CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Natalie
The next weeks flew by in a haze of busyness. I started my new job. Sabine moved to town and decided to buy and renovate my parents’ old house. After she asked if it would bother me or not. I found that it didn’t. I was interested in her fixing it up and making it her own.
I think my mother, especially, would’ve liked that.
My new job was amazing, and I realized that although I liked surgeries at the hospital, general care and pediatrics was more suited to my personality. I loved treating and talking to my patients, and they seemed happy with me. It was a job I could see myself doing until I got old and gray.
And the best part of all?
Tim and I started dating.
He’d asked me out right after New Year’s Eve, but I’d gotten cold feet and changed my mind. I was worried that he would hurt me again. Then one day I’d come across the gift bag of journals he’d given me. Sabine must’ve moved the bag inside, put it in a closet, and I’d forgotten all about them.
One rainy, cold Saturday, when I was decked out in some of my warmest sweats, I’d found it when I’d gone looking for a flashlight in case the power went out.
We don’t often get more than a dusting of snow in Georgia, but we do get sleet and ice.
The ice is heavy on the power lines and causes lots of them to come down.
So, I had wanted to be prepared in case the power went out.
And that’s when I’d found the bag.
I’d grabbed it, settled on my couch in front of the crackling fire, and opened the first journal.
Natalie,
If you’re reading this, I hope it means that we’re friends again.
Because I have to tell you—life without you in it isn’t much fun.
I keep thinking of things I want to tell you.
Because of what I did, you understandably don’t want to hear from me right now.
Hugh, my therapist, told me I should just write down whatever I wanted to say.
So, I will.
First, I want to say I’m sorry. I know apologies are over-used sometimes.
But I really mean it. Somewhere along the way, I lost track of who I was, who I wanted to become, and I hurt you in the process.
It wasn’t okay, Nat. No excuses. I knew you wouldn’t want a friends with benefits situation.
I knew I should have treated you better than turning around and sleeping with some woman after we had one of the best weekends of my entire life.
The truth is that I got scared. And it finally led to me getting help. I know that’s a good thing, but I sure as hell wish it had been something else that finally got me to go to therapy instead of something that hurt you.
I love you, Nat. I’m in love with you. I think I’ve known it for years now but haven’t wanted to admit it to myself. Well, here I am admitting it. You’re it for me. I’ll never want anyone else the way I want you.
That’s it for now. More later.
Love,
Tim
P.S. I’ve been thinking of taking up knitting so I can knit Anne and Gilbert little scarves and hats. Is that weird?
When I got to the end, I was both laughing and crying. He’d written this about a week after I’d left town. He’d known he was in love with me all that time.
His entries ranged from hilarious to heart-breaking, and I read them all.
Natalie,
You know how I told you Mom thinks the lady who moved in across the street is a killer?
She won’t let it go. Last week she convinced me to dress all in black, wait until it was dark outside, and then the two of us went and looked through her windows.
I hate to admit it, but there are some pretty strange things in that lady’s garage.
Still, she’s not a serial killer, right?
Love,
Tim
P.S. If I get caught the next time we do it (because Mom assures me there will be a next time), will you bail me out of jail?
I cackled thinking of Tim and his mother dressed like that and peeking through this poor lady’s windows. What the hell was Lynne thinking?
Natalie,
I dream about you all the time. I can’t stop. I once dreamed that our one beautiful weekend never stopped and we got married and lived happily ever after like some sort of fairy tale couple. It was such a beautiful dream, I cried when I woke up and realized it wasn’t real.
Love,
Tim
P.S. I wish time travel was real. If it was, I’d travel back to that weekend and make the dream come true.
That one had me wiping my eyes. I wish that could’ve been our reality, too.
Natalie,
Today at the Piggly Wiggly, your old neighbor Mrs. Funkendweller hit on me.
I’m not kidding. I was in the wine section, and she asked for help getting one of the expensive bottles out of the case for her.
Of course, I did it. Then she asked if I had plans for the evening.
Then she said she’d heard I was ‘a lady killer’ in bed.
What. The. Fuck. I told her I had plans, and she said she’d take a raincheck.
Now every time I see her, she waves at me in this really flirty way and shakes her hips a lot when she walks. I’m afraid she might break one of them.
Love,
Tim
P.S. Are you a little jealous of Mrs. Funkendweller, Nat? Be honest.
I cracked up again. I had finally gotten up to get a box of tissue since I kept laughing and crying so much.
Natalie,
I will love you for the rest of my life.
There will never be anyone but you for me.
I miss everything about you, even the annoying way your hiccups sound suspiciously similar to the way a chihuahua barks.
I tried to date this woman who looks kind of like you.
It didn’t work out. Do you know why? It’s because she wasn’t you.
Not even close. Yes, if I narrowed my eyes just right, I could pretend she was you based on looks alone.
But when she opened her mouth? Nope. Her favorite thing to talk about was her doll collection.
Let me say that slower: Her. Doll. Collection.
Do you remember that I’m terrified of dolls?
She even took me on a tour of her house to show all of them to me.
She had multiple rooms full of dolls, Nat.
Multiple rooms. I haven’t been able to sleep since.
I keep imagining I hear the sound of their creepy little doll feet running around my house.
Did I tell you I got a house? I couldn’t stand to be in that condo any longer. All I could think about was the way your face looked when I realized you saw Cora and me together. I had to get out of there.
I love you forever.
Love,
Tim
P.S. I miss the smell of your shampoo. I tried to buy a bottle of it the other day even though I didn’t know the name.
The lady helping me asked me to describe the scent.
I told her it smelled like sunshine. She walked off to find it, or so I thought, but then never came back.
I think I smelled every bottle in the place.
People might or might not have thought I was weird.
Just kidding—they thought I was a total freak.
Teenage girls ran off the aisle to get away from ‘the creepy shampoo sniffer.’ I hope that nickname doesn’t catch on.
I sat there reading the entire afternoon. And when I finished them, I read them again.
And then I called him.
“Hey, Nat,” he said, sounding pleased to hear from me.
“Hey. Do you know how you asked me out, and I said that I was too scared? That we should just be friends?”
“That does vaguely ring a bell…” he joked.
“I changed my mind. If you still want to go out, I’d love to go on a date with you.”
I heard him let out a breath.
“That makes me really happy. Tonight?”
I looked out the window, pleased to see sunshine peeking through the clouds. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven, okay?”
“I’ll see you then.”
It was already five. I ran around the house cleaning a bit, getting ready, trying on multiple outfits, and generally stressing myself out.
By the time the doorbell rang, I was relieved.
***
We mainly discussed his journals as we ate at our favorite Italian restaurant in town. I mean, it was the only Italian restaurant in town, but it was really good. By the time we reached dessert, I was stuffed, so Tim ordered Tiramisu and cannoli to go.
We were on our way out when we practically ran right into Heath with Gemma Reardon.
We said hello, and I couldn’t help but gape at the two of them together.
A flash of annoyance ran over Heath’s face. “Well. I’m not surprised to see the two of you together,” he said snidely.
Tim clapped him on the shoulder a little too hard and said, “Thanks, man. That means a lot.”
Heath looked at him like he was crazy, and I gave Tim a hard poke in his side. I didn’t want him making me laugh.
“Let me introduce my wife,” Heath said. Neither Tim nor I could hide the surprise on our faces. “This is Gemma Reyes.”
“We know Gemma.” I turned to her. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
“You two are really well-suited,” Tim said with a smile.
Gemma giggled and thanked us and showed off her ring, which I recognized as the same Cartier diamond ring he’d proposed to me with.
We said our goodbyes and made it to Tim’s truck before we started cracking up. “Oh my God,” I snort laughed. “Do you think he knows she’s been married three times already?”
“I doubt he cares. He just needed someone to say yes so he could his hands on his trust fund.” He sobered up and looked at me quietly. “Does it make you sad he married her?”
I laughed. “Lord, no. It’s an interesting match, though. Maybe they’ll actually be happy. She’s always wanted to be rich and not have to work.”
“She probably wouldn’t even mind kids once she knows she can hire as many nannies as she wants.”
We talked about it all the way back to my townhouse. By the time we’d gotten back, we’d totally gone all in on the idea that Heath and Gemma could make things work. I was pulling for them.
“Come in and we’ll eat dessert in a bit,” I said.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
I took the dessert from him, put it in the refrigerator, and turned just in time for him to grab me and push me up against the nearest wall.
By the time I got my legs wrapped around his waist, he’d already pushed my dress up, pulled my panties aside, and unzipped his pants—all while kissing me senseless.
“Oh God,” I let my head loll back as he kissed and sucked along my neck and delved into my cleavage. He pulled down my dress and sucked and licked my nipples through my lacy bra. My back arched like it only ever had with him.
His fingers found their way to my opening, and he smoothed them around my clit before thrusting two of them inside me.
I whimpered and started rocking my hips back and forth to the timing of his talented fingers.
He curved them up and found the spot inside that made me crazy.
I gripped his hips harder with my legs, pushed my back against the wall and came hard, with a scream.
He watched me the whole time, reclaiming my mouth as soon as I’d quit crying out. Then he surprised me by rubbing the head of his cock along my folds and then thrusting inside me to his hilt. I gasped into his mouth while we still kissed.
“Fuck,” he groaned. “It’s been so long. I only want you, Natalie. I only ever want you,” he said over and over as he pumped harder and harder until we were both coming apart.
When it was over, he leaned against me for a minute, catching his breath. Then, still holding me by my ass, he carried me into my bedroom and threw me on my king-size bed. We proceeded to kiss each other until we were wildly pulling and ripping at each other’s clothes.
I was shaking. “I need you,” I gasped out.
“Yeah?” He gave me a slow, sexy smile. “Let’s take a shower together.”
In the large shower, he sat back on the stone bench carved into the wall.
He stroked himself roughly while he watched me showering off.
Then he beckoned me towards him. His cock was standing up like a steel pipe with pre-cum leaking out of the head.
I bent down and licked it up, causing him to buck his hips.
I was just about to take him in my mouth, when he picked me by waist and basically impaled me with his cock.
I screamed out, surprised, as I took all of him at once again.
I panted, resting there for a minute as I adjusted to his size.
Then he began moving me up and down his dick, his eyes shooting between watching my cunt take him and my bouncing breasts.
“You are so fucking beautiful, Nat. And you take me so well,” he groaned out.
Still holding me tightly as he moved me up and down his length, he moved one hand where his finger could reach my clit.
He massaged and flicked it until I was screaming all over again.
My orgasm set his off, and we were crying out and holding onto each other as if we were afraid someone was going to split us apart.
Afterwards, we sat like that on the bench in the shower with me in his lap. The warm water and steam surrounded us, and we talked and kissed and laughed until the water started to go cold.
We spent the whole weekend in bed, and still Monday morning came too soon. We walked out together. He opened my door for me, pushed my legs apart and moved his hips between them so he was close to me. “Is it okay if I come over again tonight?”
His eyes met mine, and I saw a seriousness there that I hadn’t seen very often. “Yes. I’d like that.” I leaned back and reached for the glove compartment. I opened it and pulled out a key. “Here I said,” putting it in his hands.
“Is this what I think it is?”
I smiled at him. “Yeah.”
He got a big grin on his face. “You don’t think it’s too soon?”
I shook my head. “Do you?”
“What month did you move back home? May? I’m actually just kidding. I know you pulled into town on the afternoon of May 23rd. Anyway, I think you should have handed me a key right then, actually.”
I leaned forward and kissed him gently. “Are you keeping tabs on me?”
He traced my jaw with his finger. “Always. I love you, Natalie Martin.”
“I love you, too.”
The End