Page 14 (2/2)
Noelle sed her eh men in her life that a simple touch should not have affected her, but her nerves were shot and her brain was on overload Her more primitive instincts had been su at her to get as close to David as possible He would keep her safe
"Yeah Just tired"
He gave her a look that said he knew she was lying but let it drop anyway "Back away froet when I open it"
Noelle hesitated for only a second before she complied "Do you think someone's out there?"
"Not yet, but I don't want to take any chances"
Before she could argue that it wasn't safe for hione and returned a few seconds later
Noelle breathed out a sigh of relief as he locked the door and went to the kitchen sink to wash his hands
She busied herself by finding a stash of coffee in the freezer and started a fresh pot They were both likely to need the caffeine sooner or later
They sat down to eat with Noelle's makeshift lantern between them It was as inti
Silence filled the roo hiss from the coffeepot Noelle watched David eat his stewdrinks of soda
Noelle ate asfor so they could talk about to break the silence
He glanced at her, then at her bowl "Not hungry?"
"It's not that great," she hedged
'Tastes fine to me, but then I've never been much of a cook I haven't had a decent home-cooked meal since,"
He trailed off, but Noelle knew that he meant since his wife died She wanted to ask him about her, but she could see from the strain in his expression that her death still hurt hiuilt in his eyes and she'd have given anything to see it wiped away
"What was she like?" asked Noelle in a nearly reverent tone Any wo special
David's jaw tensed as if he wasn't going to respond, but after a few minutes, he closed his eyes and said, "Mary onderful" He was silent for a while longer, but Noelle let hi whether or not to share his memories with her "She was a secretary at one of the local ele hoerator was covered with colorful, clumsy, beautiful pictures" A wistful sle one away There were boxes and boxes full of the things After she died I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, either"
Noelle's heart ached for him--for what he'd lost, what he'd never had the chance to have Tears burned her eyes, but she held the that if she cried, David would stop telling her about Mary
"She loved to swim and spent most summers by the pool when school was out Eventually, she started giving swis" His smile war kids et her degree so she could get a job teaching In another year, she would have graduated"
His smile faded and sadness overtook his expression His focus came back to the present and he stared down at his stew "She would have iven up on a single student, no ot"
"She sounds like she was easy to love," said Noelle
"She was It still hurts that I can't be with her I'd have done anything to trade places with her"
Looking into his face, witnessing his grief and the love he still held for his late wife, Noelle felt herself falling for hie, just a little, in love with hi it would only cause her pain, but she couldn't That sliver of love for David was part of her now
Noelle had to clear her throat before she could speak around the lump of emotion that formed "I'm sure Mary wouldn't have wanted you to die in her place"
"No, but at least my death wouldn't have ended her life like her death did et her down for long She was gorgeous Men flocked to her It wouldn't have taken her long to find someone else to love Someone else ould have loved her in return"
"And what about you? Don't you want that? A wife and faht into her eyes, a burning blue light glowing inside hi, but I don't believe in second chances I fucked up Mary died I won't let it happen again with another wo terrorists did"
"She was my wife It washero, I never would have gotten involved with the Swarle men, not men with families That was my mistake"
"So, you didn't deserve to have both a career and a family?"
His"Apparently not"
"You're being too hard on yourself"
"Mary is dead I can't possibly be hard enough on myself to make up for that" He let out a harsh breath "Listen, I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?"