“Karen.” He nuzzled her neck. “Wake up, sleepyhead. Time to get moving.”
Her eyes fluttered, then opened slowly. “Mmm, morning. What time is it?”
“Morning. Just after eight. We have a lot to pack in before you leave.”
She buried her face in his chest. “I wish I didn’t have to go.”
“So do I, baby. We have a couple of workshops scheduled this week. Otherwise I’d go back with you. The earliest I can fly down is Friday.”
Karen groaned. “I’m going to LA on Friday. Janae is having her first art showing that night.”
“Can you bring a guest?”
She lifted her head, and a smile lit her face. “You’ll come to LA with me?”
“Sweetheart, I’ll follow you anywhere. Do you still want to go shopping? Your clothes are on the bench at the foot of the bed.”
“Yes. I can’t meet your parents wearing a sweatshirt and old jeans.”
He laughed. “You look beautiful in anything, and my parents won’t care. If it’ll make you more comfortable, I’ll dress the same way.”
“It doesn’t. So let’s go. You don’t introduce somebody to your parents dressed like a hobo off the streets.” She flipped the covers back, hopped up and grabbed her clothes off the bench. Still muttering under her breath, she cut him a look, went into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Damian fell back against the pillows and howled with laughter. When she was done dressing, they toured the house. He started with the two other upstairs bedrooms before heading down to the lower level and stopping first at his home office. He watched Karen wander around the room, then over to his desk. He held his breath, waiting for her response, when she picked up the small picture of Joyce. He had a few more photos, the banner Joyce had made for him when he got his first teaching job and the locket he’d given her when she graduated from college, all in a box kept in the hall closet. Everything else was gone.
“She’s beautiful,” Karen said.
“She was.” He waited for her to say something else, but she replaced the picture and followed him out.
Damian escorted Karen through a formal living room with expensive but comfortable-looking furniture, a spacious gourmet kitchen and a large family room with leather furniture and a huge flat-screen television mounted on the wall. He went left and into a beautiful screened-in porch that looked lived-in.
“This is lovely. You must spend a lot of time here. I know I would.” There were three walls of windows, two loungers and a small table between matching oversize chairs in front of a fireplace. It was the ultimate relaxation space.
“I do. It’s the biggest reason I purchased the house.”
Scanning the area, she wondered if he had spent hours out here with his late wife.
As if he had interpreted her thoughts, he said, “I bought it a year ago.” He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re the first woman who’s been here.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, then turned back toward the windows. “Was it hard to leave your old house?”
“At first, yes. After a while, I felt like I was starting to suffocate and I couldn’t pull myself out of it. I went to counseling for a while and realized I had been trapped in the same cycle of grief for four years. Moving helped tremendously. I even went out on a few dates.” He turned her in his arms. “But no one made me want to try to love again until you. Don’t ever think you’re a substitute for another woman. You could never be one.” He kissed her tenderly. “I love you, Karen.”
Coming home with him had been the right decision. She needed to hear those words from him—needed reassurance of her place in his life. “I love you, too.”
“Let’s go get some breakfast.”
* * *
Damian drove them to a local restaurant, grateful that they’d hurdled that issue. While eating, they talked, laughed and began the discussion of their long-distance relationship commitment. An hour later, he pulled into the mall parking lot. It didn’t take her long to find what she needed. Karen added a tote bag and carried everything to the register. He overrode her protests to pay and placed his credit card on the counter.
“This impromptu trip was my idea, so it’s only fair that I cover any expenses,” he reasoned. They engaged in a stare-down until she finally relented.
“Fine, you win.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “Thank you.” He signed the receipt, picked up the bags and escorted her back out. “We’ll go home so you can change, then head over to my parents’.”