“How’s that? Restful enough for you?”
Fleur leaned toward him, kissing his cheek. “I can still see you, can’t I?”
“Close your eyes, then.”
And tempt visions of last night, which would make reaching for him a matter of life and death? “I think I’ll keep them open. And my leg feels much more comfortable now, thank you.”
They took their time over coffee, and then Rick went downstairs to make breakfast while Fleur showered. When she entered the kitchen his face broke into a grin.
“I was hoping for the leather trousers.”
This morning Fleur had teamed them with a warm sweater. Maybe he’d be the one to take them off again in a re-creation of some of last night’s fantasy. But for now she was hungry.
There was toast with English marmalade on the table, along with granola, yoghurt and fresh fruit. They ate in silence for a while, and then Rick put down his toast, looking at her thoughtfully.
“I know what that look means.” Fleur smiled at him. He was about to rock her world again by saying something unexpected. Bring it on...
Rick shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I overheard what Jim Brady said to you last night. About revisiting your case.”
“I wondered if you had.” Fleur frowned. That wasn’t the kind of unexpected she’d hoped for. The rose-colored haze that had surrounded her since she’d opened her eyes this morning dispersed a little.
“You told him that what happened was in the past, Fleur. But we both know that’s not true. You’re still haunted by it.”
“And you think that reviewing the file is going to make anything any better?” Fleur pressed her lips together.
“It might. Maybe you owe it to yourself to do everything you can to try.”
“Maybe I owe it to myself to do everything I can to just forget about it, Rick.” She could hear a sharp edge to her tone. Why couldn’t he just leave it alone?
He shook his head, dragging his hand through his hair. “But... Jim Brady said there was something more, something you don’t know.”
That was exactly what terrified Fleur. If there was something she didn’t know about, or that time had altered in her memory, she might have to look at everything she’d done since in a different light.
“I can’t do it. I just...can’t.”
“Then can you let me go and do it for you? This isn’t an opportunity that you can just dismiss.”
She stared at him. Didn’t he understand that would be even worse? Allowing the man she’d just made love with to see the one thing she was most ashamed of? Fleur took a deep breath.
“No, Rick. I don’t want to talk about it anymore...”
“Which is why you weren’t going to even tell me what Jim Brady said?”
Fleur could hear the hurt in his voice and she felt her heart thump, almost painfully, in her chest. There was no answer she could give him other than the truth.
“You’re right. I wasn’t going to tell you.” Rick had issues about this. He couldn’t bear to feel that she wasn’t doing everything in her power to heal, but she just couldn’t do this. It would have been better if he hadn’t overheard Jim, and then the whole thing wouldn’t have come up and spoilt everything.
Fleur looked at the half-eaten food on her plate miserably. He wasn’t going to let it go, because he wasn’t able to. Rick felt that there were things he hadn’t said to Lara and he’d already told her that he couldn’t bear to make those same mistakes again.
“I should go. I have to help Pam clear up the library this morning.” As excuses went, it was as good as any.
He didn’t believe it. She could see that in his face. But Rick didn’t make any attempt to stop her when she rose to leave.
* * *
He should have waited and thought a little more carefully about what to say to Fleur. Or maybe he shouldn’t have spoken about the overheard conversation at all. But it was done now. He had messed up, and it seemed that Fleur wasn’t going to forgive him for it. He hadn’t seen her since the morning after they’d made love, and on an island that was barely ten miles from one end to the other that was unlikely to be anything other than avoidance on her part.
He was busy at work, and that made it a little easier to spend at least some of the day not thinking about her. The weather had closed in, cutting the island off from the mainland, and since the emergency services in Boston couldn’t reach them, the clinic was providing cover. Tonight Rick was on call.