Chapter 6
Achime sounded as Eliza stepped out of The Daily Grind coffee shop into the crisp morning air. Farmer, who was wearing his service animal vest trotted out beside her with an extra pep in his step because the owner, who had introduced himself as Trenton, had given him a special treat for being such a good boy. The switch on her flirt detector had been in the off position for so many years that she couldn’t be sure if he’d done it for her benefit as much as Farmer’s but that was the feeling she got. If that was the case, he was barking—pun intended—up the wrong tree.
A smile pulled at the corners of her lips from her own joke as the heat from her paper coffee cup warmed her hands. She wrapped them tighter around it and lifted the beverage to her mouth as she started down the block to Smiles. The rich, java aroma filled her nostrils as she sipped the steaming hot liquid.
She crossed the street and walked past Tempting, Haley’s lingerie store, and made a mental note that she needed to stop by there in the next day or two. Last night at dinner she’d promised her that she would. Shopping for pretty bras and panties would normally be something that she’d be looking forward to, but somehow now it just reminded her that no one would see her in them. But, she knew that wasn’t the right way to look at it.
Eliza had always loved wearing matching bras and panties and pretty undergarments, even garters. That love had nothing to do with Doug or Carson. It came from inside of her. Some women felt their best in comfortable cotton underwear. She felt her best in sexy lace or silk. Even if Farmer would be the only male that would see her in them.
The duo continued down the street past Inspire Yoga, which a number of people were filing into dressed in their leggings and flip-flops. Across the street she saw that there looked to be a doggie daycare and groomer called Bones, Balls & Bellyrubs. Maybe when she stopped over at Tempting she would drop Farmer off to get a bath and his nails trimmed. Unlike other dogs she’d had, Farmer loved the groomer. And the Vet. And any place there were people. He was the calmest, most social dog she’d ever met, which made him perfect for his therapy work.
She was trying to appreciate how cute the Riverwalk was now that it had been gentrified, but she could barely keep her eyes open. Technically, she was awake, at least enough to function. But it was a struggle.
When her alarm went off at five a.m., it felt like she’d just closed her eyes…because she had. The last time that she’d looked at the clock it had been only forty-five minutes earlier. Rising and shining was made even more difficult thanks to the fact that her sheets had morphed into a Chinese finger trap from all the tossing and turning she’d done. Every time she’d freed one limb it was like the others were sucked in tighter. Finally, after several failed attempts and an assist from Farmer, she’d been able to make it out of bed.
One blurry-eyed shower and hair drying session later, she’d dragged herself to the cute coffee shop a block down from Smiles and was now praying to the caffeine gods that they would work their magic and wake her up.
She’d love to try to pin her Zombie-like state on the upheaval in her life of late. The divorce. The move. The new business. But none of that was the reason nothing was in focus. The cause lay solely at the feet of the man that had held a piece (a large piece) of her heart since she was fourteen years old.
Bailey Rossum was everything Becca had said she was and more. The woman wasn’t just supermodel gorgeous, she was charming, funny, insightful, easy going, oh and she literally saved lives.
Last night, at the table beside them, a young girl around three had started choking on a piece of bread and without missing a beat Bailey performed the Heimlich, and also calmed the girl’s frantic aunt. She ordered the girl ice cream and when Bailey sat back in her chair, she picked up right where she’d left off as if none of it had happened. As if saving someone’s life was run of the mill for her…because it was. That hadn’t even been the first life she’d saved that day. She and Becca had briefly talked about the complex and life-threatening condition that ailed the young boy who Bailey had operated on earlier. It seemed the surgery had been a success.
Eliza had left the dinner feeling so many emotions she had no idea how to process them. All night she’d lain in bed staring at her ceiling. She’d been exhausted. She’d wanted to go to sleep so bad she’d cried at one point. The problem was, every time she closed her eyes she’d picture Nate and Bailey at a wedding. Not Becca and Brian’s wedding, though. Every time she closed her eyes, she pictured Nate and Bailey’s wedding. As in the two of them getting married. To each other.
The worst part of the entire thing was, they deserved each other. And not in that catty, sarcastic or ironic way that most people say it. Like when two people that are married have an affair and leave their spouses and people say, “They deserve each other.” Nate and Bailey truly deserved each other in the best possible way. They deserved each other because they were both highly intelligent, driven, kind, funny, creative, charitable and insanely-hot people.
As much as Eliza had wanted not to like Bailey out of purely childish and immature motivation, she couldn’t help but love her. In a platonic hero-worship kind of way. And she loved Nate, in a not-platonic soulmate, love-of-her-life kind of way. And she was actually kind of happy for the two of them.
Sad happy, but still…happy.
Farmer turned the corner to the back entrance of the office and Eliza followed. He sat in front of the door and looked up at her knowing that he’d been a good boy for locating their destination. She patted his head and praised him before unlocking the door.
She hoped that she could get through the stack of paperwork that Dr. Lewis had left for her before the staff arrived. Yesterday had been less productive than she’d wanted.
As the door swung open, Farmer happily strode inside like he owned the place and she smiled, she guessed he did in a way. Before she closed the door behind them she saw it. The alarm. It was blinking.
Frantically, she reached in her purse and dug around for a split second before she realized that she’d left the paper with the security code and the password for the alarm company at home after trying to memorize it last night. She’d meant to grab it on the way out this morning, but true to form, she’d forgotten it. Dr. Lewis had set the timer at ninety seconds, she clearly remembered him telling her that.
She cursed as panic set in. “Shit. Shit. Shit!”
If the alarm company called and she didn’t know the password they would dispatch 911. That would be quite an embarrassing way to reintroduce herself to the town.
“Shit!” she cursed again because she didn’t know what else to do.
“What’s wrong?”
She didn’t need to turn around to know who belonged to that deep voice that had sounded behind her. But that didn’t stop her from doing just that. Butterflies flitted in her stomach as she spun. She thought she was prepared for what she was about to see, but she’d been wrong. The second she laid eyes on him, her breath caught in her throat as she inhaled sharply.
Nate was standing in the doorway wearing a dark gray T-shirt that showcased his broad chest and large biceps, and black slacks that looked like they had been tailor made just for him, and they probably were. The sun was rising behind him and the rays surrounded his imposing frame. He looked like a sexier-than-sin dark angel.
“Ellie, are you okay?” he asked as a wrinkle formed in his forehead.
“Oh, no! The alarm.” She turned back and pointed at it. “I forgot the code at home and if I don’t key it in it will alert the alarm company. They’ll call and ask for a safe word, which would be great if that wasn’t on at home, too. If I don’t know it they’ll call the pol—” Before she finished explaining the light stopped flashing. “Shit.”
Her mind was starting to formulate what she would say to the alarm company when Nate’s voice once again filled the silence. “It’s disarmed.”
“What?” she turned back and saw him putting his phone back in his pocket.