In Search of Grace (5 page)

             
Alex stared blankly as he e
xtend
ed
his hand
.

             
“
Hi
, my name is Seth
Walton
.”

             
Still looking like she felt he was going to eat her, she reached out her own hand
tentatively
, only to have it swallowed up by his
.

             
“My name is
Alex
.  Alex Tuttle
,
” she muttered still not sure what was happening.
  He watched as with a shaking hand she ran her fingers through her hair
as she had done in the car
.  A nervous habit he noted
.

             
“
I know. 
I think you were having a nightmare
?”

             
“I am sorry, I have to go.”
Alex
skirted around him
running
into the house
before
slamming and locking the door.

             
She felt the heat rush to her face in embarrassment
.  W
ith her
pulse
racing,
she peered through the window watching as he picked up the
cushion
from the ground
while
setting
it back on the lounge chair. 
She continued to watch as
he turned to face
her
house with an
indefinable
expression
on his face
. He was taller than she remembered
.
 
His t
ee shirt
clung to
his
body
that
she could tell
was in great physical shape. 
She blushed noting how h
is jeans hug
ged
his
hips
. 
His arms, that had just a few minutes ago held her
,
were
deeply
tanned and muscled.  She felt a tightening in her stomach.  Alex watched
him turn
,
and with
long strides
,
went
to
the open gate
between their homes
, stepp
ing
through,
before
quietly clos
ing the latch
.

             
As he
disappeared through the gate,
she p
ress
ed
her forehead against the door
as the
shaking
began racking
her body
.  S
he was shocked that instead of feeling relieved he was gone
, felt a deep
emptiness inside.

             
It had been a long time since she had that dream.   The reality
of the
memory still
crushed her and sobbing
,
she crumbled to the floor
enveloped in despair and
not
for the first time, loneliness.

             
The next morning Alex woke to the ringing of the phone.

             
“
Hello
?” her
dry
voice crack
ing
from sleep.

             
“Are you still sleeping?  It’s 11:00 am in the morning.”  Not waiting for Alex
to respond
as usual and without taking a
breath,
Tara
continued.

             
“
Have
you seen our hunk yet?
”
Tara
was all business.  “
I wish I had your house – right next door and all.”

             
“Good morning
,
Tara
.
” Alex
chuckled
.
“
C
an you at least take a breath when you are talking.” 

             
Alex was startled that it was after
eleven
.  At the mention of the hunk, embarrassment washed over her
again
.  She
had not
eve
n thanked him for his kindness.
How rude she must have seemed as she acted
like a complete idiot over a dream. 

             
“ALEX!
Are
you even listening to me? 
If
you see him, you have just got to tell him what a great catch I am, ok?
  I
am going away for a singles weekend
up
in
New Hampshire
, gotta run
and I am already late.
”

             
She heard the phone click before she could even respond. 
“
Bye
Tara
-
have fun
.”

             
Alex hung up the phone
,
questioning her choice
of
friends,
while she contemplated
her day. 
First
two on her agenda
were
grocery shopping and
the dry cleaners;
before
hurrying
home to make dinner for her best friend Charles.  A b
ig smile crossed her face as she thought of Charles
.
He
was the only person
,
when she traveled for work, would she have take care of her little
rescue dog
,
Hamlet.
  Alex smiled at the thought
of those two together. 
“Two pe
as in a Pod” she would tell the
m
both.
She had been traveling so much that each time she went to retrieve the
C
hihuahua
, both Hamlet and Charles would look depressed and mope for days.
  This time Charles was going to bring Hamlet to her
instead of her picking him up -
thinking
it might ease the transition back
for everyone
.

             
Alex
deliberately pushed all thoughts of her new neighbor aside as she
jumped out of bed, eager for the day that was already half over.

             
Thirty minutes
later,
she had completely forgo
tten
about
Seth
as she
planned
her
menu
for the evening with
her two favorite men
.
  Driving to Stop and Shop she was relieved to see that
there was
not an over abundance of cars in the parking lot.
  With l
ist in
hand,
she was completely engrossed in her shopping
,
enjoying picking out the different items she knew that Charles favored. With concentration, her eyes scanned the shelves looking for the gourmet
o
lives that
were
his favorite.  Smiling
when
her
e
yes found them,
she balanced
on her toes
as she
reached up to snatch them down.

             
“Alex?” 

             
Caught off guard she
stumbled
against the shelves and knew instantly what was going to happen next.
  Seth did also
,
reaching
around her
while grabbing
at the first can before it dropped on her head. 
Q
uickly pull
ing
her
to him as the remaining cans
continued
to fall
all around them
,
she stood stunned
.

             
Everything seemed to move in slow motion
.
Alex groaned
internally
. 
Please God, not
a
nother embarrassing moment
with this man
to keep her holed up in her home for a century. 
She felt
the heat as
h
er back
pressed
tightly
against his chest
.  Sh
e
did not
want to turn to see his expression.  Looking at the other customers, and the disapproving glances thrown their way, she could only imagine
what he was thinking
.  Feeling
his
body
shaking
uncontrollably she pulled
away
realizing that he was trying not to laugh.  Turning she looked up at him
,
immediately marvel
ing
at the
sheer size of
his body
.
Alex
was no
wallflower
, standin
g at 5’11
, but he seemed to tower over her.   Looking into his eyes
irritation
welled
up
,
watching
as she saw
that he
indeed
was
trying
u
nsuccessfully
to
hold back
his laughter
.  F
ailing miserably
t
he rich
baritone
sound
exploded from his chest.  As it echoed
down the
aisle,
she felt her own lips
twitch
in response
.
She liked this side of him; he seemed less imposing
or cop like
.
Standing together, with
cans
rolling around them on the floor, she was almost able to forget about their
last
meeting. 
S
ober
ing
as
the memory flooded back
, confusion and
embarrassment crossed her face. He saw
the conflicting emotions
while
watch
ing
her body stiffen
.
 
She was so expressive
.  He guessed
that she was remembering
their last meeting
as he watch
ed
her
hurriedly
bend
to
pick up the cans. 
He was
surprised
at his own reaction to her. 
All he wanted to do was scoop her up again
as
he did
yesterday
and take whatever pain she
was hiding
away.
  Alex brought out every male protective emotion in him.
 
S
tooping low,
Seth began to help her
while
n
ot saying a word
sens
ing
she needed time to
compose herself.  He wanted to give her that time.
  She was an
enigma
to him.   A part of him was aching to ask
her what
she
had been
dreaming about that
caused
her to cry out the way
she did
in complete and utter fear.
 
Seth
actually
thought that she was
in the midst of
a
physical
assault
when he heard her from his yard
.  Running
between the two
yard
s
,
he was stunned to find
her asleep,
struggling
against
her dream
while fighting
a demon that obviously had won that battle
in her mind
before
,
and
one that
continued to win
it seemed
.
   He
also
knew
that
now,
standing in the middle of Stop and Shop
,
was not the time
to talk about it. 
T
hey would someday. 
H
e
had
promised himself
that
as he tossed and turned all night unable to get her
out of his head.
 
Seth
had never expected to see her so soon and felt unprepared for this encounter.