Let It Breathe (17 page)

Still, he hesitated. He didn’t want to just leave without a word. That would be rude, something the old Clay might’ve done. Maybe if he slept on the couch?

No, still too close. Even worse, her family would see his truck there in the morning, would know he’d spent the night.

Okay, so he’d go.

The thought of driving back to his cold hotel room wasn’t appealing, either, but it was his only option. He looked at Reese again, her hair spread out on the pillow and her hand curled against one cheek.

So beautiful.

He shook his head, thinking this is what perverts did. Stand there naked watching a woman sleep. He dressed in silence, figuring he could shower when he got back to the hotel.

He opened the bedroom door and crept into the living room. There, he looked around for some paper and something to write with. He found a notepad on the kitchen counter with a pen tucked into the spiral and sat down to write her a note.

What the hell should he say?

The old Clay wouldn’t have left a note at all, or maybe he would have. Something gauche—
thanks for the great lay
or an asinine thing like that. Clay looked down at the blank paper, not wanting to blow it.

Reese,
he wrote.
I had a great time.

He stopped, stared at the words on the page. Stupid. It sounded like bathroom graffiti.
For a good time, call Reese
.

He tore off the page and tried again.

Reese, I wish I could stay, but—

But what?

“Dammit,” he muttered, and tore off the page again.

“Whatcha writing?”

Clay jumped. He looked up to see Larissa padding barefoot into the kitchen. Her hair was rumpled, but she’d changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt that must’ve belonged to Reese. Or maybe she kept a stash of her own clothes here for occasions just like this. Her still-smeared eye makeup made her look like a hungover raccoon.

“Nothing,” he said.

She rolled her eyes and reached up to grab a water glass out of the cupboard. Her shorts stretched tight over her butt, and Clay was surprised to realize he wasn’t at all interested in staring. Not the way he’d done an hour ago when Reese had stretched and reached the same way.

Larissa said nothing as she filled her glass at the sink and downed it in a few quick gulps. She refilled it and did the same thing again. Then she set the glass on the counter and looked at him.

“Here’s what you say in your note,” she told him. “
Reese. You are amazing.
Period. That’s it.”

Clay stared at her, not sure how to respond. “We didn’t—”

“Of course you did. I know you’re a gentleman these days, but there’s no protecting Reese’s virtue when she moans that loud. Nice job, by the way.”

Larissa turned and filled her glass again. Clay swallowed and looked down at the notepad. “I don’t want to blow this.”

“Funny, I said that to Derek earlier.”

Clay laughed in spite of himself. “I’m serious. I’ve screwed up with her before. A lot.”

Larissa shook her head. “You’ll do fine. You’re a different guy now, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“So prove it. Write your damn note and get out of here before Grandpa Axl shows up and starts giving you sex tips.”

Clay winced and looked back down at the page. Finally, he scrawled a few words. Not what Larissa had suggested, exactly, but the sentiment felt right.

“Want me to give it to her?” Larissa asked.

“No, I don’t want you to give it to her. I want you to go back to bed and pretend you have no idea anything happened here tonight, got it?”

Larissa grinned. “So this is a secret love affair?”

“I don’t know what it is. But I do know your family thinks of Reese’s love life as public domain, and it really shouldn’t be anyone else’s business. I’m asking you to keep this one quiet for now, okay?”

Larissa sipped her water and shrugged. “Is that because you care about her or because you’re worried what Eric will think?”

“Does it matter?”

“To me or to Reese?”

Clay looked down at the page, then back up at Larissa. “Either, I guess.”

“Yes. On both counts.”

“Okay, then. I’m asking you, as a friend, to keep this quiet. I care about her a lot. A whole lot.”

Larissa studied him for a moment, so intently Clay was tempted to look away. She took a few small sips of her water, then shrugged. “Thank you for bailing me out earlier.”

“Not a problem.”

“I don’t know what I saw in him.”

“Beer goggles,” Clay said. “Happens to the best of us.”

Larissa snorted. “Guess so.”

“Be careful, okay?”

“With boys or with beer?”

“Yes.”

Larissa nodded. “Thank you. For caring, I mean. And for rescuing me.”

Clay nodded and stood up. “I’m sticking this on her nightstand now. Please don’t sneak in there and read it, okay?”

“You take away all my fun.”

“I doubt that.”

Clay crept back into Reese’s room, glad to see she hadn’t stirred. He stood there for a few seconds, watching her chest rise and fall. One edge of the sheet had slipped beneath her left breast, and he reached down to pull it up for her. His fingers grazed her warm flesh and he nearly lost his mind as she stirred and smiled in sleep.

It was all he could do not to bend down and kiss her. He knew this was better, that they needed to protect whatever was happening between them until they had time to sit down with their clothes on and talk things through. He set the note on her nightstand and backed out of the room, still reluctant to take his eyes off her.

At last, he closed the bedroom door behind him. Larissa had gone back to bed or to the bathroom or something, so Clay didn’t have anyone to say goodbye to as he opened the front door and stepped out into the damp night air. The frogs and crickets conducted a noisy symphony in the darkness, and somewhere Clay heard a train whistle. He breathed in the scent of wet earth and fermented fruit and the grassy scent of Reese still clinging to his skin.

He pulled the front door shut behind him, and crept quietly across the gravel driveway to his truck. He opened the door, wincing a little at the squeak, and climbed in, pulling it closed as softly as he could. Reese’s window was only a few feet away, not to mention her parents’ house just across the vineyard. Sound carried out here.

He eyed the slope of the driveway and decided to coast to the flat spot before cranking the engine. He stuck the key in the ignition and flicked the lights, releasing the emergency brake. The truck began a slow roll down the driveway, gravel popping under the tires.

Clay was so focused on making a silent exit that he almost didn’t see it. He wasn’t sure what caught his eye exactly—a moving shape? A person? A car?

Or just the thick plume of gray smoke curling slowly up from the side of the winery barn.

“Oh, shit,” he said, and slammed on the brakes.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Reese was still mostly asleep when she patted the mattress beside her and found it empty. She frowned. The sheets were damp, and the room still smelled like sex, but the space next to her was cold.

She opened her eyes, blinked in the darkness, then closed her eyes again.

She hadn’t expected Clay to still be there, but still. Even in her sleep-addled state, it was tough not to be a little disappointed.

Weren’t you the one who left before he woke up fifteen years ago?

Reese thought about that for a moment, trying to remember the details. They’d only known each other a few weeks at that point, and she’d felt daring and grownup having her first tipsy fling. She’d crept out while he was sleeping, that was true. And they’d really never talked about it after that. She and Eric had started dating seriously within a few weeks, and the engagement and marriage just sort of snowballed from there.

Eric’s a safe choice
, she’d assured herself back then.
A good friend and a dependable husband. Not the kind of guy who’d get wasted and walk into chemistry class holding a banana like a gun while pretending to be a Stormtrooper.

So her only night with Clay had remained a secret. They’d never even acknowledged it until a few days ago.

A wailing in the distance jerked Reese’s mind from her memories and back into the present. She sat up in bed, listening.

Sirens?

She craned her neck, trying to peer out the window. The flicker of red-and-white lights pulsed back at her, coming up the gravel driveway with alarming speed.

Shit.

She scrambled out of bed, her feet tangling briefly in her discarded bra. She fumbled in the dark for clothing, coming up with the black dress she’d peeled off earlier when Clay was watching. Her arms tingled at the memory, but she tossed the dress aside and reached for the light switch.

She started grabbing clothes from a pile in the corner. Yoga pants, dirty T-shirt—where did she throw that bra? She cursed as she wriggled it on, wishing she were one of those women who could dash out the door without one. She shoved her feet into her clogs and grabbed a fleece sweatshirt off the hook on the back of her door.

“Reesey?” Larissa’s voice echoed high and panicked from the living room. “Something’s happening.”

“Can you see what it is?”

“I’m trying.”

Reese yanked open her bedroom door and hustled into the living room. Larissa was standing there in a pair of Reese’s old gym shorts and a T-shirt that once belonged to Eric.

“Do you smell smoke?” Larissa called over her shoulder as she peered out the front window.

Reese sniffed the air, panic hitting her like a punch in the gut as she threw open the front door. The smoke smell expanded outside. “Shit.”

She could see the flames from her front porch, licking at the side of the winery barn as smoke slithered up into the night sky. The pulse of lights from the fire engines cast an eerie glow on the nearby grapevines, making them look like twisted old men.

“’Riss—go put Leon in his pen and stay with him,” she yelled. “Check on all the other animals and make sure they’re safe. Take your cell phone and call my mom and dad.”

“Be careful!”

Reese took off running. Her feet slipped on the damp grass as the smoke stung her nostrils, but she recovered her balance and kept running.

“Honey! Stay back!”

“Dad?” Reese squinted between the darkened rows of grapevines, trying to see him. “What’s going on?”

“The fire department has it, hon,” he called. “They said it looks worse than it probably is. Stay put for now, let them do their jobs.”

“Where are you?”

“Hold on just a sec. Don’t move, I’ll come to you.”

Reese turned back toward the fire, watching through ashy darkness as her eyes adjusted to the haze. Burning orange streaks slashed the sky, but she could see streams of water gushing from the end of the hose as fire crews attacked the flames. She watched, horrified, from the safety of her front lawn.

The winery barn still stood, and now that she could see more clearly, she realized the fire was contained to the east end of the building. Not where the wine was stored, not where the expensive equipment was kept.

She felt her father’s hand on her shoulder and turned.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

She glanced down, then wished she hadn’t. “Why are you in your underwear?”

“Your mom and I were making love in the moonlight when—”

“Never mind,” Reese said, yanking off her fleece and handing it to him. Once it was safely tied around his waist, she continued the conversation. “So you saw the fire and called 911?”

“Not me, Clay.”

“Clay?”

“Your mom texted me a second ago with the details. Guess he was dropping Larissa off at your place when he saw the flames. He tried to get it put out with the hose on the side of the building but called the fire department to be safe.”

Reese bit her lip as she watched the crews hose down the end of the building. “Is he okay?”

“I think he got a little burn on his arm, nothing too bad.”

“Where is he?”

“Down there with the ambulance crew getting checked out.”

Reese nodded, not sure whether to rush down there or play it cool. “How did it start?”

“No one knows yet. Looks like it’s close to where the de-stemmer was, so maybe some wiring?”

“There’s no reason it would even be hooked up this time of year, is there?”

“Probably not. Maybe something overheated?”

Reese bit her lip. “I’m going down there to talk to the crew. Where’s Mom?”

“She went back down to the house to get me some replacement pants and make sure Axl was okay.”

“Where are your pants?”

“Mom got carried away and tossed them in Leon’s trough.”

Larissa would pull them out. Reese sighed and headed across the lawn to where the lights from the fire trucks were still pulsing. Off to one side, several people from the neighboring cattle ranch were gawking at the scene. Beside the winery barn, the crews were coiling up their hoses and speaking in jovial tones. Reese said a quiet prayer of thanks, realizing the damage didn’t look too bad.

“Excuse me,” she said as she caught the arm of a passing fireman. “I’m Reese Clark—this is my family’s vineyard. Any idea what happened?”

The man nodded and touched the edge of his helmet. “Can’t really say. Looks like the fire started over there, but we won’t know anything for sure ’til the fire marshal gets out here.”

“Can I go look?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. It wasn’t a bad fire, but we can’t say for sure how stable things are.”

“How bad is the damage?”

The guy shrugged. “I don’t really know how much that stuff costs, but I’d say you got lucky. The fire was pretty contained. Most of the big equipment didn’t get hit. You’ll probably have a few bucks tied up in building repairs, but it’s mostly just smoke. You owe a lot to that dude down there in the ambulance.”

Reese bit her lip. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. A little shook up, maybe. Go see him if you want.”

“Thanks.”

Reese trudged off toward the ambulance, which wasn’t screaming off into the night with sirens blaring. That seemed like a good sign.

“Clay?” she called as she approached.

A medic looked up at her. “Give him a sec, honey. We’ve got him on oxygen right now.”

“Oxygen?”

“Just a precaution. He’s fine.”

Reese reached the side of the ambulance and looked down. Clay was sitting up, but there was a mask covering his nose and mouth. He had some sort of monitor hooked to one finger, and there was a bandage on his right forearm. Other than missing his shirt, he looked normal.

Well, aside from the clearly defined fingernail marks on his right shoulder. Reese flushed, remembering how they got there.

He looked up at her. She couldn’t see his mouth, but she could see his eyes and was pretty sure he smiled.

“Hey,” she said. “I heard what happened. Thank you. Can you nod if you’re okay?”

Clay nodded, then glanced at the medic.

“Go ahead and take it off,” the guy said. “Just put it back on if you feel dizzy.”

Clay drew the mask back and gave her a small smile.

“Hey.”

Reese felt her eyes start to well up, and she knew it wasn’t just the smoke. “You got hurt.”

“I’m fine. The burn is pretty small, and I sucked in some smoke, but I’ll be okay.”

One of the medics laughed. “Someone owes this guy a beer.”

Reese bit her lip. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say, really. If you hadn’t been driving by right then—” She stopped, struck by a realization. “I never thought I’d be so grateful to have a man run out on me after sex.”

Clay grimaced, and the medic gave a choked laugh. “You two want a minute alone?”

Reese shook her head. “No—it’s okay. Just take care of him, please.”

Clay shook his head, his expression somewhere between amusement and embarrassment. “I left a note.”

“I believe you,” she said. “I didn’t see it, what with my barn catching on fire and all, but I’m not mad. Really, it’s okay.”

Clay nodded. “Not quite the exit I envisioned.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you were here.”

“My pleasure.”

“Do you need to put that mask thing back on?”

He gave her a funny little half smile. “I am feeling a bit lightheaded.”

He pulled the plastic mask back over his nose and mouth, and Reese glanced back at the winery barn. Firefighters had the blaze extinguished at last, and crews were stringing yellow crime-scene tape around the charred outer edge. She knew it was just to keep people out but couldn’t help but feel violated at the sight of it.

She looked back down at Clay. “I’m going to go see if they’ll let me have a closer look at things. You okay here?”

Clay nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.

“Thanks again,” she said. “For everything.”

Reese turned and took two steps toward the winery barn before her mother’s voice stopped her in her tracks.

“I brought brownies,” she called. “Just a little something to say thank you to all of you for saving our place.”

Reese turned to watch her mother weaving through the crowd of gawking neighbors and firefighting personnel, a large tray of chocolaty treats balanced in her arms. She was wearing yoga pants and a button-down shirt that displayed the small heart she’d had tattooed above her left breast with
Jed
spelled out in curlicue letters.

Reese felt her phone vibrate and glanced down to see a text from Larissa.

All OK w/ your zoo. 2 squirrels in outside cage humping. You?

Reese texted back.
Everyone safe. Too soon to tell damage.

“Hey, honey,” her mother said. “Did you get a chance to get a look at things yet?”

“Not yet. I was just headed that way.”

“I’ll go with you!” announced Axl, pushing his way through the crowd. “I saw a good-lookin’ lady firefighter down there, and I’d like to ask her to uncoil my hose.”

“Dad, stop it!” June hissed. “That’s our neighbor, not a lady firefighter.”

Reese rolled her eyes. “So it’s okay if he sexually harasses firefighters but not the neighbors?” She grabbed Axl by the arm and pulled him away from the crowd. “Come on, Axl. Come with me to check out the winery barn, okay?”

“Yeah, maybe they need some muscle down there,” he said, flexing one arm.

“Wait, sweetie,” her mom called. “You want a brownie?”

“No, thanks, Mom. Clay, how about you?”

Clay pulled off the oxygen mask again and shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

Reese’s mom smiled down at him. “Thank you so much for everything you did, honey. We owe you a lot more than a brownie.”

Axl snickered and looked at Reese. Reese ignored him.

“It was nothing.”

Reese’s mom shook her head and began rearranging the brownies on her tray. “We sure got lucky tonight, didn’t we, Reese?”

Axl snorted, still looking at Reese. “Sure did. Got lucky, all right.”

Reese glared at him. “Come on,
Grandpa
—let’s check out the winery barn.”

She grabbed Axl by the arm and dragged him away, ignoring the neighbor who made a snide comment about manhandling an old man.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Reese stopped walking and glared at Axl.

“What the hell was that about?”

Axl grinned. “Nice beard burn on your cheek.”

Reese raised a hand to her face, feeling herself flush. “So? I had a date tonight. With that hot vet, the one from yesterday.”

“It wasn’t the vet who left you grinning like a cat who got porked with a Q-tip,” Axl said. “Looked like Clay hadn’t shaved this evening, you notice that? That five o’clock shadow sure can chafe sensitive skin, eh?”

Reese closed her eyes and shook her head. “Axl—”

“And then there’s the claw marks on his shoulder,” Axl continued. “Oh, and the lipstick on his earlobe. Same shade you were wearing earlier, wasn’t it?”

Reese sighed. “What do you want?”

“You to admit it.”

“Admit what?”

“That you scratched your itch with that boy. That you two stroked the lamb’s head, got hay for your donkey, did the wild monkey dance, tickled the—”

“Okay, fine!” Reese snapped. “Stop! We did, okay? Is that what you want? It wasn’t a big deal.”

Axl grinned. “The hell it wasn’t. You two have been hot for each other for years. ’Bout damn time you did something about it.”

“Can we just drop it?”

“Sure, sure,” he said, waving a hand as he glanced over at the barn. “Whatever you want, Peanut Butter Cup.”

Reese gritted her teeth. “I want something to cover the beard burn. Give me your scarf.”

“Nah. There’s no beard burn. I just wanted you to admit it. I can die happy now.”

Reese glared at him and wondered about the penalties for elder abuse. “Keep that up, you’ll be dying a lot sooner. Come on. Let’s go look at the damage.”

“You go ahead,” Axl said, turning back the direction they’d just come from. “I gotta go check the woods, make sure nothing damaged my ’shrooms, you know what I’m sayin’?”