Seduction on the Sand (The Billionaires of Barefoot Bay #2)(18)
“And you weren’t here.”
She looked at him, touched for some reason that he would understand just how horrible that was.
“No, I wasn’t. And if I had been…”
“He still would have had a stroke.”
She shook her head vehemently. “But I might have gotten him to the hospital sooner or maybe I would have seen an early symptom.” Guilt wracked her voice and pinched her heart. “But I was in Washington…and…” She swallowed but forced herself to make the admission. “I was no better than my parents in being somewhere other than where I should have been, chasing success and big dreams and—”
“Big dreams? In the Department of Agriculture?” He couldn’t hide the incredulity in his voice.
“I was on a fast track to a directorship,” she countered. “But that’s all over now, thankfully.”
“Because you promised him you’d run the farm the way he wanted you to?”
“I promised him...” She wasn’t really sure if he’d heard that promise, so what did it matter? Damn it, her voice truly cracked then.
“Tell me, Frankie.” With a little pressure from his hand, it felt natural to let go of her grip on her legs and allow them to drop, removing the protective barrier she’d created as she told her story.
Automatically, Elliott took up the space by getting closer.
She closed her eyes and reminded herself that the promise did matter. “He was in a coma when I arrived from DC,” she whispered, letting herself be transported back to that night. “I sat with him in the ICU and apologized and promised and begged him to stay alive. But he just stayed completely still and asleep.”
Elliott stroked her knuckles, as if to gently coax the story out of her.
“One night, after about two weeks, he woke up, and we talked for hours.”
Hadn’t they?
“What did you talk about?” Elliott asked, leaning forward, fully invested in the story.
“He wanted me to know he’d forgiven me for leaving and he loved me...” She swallowed so her voice didn’t hitch, but the way Elliott caressed her hand nearly did her in. “He wanted this farm to be a perfect slice of heaven with a herd sired by the buck he’d brought over from his home country. So I promised him I’d do exactly that, and I also promised him that I would never, ever let this land be owned by anyone who wasn’t in the Cardinale family. And I’m keeping those promises.” She closed her eyes. “He died...that night. In fact...”
Her voice faded out, a sob threatening. “Shhh. That’s all. You don’t have to tell me any more.”
But she did. He had to know why this mattered so much to her. “I promised him I’d keep the land and do exactly what he’d wanted to do with it. Then I moved in here for what was going to be a week or two while I figured things out and sifted through his belongings and figured out someone to take care of the farm when I went back to DC.”
“How were you going to run the farm from DC?”
“I didn’t know,” she answered honestly. “But I stayed here a week, then two, then three...” She smiled. “Then I quit my job and decided to stay...for a while.”
He lifted a brow. “You just quit this job that was on the fast track?”
She shrugged. “I have, you know, some money from my parents, and I never expected to like it so much here. To feel so...at home.” Lonely, but at home.
Something flickered in his expression. A little hurt maybe? A little fear? Perhaps he’d just realized how crappy it would be to try to buy her home. He lifted their joined hands to his mouth, breathing a soft kiss on her knuckles. Goose bumps flowered up her arms, and chills trickled down her spine, but she managed to stay still.
A centimeter of space closed between them, but she wasn’t sure who leaned closer to whom...it was like a magnetic force pulling them toward each other for a kiss.
His lips were warm, soft, sweet, and Frankie didn’t even bother to fight, opening her mouth just enough to taste his tongue and hope that this wasn’t fake and neither was this very sweet man.
“Let me go with you today,” he said, his voice surprisingly gruff. “You don’t want to be alone.”
No, she didn’t. Not today, and not...tonight. “Yeah, cowboy. You can come.”
* * *
Morning sun bounced off the massive glass building that took up a city block when Frankie and Elliott reached the entrance to the County Clerk’s offices on the mainland. Despite the brightness, Frankie knew a maze of lines and cubicles lay behind those shiny walls, populated by frustrated people and overworked clerks and wrapped in red tape. If only she could find Liza, the amazing clerk who’d helped her last time.
“I can’t believe I have to go in there again,” she sighed. The last time, when she confirmed that the property was hers despite the lack of official paperwork, she’d lost nearly six hours in the place.
Elliott kept a light hand on her back and squinted up at the place, and glanced around the campus of Collier County government buildings. “Nice real estate, though.”
“Not if you’re stuck inside.” At least today, she’d have him next to her, and for some reason she didn’t want to examine too closely, she was happy about that. Maybe it was his steady presence or close attention, but she liked having him here.