“Listen, why don’t you take the day to do some shopping in town? You need clothes for you and Olivia,” Amelia said.
“Because I haven’t found a job here yet. Money is an issue when you want to buy things,” Christy said with a laugh as she took a bite of her eggs.
“I understand that which is why I wanted to give you this,” Amelia held out an envelope.
“What is this?”
“Just look inside.”
“Amelia! This is two hundred dollars!”
“It’s just a little extra I had this month. I want you to have it. It’s not much, but…”
“Not much?” Christy said smiling through her tears. “You’re already letting me stay here, and now this? I can’t take this…”
“Yes, you can and you will. Leave Olivia with me today and go get yourself some clothes.”
Christy hugged her sister and pulled back to look at her. “Mom would be so proud of the person you are, Amelia. I don’t deserve what you’ve done for me in my life, and I swear I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be the sister you actually deserve.”
“Now you’re going to make me cry! Get out of here!” Amelia said with a laugh as she wiped her eyes. “You can take my car. The keys are on the table by the door.”
It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and Amelia was looking forward to having Olivia with her all day. It’d been a long time since she’d held a baby, and she hoped to have one of her own before she was too much older.
But how would she ever do that if she didn’t learn to trust a man?
Pushing the thought from her mind, she picked up Olivia from her crib and pulled her close.
“Hi, little one. Your mommy went to get you some cool clothes, so you’ll be spending the day with Aunt Amelia today…” she said as she walked her downstairs. Christy had set up the playpen she’d found at a yard sale a few days before, so Amelia put the baby in it while she did some cleaning around the house. Before she could get much done, there was a knock at her door.
“Hi, Clay! What’re you doing here? Everything okay?”
“Just wanted to come by and see you if that’s okay,” he said with a smile. His smile warmed her heart every time she saw it, and today was no different.
“Where are the kids?”
“Actually, Gracie is keeping them today.”
“Gracie?”
“She invited them over for a family cookout.”
“She didn’t invite you too?” Amelia asked tilting her head.
“She did. But I decided seeing you sounded like more fun.”
“You see me almost everyday, Clay…”
“Everyday is not enough.”
Amelia’s heart started to pound in her chest. Was she missing something? What was he saying?
“Clay, I don’t understand…”
“Is your sister here?” he asked out of the blue.
“No. She went into town to do some shopping for herself and Olivia. I’m babysitting. Want to come in?” she asked as Clay nodded and walked into the living room. Still unsure of what he was doing there, she invited him to sit down.
“She’s adorable,” he said as he looked at Olivia cooing in the playpen.
“Yes, she is. She’s a great baby.”
“How are things with you and Christy?”
“Much better. I think we’re on the road to being sisters again.”
“Good.”
“Clay?”
“Yes?”
“What’s going on?” Amelia asked fidgeting with her hands and trying not to smile at him.
“Okay,” he said taking a deep breath. “Here goes. Amelia, meeting you and getting to know you better has been the best thing to happen to me in two years. I adored my wife, and I truly thought she was the only love I’d ever have. I thought she was my soul mate and that was all the love I’d ever get to experience. And then I met you, and I knew.”
“Knew what?” she asked trying to hide her shaking hands.
“I knew it is possible to love again, and it is possible for that love to be strong and true and real. And it is possible there isn’t just one soul mate out there for me. Maybe Molly sent you to me, or maybe God decided I deserved a second chance, but all I know is I think about you all day every day, and I want to be a part of your life.”
“Clay…”
“And I know that you’re scared. You’ve been hurt by so many people in your life. I know that. But, I’m scared too. I was with my wife for almost my whole life, and this is new to me too. But I want us to have a chance, Amelia. That is, if you feel something for me too. Do you feel something for me?”
Amelia stood up and turned away from him, trying to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. No one, including Tate, had ever said these kinds of things to her. It was a foreign concept to think this man loved her, and he was sitting in her living room telling her how he felt.
“Amelia?”
“Yes. Yes, I do feel something for you. And yes, I am terrified of it.”
Clay stood up and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders from behind. She closed her eyes and tried to allow herself to relax into his embrace. Just as she did, they both heard a strange noise coming from the playpen.
Running over, Amelia noticed the baby didn’t appear to be breathing and looked like she was turning blue.
“Oh, my God!” she screamed as she reached in to grab Olivia. “She’s not breathing! Clay, she’s not breathing!” she yelled, panic stricken.
Clay remained extremely calm and took Olivia out of Amelia’s shaking arms. He put her on the carpeted floor and immediately began infant CPR.
“Amelia, call 911 for me, okay?” he said as he continued. She was frozen in place for a moment before she ran to retrieve her cell phone.
“Yes. We need help. A baby has stopped breathing. She’s turning blue. Five fifty four Sycamore Street,” Amelia said into the phone as she sobbed. Clay continued his work, using two fingers to do chest compressions and intermittently blowing into Olivia’s tiny mouth.
It seemed to take hours for the ambulance to arrive, but Amelia knew it was just a few minutes. As they pulled into the driveway, Olivia coughed and took a big breath in. She looked around confused, and then began to cry. Amelia thought this was the sweetest sound she’d ever heard.
“She’s breathing! She’s breathing!” Amelia shouted as tears ran down her face.
The EMTs came into the room and started to assess her as Clay briefed them on what had happened and backed up to give them room.
“Oh, my God! What’s going on?” Christy screamed as she ran through the front door and over to Olivia. “That’s my baby!”
“Christy, stand back and let them look at her,” Clay said as he pulled her back. “She stopped breathing and turned blue.”
“Clay did CPR on her and she came back to us,” Amelia said through tears as she put her arm around Christy. “Has this ever happened before?”
“No. Never. Is she going to be okay?” she asked an EMT as he stood up.
“Her vitals look good, but we need to take her to the hospital so the doctors can see why she stopped breathing. She seems to be responsive, so that’s a good sign. Do you want to ride with us?”
“Yes. Please,” Christy followed them out the door and into the ambulance as Amelia yelled out she and Clay would soon follow.
Amelia turned to Clay and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, thank you, thank you…” she whispered through sobs. “You saved her life. How did you know what to do?” she asked pulling back to look at him. He slid his hands around her waist.
“Well, before chef school, I went to EMT training for awhile. It’s come in handy a few times over the years,” he said softly.
“I don’t know how I will ever repay you.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“Go on a real date with me. After Olivia is better and this has settled down, let me take you out somewhere special.”
They loaded up in Clay’s car and headed for the hospital, each with hope for a new future.
Chapter 12
After a long day at the hospital, it was determined Olivia had a form of sleep apnea and would require careful monitoring and follow up. Her doctor wanted to continue monitoring her at the hospital for another twenty-four hours, so Clay and Amelia headed home around dinner time.
“I called Gracie, and the kids were begging to sleep over, so I said yes. I think Gracie was more excited than they were,” Clay said with a laugh as they walked into Amelia’s house.
Amelia fell like a lump onto the sofa. “I’m glad they’re having fun. Gracie is so funny, and I bet they are loving being around the kids too.”
“Tired?”
“Yes, and it’s not even six o’clock yet,” Amelia said laughing. “Getting old, I guess.”
“Nah. I think you deserve to be tired. That was a mentally exhausting day, but I’m glad we were here when it happened. If she’d have been upstairs alone…”
“I can’t even think about that. It terrifies me,” she said softly. Clay sat down beside her and put his arm around her.
“Thanks for coming with me to the hospital. I couldn’t have done that alone.”
“I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else. You needed me, and I wanted to be there. I love that little baby too.”
“I honestly don’t know how you do it.”
“Do what?” he asked as he sat back and looked at her.
“How you open yourself up to loving people again. You lost your wife. I would think you’d be terrified of loving people for fear of losing them.”
“You can’t go through life being scared of getting hurt, Amelia. What kind of life is that?”
“A safe one,” she said softly.
“Is it really? A safe life is not worth living. Who says on their deathbed they wished they’d lived a safer life?”
“No one, I suppose,” she said smiling at him. “So, about our conversation from earlier…”
“Yes?”
“When is this date of ours?”
“How about right now?” he asked grinning.
“Now?”
“Well, I was thinking I could run to the grocery store and cook us dinner here. We’re alone all night. No kids, no interruptions. It would be a good time to talk and enjoy each other’s company. What do you think?”
Amelia thought for a moment and then poked his arm. “I think that sounds amazing!”
“Okay. I’m going to go to the store and you chill out and get some rest while I’m gone,” he said kissing her on the top of the head as he grabbed his coat. Just a small kiss made her tingle all over, and she could barely contain her grin as he walked out the door.
Clay left to go to the store, and Amelia decided to go take a long, hot bath. She knew it would take at least half an hour to get back, and then he'd start dinner. She figured she had time to try to unwind from the very stressful day.
***
As Clay drove home from the store, he could only think about Amelia. He’d never felt this way about a woman since Molly, and he hadn't imagined he would ever be able to fall in love with anyone again. She was right about one thing. There was risk involved. He had two small children to think about, and he didn't want to break their hearts anymore than he wanted his broken. But he knew that he was falling in love with Amelia, and he wasn't going to let love slip away from him.
As he walked through the front door of Amelia's house, he called out to her but she didn't answer. He figured she was still upstairs changing clothes, so he went into the kitchen and began to prepare dinner. He was going to surprise her with chicken marsala and garlic bread as well as some great wine that he had picked up at the store. As dinner was underway, he decided to go see how she was doing.
"Amelia?"
He continued calling out to her as he went up the stairs looking for her bedroom. He saw the door cracked and poked his head in hoping he wouldn't catch her in an uncomfortable position. Instead, he found her wrapped in a white terrycloth robe lying on her bed, sleeping. He smiled as he thought about how exhausted she must have been from the mental drain of going to the hospital with her baby niece. She’d been so worried and so thankful to him. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed right next to her.
"Amelia?" he said softly. She didn't budge. She looked so sweet sleeping with her long hair brushing against her shoulder. Her beautiful eyelashes closed tightly, he almost hated to wake her up. He knew she'd love the dinner he was preparing, and he hoped that it would be a great surprise.
He called her name again, only this time what she did shocked him. Without opening her eyes, she reached up and put her hands around his neck and pulled him down so that her mouth was close to his. He could feel the breath coming from her mouth, and it was all he could do not to slide right into bed with her. "Clay…" She whispered, still not opening her eyes. She was calling for him? Before he could think much more, her mouth was softly pressed against his. It was only a few seconds before Amelia was awakened out of her slumber only to realize she was actually kissing him. She jumped back, startled, and he stood up putting his hands in his pockets.
"Clay?" she said as she pulled her robe tightly around her and sat up.
"I'm sorry. I was calling your name when I got home from the store, and I found you up here taking a nap."
"So you took advantage of me?" she asked with a hurt look on her face.
"Of course not. I called your name and sat down on the bed, but you reached up and pulled me down to you. You whispered my name, Amelia." When she realized what he was saying was true, Amelia turned a shade of red he’d never seen before, and it made Clay chuckle.
"I'm so embarrassed."
"Don't be. It was nice," he said stroking her hand. He sat down beside her on the bed and looked at her, placing his hand on her right cheek. "I enjoyed it, Amelia. You were dreaming of me."
"Clay, I don't know that I'm ready for this," she said as she stood up and walked across the room. Staring out at the north Georgia mountains from her bedroom window, a tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't know when I'm ever going to be ready for this."
"Amelia, falling in love is always going to require a risk no matter who you fall in love with."
"Is that what this is? Love?"
"I don't know what this is yet. All I know is I want to spend more time with you. I enjoy your company, and I think you're a wonderful woman. I love to watch you with my children and I love to talk to you. I like to see you smile and see that twinkle in your eyes when you think something's funny. And now I know I like to kiss you too," he said smiling at her. She turned around and looked at him.
"But what if something happens? What if I lose you too? I can't bear to lose someone in my life again. And I can't bear to be the one who could possibly hurt you, Clay. You've been through so much already, and you have children. It just seems like there's way too much risk for both of us."
"Any relationship is going to have risk, Amelia. How many times do I have to say that?" he asked getting exasperated.
"Yes, but this relationship has two people who have both had loss in their lives. It seems like it's just too dangerous for us to be together. I can't stand to think of what it would do to you if something happened to me or we didn't work out. You deserve the best, Clay, and I'm not sure I can give that to you. I'm a very flawed human being."
"We're all flawed, Amelia," he said as he walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "And, for the record, I'm a grown man. I can handle my own emotions, and you don't need to worry about me. I know what kind of risks I'm willing to take, and the risk I want to take right now is on you. On us."
Amelia stared deep into his eyes, and before she could say anything else his mouth was pressed against hers. The warmth of his touch as he pulled her into a strong embrace was almost over
whelming. She couldn’t remember a time when a man had put his arms around her like that and made her feel so safe, so secure. And that very security was what was making her feel scared. How could she ever feel that for someone and then have it taken away?
As his tongue jockeyed for position with hers, she was enveloped in his scent and his taste. She’d never had a kiss quite like that one.
The kissing seemed to go on for hours, but it was just a few minutes. In the end, it was enough for Amelia to realize she couldn’t let this man walk out of her life. She was falling in love with him too, and she'd already fallen in love with his kids.
Finding Love (A Mill Creek Crossing Romance) Page 7