What The Heart Finds (31 page)

That
she obviously didn't want him in.

Eric
sighed, turning and going into the grocery store, buying food for the
rabbit as well as some things to fill up his refrigerator. It had
been nice to have things to just grab when he needed something to
eat. He had that to thank Lena for.

He
made his way back to the garage a while later, his arms overflowing
with bags. He wasn't exactly sure how many carrots or how much
lettuce a rabbit ate, so he grabbed more than enough to feed a stable
full or horses.

He
went around his kitchen, trying to find places for groceries he never
had to worry about before.

“Did
you go food shopping?” a voice asked from the doorway.

Eric
turned quickly, his heart slamming in his chest. “Lena.”

Lena
leaned against the door jam smiling at him. God, it had felt like
ages since she saw his face. It somehow seemed even more attractive
than she remembered.

“What
could you possibly need all those carrots for?” she asked as he
stared at her.

Eric
shook his head, as if he expected her to disappear. She looked like
herself, but different. Her hair was down and she wore jeans and a
blue t-shirt, but she had ankle-breaking heels on.

But
more than the change in clothes, she seemed relaxed, happy.

“What
are you doing here?”

Lena
felt the accusation in his tone, feeling a slight twinge of guilt at
not having been the first one to tell him she was back. “I live
here now,” she said, smiling.

“I
heard,” he said, his tone cool.

“I
should have told you sooner,” she said, watching his stern
face. Maybe she shouldn't have come at all. Maybe he didn't want to
see her after all.

“You
think?” he asked, going back to putting groceries away. “Maybe
before I went to the city looking for you.”

“You
what?” she asked, looking at him.

“I
got in a suit. Got into my car. And drove to your work. Where I met
up with Hannah who told me you quit.”

“Oh
geez,” Lena said, covering her eyes. No wonder he was being so
cold.

“Yeah.
So then Tad was nice enough to bring me to your apartment.” He
watched Lena who was shaking her head, looking at her feet.
“Exactly,” he said, smirking.

“You
wore a suit?” she asked, finally looking back up at her.

“Yup,”
he said. “I looked damn good.”

“I'm
sorry I missed it,” she said, walking toward the kitchen. She
could only imagine how good he looked in a suit.

“You
should be sorry,” he said, noticing a sensual glow in her eyes.
Maybe she wasn't mad at him after all. Maybe it wasn't a lost cause.
Especially if she was back and he could have time to woo her back.
“So you quit your dream job,” he said, watching her lean
forward against the counter.

“Well
it turns out it wasn't my dream anymore,” she said, twisting
her hands. God, it felt good to say that. To get what she had been
feeling for over a week out in the open.

“No?”
he asked, looking down at her. “what is the dream now?”

“Well,
baking obviously. But I have a plan,” she said, perking up and
sounding excited.

“Of
course you do,” he smiled. “So what is the plan?”

“Well,
I thought that diversity would probably be my best bet. So I created
three separate, exclusive menus. One for the inn, one for the diner,
and one for the bookstore.”

“So
you couldn't get the same food in more than one place,” Eric
nodded. She really was quite clever.

“Exactly.
And I can change each menu every few weeks or whatever so no one gets
bored. And I can make desserts for the town meetings, personal
parties, etcetera. It won't be a whole lot of money but...”

“But
it will be enough for you to live here,” Eric said firmly, so
she didn't doubt herself. Money went a lot further in Stars Landing
than it did in the city.

“Exactly.
And I figured maybe down the road when I streamline everything a
little bit...” she trailed off, shaking her head. She was
getting ahead of herself. She needed to keep her focus on the
present. Enjoy the journey for a change. “Nevermind.”

“No,
tell me,” he said, his tone coaxing. And, for the first time
with a woman, not because he wanted to create a sense of intimacy,
but because he genuinely wanted to know.

“Well...”
she said, sounding almost shy. “I was thinking that maybe I
could try to branch out to the lodge. Or maybe even Lenny's
restaurant one day.”

“I
think that's a great plan,” he said and she looked up with her
hazel eyes.

“Thanks,”
he said, feeling relief. He was the first person she had told the
five-year plan to. It seemed too big, too abstract an idea to tell
anyone else about. She looked down at her hands, pushing at her
cuticles. She needed to ask. She needed to ask or she would forever
wonder. And then there would be no chance. “Eric...” she
started, not able to look up. She was going to come off so needy and
jealous.

“Yeah
baby?”

“Um...
the night before I left...”

“Yeah?”
he asked, leaning closer. Maybe this was it. Maybe there was going to
be some kind of explanation for what happened. “Come on... talk
to me,” he said.

Lena
took a deep breath. She just had to get it over with. “You were
gone most of the night. Were you...”

“Was
I what?” he asked, charmed by her awkwardness.

“Were
you off somewhere with another woman?” There. It was out.

Eric
stood back up, looking down at her for a second, shaking his head. So
that was it. That's what it was about. She was hurt because she
thought there was someone else. That maybe he didn't think she was
enough. He couldn't blame her for jumping to that conclusion. It
wasn't exactly out of character for him. If it had been any other
woman, it might have actually been the case.

The
silence seemed to drag on forever, making her wish the floor would
just open up and swallow her. It was such a humiliating worry and it
was out there for him to know. Poor, insecure little Lena.

But
then Eric laughed, a short, humorless sound.

Her
head shot up, looking at him oddly. Was he actually laughing at her?

“Awe
baby,” he said, moving closer, reaching for her hand. “no.
I wasn't with another woman. I haven't been with anyone else since I
met you.”

Lena
tried to deny the overwhelming rush of relief. “Where did you
go then?”

“I
went for a hike,” he said, shrugging.

“A
hike? Seriously?”

“Yeah...
I needed to clear my head. I... ah... couldn't stop thinking about
this girl,” he said, reaching out and wrapping a hand around
her hip.

“Oh,
yeah?” she asked, moving up against him.

“Yeah,
she's pretty incredible. She's got these gorgeous hazel eyes I just
want to get lost in,” he said, touching her cheek. “And
she's a terrible, terrible singer,” he said, his tone amused.

“Hey,”
Lena objected half-heartedly, moving to press her face against his
chest.

“Yeah...
and she's smart and clever,” he added.

“Mmmhmm,”
she agreed, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Anything
else?”

“Oh
plenty,” he said, his arms holding her tightly. “she's
also the best sex I've ever had.”

“How
romantic,” Lena teased, swatting his butt.

“Yeah...
and...” he trailed off, his heart hammering in his chest so
hard it was making him feel unsteady.

“And...”
she prompted.

“And
I think I'm kinda in love with her,” he said, looking down at
her.

Lena
smiled against his chest, feeling her stomach flip-flop. That was it.
That was what she needed to hear to know that she had made the right
decision. She pulled slightly back so she could look up at him.
“She's a lucky girl,” she said, smiling slightly. “I
think she might kinda be in love with you too.”

“Then
I'm the lucky one,” he said, pushing her hair behind her ear.
He looked at her for a long moment. “I love you, Lena,”
he said, leaning down and taking her lips in his.

Lena
sighed against his mouth, something inside of her falling into place.
For once she wasn't worried about work. She wasn't worried about what
was going to happen the next day, week, year, decade. She wasn't
making lists and plans and back-up plans. She was just there. She was
just present. Open. Fully experiencing the moment.

He
kissed her gently for a long time, his hands coming up to frame her
face. Like she was something precious. Like she was something worth
holding onto.

“I
love you too, Eric,” she said, slowly opening her eyes. She
looked up at him as his thumb stroked across her cheek. She turned
her head slightly to the side. “What is that noise?” she
asked, the sudden insistent thumping noise too loud to ignore.

“Oh,”
he said, smiling a unusual lopsided smile. “yeah. I got you a
present.”

“A
present?” she asked, feeling herself smile widely. No one she
had dated had ever gotten her a random present before.

“Yeah,”
he said, reaching down and taking her hand, leading her toward the
living room. “I bought it on the way to your office. Your boss
seemed to... like it,” he said, chuckling.

“Oh
my god,” she said, letting go of his hand and falling down on
the floor next to the strange makeshift cage. “You didn't.”

“I
did,” he said, rocking back on his heels.

“You
remembered,” she said, her tone breathless.

“Of
course I did,” he said, moving to kneel down next to her. “He
still doesn't have a name.”

“Can
we call him Ben?” she asked, looking up at him with amused
eyes.

We.
Can we. Eric smiled. They were a we. “We can call him whatever
you want.”

Lena
reached down and stroked his soft, fluffy white hair, leaning her
head against Eric's arm. “Thank you,” she said, smiling.

Eric
turned his head and kissed her cheek. “He's going to need you
close by to take care of him.”

Lena
looked at him, smiling. “I think that can be arranged.”

Epilogue

Lena
stood barefoot in the kitchen, stirring a bowl. Ben jumped around the
floor, tickling his toes when he stopped to lay next to her. “That's
not a good place for you, mister,” she said, looking down. “I
have a lot of baking to get done today.”

“Why's
that?” Eric asked, coming into the room and scooping the rabbit
off the floor.

“Because
Emily is going to need an extra large batch of these brownies.”

Eric
dropped the bunny into his cage, coming back into the kitchen and
snaking his hands around her waist, watching over her shoulder as she
stirred. “Because...” Lena turned her head slightly so
that he could see her profile, smiling a bit wickedly.

“What
are you keeping from me, woman?” he asked, leaning down and
biting her earlobe.

Lena
laughed, setting the bowl on the counter and turning in his arms.
“Today is going to be one of the worst days of her life.”

“That's...
dramatic.”

Lena
shook her head slowly. “Today is the day that James Michaels is
coming into town.”

Eric's
brow quirked up. “That seemed fast.”

Lena
rolled her eyes. “It's been like... five months. He wanted to
come in the fall for some reason.”

God.
Had it really been five months? He looked down at Lena, a smear of
flour on her cheek, her face flushed. Happy.

She
had already carved out a name for herself in the town. Liam sold out
of the doughnuts faster than she could make them, the inn served her
high-brow desserts, and the diner wanted her to handle the pastries.

She
was constantly falling into bed with sore feet from standing all day,
but she would stretch out slowly, working the tightness out of her
muscles and then curl up into his side. Like it was the only place in
the world. Like there was nowhere else she would ever want to be.

He
reached up, rubbing the flour off her cheek. “I love you,”
he said, the words rolling easily off his tongue.

She
tilted her head to the side. “I love you too,” she said,
leaning forward and kissing him quickly. “Now let me get back
to my baking.”

Eric
slowly let her go. “Alright. I am going to run out for a
minute.”

“Where
are you going?” she asked, already picking up her bowl again.

“I
am going to go buy that man a bottle of scotch,” he said,
moving toward the door with a smile. “If he is going to have to
deal with Emily, he's going to need it.”

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