Three Wishes(38)

Surprisingly, he broke their tense silence. “You haven’t asked about what he said.” His eyes came to her and his were completely blank.

“What?” She was still recovering from the knowledge that he’d let Jeff corner her.

“You haven’t asked me to explain what he said.”

Lily stared at him harder, if it could be credited, and then threw her hands out in agitation, blowing a breath out to underline just how annoyed she was.

Then she started pacing.

“You already told me what you want me to know. It wasn’t any of my business in the first place, but you told me. If there’s more, you’ll tell me when you’re ready. Nothing you say or he could say would change how I feel about you –”

She stopped talking because she heard his heavy crystal glass slam down against the top of the chest where he kept his liquor and Lily, who had her back to him and was in mid-pace, whirled around.

He was stalking straight toward her.

His face was filled with…

She stared in awe.

Now Nate was staring at her like she was a juicy steak and he wasn’t a rabid dog but a starving man offered a feast, a feast that was Lily.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

He kept coming.

She started backing up then faster as he was gaining quickly, “Nate, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t explain but when he caught her and dragged her to his bedroom, he didn’t push her onto the bed, he threw her on it. Without a further word, he made love to her in a way he’d never done before, it was fierce and violent and possessive. When she was nearly ready to cl**ax, he stopped it, stopped her and made her say his name over and over and over again, then he finally let her finish.

It was glorious and, she felt intuitively, it was somehow immensely important and although Lily revelled in the former, she didn’t quite understand the latter.

* * * * *

The next time they went to Victor and Laura’s house for dinner neither Jeff nor Danielle were in attendance and Lily found that a small blessing.

Lily had tried to find a job but wasn’t having much luck. Maxine was forwarding her mail and her mortgage was due, her bills were due and she didn’t have enough money to pay them.

What she wanted most in the world was to be a writer, to live her life sitting at her computer and telling her stories. She didn’t bring her computer with her from Clevedon because she figured they’d move that later and when she confided to Nate, sleepily after he’d made love to her one evening, her dreams of being a novelist, he’d told her not to worry about getting a job and just concentrate on writing.

Easy for him to say, he didn’t have bills mounting up and no money coming in.

He’d told her he’d take care of everything but Lily couldn’t ask him for money. She wasn’t like that and further, wasn’t raised like that. She’d have to find a way to take care of her own problems.

However Nate, she was finding, was a very perceptive man. He knew as the second week slid along that something was bothering her and he asked her about it.

Lily lied. She hated it but she had to do it. She didn’t want anything, outside of his awful siblings, to mar their idyllic life. She was embarrassed she’d put herself in this position, especially the credit cards. The amounts weren’t astronomical but they were when you didn’t have any money.

So she doubled her efforts to find a job, any job.

Late the second week, she’d gone out to lunch with Laura and Laura realised something was wrong straight away.

“It’s just something I need to sort out,” Lily had responded when Laura asked.

“Is it Nathaniel?” Laura queried, her eyes gentle.

“No! Of course not, everything is fine, great, wonderful with Nate.”

Laura smiled then the smile wavered. “Is it Jeff?”

Without hesitation Lily grabbed the woman’s hand and squeezed it with reassurance and just shook her head. They didn’t need to talk about Jeff, ever.

Laura’s smile strengthened again and then she said, “Whatever it is, just tell Nathaniel. He’ll sort it out. He’s good at that kind of thing.”

She said it in a way that meant he was good at every kind of thing. Lily couldn’t help herself, she hugged the other woman and Laura returned the hug with a strength that astonished her.

Laura may have raised two terrible children but surprisingly, she was an excellent mother to the one she did not bear.

That night in bed (unless they were at the dining room table, a restaurant or at Victor and Laura’s, they seemed always to be in bed, though Lily wasn’t complaining), pressed up against Nate’s side, her arm wrapped around his stomach, she’d said, “Do you think we were a bit hasty?”

It was a silly question, obviously they were a bit hasty. They’d barely known each other and moved in together – or he’d demanded she move in with him and she’d done it.

Nate still didn’t talk very much. He didn’t share very much at all. Lily didn’t mind this. He did the same with his family, it wasn’t just her. He listened and laughed when she told stories about her family and Fazire and growing up in Indiana. But most of the time he was working. Most of the other time, they were making love. Any other time there was left over they were eating so they could have the strength to make love. Talking wasn’t exactly their strong suit.