Read Online The New Hope Cafe by Dawn Atkins - Free Book Online Page B

seeing stars.”
    “I’m sorry, but I didn’t expect to see you…like that.” She
waved her fingers at his bare chest.
    “Same here.” He looked her over like he could see straight
through her dark silk robe to her cami and shorts and beyond. She clutched the
lapels, but the idea gave her a charge that wasn’t exactly unpleasant.
    He touched his head gingerly. “There’s a lump.”
    “Guess I disrupted you again.”
    “You did.” He shot her a smile, his teeth flashing white in the
dim room. She liked making him smile. It felt like a prize.
    “Didn’t mean to. I came for water, I swear.” She held out the
pills as proof.
    “I’m almost finished, if you want to wait.”
    “Sure it’ll be safe? I’m serious. I don’t want you to lose a
body part.”
    “If I keep my eyes where they belong, I should be okay.”
    Oooh. Another zing flew through
her. She was almost used to the feeling.
    Cara sat. On the table was a footstool with clamped legs that
Jonah must be repairing.
    There was something natural and homey about waiting while Jonah
did a household chore. The silence settled around them, except for the clucking
of Rosie’s chicken clock. Cara didn’t feel her usual compulsion to fill the void
with words. Something about Jonah Gold slowed her down, steadied her.
    She almost felt safe with him. That was an illusion, of course.
She’d felt safe with Barrett and he’d turned out to be the most dangerous man
she ever hoped to meet. You had to find safety for yourself, on your own
terms.
    She was glad neither of them had turned on the overhead light.
It would be like the blast of a car horn on a quiet night.
    There was plenty of light to see the way Jonah’s pectorals
quivered, his abdominals tightened and his biceps swelled as he twisted and
hammered and pried. Cara couldn’t help but sigh. In a few minutes, he emerged,
crouched, reaching up to turn on the faucet. Checking for leaks, she
assumed.
    There was something extremely sexy about a man’s back. Was it
the shape? The rolling muscles? The taper to the waist? She wasn’t sure, but
Jonah’s was mouthwatering. She was glad he couldn’t see her staring.
    Then he turned and caught her. Their eyes locked. Cara darted
her gaze to the side, totally mortified.
    He cleared his throat. “So…that’s got it.”
    “Great. Good job. Glad you finished.” What was she going to do,
sign his work order?
    Jonah put away his tools, washed up, then fixed two glasses of
ice water. He handed her one, ice tinkling musically, then sat across from her.
She took her pills. When she finished, she caught him staring at her. He shifted
his gaze to the footstool.
    “You’re repairing that?” she asked.
    “It’s crap—laminate over plywood—but it was Eddie’s, so it’s a
treasure to her. I’ve offered to custom build anything she wants, but
no....”
    Cara smiled. “She was talking about Eddie after supper.
Something she said really hit me. She said he loved her like she was worth it
and after a while she felt like she was.”
    Jonah was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice
was soft in the darkness. “You ever have that?”
    She’d never talked about her marriage to anyone. Not really.
The clock marked the seconds with soft clucks. In this dark kitchen, with this
quiet, thoughtful man, she wanted to.
    “At first, I thought so. But it was a trick.” She paused. “I
was only eighteen when we married. I didn’t know much.”
    “That’s young.”
    “I would have waited, but he was already twenty-eight and he
wanted to start a family, so I went along.” She went along with everything, too
timid, too uncertain of herself to disagree.
    “Did you love him?”
    “I thought I did. I admired him. He was brilliant and
accomplished. I was flattered that he chose me.” Barrett had seemed to adore
her, so she hadn’t minded when they stopped going out with other couples, when
he discouraged her from making her own friends. After Beth Ann came, it