Just a Taste (Private Relations 1)

She gestured to her puffy face.

“Are you going back to Florida?”

“Yeah. I need to. I’m pretty sure he still had the house. I have to make arrangements. Car, flight…”

“Do you need me to make them? Do you want me to come with you? I don’t think you should do this alone, no matter what your situation was with him.”

Blinking, Sara said, “Really? You’d come with me?”

Deacon’s face twitched a moment, and he said, “Yes. Of course I’ll come with you if you want me to.”

Wrapping her arms around his waist again, laying her forehead on his chest, she said, “Yes. Please. I don’t know how long I’ll need to be there, though.”

Tightening his arms around her, he said, “Doesn’t matter. We will figure it out.”

Sitting down in front of her laptop, he pulled up a travel website and booked two tickets into Fort Myers. Not able to find anything that left until 7:00 p.m., he pulled Sara back into the bedroom.

He lay down, pulled her close and just spooned with her, stroking his hand over her belly until she eventually felt all of the tension leave her body and drifted off to sleep.

When Sara woke up, she blinked at the clock, confused for a moment until it all came rushing back to her. She saw it was now 3:00 p.m. Deacon was no longer lying behind her. Getting up, she wandered into the living room and found him on his cell phone.

Looking up, he said, “Chris, gotta go. Thanks. Yeah. I will. Bye.”

With steady eyes, he assessed her.

“Have you eaten today?”

Shaking her head, Sara said, “No. I feel like I might throw up if I do.”

“You haven’t eaten since we spoke at six last night. You need to have something. You can’t not eat.”

Shaking her head, she said, “No. Really. I don’t think I can eat.”

Sighing, he looked at her and said, “Please. Try.”

Giving in, Sara agreed.

Deacon went into the kitchen and surveyed the contents of her fridge.

“Slim pickings in here.

You’re getting grilled cheese or…”

Taking a moment he surveyed the freezer.

“Tater tots. Take your pick.”

Smirking a bit, Sara said, “Grilled cheese.”

After she had forced down most of the sandwich, Deacon cleaned up and said, “I need to pack some stuff. Any idea how long you think we’ll be there?”

Shaking her head, she said, “I’ve got no idea, to be honest. I packed four days’ worth of stuff, but I hope I don’t need it all.”

Her voice cracking, she said, “I’m really dreading this.”

Grabbing her hand, he said, “C’mon. Let’s go get your stuff. We can kill an hour in traffic then wait at my place until we need to go to the airport.”

Pausing, he looked at her and said, “Whatever you need, honey. I’m here.”