Chapter Twenty-One
When he opened his eyes on Wednesday morning, it took Blane a few moments to figure out what had woken him.
It was a sound, a constant in the background, familiar somehow, but so out of place here that his brain took a while to put a name to it.
It was only when he turned his head that he saw the rain beating against the French doors that led out to the balcony. How about that?
Bea lifted her head and planted one hand in the middle of his chest, propping herself up as she looked past him. “Oh my goodness. Rain.”
He curled his arm around her. “Didn’t think they saw much of that here in the summer.”
“No, I think it’s fairly unusual. We’re not exactly into full summer yet, but I would have thought we were past spring showers.”
He watched, puzzled, as she wriggled away from him and got out of bed. When she pushed the curtains open wider and then opened the French doors, he sat up.
“What are you doing, darlin’?”
She turned back to him with a smile. “Don’t worry, it’s not cold out here.” She stepped onto the balcony, and he smiled to himself as she stood there letting the rain soak her.
“I haven’t lost my marbles completely, but I have to admit, the rain feels like an old friend.”
“From what I’ve seen of the weather in the UK, I can understand that. Didn’t think it’d be a friend you missed, though.”
“Oh, I don’t miss it.” She stepped back inside, pushing wet hair away from her face. “I only wanted to remember how it felt.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
She laughed. “It never felt like this. It’s lovely and warm out there. But sorry, I’ll get dressed and go make us coffee.”
“I can do it. You get dry.” He looked toward the balcony again. “Doesn’t look like we’ll be going for a walk this morning.”
She turned back to him, looking genuinely puzzled. “Why not?”
He looked out at the rain and then back at her. “You’re right. There’s no reason not to, is there?”
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and she came to stand between them, resting her hands on his shoulders.
“If you don’t mind, then no. I don’t want to keep dwelling on it, Blane, but we don’t have long left. I want to enjoy every minute, and there’s no reason not to enjoy the rain.”
He rested his head against her chest and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “You’re right. There’s not.”
They only drank half their coffee before heading out. Bea was convinced the rain might stop and they’d miss their chance, although after he checked the weather, it looked as though they wouldn’t see the sun again until tomorrow.
The whole landscape looked different wet.
The colors seemed darker and richer, and the scent of the flowers he’d gotten so used to was stronger too, rising from the damp earth and carrying on the warm breeze.
He slid his hand into hers as they walked past the spot where Pericles had been parading around in her tablecloth the day before.
She looked up at him and laughed.
“I didn’t say a damn word.”
“I know, but I could hear you thinking it.”
“And what exactly can you hear me thinking?”
Her eyebrows drew together into a deep frown and she lowered her voice. “That fucking goat.”
He laughed. “Are you mocking me?”
“Would I do such a thing?”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her against his side. “Yeah, you would, and I love it.”
She curled her arm around his waist as they carried on walking. “I love it too.”
For one crazy second, he thought she was about to say something else. She didn’t, but the thought stayed with him for the rest of the walk. He kept wondering what he would have done if she had said the words he’d thought were coming, and worse, how much he wanted to hear them.
When they reached the highest point, Bea went up onto her tiptoes and peered toward the gap between the hills. He followed her gaze.
“You can’t even tell if there’s sea there today. It’s as gray as the sky.”
“It’s still there. I promise you.”
She slapped his arm and laughed.
“What?” he asked, feigning innocence. “You know I’m right. Just because it’s a gray day and you can’t see it from here doesn’t mean it isn’t still there.”
She met his gaze and held it for a moment.
He nodded. He hadn’t meant there to be anything more in the words than what he’d said, but somehow, standing there looking at her, it felt as though there was.
By the time they got back to the house, they were both drenched and happy. Bea grabbed a towel and started rubbing it through her hair while Blane peeled off his wet shirt.
“You might want to think about getting yourself a dryer, you know.”
She turned to look at him.
He chuckled. “Between the rain and the goat, you might want another option for getting things dry.”
“You might have a point there.” She came to him and ran both hands over his chest. “But I’m afraid I can’t focus on it.”
His hands settled on her hips as he drew her closer. “Can’t say I blame you. Don’t know why I’m going on about dryers anyway.”
She smiled up at him, and for a few seconds he forgot what they’d been talking about completely. He lowered his head, and Bea looped her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss.
Damn, he loved the way this woman kissed him.
Even from the beginning she hadn’t been shy about it, but over the last few weeks they’d found a familiarity with each other, a level of comfort he couldn’t remember ever having with anyone before.
Her kisses still woke up his body in a way he’d almost forgotten was possible, but it was more than that now.
It wasn’t only the physical response or how badly he wanted her.
It was the way being with her felt. He tightened his arms around her as the word came to him—she felt like home.
That didn’t make a whole lot of sense. He’d never wanted one of those, not in the way other people seemed to mean it.
He’d had places to live, places where he kept his stuff and slept when he wasn’t working, and that had always been enough.
He’d never understood the appeal of building his life around a house or another person.
But standing there in Bea’s kitchen, both of them still wet from walking in the rain, with her arms around his neck and her mouth warm against his, he understood something about it now.
Before he’d had much chance to examine that thought, his hand slid down over her ass and another possibility took its place.
Maybe the rain was all the excuse they needed to go back upstairs and spend some time getting as close as two people could get.
He tried not to think about the fact that Bea had been right earlier—they only had a few days left, and every time his mind went there lately, he had to drag it back again.
He started walking her backward toward the stairs, without lifting his head, then froze at the sound of her phone ringing.
Her shoulders sagged as she broke the kiss, and he gave her a rueful smile. “Better get that.”
She went to the counter where her phone was charging and made a face when she looked at the screen. “It’s Rosalind.”
“You gonna answer?”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “No. It’s all right. She’ll leave me a message, and I’ll probably need to prepare my defenses before I talk to her anyway.”
“You sure?”
Bea looked at the phone for another moment. “Yes. We haven’t spoken in a while. Another few days won’t make any difference, and unless there’s something urgent in the message, I can call her back next week.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn’t need to ask why next week. Instead, he ran his hand over her damp hair. “You call her whenever you want to.”
She gave him a sad smile. “That’s what I plan to do, Blane, and not a moment before.”
He smiled, but that look in her eyes stayed with him.
She glanced around the kitchen. “Well, since it appears my sister has killed the moment, what would you like to do?”
“Anything, as long as it’s with you.”
The smile she gave him hit him right in the chest.
“I feel the same way. We could go somewhere, I suppose.”
He shook his head. “Not unless you want to. I’d rather hang out here.”
There was that sad little smile again. “I would too.”
“Okay, so what do you want to do? I can bring those plant trays in if you want to mess around with them, or we could find something else that needs doing.”
She considered it for a moment. “Actually, I’ve been wanting to try making moussaka.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve eaten it often enough since we’ve been here, and since I live here now, I should probably learn how to make it, shouldn’t I?”
“I wouldn’t mind learning.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Unless you’re only saying that because you like eating it.”
“That’s part of it.”
She laughed. “At least you’re honest. I think we have almost everything we need, although we might have to pop down to the mini market for something. Let me check.”
He followed her into the kitchen as she started opening cabinets and checking the refrigerator.
“You finally gonna dig out that garlic grater?”
She stopped and stared at him. “Oh my goodness. I haven’t unpacked it yet.”
“We brought the damn thing all the way from London and you haven’t used it once. I’m still not convinced it’s really a thing.”
“It’s a thing, Blane. Honestly.”
“Bet it’s not as good as my knife.”
She laughed. “It’s still in the bottom of my suitcase, I’ll go up and get it when we’re ready. But come on, let’s get everything together and see what we need before we go anywhere.”
It turned out they already had most of what they needed, and by the time Bea had satisfied herself that there was no reason to venture back out into the rain, Blane had brought the trays of plants she’d been working on into the sheltered part of the courtyard and found somewhere out of the way to leave them.
When he came back into the kitchen, she was standing in front of the counter studying a couple of glossy purple vegetables.
“I think I should bake the aubergines rather than fry them.”
He stopped. “The what?”
She looked at him. “The aubergines.”