One Week in Maine

by Shayna Ryan

  Monday continued to be the longest day of my life, or so it seemed. When my period finally arrived around 7:00 that evening, I let out a triumphant whoop of glee. We were in the clear–no baby. Relief washed over me as I dialed Will’s number. This news was too fantastic to share by text.

  “Hey.” He picked up on the first ring, like he had been waiting for my call.

  “Hi.” Just hearing his voice rekindled my pain over losing him, but I had no time to dwell on it since I couldn’t wait to share how we had both just dodged a bullet.

  “So…how are you? Any news?” He sounded nervous and tense, and I couldn’t blame him.

  “I’m okay, and I’m not pregnant!” I couldn’t keep the glee out of my voice.

  “Not pregnant?”

  “Nope.”

  “Oh.” His voice was heavy with sorrow.

  “Did you want me to be pregnant?” I teased. “You sound really disappointed.” He wasn’t taking this news as well as I expected he would.

  “Of course not! But I was prepared to do the right thing if you were. Guess I just got a little caught up in the idea of us becoming a family.”

  “But we’re not.”

  He sighed. “Nope, we’re not. But I’m glad that worked out as it should, I guess. Not having a baby on the way keeps things a lot less complicated, doesn’t it now?” I caught the bitterness in his voice. “I’m sorry I haven’t called you yet. I just…I know you were only here for a week, but it’s been a big adjustment getting used to you being gone. I thought a little distance from you might help with that.”

  “Has it?”

  “No. If anything, I think it’s made it worse. It’s good to hear your voice again, Calista.”

  His comment made me smile. “Yours too, Will.”

  When we finished talking and hung up, I sat staring into space for a long time, trying to figure out how I could ever move on from Will. He was a man like no other and I cursed the Fates for delivering me the perfect man only to take him away from me again. It just felt so unfair.

  I did my best to keep busy over the next few weeks, job hunting and getting back into my usual social life, but it felt like I was just going through the motions. Will called me a couple of times a week, just to say hi and fill me in on life in town, and to find out how I was doing.

  I always told him I was good, or fine, but those were lies. Truth be told, I was miserable without him. Guys would ask me out here or there but I always declined. I wasn’t ready to try a new relationship yet when my heart was stuck in the past.

  On really bad days, the times when it was probably the last thing I should be doing, I’d pull up the pictures that I took right before I left the Inn. I’d lose track of time staring at those pieces of my personal history frozen in time. The one of the two of us together was my favorite because it was honest. We were both smiling at the camera, but the sorrow behind the fake grins was unmistakable. Even though we pretended to be happy for the picture’s sake, it was nothing but a lie.

  My life felt like that, like I was just going through the motions now. I did what was expected of me, what I was supposed to do as a responsible adult, but my heart wasn’t in it. I felt empty and drained, like I left the ‘real’ me up in Maine on that fateful day I drove out of town.

  Will and I never discussed visiting each other. I think we both understood that it would only make things worse, and we were having a hard enough time being separated as it was. Seeing each other wouldn’t help either of us move on with our lives.

  Not that we were doing that anyway, but my hope was that in time, it would get better for me. I just wished it would happen faster.

  -20-

  The Friday before Christmas I had a quick errand to run. While I still hadn’t found a job yet, I finally had a website up for my graphic design business, and it was expanding at a rapid pace. If it kept up, it would bring in as much income as a full time job. My fingers were crossed.

  I needed to run to the local print shop to pick up a copy of a brochure I had designed for a local preschool. I wanted to look it over before I submitted my finals to the school, and the holiday break gave me plenty of time to tweak my work before I turned it in for final approval.

  I walked down the first half-flight of stairs to go out of my apartment building and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw someone coming up the same stairs.

  “Will?” I grabbed the railing for support as my heart skipped a beat.

  “Hi,” he grinned at me. He was just as I remembered him from a few months before, all dashing and sexy in a thermal Henley and a pair of dark jeans. The first hint of stubble graced his face, and he looked rugged and delicious, as always. A little thinner, I noticed, but still good.

  “What are you doing here?” I managed to utter.

  “Aren’t you happy to see me?” he asked with a grin as he opened his arms up to me.

  I dashed down the stairs between us and threw myself into his waiting arms as the tears came. He hugged me close, nuzzling my hair, as I inhaled the familiar, comforting scent of him. Suddenly, something awful occurred to me.

  “Is Dottie okay?”

  “Oh, she’s just fine! I didn’t come for that, Calista. I came to see you.”

  Our lips met as if this time apart had never passed. My tears kept coming as the world melted away and there was nothing but this, just us, just as it was meant to be. I didn’t care how long he planned to stay or how much it would hurt when he left as long as we could have this moment.

  “I take it you’re not seeing anybody,” he joked and his eyes had that familiar twinkle to them.

  “No,” I laughed, “I’m not, and I guess I could assume the same of you?”

  His eyes grew soft. “There’s no one but you; you know that.”

  It occurred to me that we probably couldn’t spend all day making out in the hallway of my apartment building. “C’mon, let’s go upstairs.”

  I took him by the hand and led him to my apartment. His hand was solid and warm in mine, and I never wanted to let it go. I led him to the couch, and together we sat down, but still I wouldn’t relinquish his hand. He didn’t seem to mind.

  “So what brought on this unexpected visit?” I prompted. I was delighted to see him, but perplexed that he hadn’t mentioned that he was coming when we spoke earlier in the week.

  He raised a hand to my hair and gently stroked my dark locks. “I came to tell you my Christmas list.”

  “Your Christmas list?”

  “Yes, ‘tis the season and all,” he joked. “Don’t you want to know what I want for Christmas, more than anything in the world?”

  “Okay, tell me,” I relented. I could only guess where this was going.

  “My one and only sole wish this Christmas is for you to come home,” he said softly.

  “But I am home.”

  “You know that’s not what I meant. I want you to come back to the Inn with me, to stay for good. I’ve got a moving truck waiting for us in the parking lot. I figured we could spend the weekend packing up your place, and we could head home Monday.”

  He was absolutely out of his mind, but he still got bonus points for being so unexpectedly romantic with the whole surprise-I’m-here-to-move-you thing.

  “You’re out of your mind,” I managed to sputter.

  “At least think about it, will you? I mean, why not move to Maine with me? You told me yourself that your graphic design company is growing…why couldn’t you do that up at the Inn?”

  “It’s not as simple as that and you know it, Will.”

  “We can drive down to see your family and friends any time you want to, or they can come up to the Inn.”

  “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” I asked weakly. He had it all figured out, but I sure didn’t. My feelings about moving to rural Maine hadn’t changed in the last few months.

  Without warning, he grabbed me and pulled me into another steamy kiss and before I knew it, he was on his back and I was straddling hi
m.

  “Just like old times,” he mused as he tucked some of my errant hair behind my ear.

  “How long are you staying, again?”

  “‘Til Monday morning, if you’ll have me. I took today and Monday off of work.”

  “How long have you been planning this?” It didn’t strike me as a spur-of-the-moment thing.

  “Weeks,” he grinned devilishly.

  “And you never mentioned it, not once!”

  “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “It sure is. Best surprise ever!” I leaned forward and kissed him once more as his hands found their way under the back of my sweater.

  The feel of his fingertips on my bare flesh awakened desires I had been working so hard to keep dormant. At least, until he showed up so unexpectedly. I returned the favor and snaked my hands under his shirt so I could caress his stomach and chest freely as we kissed.

  “You haven’t given me the grand tour yet,” he chided in between kisses.

  “Grand tour? Hmm…I don’t suppose you’d like to start in the bedroom, would you?”

  Will looked at me with an expression of mock surprise. “Bedroom? Why, do you have one of those here? Whatever might we do in there?”

  “Whatever you like!” I climbed off of him and helped him off the couch.

  “I can think of a few things…” He slid one hand down the back of my jeans and caressed my ass as I led him to my bedroom.

  “A thong? I never got to see you in a thong before!”

  “Well then, today’s your lucky day, isn’t it?” I asked with a wink.

  No sooner had we walked into my bedroom then he was upon me. We tussled with each other’s clothing in between hot kisses as we raced to get each other naked.

  Will paused when he had me down to only my mint green thong. He let out a low whistle of admiration as he spun me around to get a good look. “I’ll spare you the details of some of the fantasies I’ve had about you these last few months, but let’s just say this meets or exceeds a lot of them!”

  “Fantasies, huh?” I stopped spinning and came to rest with my naked breasts pressed firmly against his chiseled chest. “Just what happens in these fantasies of yours, exactly?”

  “Well,” he began with a twinkle in his eye, “in my latest one you’re wearing nothing but a light green thong, and I stare at your perfect heart-shaped ass while you’re, ah, orally occupied.”

  “Oh, really?” I grinned as I slid obligingly to my knees. “And am I any good in this fantasy of yours, while I’m ‘orally occupied’ as you call it?”

  “You’re incredible,” he grinned. I wiped the grin off his face quickly as I made his fantasy a reality. His smile was quickly replaced with a look of sheer bliss.

  I didn’t get to play out his fantasy for long. He was so eager to have me that he quickly pulled me up and gently pushed me to the bed.

  “You’ve got too much on,” he murmured as he removed my thong with nimble fingers. His fingers found their mark, and I moaned as his familiar fingers lit me afire inside.

  He pulled away and looked frantically around my room. “My jeans..where’d my jeans go?” He spied them by the door where I’d tossed them and hurriedly extracted a condom from one of the front pockets.

  “I don’t suppose you’re on the pill now?”

  “No. Though I might have gotten on it, if I had known you were coming!”

  “Well, guess this will have to do then.” He tossed the condom to me and I caught it and placed it next to me on the bed. It was unlikely it would go unused for long, given our current level of desire for each other.

  Will climbed onto the bed and straddled me. His usual look of lust for me slid away as his face became soft and loving.

  “I’ve missed you so much, Calista. My life’s been empty without you. It’s been hell.”

  “But we’re together now,” I soothed. I cradled his cheek in my hand. “Let’s not think about the past, or the future. Let’s just enjoy what we have right here, right now.”

  “That was my plan,” he mused playfully as he nipped gently at my collar bone.

  I squealed with delight as my heart leapt. The past few months since my return from Maine had been terribly lonely. All my pain melted away now that I had Will back in my arms and in my bed. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted off of me, as if I could breathe again. This was right, and this was real, and it was exactly how it was meant to be. So what were we going to do come Monday morning when it was time for him to return to Maine?

  I pushed that unpleasant thought aside as I slipped the condom on him. There would be time to worry about that later; all that mattered was that we were together right now, in this moment.

  I closed my eyes as he eased into me, lost in my own emotions as my body responded to the sensation of him inside of me.

  “Look at me,” he whispered urgently, “I want to see your eyes.”

  My eyes flew open and he smiled gently at me. He was straining to hold himself back, I could tell. After so long apart, neither of us wanted our reunion to move along too quickly. This was a moment to savor and hold on to as long as we could.

  I lost myself in the familiar feeling of our most intimate expression of our feelings for each other as I felt myself heading for the edge. Will sensed my progress and pulled out quickly, much to my disgust.

  “But–”Before I could protest any further, he was moving me. He sat on my bed with his legs outstretched and carefully seated my on him, facing him.

  “Like this,” he whispered. “I want you as close to me as possible for this. It’s been too long.”

  With a naughty grin I slid down on top of him, brushing his chest lightly with my swollen nipples as I took charge of our rhythm. He threw his head back and moaned with delight, which only encouraged me to go faster, and faster still. When he could resist no longer, he buried his face in my cleavage and muffled his bellow of release. I quickened the pace as he spent himself, eager to find my own finish. It didn’t take long, and Will helped it long by using his adept tongue to lavish attention on my nipples.

  When we were through, we stayed like that for quite some time, holding each other wordlessly as I sat in his lap. Neither of us wanted to break this spell, this sliver of time when nothing existed but each other. There were no conflicts, no problems, and no hard decisions to make. There was only us, skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat.

  “I’ve missed you,” I whispered finally.

  “Glad to hear it.” He gently pushed me off of him. “Does this mean you’re coming home with me on Monday? We could even start packing up the truck tonight.”

  “Will…” I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to spoil the time we just shared joined as one by revitalizing the bigger issue that loomed over us. “Can we not talk about it tonight? Please? I just want to enjoy you, not map out the rest of my life, okay?”

  “Are you at least thinking about it?” he pushed.

  He wasn’t going to drop it. Not tonight, and probably not all weekend. He was here on a mission and he wouldn’t take no for answer. But he’d have to whether he liked it or not. I had no intentions of returning to Maine with him no matter how much I had missed him or how much fantastic sex we had that weekend.

  “No,” I told him honestly, “I’m not, because, as I already told you, I belong here, in Hartford.”

  His face fell for just a split second, but he recovered quickly. “I’ve got two more days to change your mind. Guess you’ll just take some more convincing.”

  I let it go. He’d see soon enough that I meant business when I said I wasn’t moving to Maine. He didn’t bring it up for the rest of the day, much to my relief. I wanted to enjoy our weekend together, not argue about moving to the Inn.

  We spent the rest of the afternoon just lounging in bed but our appetites got the better of us and eventually we had to get dressed to go grab some dinner. I took him to one of my favorite burger joints down the block, and we brought our food back to eat at my pl
ace.

  “What about Dottie, while you’re gone? Who’s looking after her?”

  “Oh, she’s fine. I talked Blue into popping by a few times a day to look in on her. I think she’s secretly pleased about it; I’ve always suspected that she has a crush on him! Truth be told, she’s glad to be rid of me for a few days. She complains that I mope around too much.”

  I giggled out loud. It was easy to picture Dottie in the kitchen, standing at the counter, chastising Will for moping around.

  “Want to make it an early bedtime tonight?” Will asked suggestively once we had finished our dinner.

  “Absolutely.” My tone became grave. “But I must warn you, I have little intention of sleeping tonight, Warden.”

  He broke into a wide grin. “That happens to work very well for me, Miss, because I don’t plan on sleeping much myself.”

  And we didn’t. When we finally wore ourselves out in the wee hours of the morning, Will fell asleep first, but I stayed awake a while later, just watching him sleep. Eventually my exhaustion got the better of me, and I drifted off as well, safe and content in his arms. My last thought before I dozed off was that a girl could get used to falling asleep in the arms of a man like Will Holbrook.

  The next morning he found me in the kitchen while I put on a pot of coffee for us.

  “Good morning.” He came up behind me and wrapped his hands around my middle, pulling me close enough to feel the rise of him against me ass.

  “Stop it!” I swatted him away playfully. “We’ll get to that again, but as long as we’re up, we might as well have some coffee.”

  “That reminds me…I need to run out to the truck and grab my stuff.” I grabbed my keys off the counter and handed them to him. “I’ll be right back.” He kissed the back of my head and was gone.