Page 13 of Connected By Souls

“What?” She turns her mug to look at it. “I completely forgot I was using this one.” She laughs as her cheeks go red. “Yeah, that’s me and my parents, squish face and all.”

“You just gave me a million ideas for Christmas. I’m so going to embarrass my whole family with a mug under the tree for each of them. I’m really going to have fun with my sisters. I know just the pictures to use.” I rub my hands together with a big ass grin on my face.

“I’m glad I could help.” She laughs at my excitement. “It really does start your day off right.”

Crossing her legs, her short bottoms ride up, exposing her upper thigh. I wonder what’s underneath? Is she bare under those shorts? If I don’t stop these thoughts, I’m going to embarrass myself in these thin shorts. “I’m really liking those flamingo pajamas.” I take in her matching pink tank top. “Almost as adorable as your coffee mug.”

Feeling my gaze on her, she starts fidgeting with the simple gold necklace that she’s wearing. Her hair is down in waves this morning, and her face is bare of any makeup. She looks more beautiful in this moment than I ever thought possible. Clearing my throat, I take another sip of my coffee. “So, what are your plans today?”

Feeling more at ease with the subject change, she smiles at me. “I’m going to the hardware store after my morning coffee to get new fixtures and paint, and then I was thinking of going to a nursery to get planters and flowers for the back deck. This deck doesn’t need to be painted, so I want to go ahead and decorate it.”

“You need to check out Lily’s. It’s right in town and has the biggest selection of flowers. They have unique planters that are locally handmade too.”

“Thanks, I’ll definitely check it out. That’s my favorite flower.” She smiles at the mention of the nursery’s name. “The pink stargazer one. They smell so good. I’ve never been the rose type of girl. Give me lilies or wildflowers any day.”

Smiling, I point to the lily on my arm hidden in the artwork I’ve had done. It’s always been her favorite flower for as long as I can remember. I got my first tattoo at twenty. Some of them mean something to me in this lifetime, like the lighthouse, my favorite spot on the water here, and the small underwater scene for my love of fishing with my dad. Most of the sleeve, though, are memories of my favorite time with her.

“You have a lily in your tattoo.” She leans forward to take a closer look.

“It’s my favorite flower too.” She’s so close that I can smell her coconut shampoo. I inhale softly.

“Seems like we have a lot in common,” she murmurs. Her hand starts to reach out to trace my tattoo, but she stops herself and sits back.

“Looks like we do.” I let out a breath I’d been holding. I finish the rest of my coffee. As much as I want to stay with her, I know I need to get back home to finish some writing. I haven’t been able to concentrate lately with her so close to me and unable to touch her. It’s getting harder to keep my hands to myself. “I better head back. I know you have a lot to do today, and I’m behind on some things at the house that I have to work on.” I slowly get up to leave.

She stands with me as Nala goes to her side and nudges her hand for one last pet. Smiling, she rubs her behind her ears. “I’ll see you later, girl.”

“Text me when you get off work tomorrow, and I’ll come over to see what you buy today and start getting those faucets in for you.” I grab my socks and shoes from the deck.

“Okay, thanks.” She walks with me to the stairs and hugs herself.

“Bye, Emma.” I meet her eyes and see her mixed emotions. She’s fighting this.

“Bye, Noah.” I hear her softly say. I turn and head down the stairs with Nala by my side.

Walking up my steps, I head in to take a real shower this time. I get dressed and walk to my office when my phone rings. I glance down, smiling, when I see my mom’s face appear on my screen. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetie. I was calling to see how you’re doing. Are you still coming over for dinner tonight?”

“I’m doing good. Just trying to get some writing done this morning. I’ll be there tonight. I wouldn’t miss fish taco night. I’ll bring the stuff for my margaritas too. Are Mimi and Papaw coming?”

“They’ll be here. You know they won’t miss out on a chance to see their grandkids. How has your weekend been so far?”

“It’s been good. I hung out with Mav on Friday night for a bit, and then after fishing with Dad, I went over to the Murphy’s cottage to see the repairs the new owner wanted to get done.” I debate whether to tell my mom more, but it’s all so new. My emotions are all over the place. I need some time to sort them out for myself first. Part of me still thinks I've dreamt up the whole thing, and it’s too good to be true.

“I heard someone bought their place. How are your new neighbors?”

“As far as I know, it’s just one neighbor, and she seems nice. She needs some help with a few repairs. I told her I would stop by tomorrow after she gets off work. She’s working at the library in town.” I try to sound vague because my mom is very good at reading me and intuitively knowing things.

“Hmmmmm.”

“What doeshmmmmmmean?” I made sure not to give anything away.

“Oh, nothing. I’m glad we have someone new in town to help Sylvia at the library. She refuses to retire, but at least she decided to go down to part-time.” I hear her laugh over the phone. “She’s been at the library for as long as I can remember. If I were her age, I would be sipping drinks on the beach all day without a care in the world.”

I don’t believe theoh, nothingpart, but I let it slide because I don’t want to open that conversation up further. I don’t know how she does it. I gave nothing away, but it’s like she already knows something big is happening. I can almost hear all the thoughts that must be going through her head right now.

She knows a little bit about my dreams and that I get my stories from them, but I didn’t discuss all the details with her. It’s not like I can say,Hey, Mom, I have sex dreams almost every night with a girl I’ve never met, and no one I‘ve slept with has ever made me feel the way I feel when I’m with her. Oh, and by the way, I think she’s real, and we’ve been together in several different lifetimes. It’s bad enough that I got drunk one night and spilled my guts to my sister. I definitely don’t need both of them on my case about this.

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