Eleven Days: An Unexpected Love (8 page)

After several weeks of dwelling on
her
sorrows and how
she
had been
emotionally drained
, n
ow
she
found comfort in
her
surroundings. It's amazing how a death could change your feeling of well being.
She
felt somewhat scattered and sad the past several weeks. Today
was
the first day
she
hasn't felt
that
sadness, it didn't overtake
her
life. It
was
n't the focal point anymore. When family told
her
she
needed a change of scenery to help a broken heart, they were right. A smile crossed
her
face as
she
snuggled in the blanket and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 7

3:47 p.m.

Boom, swish, splash, gurgle
was
the deafening sound
that
woke
her
.
She
ra
ised straight up from the chair because i
t startled
her
. T
he cold shocked
her
,
a beautiful and content type of cold. It
was
a good feeling, like going to a football game in freezing weather,
with
the face ice cold and numb. But the cold didn't matter because the home team won the game. Fans were excited about the win, they forgot about the weather. They didn't even care about their runny nose.

Lana
took one final deep breath before heading to the house. Glancing back,
she
wanted one last look at
that
incredible sight.

As
Lana
shut the back door
she
could hear Mike working
on the furnace like a busy little beaver.
She
noticed he added wood to the fire
and she thought that
was a
thoughtful
gesture
.
She
could hear him putting tools in the toolbox, and
she
wondered if he finished.

In the kitchen,
she
put the kettle on and looked in the fridge to find something for supper. Grill cheese and chicken noodle soup sounded great.

Mike walked in the room just as
she
poured herself a cup of tea. He pulled a paper towel off the rack and wiped the muck off
his
hands, wiping off as much grunge as he could. Then he
was
hed them
,
using lots of soap and scrubbed them under the hot steaming water. "I have good news and bad ne
ws, and which do you want first?" He asked
as he scrubbed between
his
fingers and under
his
nails.

She
frowned and said. "Neither."

He laughed and told
her
anyway. "The part is not a stock part and it won't be in until tomorrow or maybe the next day. They had a part
that
I thought might fit and unfortunately it didn't work."

"What's the good news?"
She
held up a mug to ask if he
would
like some tea and he nodded.

"There is plenty of wood in the bin."

"I'm supposed to get up in the middle of the n
ight and add wood to the fire?"
She
noticed Mike didn't look at
her
face as
she
walked by
her. H
e stared at
her
tight sweater.

He cocked
his
left eyebrow and answered
her
. "I'll bring you some wood in and set it near the fireplace. All you have to do is throw it on the rack." He went through the motions as if he
was
throwing wood in the fireplace, but it looked more like he
was
shoveling coal.
With
his
boyish grin he added. "I'll come put it on for you if you want me too."

She
thought for a minute he
might be
serious, or at least
she
kind of hoped.
Please stay and hold me all night and keep me warm,
she
thought. In
her
heart
she
wanted him to stay and talk, but
she
also needed to listen to
her
brain. How should
she
word t
his
? "Mike you are more than welcome to s
tay for supper, I plan on cooking
grill cheese and soup. But I don't want you to think you are obligated to stay to put wood on the fire."

He didn't
answer right away and
she
could tell he
was
in deep thought. Maybe he didn't like soup or grill cheese, or maybe
she
overstepped
her
boundaries.

After a long thirty seconds h
e finally spoke. "I feel bad
that
you fixed lunch and now your offering me supper, and I know you wanted to get away to be alone."

Maybe he didn't want to stay
and he didn't know how to tell
her
. Panic knotted up in
her
throat and
her
body stiffened. Rarely did
she
make such offer's especially to a man
she
hardly knew.
She
glanced up to meet
his
eyes and he looked like he
was
trying to think of the right words to say.
She
decided if he wants to stay,
she
offered, if he doesn't want to stay he could move on…um…no big deal.

He turned away from
her
and picked up
his
tools.

Her
emotions felt vulnerable because
s
he
just made a fool out of herself.
She
fought back the tears
and turned away from him.
Her
weak legs
would
n't allow
her
to move.
She
grabbed hold of the edge of the countertop.
She
was
hurt and mad at herself because
she
totally misjudged him.

He walked out the door.

She
felt bewildered and foolish.

With
in a few seconds, he walked back in and walked over to the TV cabinet in the living room and pulled out the game Scrabble. He then spun on
his
heels and said. "I'll stay if you play me a game of Scrabble, maybe two or three, but I forewarn you
I am
the best in Massachusetts."

Sudden relief inundated
her
and
she
reciprocated
his
enthusiasm by throwing
her
hands on
her
hips and said. "Well I'm the best in Tennessee, so t
his
could be a long and challenging game."

A great big beautiful bright smile crossed
his
face as he set up the game.

She
went to the kitchen to start supper.
With
in a few minutes, he joined
her
and started helping. They chattered up a storm.
She
never dreamed in a million years
she
could talk so freely about nothing and everything
with
a virtual stranger.

They took their time as they cleaned the kitchen and
Lana
relished every minute. While
she
did the dishes he walked past
her
every chance he got. There
was
n't much room between the bar and sink and
she
noticed he took the long way around to the refrigerator. He did t
his
so he
would
have to squeeze by
her
.
She
also noticed he put everything away, one item at a time.

Finally Mike laid down the kitchen towel, put
his
arm around
her
waist and asked. "Are you ready to lose?"

"You sound confident,"
she
coyly answered. But
her
heart fluttered and
her
mind dwelled on how nice and inviting
his
arm felt around
her
waist. Every touch sent shivers throughout
her
body. And
with
each passing minute it seemed to intensify. If he stayed very long t
his
evening,
she
didn't know how
her
heart
would
make it.

After he finished putting a few more logs on the fire, he sat on the couch.
She
sat on the floor acros
s from him, near the fire. The S
crabble game
was
in the middle on the coffee table. They drew their tile letters and Mike said. "Ladies first," he said
with
a grin. He looked squarely into
her
eyes and
that
showed he permeated confidence.

She
panicked. "No, I insist you go first." If the truth be told,
she
didn't have the best letters and
sh
e
hoped
she
could play on
his
. Plus
she
needed more time to think.

"If you insist," he said and
with
out delay he played the word
nastier
up and down
on the board
.
She
couldn't believe it. The first word and he played all seven tiles.

Her
stress level shot out the roof.
She
could already tell t
his
game
was
probably
the most challenging scrabble game
she
ever played. No one ever played all seven letters the first play.
She
looked at
her
tiles, and
she
arrange
d
them, then rearrange them, and then came
her
eureka moment.
She
played
diamond
of the 'I' in nastier.
She
looked over at him and he
stared right
at
her
, grinning. "Take
that
Mike."

He
was
n't going to be outdone, not Mike. He pulled another word out of
his
hat. Off the 'r' in nastier he plays
report
.

They toggled back and forth for hours and he's right, he's good. During the ardent games
she
noticed several times he glanced
her
way. When
she
caught him looking at
her
,
she
blushed.
She
thought
she
turned red more in the past two days than
she
had the past twenty years.

"What's the score?
" Mike asked after the third game. He
hoped
she
want
ed
to
play another game. He wanted to stay, no doubt about
that
. He wanted to look at t
his
enticing and beautiful woman. Every time
she
looked at him,
his
heart turned cartwheels. He didn't play as well as he normally played,
she
distra
cted him
.