Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (18 page)

Chapter 16

Day 5

October 19, 8:42 a.m.

Lana
woke up exhausted and drained.
Her
mind couldn't comprehend
her
surroundings. At first
her
thoughts were blurry.
She
didn't think
she
has slept t
his
late in a long time. T
his
reminded
her
of the good ole college days. Days of binge drinking, staying up late and not getting up until noon. It took a few seconds to gain
her
bearings. When
her
mind lost its fuzzy feeling, overwhelming fear gripped
her
.
She
remembered last night and
her
first cohesive thought,
where's Mike
?

She
peeked into the bedroom and Mike
's
sound asleep.
He only had the sheet covering him.
They were wrapped up tight around him, and he
was
curled up in a fetal position.
Her
heart saddened to see how much he sacrificed for
her
. He laid
her
on the couch, next to the fire to keep
her
warm, and gave
her
all the covers.
That
one small sacrifice showed
her
how much he cared.
Her
eyes watered as
she
saw how beautiful he
looked
.
She
grabbed the blankets from the couch and covered him.

She
couldn't resist and
she
snuggled in beside him.
She
snuggled close to him, to warm him, and
she
could tell he started to relax.
She
adored watching him sleep, the way
his
face twitched as though
he's dreaming and
his
eyes
moved under
his
eyelids. The fire burned hot and
she
could hear the crackling noise synchronized
with
Mike's snoring. He rolled over and stirred, just a little,
enough that the
s
heet slid off
his
left shoulder
and
his
face tilted towards
her
.
She
adjusted herself and propped up on one elbow. It
was
just enough for
her
to get a great look at one of
his
most handsome features,
his
lips, those gorgeous lips. For the first time
she
noticed how full they were.
She
ran
her
fingers along the outline of them
with
out touching him. Any woman in the world
would
love to own those lips.
She
smiled wondering if
his
daughter ever put lipstick on them, as most little girls do
with
their daddy.

His
five o'clock shadow had quite a bit of gray in it, and far more gray in the beard than on
his
head. Most men were like
that
and
she
didn't know why, maybe there's a scientific reason for
that
.
His
eyebrows had no gray, and they were thin
with
a perfect arch. He had small ears and they were flat to
his
head.
His
chest and face were tanned.
She
could just imagine as a child he
's
run around in the summer and get as dark as a little Indian.
His
hair
felt
silky fine and thick. Balding as he aged
would
not
be
an issue for him.
She
wanted to remember everything about him.

All of a sudden
her
stomach let out a loud growl
from hunger
.
She
snuck out of bed and went to the fridge and dug out Pillsbury cinnamon rolls.
She
made the coffee stronger
than normal. Both
her
and Mike
need
ed
that
extra boost of stimulant.
She
made a smiley face
with
the cinnamon rolls, and
she
grabbed two mugs of piping hot freshly brewed coffee. One cup had cream and the other
black, just like they both liked it. A smile crossed
her
face as
she
remembered how Mike ribbed
her
mercilessly their first morning together.
She
hummed
with
exuberance as
she
crept towards the bedroom to wake Mike.

She
balanced the plate and mugs as
she
walked to the bedroom, at a slow scooting motion. The snail's pace
was
well worth it, not one drop of coffee spilled. As
she
entered the room the first thing
she
noticed
, a
wiggle under the cover. The covers were piled so high
she
couldn't see Mike's face at first. But as
she
rounded the end of the bed he faced
her
. He peeked through one eye and smiled up at
her
.
It
made
her
day to see those baby blues shine through those incredible black eyelashes.

He moaned half asleep. "Do I smell coffee and I think cinnamon rolls?"
His
arm reached out from under the covers to help
her
.

She
sat the rolls and coffee on the night stand and then
she
took a flying leap and jumped in the middle of the bed.

He reached over and blew farts on
her
neck, all the while smiling.

She
giggled as
she
crawled under the cover. "Yes you do smell cinnamon rolls and I waited until my stomach growled before I got out of bed. I wanted you to sleep as long as you needed. But it's nearly lunch time and I thought maybe I should get you stirring. I thought we could drive into town and grab a late lunch. What cha say Mr. Federal agent?"

She
laughed as he tickled
her
, until
she
saw the cuts and bruises on
his
arms and face. Then
her
face turned solemn,
she
looked away because it hurt
her
to see them.
She
noticed
a small scratch on the left side of
his
chin near
his
dimple. It looked like one of the guys threw a strong right hook. Then
she
noticed
a deeper cut below the right ear and it still looked a little bloody.

He did acknowledge
her
concerns about the cuts in a nonchalant way. He began eating on the cinnamon
rolls and said. "These cuts mean
nothing you should see the other guys. These are delicious and the coffee is great. You make great food baby." It
was
obvious he
was
more
hungry
than concerned
about the cuts.
His
lack of concern did make
her
feel less disconcerted.
She
took a deep breath and remembered seeing worse on
her
son when he played football.

"I thought it might be
nice to wake up to something
delicious." Enough sweet talk,
she
thought, it's time to get down to business.
She
took a deep breath and asked while holding
his
hand, playing
with
his
fingers, in a nervous way."Okay babe, what happened last night? Curiosity
has gotten the best of me."
S
he
sat in the middle of the bed facing him
with
her
legs crisscrossed intently listening.
She
grabbed a blanket and covered
her
bare legs, while
she
scooted close to Mike.

He put some thought in how he wanted to approach the details. "Yesterday when I couldn't get hold of you I got worried. I called the police department to see who
was
on duty
,
and David had just started
his
shift. I asked dispatch to have him call me. When I expressed my concern about you, he said he
would
be glad to come by for a well fair check." He stopped for a few seconds to lick
his
fingers after eating several rolls.

There
was
a little bit of icing on
his
lip.
She
couldn't resist,
she
licked the icing from
his
upper lip. He grinned at
her
, wanting more than a lick.

He squeezed
her
leg and continued. "He called me back and told me about the incident
with
the guy delivering the wood, and your concerns about him. He found the guy and ran a check on the truck and everything checked out
on them
. I found it odd they just stroll
ed
down the beach and not take their truck to their friend's house. The reason for my concern
was
the rentals nearby were empty. Why
would
they walk a great distance and then walk all the way back to their truck
. Plus
with
the frigid cold weather they
would
n't want to walk very far.
I still had a lot of paperwork to do at work, but t
his
kept dwelling on my mind and I
became too worried
to stay at work. So I decided to come home."

"T
his
is one time I'
m glad you're a cop. Only a cop could
know when something didn't appear right."

"You're right. When I got here you
were gone in your car. I also knew you
might
come back since you left the light on in the kitchen.
I waited for a little while and I charged my phone and tried to call several times, but no answer. Your clothes were still in the closet so I knew you didn't go home. The next logical explanation
was
you got scared and went to a hotel. You were at the second one I called. And by the way,
that was smart of you to listen
to your instincts."

"Mike what if I
would
n't have been at a hotel when you called?"

He didn't want to tell
her
how scared
that
thought made him. He also knew if he
would
have walked in and they were hurting
her
, he
would
have killed them. No doubt in
his
mind. "I thought of
that
and I
would
have every cop in the state looking for you. But
that
didn't happen so I don't want you to think about
it
again." He knew
that
thought needed to be nipped in the bud.

"
That
's pretty good detective work, copper." He tapped the bed next to him
for
her
to
lie down
next to him
.
She
didn't have to be asked twice, and
she
snuggled in close. "Continue honey, I want to hear more."