He watched her nod slowly. “After I saw the report on that morning show I looked it up online and read it.” she paused, “I can’t say how sorry I am.” Then her eyes flicked up to his. “But I can’t do anything other than say it Langley.”
“I know. Like I said. I just needed to cool off. I knew you were sorry just like I knew that it was partly my fault.”
She seemed to be wanting to say something but in the end she just stood silently waiting.
“I was planning to call you back Lena.”
Her eyes came up to meet his with a look of disbelief in them. He moved and made his way around the counter stopping right beside her. She tilted her head back up to look at him.
“I was planning to do it that Friday but things got crazy at the restaurant then mom had her spell.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded in silent understanding. This was the quietest and most un nerved he’d ever seen her and he knew why. She’d put herself out there and he hadn’t answered. She was feeling vulnerable, hurt and naked. However, he was going to make her go one step deeper if she wanted this to work. He needed her to prove that she wanted this. That she was in this for the same reasons he was. Placing a finger under her chin he tilted her face up and demanded softly. “Tell me again, to my face.”
Lena wasn’t stupid, she knew what he was asking. She knew he was asking her to put her heart on the line. He wanted her to open up and declare that there was more between them than arguing and explosive chemistry. Blinking once she licked her lip then took all the courage she could find and for the first time in her life placed all her trust in someone else. Feeling completely idiotic she whispered, “I want to be number 34 Mason.” she watched his eyes crinkle at the sides and his lips tug up in a smug little grin. “Let me? Please.”
He leaned down and placed the most gentle kiss on her lips it almost felt like a feather sweeping across them. Too quickly he lifted his head so their noses were touching. He nodded once then answered softly. “Don’t you know by now Lena, you can never be number 34 because you’re the only 1 there has ever been?”
She grinned at him. “That was really corny Langley.”
He kissed her quick then moved back from her. “So? It doesn’t make it any less true.” he walked over to the sunflowers lifted one and brought it over to her.
“Now tell me, what do these mean to you?”
Chapter Fifteen
Lena reached over and took the flower. She lifted it to her face and looked at him over the top of the large petals trying to decide if it was time to take the plunge. He walked around the counter and sat down on a stool that must’ve been back there.
“Do you want a chair?”
Shaking her head she turned her back to him trying to decide where to start. She thought back nine years to all the memories she’d squashed down and couldn’t work out where to begin. She heard him shift on the chair behind her. Then silence.
“Around nine years ago my sister Carly died.” she paused, finally letting those words free. There was no sound or movement behind her just a new kind of silence that finally held all the pain she’d kept hidden for so long. A comforting silence. She knew he was there but he didn’t need to make sound, he just was.
“We’d gone to my parents house for dinner. I remember her calling me that night and complaining for at least thirty minutes that she needed to buy herself a car. I’d laughed at her and asked, why when she had me to taxi her around.” she heard him laugh a little at that.
“That sounds like you.”
Lena sighed, “It was like any other Sunday night dinner. Mom made lamb, a God’s honest Irish dish, as my dad calls it and we all sat down and talked about our week. At that stage I was pre med and was obsessed with studying and passing all my tests at the top of my class. Carly on the other hand had just graduated high school and was all about a good time.”
Walking over the one of the displays in the windows Lena reached out and spun the rainbow pinwheel that was stuck in one of the pots of colorful tulips.
“My mother had been driving me crazy all night. She’d gone on and on about how I needed to have more fun, get out from the library and date more, she’d told me.”
Lena turned and locked eyes with Mason’s. He was still sitting behind the counter and had his arms resting on top of it. “Can you imagine that?” she asked with a small smirk.
He grinned at her then shook his head, “Not at all.”
She nodded then lowered her eyes as she twirled the sunflower in her hand. “We finished up dinner around nine thirty. There were hardly any cars around. I guess because it was a Sunday, I’m not sure. But we kissed mom and dad goodbye and buckled up. I remember thinking as we drove home that maybe one day when I was finally a doctor if Carly still didn’t have a car, I’d by her one, because God knew she wasn’t going to save the money to get her own.”
She gave a little laugh then looked at him with tears gathering in her eyes. She gripped the stem of the flower tight and took a deep breath. “We’d stopped at a red light. I remember sitting there listening to Carly as she imitated mom harassing me. She really nailed it too. I remember resting my head back against the headrest and laughing at her as she smiled and stuck her tongue out at me.”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks now as she held his gaze, biting her bottom lip, trying to push through the most difficult part. The part that ripped her heart out and tore it to pieces. He hadn’t moved. He just sat watching her. “She was wearing her favorite red beanie, it was cold you see and she had a braid over her shoulder.” Taking a deep shuddering breath she licked her lips. “She smiled at me and called me a loser and I remember laughing at her then turning to see the light flick to green. I pulled out and then just like that,” she paused her cheeks wet with tears and her eyes filled with pain, “She was gone.”
Mason’s heart broke at the sorrow that was pouring out of her. She was rooted to the spot clutching a happy, bright yellow, flower that right now looked horribly out of place in her hands as tears ran down her face. Slowly he stood and walked very carefully around the counter. She hadn’t moved and her eyes followed him as he made his way over to her. He reached out and took the flower tossing it on the floor. She swallowed then looked up at him her eyes brimming with tears as he watched her finally let go and burst into tears. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her pulling her in tight against him. He felt her chest heave as a shuddering sob left her body. He gripped her tighter and felt her hands grip his chest as she sobbed uncontrollably against him.
“That’s it baby, let it go.” he murmured as he stroked his hand down her hair. “I’ve got you.”
He felt her take a deep breath and struggle to stop the uncontrollable gut wrenching sobs that were pummeling her. He kept her tight against himself and rocked her slowly with him as he felt her taking deep breaths. Her anguish ripped into him and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how long she’d kept all of this to herself. He felt her try to move back but he wasn’t ready to let her go. He took both hands and cupped her wet cheeks as he tilted her face up so her red eyes could lock with his. Bending down he gently kissed her lips. She tried to pull away from him but he held tight and kissed her again, first on her left cheek then her right. Finally when he pulled back he lowered his hands and placed them against hers that still had a death grip on his chest. “Thank you for telling me.”
Lena couldn’t think of a single thing to say. She’d just come completely undone in front of him. Letting go of his shirt she tried to take a step back, needing to put a bit of space between them. She was so raw right now, so open she knew he could see right inside of her. He let her move back but not far. He kept one of her hands in his but dropped the other. She reached up and wiped her tears away.