Chapter 34
Ali thought she’d never seen a couple so in tune, so well matched. She and Josh had been great together, but they’d never had this sort of communication-without-words thing.
“—decide where you’re going to take her,” Hayley was saying, making Ali tune back in. “Someplace public, but not crowded, so you can talk without being overheard.”
“And you’ll have to convince her how crucial it is that this is kept secret,” Quinn added. “She’s been good so far, but this is the crunch. You’ll have to tell her in a way she won’t forget.”
“The lighthouse,” Ali said suddenly. They all looked at her. “She’s talked about it, that it’s so close but she’s never seen it.”
“I… She never said she wanted to,” Colby said.
“I think when she’s with you, she doesn’t care about anything else,” she said, trying to explain the idea that had hit her.
“But if you take her there, she’ll remember because it’s the first time for her, and you can tie it to what you’re telling her.
That it’s…it’s the light in the darkness, and like it, you’ll always be there for her. ”
They were all staring at her now. Surprisingly, it was Quinn who shifted his gaze from her to Colby, gave him a smile and said, “You’re a lucky man, Colby Kendrick. Finally.”
Colby looked at her, then answered simply, “Yes.”
Ali felt a kick in her pulse. Maybe he had meant it, when he’d linked them to all of Cutter’s apparent successes.
Heaven knew she’d seen enough of the dog’s uncanny cleverness to at least consider the possibility that it was true.
All of it. The idea made her very hesitant to leave now, but she knew she needed to be home for Grace’s sake.
When she got back home, Cutter immediately looked over to the big house, as if he knew it was out of the ordinary for them to have left while Grace was at home. There was no sign of the child now, through the window or anywhere else. And the dog didn’t indicate he’d been called.
After a moment he made what she’d come to think of as his rounds, checking every bit of her house.
He didn’t react to anything, so she felt fairly safe, although she did the camera check that had become routine.
Then she turned on her flat-screen to her own monitors, so she could watch Grace’s room without getting caught staring out her window.
Cutter went over to nose Ziggy, who had plopped on his bed, clearly tuckered out from the romp in the Foxworth meadow.
They’d discussed her possibly putting that red square of paper in the window, to indicate Grace needed to come over and play, but decided it was too risky until Colby had talked to her.
They didn’t want Liz to crack down even more, and maybe try and stop Colby from having his paltry three hours with her tomorrow.
It would be his last chance before they started to move.
Grace had to be clear on what was happening, on what to do, and more importantly what not to do.
Ali had a lot of faith in the child, but she was still a child.
But the worst part of it was that she couldn’t even be around.
It made sense, if Liz or someone she’d assigned was spying on them, it could blow up everything if she was seen with them.
But that didn’t mean she liked it. She already felt so much a part of this, and had even before that afternoon when she’d discovered that hot, female part of her wasn’t nearly as dead as she’d thought it was.
That afternoon when Colby Kendrick had shown her she could still fly.
But now she was relegated to pacing the floor, feeling worse than helpless, feeling useless.
She stopped mid-step when a memory hit her. Colby’s words rang in her mind, and she knew she was truly understanding them for the first time.
Can’t wait to get back to where you have to do everything, or Foxworth does. While I sit around and do nothing.
No wonder he was so on edge. It was driving her mad, she could only imagine how it made him feel to just stand by.
It also led to a sleepless night for her. Which in a way turned out to be a good thing, because she was awake when her phone chimed an incoming text. She knew who it was, who it had to be.
Going crazy. I wish you were here or I was there.
She thought of all the possible platitudes she could send back, that it would be all right, that he just had to hang on, they were on the edge of making their move.
In the end she went with the simple truth.
Ditto.
There was a long pause, as if he were thinking as hard as she had been. And in the end he, as she had, went the simple route.
This weekend?
She’d wondered about that. If Liz and Grace were both going to be gone, to whatever event Liz was using as an excuse to take Colby’s full day with her away from him, then maybe they could…revisit. Discover if it really was as explosive as she remembered.
Please.
She’d typed and sent it before she thought much about it.
It was time, she decided, to go with the truth.
She felt a qualm after the “message sent” notification appeared, but then Cutter was there, nudging her hand.
She automatically reached out to pet him, and at that first stroke of his head it was there again, that sense of calm, that reassurance.
Yes, it was time for the truth. She was where she never thought she’d be again. Looking at a future suddenly very different from the one she’d had just a few weeks ago.
She walked over and picked up Ziggy, needing to cuddle the little ball of fluff. He squirmed a little, but once she sat back down and he realized he was safe in her arms, he settled and went happily back to snoozing. And with her puppy on her lap and Cutter at her feet, she felt comforted.
But this weekend, with Colby, she would feel whole again. And that, she had never expected. That if he meant what he’d said, that wholeness would include the sweetest, smartest child she’d ever met, who would be the frosting on the cinnamon roll her life seemed like it could become.