Discovering Pride (Pride Series) (12 page)

She looked so small curled up on his waiting room couch. Brushing a strand of dark hair from her forehead, he leaned down and placed a light kiss on her temple.

He was closing up, but now he stood and headed back to his office. He figured he would catch up on some of the paperwork he had been putting off, and he would call over to make sure Iian knew that Katie was fine and that Lacey needed the rest of the night off.

Colors flooded Lacey’s mind along with a warm soft feeling that surrounded her
 senses.  She felt warm strong arms wrap around her, and she turned into them with a sigh. She had to be dreaming.

Then memory came to her and she remembered about Katie and her injury. Her eyes flew open and she saw the waiting room. She was in strong arms, but it wasn’t a dream.

Looking up at Aaron she asked.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You say that a lot.
Do you always wake up in such a hurry?” he smiled down at her. His whole face was lit up and his eyes sparkled.

She was nestled in his arms with her head on his strong shoulders.  She was so close to his face that she noticed a freckle on the left side of his forehead.  She fought the urge to reach up and touch it.

“
Where is Katie? Is she going to be okay? What happened? And why are you carrying me?” she asked as she started squirming in his arms.

“
She’s fine.  Her mother came and took her home. You on the other hand are not fine.  You fell asleep, and from the look of it, you haven’t been getting enough of it lately.”

He walked down the hall and out the back door; turning he tried to lock the door while keeping Lacey tight in his grip.

“
If you put me down, it’ll be easier to lock the door.” she said giving up her struggle to wiggle her way out of his hold.

“
Nope, can’t. I like the feel of you too much.” he shifted her weight and successfully locked the door. “There! See? I got it.” Then he proceeded to carry her towards his new silver truck.

“
Where are you taking me? My car is over there.” she said pointing towards her large sedan.

“
Well, let’s see, because you’ve gone out of your way to avoid me the last couple of weeks, I figured we had some catching up to do. So, I’m taking you someplace to eat.”

“
I have not been avoiding you.” she said crossing her arms and staring up at him. “And I can’t go to dinner with you; I have to get back to work.”

“
No.” Aaron leaned over he opened the truck door then placed her on the front seat gently but unceremoniously.

“
What do you mean, no?” she asked, so shocked at the simple statement she didn’t think about getting back out of the car.  She just sat there and watched as he walked around the truck.

“
I mean no.  You’re not going back to work tonight. I called and told them you needed the rest of the night off,” he said as he got into the driver’s side of the truck.

“
You did what?” she said as she began to get out of the truck.

“
Don’t.  I’ll just put you right back in.” The look he gave her confirmed he would do just that.

“
You have no right.” she began.

“
You don’t want to mess with me now Lacey.” he said quietly which stopped her. She looked over at him.

It wasn’t so much the words that stopped her; it was the calm manner in which he had spoken.

“
Please.” He whispered.  The simple word had her change her mind more than anything.

Crossing her arms over her chest again, she sat back while he drove.  She did not really see where they were headed because she was too deep in thought about his words, his emotions behind them, and what they might mean.

By the time the truck stopped, her eyes had shut once more. Aaron walked around and picked her up again. She didn’t fight him this time; instead she let out a small moan and then snuggled up to his chest.

At that moment he knew he was in deep.
  He stood there for a moment while this feeling sank in. He could hear her breath and feel her warmth against his arms. Finally he turned and walked into an empty house.  Walking into his home all alone was one thing, but carrying a sleeping woman was a completely different event.

After he placed her gently on his new king bed, he looked down at her as she snuggled into the soft pillow top and murmured something inaudible.

Reaching down he gently tugged off her shoes and smiled at the bright yellow socks. He leaned down closer and realized the socks were covered in turkeys, which made him smile.

He reached down and brushed her hair away from her face.  What a face it was. He liked how he could read her every emotion that crossed into her eyes.

He could tell others were baffled by her, but he had figured out how to tell her moods; earlier in the car, he knew she was upset, but he also knew that she was suffering from lack of sleep and a headache. It was like a story that he could read in her eyes—tired eyes that hadn’t shined tonight like all the other times he had seen her.

He turned off the lights and closed the door before walking down his half-finished hallway.  He realized Jennifer hadn’t been easy to read but their relationship had been based on a physical attraction.  He had failed to listen to his heart; and in the end, he had paid for it.

He didn’t think it had been possible to ever recover from what that woman had done to him.

Walking into the kitchen, he enjoyed the feel of the place. His newly purchased appliances were all hooked up and humming, making the place seem more alive. He could picture the final product of the rooms. He still had to finish painting, some of the flooring, and some fixtures were left to hang. Then he could start on the yard and the large deck he planned on building out back.

Walking to the back of the house he figured he would get started on the first real dinner in this house. He was glad Lacey would be here to share in the experience.

As he started dinner preparations he realized he knew he would be able to trust Lacey.  He could see the honesty and deep caring emotions in her each time he saw her. 

This was someone who was honest and caring; he liked the whole Jordan clan for that matter. For the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged somewhere. In the short time he’d been part of this small community, he truly felt like he fit in.

T
he heavenly aroma drifted into her sleeping mind causing her stomach to growl. Turning over in the bed she tried to ignore
 
the persistent hunger pains.

Then in a flash she was sitting
 
up and looking around the strange room. The light in the room was too dim to
 
really see anything other than shapes, so she searched for a light or a light switch. Finding a lamp she flicked it on.

The room was huge with
 
the large bed sitting in the center. There were no pictures on the unpainted walls and, she noted, there were no doors.

She realized she was in Aaron’s place, in his bedroom to be exact.  After her initial shock she became curious and really looked around.  Large glass doors covered one wall
 
that might look out to what she thought would be the back yard. A large chest of drawers with a small flat screen sat on another wall and next to it there was another doorway.

Standing up she walked to the doorway and flipped on the light to reveal a very large bathroom. The walls were a warm blue, there was a glass shower, a large inviting bath tub, and double sinks.  The whole place gleamed and shined.  She could see the closet off the other end of the room and turned back into the bedroom to find the source of the wonderful smells.

There was a short unfinished hallway covered with papers. At first she thought they were plans, drawings of the house. As she approached them she realized they were drawings from children. There must have been
 
a dozen tapped on
 
the unpainted drywall.

She leaned closer to one drawing and saw a large multicolored rainbow arched around a small figure with a large red cast arm and another larger figure with a white coat on. She read the large uneven print “
Thanks Dr. Stevens for fixing my hurt arm with my favorite color. Evan.
”

She moved to another that showed a small girl with a big bandage on her face. An overly large man sat next to her holding a small bunny, it too had a large bandage on its face. It read, “
Thank you for helping Lela and me. Love Jenny.”

She read them all, taking her time to make sure she knew each child. She didn’t realize it, but silent tears were dripped down her cheeks as she read.

This man had come into her town, he had fixed up this broken down house, and one of the first things he hung up, so that he would pass them every day, were pictures the town children had drawn for him.

But what had caused the tears and her heart to sob was the picture at the end of the hallway. The wall was blank; its freshly painted cream color accented the one picture in a dark cherry frame. Inside sat two circled faces one with blue eyes and another with brown. 

Both faces had matching smiles and noses. One had blonde hair and the other dark.   Tommy Thomas had only been six when he was diagnosed with Leukemia. It had been a hard blow to the small town of Pride and an even harder blow when he had lost the battle a month ago. The last few days of his life had been filled with town members fulfilling every wish the little boy had ever had.

Stepping closer to the picture, she remembered the party the town had to celebrate his last birthday. 

However, looking at this drawing did something different to her.  Through her wet eyes she could see Tommy and Aaron smiling and realized the joy in life and relationships shared between a child and his friend, the doctor.  It was a friendship that appeared to mean as much to the doctor as it had to the child.

Knowing Aaron had taken the time to frame the child’s picture and hang it in a place of honor in his home helped her realize her feelings for him were something she couldn’t set aside  anymore.   She knew deep down the man, who would fill his home with the drawings from children that weren’t his own, had stolen her heart.