“Jack sure seems to stick to you like glue,” I said, draping my napkin over my lap.
Bella glanced down at him and smiled. “Do you remember Thanksgiving night when we were at Bishop and Abby’s? We were the last ones to leave?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I remember. I followed you home.”
“He wanted to go with me, do you remember?”
I laughed. “That’s right. He wouldn’t listen to me when I called him.”
Her smile drifted away for a moment as she looked at Jack, then at me. “Do you think he senses something’s wrong with me?”
With a half shrug, I replied, “He could. Dogs are known for being able to sense things like anxiety, seizures, stress. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he was picking up on something.”
She nodded, looked down at the food, and picked up her fork.
I motioned to her plate with my fork. “I’m dying to take a bite, but I’ll wait for you to try it first.”
Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. “Oh, sorry!”
She cut off a piece, then placed it into her mouth and closed her eyes as she chewed. My cock instantly went hard when she let out a slow moan, and her face morphed into one of pure pleasure.
Christ Almighty, she was beautiful.
“That is so darn good.”
It was my turn to try it. “Shit, that is the best lasagna I’ve ever had.”
“I bet she makes her own sauce too. Did you know Candace was in medical school?”
That little bit of information made me stop chewing. “No way. Really?”
Bella nodded. “Yep. She hated it and quit. That’s when Greer reached out and asked her to come help with the bookstore. What she really loves to do is bake and cook. I’m slowly trying to steal her away from Greer.”
I laughed and took a bite of bread. It was so damn nice to have such an easy, carefree conversation with Bella. We had definitely grown closer the last few weeks, but today was the first day I truly felt like she was present with me, the weight of her secret lifted off her shoulders.
I would never tell her how I had hardly slept a wink last night. I had woken up early, kissed her goodbye, and hit the gym, taking all my anger and frustration out on a punching bag until my knuckles ached and nearly bled. It was Kyle who had come in and stopped me from tearing the damn thing out of the ceiling. Bella hadn’t even told me everything that had happened that day, and truth be told, I wasn’t sure I would be able to listen to it in detail…not that I would ever want her to relive it.
The anger I felt was something I’d never experienced before. Not toward Arabella. I was mad at myself. For not knowing what had happened. For not pushing her to talk to me, especially when I knew deep down something was terribly wrong. I was angry for the things I said to her. When I told her I’d wanted to hate her…fuck. The way her eyes had widened and filled with tears.
Bella was talking about some lavender sugar cookies Candace was trying to perfect as I nodded and smiled. The last thing I wanted was for her to see the rage inside of me. I’d already put things into motion before I’d picked her up, starting my search for the fucker who’d raped her. I had a stack of letters I still had from when Bella and I wrote to each other in college. I had been reading through them to see if I could figure out who the girl was who’d found Bella, or the name of someone in the study group.
“I think with all the lavender we have growing at the apiary, and what Abby is growing, we could really do something with it, like the culinary lavender.”
I nodded again. “I like the idea about the syrup.”
A wide grin appeared on her face. “Me too. Mom and Dad still aren’t so sure about it, though. They only want to focus on the bees, and I get that. It’s just…I have all these ideas. I love working with the bees. I would never give that up. And I love the store, and the café was just meant to be fun, but…”
“But what?”
She looked down at her plate and chewed on her lip. “I really love doing up the baskets. It’s been so much fun, Hunter. I was thinking it might be great to do specialty baskets, and Candace mentioned advertising them. You know, like for gifts. Bridal showers or baby showers. Engagement baskets or for anniversaries. Things like that. Make them more personal, and somehow bring the bees into each basket. Something bee-themed, I mean.”
“Then do it.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t have the time. I mean, in the winter I do, since the bees aren’t as demanding then. Plus, I have the store and the café now, which is really becoming popular with locals. I’m only open a few days a week right now, but I think I could easily open more, especially if Candace wanted to help out.”
“Why don’t you hire Candace to help with the café full time?”
She frowned. “Greer would kill me.”
I laughed. “No, she wouldn’t. If I know Greer, she wants Candace to follow her dreams as well. And if being in a kitchen is her dream, Greer would never hold her back.”
Bella’s eyes lit up. “Do you think so? I mean, you really think Greer wouldn’t mind if Candace came to work at the café instead? I would give her full run of it.”
“I don’t think she’d mind at all. You should talk to them both.”
“I’m going to!” she said with a giddy chuckle. “I’m definitely going to talk to them about it.”
“Good. And can I just say your laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard.”
Her smile softened as she stared at me. “I’ve missed you and how you make me feel so special.”
I reached across the table and took Bella’s hand in mine. “That’s because you are special, sweetheart.”
Bella’s face grew serious as she set her fork down and let out a long breath. “Hunter, thank you for being so sweet to me and planning this romantic lunch. You’ll never know how much it means.” She drew in a breath, then went on. “I know I keep saying I’m sorry for not trusting in our love enough to tell you what really happened. I feel both elated you know the truth, and so upset with myself that I wasn’t honest with you. It’s such a strange mix of emotions.”
I squeezed her hand. “We both have a lot of guilt for the way we handled things, but I do not begrudge you whatsoever for not being able to talk about it at the time, Bella. I can’t even imagine what it was like for you. The only thing I want to do now is focus on us, on your healing, and being able to move on from the past. We have a beautiful future ahead of us, and that’s all I want to concentrate on.”
She dug her teeth into her lower lip before she spoke again. “I want that to. I don’t know how long it will take before I’ll feel comfortable being with you sexually. I want to,” she said on a heavy breath. “Believe me, I want you so much.”
Smiling, I replied, “I want you, too, but I’ll wait for as long as it takes, Bella. We’ll go slow and only do what you’re comfortable with. As far as I’m concerned, you’re in control.”
A wicked little smile played across her face as she pulled her hand from mine and leaned back in the chair. “I’m in control?”