d like some and a pizza, but I can’t find the cutter,” she said hoarsely.

“You made coffee? How? I don’t have a coffee pot or…”

“You do now,” she chuckled, disappearing again into the laundry room. He couldn’t fight the smile that touched his face. It was surprisingly nice to wake up knowing you weren’t by yourself and that she’d taken the time to make something for him.

Getting up, he threw off the blanket and hesitated. Picking it up, he folded it carefully and draped it over the arm of the sofa. He didn’t want to mess anything up since she’d obviously cleaned. Walking into the kitchen, he wasn’t sure what to expect because he only had one coffee mug – and it was in the sink. As he looked at the brand-new coffee pot on the counter, he couldn’t help but make a small noise in his throat.

There were two coffee mugs on the counter – each had a tiny mouse face sticking out of one of the holes on the block of cheese. Beside it was a ceramic yellow spoon rest with a tiny grey mouse perched on the edge, along with gray salt and pepper shakers – one was a grey mouse on all fours and the other was sitting up on its haunches.

Mice.

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