They deserved to have all of him. Anything less wasn’t enough.
“A while ago you said that maybe we each have to decide what we want out of life, and I agree with you,” she murmured.
He stared at her, sick at heart, and nodded.
“I don’t think we can do that living together. You can’t break a habit if you’re living it.”
“I’ll look for a place tomorrow.”
Becca stood up laboriously, the effort leaving her short of breath. “Randi’s hoping you’ll stay at her place. At least until she’s ready to move back. It’ll give you time to find something you really want.”
Time to find something permanent, he read into her words.
This was worse than he’d thought.
With a sick feeling in his gut, Will nodded. “I’ll go tomorrow.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BECCA LEARNED very quickly what Martha had been talking about when she’d said that Shelter Valley helped her through the initial breakup with Todd. Will wasn’t even out of the house before the calls started coming. Randi had told a couple of people at work that she could be reached at Becca’s house, and that was all it took for word to spread, like a raging fire, all over town.
But in spite of all the support, she missed Will desperately. That first night she didn’t even try to go to bed. Just sat in his recliner in the family room and hoped she’d fall asleep without realizing it. Probably because she was almost eight months pregnant, she did.
The second night, she lay down on the couch, wondering if she could again trick herself into sleep. And found that if she kept the television on, she could.
By the third night, she’d pulled bedding out to the family room.
“Aren’t you feeling well?” Randi asked, jumping up to take the blankets and pillow from Becca. “The couch back helps support you, maybe?”
“Maybe.” Becca hadn’t really thought about it, but yes, she supposed it did. Now that she didn’t have Will’s back to prop her belly against.
Randi spread a sheet on the oversize leather couch, tucking it around the cushions. “Are you having pains? Should we call the doctor?”
“No.” Becca handed Randi one end of the blanket.
“Not unless you think she could treat pains of the heart.”
Randi stopped, blanket held in midair. “You’re missing Will that much?”
Nodding, Becca bent to smooth the blanket over the sheet, trying to hide evidence of the ready tears. “I’ve never slept in our bed without him at night.”
“Never?” Randi asked, shocked. “What about the time he went to Washington to receive that commendation… Oh wait, you went with him, of course.” She smoothed her end of the blanket. “What about that conference he went to in Omaha? You stayed here to run the huge second-hand sale in the town square to raise money for the new clinic.”
“I stayed with Sari,” Becca said. “Bob was out of town then, too, at a swim meet with Tanya, and we had a couple of girls’ nights out.”
Randi plopped down on the makeshift bed, pulling a pillow onto her lap. “You’ve never slept in your bed without him?”
Smiling through teary eyes, Becca shook her head. “Never.”
“Have you talked to him?” Randi asked hesitantly.
Becca nodded. “He calls every day to make sure I’m okay.”
“He does?” Randi perked up. “So you guys are talking.”
“No.” Becca wished they were. She badly needed to know what Will was thinking, to share with him the discoveries she was making. She wasn’t happy, but she was still sane. That had to count for something. “His calls are always quick,” she told Randi.
“Just asks if I’m okay and says he has to go.”