Tempting Fate (9 page)

When he had moved close enough, she placed her hands on the back of his neck and pulled his face to her own. She was not afraid to be in control a little this time. She parted her lips and let his tongue find hers. When it did, she was shocked to find it was pierced and her body shivered. Sweet bliss came over her and she gave herself over to him a little more. She was his forever to love or break in half. In this moment they were the only two in the world and she did not care what tomorrow brought.

They lay together not talking for hours. When they were not kissing, she snuggled up tight to his chest and listened to his heart beating and the sounds of him breathing. He was real, this was real and she never wanted to be anywhere else. He kissed her forehead and sighed. She moved her face and looked at him even in the dark she could see his eyes glimmering and him smiling at her. She smiled at him, as he moved to kiss her again. This time there was passion in the kiss. The kind that really turned the world upside down, and it did, her world at least. When he pulled away he left his hand on her face, caressing her cheek lightly with his thumb.

“Well Abs what are you thinking now?”

“You tell me first? You ask a lot of question of me. If you want an answer, you have to give one first.” He was laughing, it was not loud; she more felt it than heard it. His head fell back onto the pillow and he sighed.

“I was thinking, wow, and that I had wanted to kiss you last night. That I didn’t really plan to tonight, I didn’t know if I should. When you said that you wanted me to I just knew I had to and I’m very glad I did. There is just something about you.” He looked at her as if looking for a reaction. He was being honest, and she was glad also that he had kissed her. “Your turn to answer now,” his head fell back against the pillow.

Abby leaned up on one arm and put a hand into his hair playing with it. She kissed his cheek before she started talking, “I was thinking a lot of things. I almost thought you were a dream when I didn’t see you in class today. But if you were a dream then…I have no intention of waking up soon. I am enjoying this time with you.” His soft touch on her cheek was amazing and when he pulled her close to him and kissed her on the cheek, she wanted more.

“I grew up in New York, a small town not far from a bigger city. About my family there is not much to say - my dad passed away a few years back, and my mom is really great. I have a half sister that is almost fifteen years older than me, but we don’t really talk with my dad gone.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Abby did not know what else to say at that point. She found out something and that was more than she knew before. As much as she wanted to know about him and his life, at that moment she wanted his lips on hers and his hands to touch her more. She leaned in to kiss him again and soon she was snuggled back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she fell asleep in them with a smile.

Chapter 8

Abigail sat up quickly in bed. The sun was already coming in the window, but she never heard the alarm clock going off. Great, there was so much to do today and she had slept in. She glanced at the clock, 9:30am. She could hear the kids downstairs moving around and the cartoons loudly playing on the television. Why did he let her sleep in so late, they should be at the store by now? She threw on her robe prepared to run down the stairs to find her husband. She stopped just outside the door and backtracked to her bed, sitting down.

Oh God! What if she was talking about Westly? He was in her dreams again last night. He was even more vivid and real than in the other night’s dreams. It was not just his eyes and his crooked smile in her head this morning; it was his breath on her cheek, his lips on hers. Abigail could still feel his arms around her and hear the sound of his beating heart right against her ear. Everything seems so vivid, his smell, the way he touched her cheek and put his hand on her hip. Like he had just been there with her.

Abigail sat on the edge of the bed and all the background noise faded away. If she closed her eyes, she could see him sitting beside her, even feel his arms around her. It would be hard to believe that she hadn’t talked in her sleep; she had done it almost every night of her life. Her mother said it had started as early as she learned to talk. The question was what did she say in her sleep? Was she calling for him? Moaning his name? What? A thousand more things flew through her mind in a second. As her face fell into her hands, the tears started streaming out of her eyes. When she went downstairs her whole happy life might end. Almost ten years of marriage gone over a man in her dreams that was not real.

She wanted to cry out, to curse Westly, to damn him to hell. In her heart she couldn’t for so many reasons - for the love he showed to her even if it was only in a dream and because it was her mind; she could have stopped herself from dreaming of him. Couldn’t she?

Abby went into the bathroom and washed her face. Looking into the mirror at her green eyes they were not the ones she saw reflected back at her, it was as though Westly’s were looking at her. The tears started to fall again and Abigail fell to the floor and cried like a child that had been punished. Her life was over and she knew it. She was even angrier with herself when she wanted Westly’s arms around her right then, to shield her from the world. What had she done? She cried out “NO” loudly, over and over again, without even thinking about it. Her husband was in the bathroom beside her almost instantly.

“Abigail hunny, what’s wrong? Why are you crying and screaming?” Even through tear-soaked eyes, she could see the worry on his face.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” was all she could say to him.

He grabbed her into his arms and held her tight as she continued to cry. Right there on the bathroom floor, he rocked her in his arms bewildered by what was going on, yet, all the while telling her over and over that everything was going to be okay. They sat there for almost a half hour before the tears slowed down. When they did she looked at him with shame in her eyes.

“Are you going to tell me what all this was about my love?” He had called her his “love” like he had done for a long, long time now. He said he called her that because he knew the minute he met her that she was his
love
, even if it took her forever to know it.

“I’m okay now. It’s just the dreams - I thought you were mad at me, I thought you were going to leave me,” she was still crying but she could speak now.

“Is that what the dreams have been about? You were tossing and turning all night long and whining. I tried to wake you several different times but I couldn’t. I let you sleep in and ordered the washer you had written down off the store’s website. I’m sorry, I thought you would want more sleep,” he said looking upset and worried at the same time.

“What did I say in my sleep? Aren’t you mad at me? Don’t you hate me?”

“What? No I don’t hate you, it was all just a dream my love! You didn’t say anything, like I said before just a lot of tossing and turning all night.”

Abigail’s tears has started slowing now, but they were still falling from her eyes, “I just thought, that, um, that you would hate me now.”

“For what? I will never hate you, you are my love, and you always will be. Don’t I show you that all the time?”

“Yes, all the time, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’ll be okay, I promise.”

“All right then; why don’t you take a nice long, hot shower. I’ll get you something to eat. I put the snacks together for the baseball team already, and Brady and I are going to get the gift on the way to the party. Just relax a little longer. We have a couple hours before we have to leave.” He was holding her face in his hands now and she was looking into his eyes, big, wonderfully forgiving brown eyes.

It took all that was in her not to start crying again and nod her head at him. She took the shower and the hot water helped to clear her head. Westly was not real and she was going to make him go away. She was going to forget him and these feelings for him, right now; never think of it again.

When Abigail got out of the shower and dried off, she started humming a little tune to herself, time to get back to her life, her everyday, normal, wonderful life. She brushed her hair out, put on some lotion, and went into the bedroom to dress.

Christian’s game was a success; they won with a final score of nine to five. “Big game for little league,” was how the coach put it. Brady had a blast at his friend Adam’s birthday party. Apparently he spent most of his time in the bounce house. Samantha fell asleep on the bleachers during the game. Even with all the shouting, she slept like a rock.

When the day was done she curled into her husband’s arms and fell asleep, safe and secure where she belonged.

Chapter 9

The sun was brightly shinning through the window slowly waking Abby from her peaceful sleep. The curtains were still open from the night before, she never left Westly’s arms long enough to shut them. She stretched and found a note beside her on the pillow. Where was he? She sat up slowly and grabbed the note. All that was on the outside of the folded piece of paper was a small heart. She opened it with a smile and read the small writing inside.

M? What was his last name? She was a little closer to finding that out. She threw herself back onto her pillow and screamed into it. This was something she never could have expected to happen in her whole life. All she could do was just lie there thinking of the night before. Westly, Westly, Westly! She repeated his name over and over in her head. A quick loud knock at the door startled her, maybe he was back! She jumped out of bed almost tripping over her own feet on the way to the door.

“Just a second, I’m coming,” Abby called out while running her hand through her hair. She quickly unlocked and opened the door only to find she was staring into an empty hallway.

“Abby, come on, please!” It was Melanie at the bathroom door.

Abby shut her door slowly and opened the one to the bathroom, “Good morning Mel. What’s up?”

She wasted no time barging into her room and sitting on the edge of Abby’s unmade bed, “I have five minutes before I have to leave, so dish. I want to know everything about the hunk you were with last night.”

“Mel,” Abby sighed as she crossed the room and plopped down in her computer chair, “I don’t know what to say. What do you want to know?” She knew it was time to spill the beans, so to say.

“Well what is his name? How did you meet him?”

“His name is Westly, and he’s in my history class.”

“Why was he over, did you invite him? That is so not like you! Oh, the other night I so knew something was up with you but never thought I would walk in, and, well anyway. Oh, was he a great kisser?” Mel was bouncing up and down as she spoke. Just how much coffee was in her system this morning?

“No, I mean yes. Wait. Slow down! No I didn’t exactly invite him over, only kind of. He was downstairs with a pizza and then I invited him up. We just sat around talking and…one thing led to another. Before I knew it I was in his arms and it was getting dark. I fell asleep and when I woke up he was gone. I don’t even know when he left come to think of it,” Abby wondered standing up quickly. “My front door was locked. But how could he have locked the door?”

“Oh, he left about forty-five minutes ago or so.”

What was she doing, spying on them? “How do you know?”

“He knocked on the door when he heard me in the bathroom and asked me to lock the door behind him. He said he didn’t want to wake you up.” Melanie got up and walked toward the bathroom with her hands clasped behind her back. She leaned on the doorframe and got a child-like look on her face. “He is so tall and what a hunk. I had a hard time saying yes to him without giggling. Can you find me one too? So Yummy! All right, I have to get to work. I promise I’ll knock from now on. Bye Abs,” she left laughing.

“Lock your door Mel! I’ll see you later.” Abby shook her head and tried to tone down the shade of red she had turned. It may only be a matter of time before everyone knew about him now.

Why did she call her Abs? That was what Westly called her; did he call her that to Melanie? Abby lay back on her bed and started to think of him again - her Westly, or rather, she felt like she belonged to him. It popped into her head that the phone’s ringer was still off. Abby reached to the side table at the end of her bed to turn it on again. Like perfect timing, as she flipped the switch, it was ringing. It had to be Melissa; she didn’t call her last night and tell her about class. She glanced at the answering machine before picking up the phone, 35 messages. She didn’t know her machine could hold that many! Melissa was going to be mad or freaking out.

“Hello Missa, sorry I did not call you I was...”

“Abigail Nickole Nash, I have been trying to call you for over two hours. Where have you been? Your aunt is ready to take off to drive up there and look for you, and your father and I have been pacing all morning waiting to hear from you. Don’t you listen to your messages? I know you’re twenty now, but when you have family in another state and when they don’t hear from you in well over twelve…”

“Mom, stop!” Abby had to stop her mother or she would have kept going forever. What was she going to say? She was nowhere near ready to tell her parents about Westly. “I’m sorry, I turned the ringer off yesterday after dinner to study and forgot to turn it back on before I went to bed. I’m sorry, you know how I am with history and I was just trying to get a head start.”