Page 50 of Love, Always and Forever
Chapter 15
Amy had a bad case of the fidgets thanks to the slumbering male who lived next door. Here it was four hours after he’d made that stunning pronouncement, and she still had no idea of how she should have responded. What was a woman supposed to say when a man like Mikhail said he wanted to get naked with her? Lacking any hands-on experience in such situations, she had been left staring at his bedroom door, stunned and speechless.
But curious, too.
And really sorry he hadn’t invited her to join him right then and there when she wouldn’t have had any chance for second thoughts. There was still so much that Misha, as she now thought of him, didn’t know about her and the life she’d led. Her head said he would accept her truth; her fearful heart wasn’t so sure. Looking back, she wished she’d had the strength to march down that hallway and find out, one way or the other.
But she hadn’t found the necessary courage, so her feet had stayed rooted in that one spot, unable to move forward or even take a step back. God knows how long she would’ve stood there frozen in place if Sarge hadn’t finally gotten bored waiting for his human friend to move and head-butted her leg. His blunt demand for attention had jolted her into full retreat, and she’d immediately hustled both the bulldog and her insecurities out the door and back over to her house.
After getting the dogs settled in, she’d brewed a strong cup of her favorite herbal tea and parked herself in front of the computer, determined to work. Even though it had taken twice as long as it should have, she’d finally finished the project that was due to her client by the next morning. After that, she’d quickly grown tired of tripping over the dogs as she paced the floor in her office in search of further inspiration. Evidently accomplishing anything else work-related had been out of the question.
Instead, she’d spent the rest of the morning cooking. By lunchtime, a Dutch apple pie sat cooling on the counter, a pot of soup simmered away in the slow cooker, and a vegetarian lasagna was ready to go into the oven for tonight’s dinner. She’d also replenished her secret stash of chocolate chip cookies.
After setting the last tray of cookies on a rack to cool, she looked around the kitchen. Now what? There had to be something she could do to pass the time until Mikhail regained consciousness. Vacuum? No point with both dogs underfoot. Clean the bathrooms? No, she’d done that just a couple of days ago. The laundry could wait, too.
The reason she’d bought this particular house was because it was so light and airy, but right now the walls were closing in on her. Maybe it was time to work outside in the greenhouse. The dogs could use some fresh air, too.
“Come on, guys, let’s get out of here for a while.”
They eagerly followed her out into the garage, where she grabbed her work gloves and gathered up a few other things she needed. When she opened the door that led out to the backyard, the dogs shoved past her to chase the birds pecking around in the grass. Once the unwanted visitors had been vanquished, she picked up a pair of tennis balls and threw them toward the back fence.
Sarge chased his down and brought it back to drop at her feet, dripping with happy bulldog slobber. She dutifully tossed it again. Panda, on the other hand, didn’t quite understand the rules of the game. He followed his ball until it came to a complete stop and then plopped down in the grass to wait for Amy to come throw it again. She laughed at the little guy and did exactly that.
It didn’t take long before both of her companions were out of breath and ready to zone out in the sun. She headed into the greenhouse to check on the small herb garden she’d planted. But just as she started to shut the door, she thought she heard someone calling her name.
The dogs had both gone on full alert, so she opened the gate to peek out. Sure enough, Marlene Lukash stood just outside holding a casserole dish in her hands.
“Hi, Marlene!”
“Sorry to bother you, Amy, but I baked Misha’s favorite meatloaf and brought it over as a surprise. He didn’t answer when I knocked. Do you know if he’s home?”
Great. How much should she tell her? “Yes, he is, but I’m guessing he’s still asleep. We went out for breakfast, so he didn’t get to bed until quite a bit later than usual.”
No way she was going to admit that the two of them also had plans for dinner. “Would you like me to put the meatloaf in my refrigerator until he comes over to pick up Sarge?”
Marlene definitely looked relieved by her offer. “That would be great.”
“Why don’t you come on inside? I’d take the dish, but I’ve been playing with the dogs and my hands aren’t exactly sanitary right now.”
“And Misha might not think a little bulldog drool counts as a special spice?”
Amy laughed as she led the way through the front of the garage and into the kitchen. “Somehow I doubt it.”
She quickly washed her hands and then took the dish and put it in the fridge. “I know he’ll be sorry he missed you.”
Marlene shrugged. “I could go back and pound on the door until he finally answers, but I don’t really want to do that. The boy needs his sleep. Next time I’ll know to call first, but I was worried about him.”
Thanks to Mikhail’s mind-bending announcement about his intent, Amy had forgotten all about checking the news to see if she could figure out what had upset him so badly last night. But it sounded as if Marlene might already know something about that. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll fix us a pot of tea and then you can tell me why you were worried.”
She immediately put the kettle on to boil. While Marlene settled in at the table, Amy filled a plate with freshly baked cookies and then set out two mugs and her favorite teapot.
The other woman held off talking until the tea was ready and Amy had joined her at the table. “I saw on the news this morning that there was a house fire last night in the area his station services. According to what they said, two people died in the fire, and a little girl was taken to the hospital.”
Just that quickly the cookie Amy had bitten into tasted like dirt. “Will she be okay?”
Marlene nodded, but she still looked worried. “They said she was stable and the prognosis is optimistic.”
Thank goodness for that, but no wonder Mikhail had looked like hell when he showed up on her doorstep that morning. “He’ll be glad to hear that she’ll be all right. I know if he was there at the fire, he’ll be worried about her.”
