Interior Designs (19 page)

For a moment time hung suspended, the world stopped, and there might have been no one else but the two of them in the room.

"Thank God you're all right," he said before striding across the floor and crushing her in his arms.

Chapter 11

Cathryn buried her face against his neck, scarcely daring to believe that it really was Drew. Strong muscles in his arms flexed and convulsed so that she could barely breathe. The musky male scent of him and the feeling of him pressed close to her dispelled the yearning that had been building up inside her for the past week. She clung to him joyfully, whispering his name over and over, and he raised his hand to frame her face, pulling back so that he could search first her eyes, then her expression.

His gaze took in the gauze bandage even as his hands slid down her arms as though to reassure himself that she was whole. His eyes returned to hers, burning blue and intense.

"You weren't due home until tomorrow," she said shakily. He looked tired, and purple half-moons under his eyes told her that he hadn't had much sleep. He hadn't shaved recently, either, and as his mouth met hers, his rough cheek scraped her skin. It felt wonderful.

He kissed her deeply, longingly, and she trembled in his arms as she felt strong stirrings of desire for him. She craved more kisses, more of him, but she was well aware that Judy stood behind her, looking nonplussed. Amanda stared at them, having left the kitchen to investigate the commotion.

Still in a daze, Cathryn broke their embrace for propriety's sake. "Why are you here?" she asked him, hardly able to speak with the happiness of it. She still couldn't believe it.

Drew held both her hands in his, gripping them tightly. "I had a funny feeling yesterday after we talked. Something about the way you sounded—"

Cathryn remembered.

"It stayed with me," Drew went on rapidly, "and last night I started checking airlines, trying to hop a flight back. The best I could do was to book an early-bird flight, so I grabbed it. And then late last night I remembered I'd promised you to check with Susannah while I was in New York. She answered the phone at her apartment, and when she told me about your accident, I almost went crazy."

"But Susannah didn't know," Cathryn said in a puzzled tone.

"I told her," said Judy. "I called her yesterday. She'd just arrived back in town after taking a trip to Phoenix with Avery."

"Cathryn, if I hadn't caught a cab from the airport right away, I would have run all the way over here, pulling Selby along with me."

For the first time, Cathryn became conscious of the little girl standing just inside the doorway, self-consciously rubbing one ankle with her other foot and looking even more uncertain than Judy did.

"Come here, Button," said Drew, maintaining his grip on Cathryn's hand and stretching his other hand out to Selby.

Selby didn't want to come at first. She clutched Raggedy Ann in front of her face, peering apprehensively out from behind the red-yarn hair.

"Come on, it's okay." Drew smiled at his daughter. Her anxiety seemed to evaporate as she took a few tentative steps forward.

Instinctively Cathryn knelt down to be on eye level with her.

"Cathryn, this is my daughter, Selby. And Selby, this is my friend, the one who decorated your new room, Cathryn Mulqueen."

Selby regarded Cathryn solemnly. Her eyes shone star-bright. They were blue eyes, like Drew's, but Selby's tended toward the delicate shade of hyacinths. Like her father's, her eyes teamed strikingly with spiked black lashes. Her hair grew as shiny and as black as Drew's. She tipped her heart-shaped face—Talma's face—to one side as she studied Cathryn.

Cathryn smiled what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I'm glad to meet you," she said.

When no answer seemed forthcoming, Cathryn stood up and looked to Drew for guidance. But he appeared even more tired than before, and he seemed distracted by Cathryn herself, his eyes worriedly assessing the small bandage on Cathryn's temple.

It was clear to Cathryn that Selby was not going to speak and that she probably felt overwhelmed by the strangeness of these new people and this apartment she'd never seen before. Cathryn realized that it would be up to her to steer things along a path that all of them would find comfortable.

Forcing herself to think, she said, "Judy, would you mind fixing all of us one of your wonderful breakfasts?" She saw Drew, the confirmed breakfast-hater, start to demur, so she interjected quickly, "I'm sure it's been a long time since Selby has eaten," and she quieted Drew with a significant look.

At this Selby brightened.

"Are you hungry, Button?" asked Drew.

Selby nodded shyly.

Judy stepped forward with a smile. "I'll bet you love pancakes, don't you, Selby?"

Selby nodded again, her eyes darting curiously to Amanda and taking in the light dusting of flour on Amanda's small pug nose.

"I'm mixing pancake batter," Amanda volunteered. "Maybe you could help."

"I could?" said Selby, her eyes sparkling.

"Of course. Come with me into the kitchen and I'll show you," said Judy. "Would you like that?"

Selby nodded. "My mother never lets me into the kitchen."

Judy smiled. "Well, that's one place where I can always use an extra pair of hands." She held out her hand and Selby offered hers trustingly before the three of them marched off to the kitchen.

"Perhaps you'd like to set Raggedy Ann right here in this chair," they heard Judy saying, "and then maybe you'll be ready for a visit to the bathroom."

"There's soap that smells like strawberries," confided Amanda gleefully. From the half bath off the kitchen they heard Selby's exclamation of delight, followed by a giggle.

"That smells scrumptious," Selby said in her high clear voice.

Drew looked at Cathryn. Cathryn looked at Drew.

"Judy and Amanda have quite a way with Selby," he said. "I don't know that I've ever seen her take to anyone so quickly."

"Selby is beautiful, Drew," said Cathryn. Really, she'd been impressed, and not only with Selby's beauty but by the keen intelligence shining from her eyes.

"Yes. And so are you beautiful. Come over here and sit beside me on the couch. Not so far away. There, that's better. Are you really all right? Honestly?" His anxious eyes swept over her.

Cathryn smiled and touched his face gently with her fingertips, tracing the lines, deeper now, around his eyes. She brushed her lips lightly across his cheek, mostly to reassure herself that he was still there.

"I'm fine. Just a few bruises and this cut on my head. I'll be running again in a day or so."

"When Susannah told me what happened, I thought I'd go berserk. Things began to add up—those long silences on the phone, the way you often changed the subject for no good reason. How could you do this? You should have told me."

"I was afraid you'd worry," she said. "I wanted you to enjoy your time alone with Selby as you'd planned and without having to trouble yourself about me."

"But you
needed
me. Can you imagine my shock when Susannah told me? I appreciate your unselfishness in allowing me my time with Selby. Only it hurts that you shut me out at a time like this."

"I—I didn't mean to hurt you, Drew." Her eyes filled with tears, and seeing them, Drew put one hand to the back of her head and pulled her forehead to his shoulder.

"Hey, it's all right," he comforted, but he still looked desperately worried.

"You do understand?"

"Of course I do. But when were you going to tell me?"

She lifted her head, met his eyes. "I thought that when you came back, we'd talk on the phone and I could explain. I had no idea you'd come bursting in here unannounced. Although," she hastened to add, curving into the arm he slid around her, "I'm delighted that you did. Drew, I've missed you terribly."

He nuzzled at her throat, exhaling. "I missed you, too."

Her mouth went suddenly dry with her joy at having him so near.

"What I missed most was holding you in my arms, feeling our hearts beating together," he whispered. "Just the way we are now."

"I was so lonely for you," she admitted. "Everything hurt after the accident, and I wanted you more than anything."

"I wish I could have been here for you," he said before capturing her lips in a deep and caring kiss that made up for all the pain and longing she'd suffered. He released her lips to murmur, "Oh, Cathryn, I love you. So much. You have no idea."

"I do so," she said, her whisper like a sigh before her lips found his.

In the kitchen Selby chortled over something, and above the child's high voice she heard Judy's lower one with Amanda chiming in at intervals. Drew cradled Cathryn in his arms, kissed her hair above the bandage, and held her close. These moments alone were theirs and no one else's—not Judy's, not Amanda's and not Selby's.

"Breakfast is ready!" cried an excited Selby from the kitchen. "I flipped the pancakes myself!"

Drew groaned, but only Cathryn could hear. "And
this
gives me another reason to hate breakfast," he whispered, making Cathryn's mouth curve upward against his.

"Wait until you taste Judy's pancakes," she said, grinning up at him. "They're strictly out of the ordinary."

"I'd rather taste you," he said, his eyes traveling to the vee of her robe where her breasts swelled gently and provocatively. "I can't wait until you give me a proper welcome."

She pulled her robe tighter around her. "Proper? You want proper?"

"Or improper. Either one."

Their mouths joined fleetingly, and Cathryn called out to the kitchen contingent, "We're on our way."

And so the welcome had to wait.

Breakfast was made delightful by the chattering interplay between the two little girls. Then Judy and Amanda said their goodbyes after many promises between Selby and Amanda to see each other soon.

Drew appeared so exhausted at this point that as much as Cathryn wanted him with her and as much as she would have liked to get to know the winsome sprite named Selby, she urged him to go home and take a nap.

"I'm not tired," Drew protested over and over, but Cathryn didn't believe him. He looked awful.

Finally he and Selby left and Cathryn was alone again, but she told herself that she really didn't mind, she needed to get back to business anyway, and there would be plenty of time for them to spend together later.

For his part, Drew was grateful for Cathryn's understanding. He returned to his Palm Beach apartment, so recently and so lovingly redecorated with his and his daughter's tastes in mind. He introduced an awed Selby to her new room and saw her settled in for a nap before falling across his own bed where he slept for hours, worn out with worry over Cathryn.

* * *

The next morning Cathryn crossed the street to the beach for the first time since her accident. She missed her usual morning text from Drew telling her that he loved her, but she hadn't had a chance to buy a new cell phone yet. She wasn't sure if she would see Drew or not, but there he was, swimming along the swell of a wave, and the tiny figure sitting on the sand and watching was Selby.

Cathryn ran toward them, her heart so buoyant that she might have been flying. Physically, she felt wonderful, the best since the accident. She was almost as good as new. As she approached Selby, she slowed her run to a walk

"Hi," said Cathryn easily.

Selby looked up, puzzled at first and clearly not expecting to see anyone she knew. Then she smiled, pure sunshine. "Hi," she replied, recognizing Cathryn. "I didn't know you'd be here." She sounded awed but pleased.

"I like to run on the beach every morning," said Cathryn, easing herself down on the sand beside the child. She searched for signs of Drew in his child. He was there in her black hair and blue eyes, and there was something of him in the set of Selby's small chin. Warmth and a desire to know,
really
know, Selby moved her so much that she wanted to reach out and draw this child, this part of Drew, close to her. But, of course, she didn't. It was too early for that. Better to take it slow and easy for now.

"I like the way you fixed up my room in my dad's apartment," said Selby, not at all shy now. "It's so pretty."