It's Never too Late

Did he think that of Ella?

Growing colder and sicker by the second, Mark felt like a fool for ever thi

nking that he could really change his life. He was a high school dropout from Bierly. Always had been. Always would be.

And that was okay. Only problem had been him thinking that he could escape.

He’d been happy before. He would be again.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ADDY FINISHED HER TEA. Took the glass into the kitchen for a refill and just happened to make it from the counter to the refrigerator by way of the living room window.

Mark’s truck was still not in the driveway.

Working late? It wasn’t impossible. With the time he’d missed that weekend, he’d want to make up hours if they were available.

And she had no right to be disappointed. They didn’t even have plans to see each other. She’d just assumed.

Which was why she’d showered and slipped into a lacy white peasant blouse and her favorite jeans. And left off the bra she normally wore with the outfit.

Back in the kitchen, she poured herself half a glass of wine. Just enough to make her sleepy. To take the edge off the nervous tension running through her.

She’d been counting on seeing him. On giving in to the desire that had been haunting her every waking moment.

She’d been the one to insist that they could only exist in the moment. Because she was Adele.

Her emotions were strangling her tonight. Creating a dichotomy within her that had to be soothed so she could sleep. Or work.

Work. Her head hurt when she thought about work. What was she going to do if it turned out that Will had committed litigable acts? How could she help him if she knew he’d done wrong?

How could he have changed so much?

Or had he? She’d been six the last time she’d seen Will Parsons. He’d been twenty-eight or twenty-nine. What did she really know about his character? Other than the fact that he’d been kind enough to spend time with his ten-year-old sister and an impressionable orphan?

If only she could talk to Will’s wife—not as Adele, but as Adrianna, the little girl who’d convinced herself that the childless couple would see how much she adored them and want to adopt her.

Water. She needed her fountain.

Its flow was endless. Even in the desert. Water sustained life. A nearby mine was flooded with it. Water recycled. It got dirty and came out clean.

Staring at the fountain from the patio doors, she remembered the day she’d brought it home. The first day she’d met Mark. The sight of those muscled legs walking across the couple of feet of lawn toward her. His low, half-amused rumble as he’d offered his help. The way his upper arms had tensed when he lifted the rock basin out of the box...

A door closed.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Addy moved only to take a small sip of wine. Mark was home.

* * *

HE WAS NOT GOING outside. He couldn’t trust himself to do so. All the way home, Mark had talked to himself, preparing for the moment when he’d unlock the door to the duplex and step inside.

Check on Nonnie. That was his first responsibility. The old woman lay flat on her back in bed, her chair at the edge of the mattress beside her. Her cell phone lay perched on the empty pillow next to her head.

He’d told her to keep it close and she had. He smiled.

She was a good woman. Deserved the best he could give her.

Closing the bedroom door softly, he stood outside for a long minute, fighting with himself.