"I'm--" Even talking seemed to hurt, and his chest clenched tight at seeing her in such pain. "I'm okay. It's hot out, and I haven't had enough to drink today. Can you please get me a glass of water?"
He hated leaving her sitting there alone, but he'd just told her he'd do anything she asked. "I'll be right back."
He'd never moved so fast in his life as he did to get that glass of water. She gave him a grateful but trembling smile as she took it and slowly drank. Thankfully, the color soon came back into her cheeks.
"Now that I've had more time to think about it," she said a few moments later, "how about you help me with the suitcases?"
"Anything you need, I'm here for you." His words were utterly serious, full of the emotional weight he'd previously been warning himself not to heap on her. But all he could see inside his head was a loop of her crying out and collapsing on the stairs. "You know that, don't you?"
"Of course I do." She reached for his hand. "Same goes for me with you."
He couldn't look away from her eyes, didn't ever want to let go of her hand. Until a wail sounded from the front parlor.
"I should probably show the Belmont family to their room and then get them off to a restaurant before their kids really start to riot."
Justin reluctantly let her go and picked up the bags. "Their luggage will be waiting upstairs." But he couldn't let her leave until he said, "Promise me you'll come find me right away if you feel any more pain."
"I will."
*
Taylor couldn't get Justin's worried expression out of her head.
She was taking a few quiet minutes to herself in the kitchen after seeing the Belmonts off to a burger place on Main Street. Looking out the window, she could see Justin sitting by the fountain, the paperback open on his lap. From her secret viewing spot, she had a chance to appreciate his good looks. Or at least she would have if she could stop rewinding to his horror when the pain had her dropping the suitcases and collapsing on the stairs.
She'd had a good run this past week with no sharp pains and had hoped that with all her care, the deterioration of her kidney function might be slowing. But with her next checkup in a couple of days, she was dreading finding out her new markers. If they kept falling so fast...
No. She couldn't let herself think like that. Couldn't fall into a pit of self-pity.
She couldn't face telling Justin yet either. Not tonight. Not when he'd looked so worried on the stairs. And not when he'd been the one to find his mother on the kitchen floor, passed out from the internal ravages of a cancer none of them had known was there.
Was it too much to ask for a few hours, maybe even a few days of fun with her best friend? Because as soon as she told him about her diagnosis, she knew what he'd do--the same thing he'd done for his mother. He'd spend twenty-four seven looking for cures, for medicines and diet plans and anything else that had even a ghost of a chance of making the disease go away. When what he really needed to do was take the chance to truly unwind and relax for the first time in years.
Standing at the sink, Taylor did a quick scan of her body. Thankfully, she felt steady again. Steady enough, certainly, to have a nice catch-up with her bestie.
Grabbing the rest of the bottle of bubbly and two glasses, she headed into the garden. "How does champagne in the garden and pizza delivery for dinner sound?"
He put down the book. "Are your guests off exploring town?"
"They are. So it'll be just you and me for the next couple of hours."
"Just you and me sounds perfect."
If she didn't know better, she'd think he meant to give her that sexy smile. But she knew she was only imagining what she wanted to see, because when she looked closer, he was looking at her in exactly the same friendly way he always had.
She poured champagne, but when she went to hand him his, she was surprised to see a small velvet pouch in his hand. "Something special to celebrate your new home and business."
There was no reason for her to feel nervous about Justin giving her a small gift. After all, they'd often surprised each other with a box of favorite chocolates or a book they thought the other person might enjoy. Still, her hand wasn't exactly steady as she reached for it. "You didn't need to bring me anything," she said as she sat across from him at the bright yellow cafe table.
"I've wanted you to have it for a long time."
Gently tugging on the ribbons, the last thing she expected to see when the pouch fell open was a ring. A vibrant orange and red fire opal in the most perfect, delicate platinum setting.
"This was your mother's." She looked up at Justin, stunned that he could even think of giving it to her. She held out her hands, the ring still carefully contained in the velvet. "I can't take this from you. You need to keep it." It was far more than just a housewarming gift.
But he didn't take it back. Instead, he said, "She knew she didn't have long when she gave it to me. She said that one day she hoped it would be a perfect fit for someone I really cared about. We both knew who she meant. You."
"How can you be so sure?"
He smiled. "Do you remember junior year, when you finally confessed to having a rock collection?"
She thought back to that day when he'd gotten her to confess to just how much of a geek she really was. "So embarrassing."
"Not nearly as embarrassing as my Star Trek figurine collection."
"True," she agreed with a laugh.
"I asked you what your favorite stone was, but somehow, I already knew. Even before you told me."
"Fire opal." It had been his mother's favorite stone too.
"I wanted to give you the ring that day, but..." He looked down at the opal, which Taylor could have sworn was glowing in the early evening light, almost as though it were alive. As though Lisa Morrison were sitting out in the garden with them. "I was still reeling. I couldn't even talk about Mom back then without losing it."
"You could always talk to me, Justin." Taylor took one of his hands in hers. "Then and now."
"I know." He looked up into her eyes. "That's why I want you to have her ring. That's why she wanted you to have it too."
Her heart was beating so fast you would have thought he was proposing. "I'd be honored to wear your mother's ring." Her eyes were damp as he reached for her right hand and slid the ring onto her third finger.
"She was right," he said in a deep voice that resonated with emotion. "It fits you perfectly."
CHAPTER FIVE
Justin had intended to keep things light and fun to start. But he hadn't been able to stop himself from baring a piece of his heart to Taylor.
By the time she came outside, the sun had gone down, and he'd been sitting out in the garden for an hour rereading the same page. He'd read other books by this author and knew it was probably a gripping story. But all he could see when he looked at the page was Taylor in pain. And though it had been nothing more serious than cramps from dehydration, the sight of her hurting bothered him. A lot.
Thankfully, she seemed to be herself again, with bright eyes and a big smile. She kept looking down at the ring on her hand as it sparkled in the light of the moon and the lights she'd strung throughout the garden, almost as if she couldn't believe it was real. He felt his heart swell knowing how much she loved it.
His mother would have absolutely loved to see Taylor wearing her ring. At long last.
"So," he said, deliberately pivoting away from big emotional moments for the time being, "how are your folks doing? And your brother?"
"They're good." She took a small sip of champagne, then set the glass down. "My dad is getting close to retirement and pretty much lives at the golf course already. My mom was thinking of running for city council, but decided to put that off."
"Why?" He'd met Caroline Cardenes several times. It had been obvious that Taylor's mother hadn't approved of him or his friendship with her daughter--she'd seemed to think that he was a playboy who was angling to lead Taylor into the path of danger. He'd tried to make her understand that keeping Taylor safe and well was as much his priority as it was hers, but she'd never warmed to him, always polite but brittle whenever they spoke.
Taylor picked up her glass and took another tiny sip before answering. "The city council would be a big-time commitment, and I think she wants to wait until her decks are cleared a bit more."
"Is something going on with your brother?" Austin was five years younger than Taylor and had always been a bit of a troublemaker. Possibly, Justin thought, because her parents had always been overprotective of their kids. It was only here in St. Helena in her new B&B that Taylor seemed to have pushed her way free of her parents' protective borders.