Blind Faith (12 page)

Will was disappointed.
 
Serena didn’t seem to remember anything except
that he’d told her he was sorry
and
then
covered her with his jacket before lifting her up off the ground.
 
He
had
hoped for more than a few scattered memories but was grateful that even without them Serena trusted what her heart was telling her and had ultimately placed her trust in him as well.
 

“It’s getting late,” he said when she finished.
 
“You’re going to be dead on your feet tomorrow if you don’t get some sleep.”

“I know you’re right, but…I want to know more.
 
Like how you knew what happened and where to find me.”

“It’s a long story and I promise to tell you everything I know, but maybe it would be better if we waited until tomorrow.
 
I’ll let you cook me dinner
and we can talk
afterwards.”

“You’ll
let
me cook dinner?
 
Your generosity is overwhelming,” she replied dryly.

Will chuckled.
 
“Yeah, that’s just the kind of guy I am.”
 
He gave her one last hug before letting her go and immediately felt the emptiness begin to creep in.
 
“Good-night,” he said as he slid off the bed.

“Good-night, Will.
 
Thank you for…being here.”

Always.
 
“We’ll talk more tomorrow night.”

“You aren’t going out with McKinley tomorrow?
 
What I mean is, it’s a Friday night and I assumed…” Serena cut herself off with a
n indifferent
shrug of her shoulders.
 
“I’m just saying that if you already have a date with McKinley, I don’t want you to feel obligated to spend the evening with me.”

“I don’t have a date tomorrow or any night…no, that’s not exactly true.”
 
Will sat back down on the edge of the bed.
 
“We have a lot to talk about tomorrow, including McKinley.”

“You don’t have to explain…”

“Yes, I do.
 
I agreed to go out with her on Saturday but I never had any intention of going through with it.
 
No, wait…that’s a really bad place to start.
 
When McKinley was here earlier she said some things that led me to believe she was plotting something.”

Serena's brows drew together, a small frown beginning to form.
 
“Plotting what?”

Will couldn’t help laughing.
 
“Thank God you don’t have any illusions about your devious sister.
 
I was afraid I was going to have a hard time convincing you.”

“No, I’m well aware of McKinley’s innate talent for stirring up trouble.
 
So what is it you think she’s up to?”

“I’m not sure, but she wants me out of here bad enough to stage that little performance in the living room for your benefit.”

“
My
benefit?”

“Apparently
,
Rose told McKinley how well you and I were getting along and that she thought my being here was good for you.
 
McKinley disagrees.
 
She thinks it will stir up bad memories and for some reason she doesn’t want you to remember anything about
that night.
 
That’s why she made sure you were close enough to hear her coming on to me
while she dredged up the story
about the one and only time she kissed me.”

“But I’ve never talked to her about you, Will.
 
How could she possibly know how upset I
would
be?”

“So you
were
upset,” he called her out.
 

“Well, I…I was just…that’s not the point.
 
What reason would McKinley have for doing that?”

Will chose his words carefully,
determined
to get
her to admit she felt something for him.
 
“She wants me out of here.
 
The easiest way to accomplish that is to destroy our relationship by making you believe you can’t trust me.”

Serena was silent for a moment and though her face remained expressionless, it was obvious to Will she was struggling to keep it that way.
 
She’d been through an emotional wringer tonight and he probably shouldn’t be pushing her like this
,
but not knowing how soon or how hard McKinley would hit next made him anxious to get things out in the open.
 

“So you set McKinley straight…about us, I mean,” Serena said, with just the slightest tell-tale quiver to her voice.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
 
“Not yet, but just so we’re both on the same page…exactly what should I tell her?”

Color flamed in her cheeks.
 
“The truth, of course.
 
We’re just good friends and there
is
no…romantic interest in each other.”

“There’s just one problem with that, Serena.
 
It wouldn’t exactly be the truth, would it?”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                          
***

Serena just sat there while the blush in her cheeks grew decidedly warmer.
 
She was mortified
Will had
figured out how she felt about him and would have loved nothing more at that moment than to have the earth open up and swallow her whole.
 
Painfully aware that he was waiting for her to say something, she scoured her mind for a reply that wouldn’t embarrass them both.
 
In desperation, she latched onto a small version of the truth and prayed he
would
believe her.

“Okay, I admit I have a little bit of hero worship left over from high school
,
but even if I
had
told McKinley that, which I didn’t, she still wouldn’t believe you and I were more than friends so you don’t have to worry about that.
 
No, if she’s trying to cause a rift between you and me it’s because she
hope
s
you’ll
be so desperate for a place to live you
will
move in with her.”

Will shuddered
at the idea of shacking up with that barracuda.
 
“I can think of a
million
other places I
would
stay rather than with McKinley, including one of the benches in the city park.
 
And just for the record, I’m not buying
into
that hero worship crap.”
 
He leaned towards her, his voice softening.
 
“Serena, it wouldn’t take her two seconds to figure out your feelings run deeper than just friendship once she saw the two of us together.”

Oh God, was she really that transparent?
 
She didn’t know what to say.
 
Obviously there
was
no use in denying it
,
but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it either.
 
The silence seemed to stretch on forever until Will reached out and gently pried her fingers from the blanket she’d been clutching and brought her hand to his lips.
 
Warmth seeped into her heart and spread like wildfire when he feathered light kisses across her knuckles then turned her hand over and pressed his lips into her palm.

“Will…”

“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered.

“I’m…not.
 
Will, I…I don’t understand.
 
I thought you and McKinley…”

“There
is
nothing
between McKinley and me and there never will be.
 
You still don’t get it, do you?”
 
He took her hand and brought it to his chest.
 
“What do you feel, Serena?”

“Your heart,” she squeezed out, “it…it’s racing.”

“Because of
you
.
 
It happens every time I’m around you, every time I hear you laugh or see you smile or when you let me hold your hand when we go for walks.”

She wanted to believe him, and for a few fleeting moments she allowed herself to bask in the warm, tingling sensation that coursed through her veins before reality reared its ugly head.
 
Even if he was sincere about how he felt, it couldn’t last.
 
He was a good man, and Serena felt confident her blindness would never be viewed as a burden.
 
It wasn’t her physical imperfections that would eventually destroy any romantic relationship that developed, but the mental ones.
 

Yes, she had fantasized about kissing Will
,
but never anything more intimate than that.
 
And if she couldn’t even bring herself to
imagine
making love to him, how could she keep from falling to pieces if she actually did it?
 
Already her insides were quivering, and though it wasn’t exactly fear that was twisting her stomach into knots, it was close enough to make her draw her hand away from him.

“I’m sorry, Will.
 
I don’t think I can do this.”

“Do what, Serena, have feelings for me?
 
It’s too late for that and we both know it.”

“No, I…I didn’t mean that…”

“Then you admit there’s something more than friendship between us?”

“Yes, but…”

“You’re afraid, I understand that, but it doesn’t mean there
is
something wrong with you.
 
Falling in love can be a pretty scary thing, but if you let fear hold you back, you
wil
l never know the joy of sharing your life with someone who cares about you…someone like me.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is, or at least it could be if you
would
only stop fighting your own feelings.”

“How can I do that, Will?
 
You’re asking me to jump into the deep end knowing I can’t swim.”

“There’s risk involved in everything we do but it doesn’t keep us from grabbing at every chance for happiness we can.
 
And I’m not asking you to jump into the deep end, Serena; I’m asking you to take my hand and wade into the water with me.
 
I’m asking you to trust me.”

Serena’s chest tightened.
 
She
had
trusted him until she overheard McKinley talking about how good they were together, and even though she agreed with Will that her sister was up to something, it didn’t explain why he’d spent the entire evening with McKinley.
 
The thought of them together…no, she wouldn’t allow herself to go there.
 
It was too painful, and with everything else that had happened tonight, Serena didn’t think she was emotionally equipped to handle it.
 
But she couldn’t let it go either.
 
Because she
wanted
to trust him, wanted to believe that he
had
chosen to be with her even after McKinley made it clear she was his for the taking.
 
 
 
 

“I don’t know what to say, Will.
 
If you really do have feelings for me, why didn’t you tell McKinley?
 
Why go out with her tonight and make a date for Saturday if you aren’t interested in her?”
 
Serena heard him sigh and tried to brace herself, certain she wasn’t going to like what he told her.

“I didn’t tell her when she was here because I didn’t want to give her ammunition.
 
And I didn’t go out with her tonight.
 
I said some things to McKinley that she didn’t like and she stomped out of here.
 
I didn’t leave until after I was sure she was gone.
 
I’m sorry, Serena.
 
It never even occurred to me that with both of us gone you
would
naturally assume we left together.”