Page 1 of Sexual Healing

Leah Mason studied the huge two-story brick house that was set in a bevy of tall oak trees, providing shade for all the rooms. Behind this majestic-looking structure was a massive lake. Even from where she stood, she could see the crystal blue waters. It was hard to believe this house had been built by Reese Singleton for her as a surprise wedding gift. A wedding that hadn’t happened.

Her sister Jocelyn had bought the house a year ago to keep Reese from burning it down. Leah knew that back then, Reese had hated her enough to do it. After all, he’d believed that she had left town five years ago, just to avoid marrying him. That had not been the case, and she was glad she had finally told him the reason she had left.

“Leah?”

She turned to the man walking toward her. She’d always thought he was the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen. Even now, dressed in a pair of slacks and a button-up shirt, he looked irresistible. It might be the way his shirt hugged his broad shoulders or the way his slacks had been tailored to fit his hips and thighs, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him. She had loved Reese Singleton ever since their paths had first crossed that summer day at the county fair six years ago. At the time, she was seventeen and about to become a senior in high school. He’d been nineteen and attending the local university at night. “Yes?”

“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” he asked, coming to stand beside her.

Leah looked back at the house, deciding not to tell him what had been on her mind. Instead, she said, “I was wondering how you did it. How did you build this house all by yourself? I was practically glued to your hip during your free time, or at least, I tried to be. So, when did you find the time?”

Reese chuckled. “It took a year, but I had a system and a strict timeline. I worked for your dad’s construction company during the day and went to my university classes at night. And I spent a lot of time with you in between. But what you didn’t know and never suspected was that some of those nights you thought I was in class, I was here, sometimes working until midnight.”

She looked up at him. “Then you would be up the next day on the construction site at seven the next morning?”

“Yes. Jim knew I wanted to marry his baby girl, so of course I had to impress him. And let me set the record straight so you won’t think I’m some Superman. Occasionally, I had some help building this house since I was on a timeline. I had asked you to marry me, and you were to give me your answer before the end of the summer.”

She smiled. “Yet you built this house, not knowing if I would say yes?”

He looked at the massive structure and then back at her. “I guess you can say I was pretty damn confident that you wouldn’t turn me down.”

Not wanting to remember what had happened that evening, when she had gone looking for him to give him her answer, she asked, “You said you occasionally had help. Who helped you?”

He smiled and whenever he did, she felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach. He had such a turn-you-on smile. That was the first thing she’d noticed about him the day they’d met. “Your dad helped more often than you will ever know. I guess he liked me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Dad loved you. You were the son he never had.”

Reese nodded. “And he filled the place of the dad I’d lost at sixteen.”

Neither said anything for a minute, and then he added, “Danny helped, too, and so did Silas.” Daniel was his younger brother, and Silas Milner was Daniel’s best friend. “And I might have gotten Jocelyn out here once or twice.”

“She never said anything.”

He chuckled. “She wasn’t supposed to. It was my surprise wedding gift to you. I only let people I could trust in on my secret.”

“And, of course, it was built on Singleton land.”

He grinned. “Of course.”

She knew Jamison and Bertha Singleton had willed the Singleton ranch and the five thousand acres it sat on to their only living grand-nephew, Reese’s father. When Reese’s father had been killed in a car accident when Reese was sixteen, his mother, Rachel Singleton had made the decision to move her family from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Newton Grove. Once there, she’d divided the property, giving her sons twenty-four hundred acres each. She’d renovated the ranch house and was satisfied with her two hundred acres.

Reese had built the house for Leah on his land. Daniel’s acres were on the opposite side of the huge lake, where he had built a house for himself and Rita after their marriage. Before then, both sons had lived with their mother in the sprawling Singleton ranch house.

Reese took her hand. “Are you ready to go? I told Ma we would make it to dinner on time.”

She nodded. “I’m ready.”

Together, they walked to his truck.

•••

“Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” he asked.

They had reached the front door of his home, and she stopped and turned to him. “I did. Thank you.” That was not entirely true. Dinner with his family had been strained as usual. Because no one knew the reason she had mysteriously left Newton Grove five years ago, breaking Reese’s heart in the process. She was well aware his family resented that he was seeing her again. She had seen frowns from his mother and brother even if he hadn’t. And in a way, she understood. They loved him, and they’d been the ones who’d been there for him, helping him get through the pain she’d caused when she left. She fully understood they were worried that one day she would leave again and break his heart a second time.

“When we get inside, I want you to talk to me, baby,” he said, opening the door for her. He took her hand when they walked into the foyer and led her into the living room. When they sat down on the sofa, he turned to her, tightened his hold on her hand, and said in a low tone, “Now tell me what’s wrong, Leah. And don’t deny something is bothering you because I can feel it.”

Leah sighed deeply. Not for the first time, she wondered how she’d been lucky enough to have such a wonderful man in her life. She was so blessed. He had always been attuned to her every thought, want, and hurt. And he had tried so hard to take that hurt away.

---