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Authors: Rebecca Royce
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twenty minutes farther down the road to another pediatrician and the new doctor's office smelled like lemon disinfectant. It used to make me sneeze."
Ace nodded. "That's why you clean with those "green" disinfectants. I've seen it on your show."
"Wow." Her smile was wide. "You really are a fan."
"Um . . . ." He half-sighed, half-chuckled. Damn, he felt really uncool at the moment. "I think it's clear here, Alice, that someone who knew about those dreams is behind this."
She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the headrest. "I was afraid you were going to say that."
"You had to have realized that when this began." She was too smart to have been so dense about this.
She nodded and opened her eyes. For a moment, they glistened with unshed tears. She appeared to struggle for composure, and he reached out to stroke the side of her cheek. Her skin was so soft, like cotton under his fingertips. She smiled and closed her eyes again. One large tear fell and before he could stop himself he unhooked her seatbelt and tugged her over the center console and into his arms.
She clung to his shirt as she silently sobbed. "I never cry."
He nodded as he kissed the top of her head. "I know."
"How do you know?"
"You're too tough a woman to resort to hysterics. Even somebody as dense as me can see that."
She laughed even as she sobbed. "I've cried more in the last two days than I have in years."
"I won't tell."
"Oh, Ace." She pulled back, regarded him, her big brown eyes huge. "My family is so fucked up."
Wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, he kissed the top of her nose.
"We need to go see your Mom, don't we?"
"Unfortunately. But it's going to take time to get there. Maybe we should call instead. It's hours on a plane."
"Where does she live?"
She sniffed and wiped her nose. "Florida."
"We'll be there in no time." He handed her the blindfold. "Put this on. I'll take the car back home and then we'll fly there."
"You have a plane?"
"Powers, Inc. has one. But I have something better than that. I have me."
Besides, it would give him a reason to hold her close for a little while longer without her getting uncomfortable about being vulnerable. Just a little more time until he had to give her up and pretend he hadn't held the object of his personal fantasy in his arms. Just a little more time until he solved her problem and she forgot him forever.
Chapter Six
Alice hadn't been home in six years. Well, she didn't really consider her mother's house home , she amended the thought as they touched down on the ground. She hadn't been raised in this particular place. Her mother had moved to Florida about a decade ago, which meant Alice had been living on her own for six years when the woman who'd raised her moved here.
Sarasota was beautiful, and she could understand why any number of people would love to live there. But not her mother. Alice doubted the woman, in her entire existence, had ever enjoyed the beach. It was possible her mother didn't own a bathing suit even.
In fact, Dora Styles treated the whole house as if she had simply uprooted her life in West Virginia and dropped it into Sarasota. The same garden elves that had decorated her front yard still stood guard on this one. She was sure the Christmas lights that hung from the gutters had been ripped from her childhood home and restrung here. Even the welcome mat with the cat licking its paw had to be twenty years old. It was bizarre to Alice. As if someone had taken her entire childhood and dropped it down on the west coast of Florida.
"This is it?"
Yes, this was it. "That's right. My mother lives here."
But not Alice because Alice had never even been asked to visit, let alone invited to move in. Maybe it was unreasonable to think she should have been. She had, after all, been on her own for a long time and seemingly independent. Alice, however, had always known that the slight on her mother's part was intentional.
Dora never missed an opportunity
Ace nodded. "That's why you clean with those "green" disinfectants. I've seen it on your show."
"Wow." Her smile was wide. "You really are a fan."
"Um . . . ." He half-sighed, half-chuckled. Damn, he felt really uncool at the moment. "I think it's clear here, Alice, that someone who knew about those dreams is behind this."
She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the headrest. "I was afraid you were going to say that."
"You had to have realized that when this began." She was too smart to have been so dense about this.
She nodded and opened her eyes. For a moment, they glistened with unshed tears. She appeared to struggle for composure, and he reached out to stroke the side of her cheek. Her skin was so soft, like cotton under his fingertips. She smiled and closed her eyes again. One large tear fell and before he could stop himself he unhooked her seatbelt and tugged her over the center console and into his arms.
She clung to his shirt as she silently sobbed. "I never cry."
He nodded as he kissed the top of her head. "I know."
"How do you know?"
"You're too tough a woman to resort to hysterics. Even somebody as dense as me can see that."
She laughed even as she sobbed. "I've cried more in the last two days than I have in years."
"I won't tell."
"Oh, Ace." She pulled back, regarded him, her big brown eyes huge. "My family is so fucked up."
Wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, he kissed the top of her nose.
"We need to go see your Mom, don't we?"
"Unfortunately. But it's going to take time to get there. Maybe we should call instead. It's hours on a plane."
"Where does she live?"
She sniffed and wiped her nose. "Florida."
"We'll be there in no time." He handed her the blindfold. "Put this on. I'll take the car back home and then we'll fly there."
"You have a plane?"
"Powers, Inc. has one. But I have something better than that. I have me."
Besides, it would give him a reason to hold her close for a little while longer without her getting uncomfortable about being vulnerable. Just a little more time until he had to give her up and pretend he hadn't held the object of his personal fantasy in his arms. Just a little more time until he solved her problem and she forgot him forever.
Chapter Six
Alice hadn't been home in six years. Well, she didn't really consider her mother's house home , she amended the thought as they touched down on the ground. She hadn't been raised in this particular place. Her mother had moved to Florida about a decade ago, which meant Alice had been living on her own for six years when the woman who'd raised her moved here.
Sarasota was beautiful, and she could understand why any number of people would love to live there. But not her mother. Alice doubted the woman, in her entire existence, had ever enjoyed the beach. It was possible her mother didn't own a bathing suit even.
In fact, Dora Styles treated the whole house as if she had simply uprooted her life in West Virginia and dropped it into Sarasota. The same garden elves that had decorated her front yard still stood guard on this one. She was sure the Christmas lights that hung from the gutters had been ripped from her childhood home and restrung here. Even the welcome mat with the cat licking its paw had to be twenty years old. It was bizarre to Alice. As if someone had taken her entire childhood and dropped it down on the west coast of Florida.
"This is it?"
Yes, this was it. "That's right. My mother lives here."
But not Alice because Alice had never even been asked to visit, let alone invited to move in. Maybe it was unreasonable to think she should have been. She had, after all, been on her own for a long time and seemingly independent. Alice, however, had always known that the slight on her mother's part was intentional.
Dora never missed an opportunity
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