"Yep. You have a choice of Raisin Bran and toast or Frosted Mini Wheats and toast."
"I'll have the Mini Wheats." She started past him, only to be stopped by his hand on her arm.
"Spring, are you all right?" he asked her, intently searching her face. "You look kind of funny."
She lifted an eyebrow. "Did you just call me funny looking?" she asked him in teasing challenge, hoping her smile would fool him.
He chuckled. "Of course not. I just wondered if anything was bothering you."
"I'm always like this when I'm roused from my bed at dawn after a strenuous night to face a breakfast of cold cereal and toast," she assured him airily. "To be followed by a long weekend of sight-seeing with the quintessential tourist."
"We're going to have a great time today," he assured her, looping his arm around her neck. "Trust me."
Trust him? The man who could—and probably would—break her heart? Okay, she'd trust him. For one more week, anyway.
"I love you, Spring," he murmured as they entered the kitchen.
"I love you, too, Clay." She was quite proud that she adequately hid the fact that her heart had already started to break as she spoke.
* * *
During the weekend Spring discovered that she was actually grateful for Clay's fascination with discovering new sights. He kept her much too busy to worry about the following week. They walked and played, climbed and explored, dined and danced until they were both barely able to crawl into bed Saturday evening, too tired even to make love. Though she'd expected to have a perfectly miserable day, she had a wonderful time, finding the fortitude somehow to push her problems to the back of her mind. She was with the man she loved; he was enjoying himself immensely. She couldn't be sad under those conditions. She even slept soundly and dreamlessly, waking to Clay's hand on her thigh, his mouth on her breast. She returned his lovemaking fiercely, determined to wring every ounce of satisfaction from her time with him.
"Spring, are you quite sure there's nothing wrong?" Clay asked her when he'd recovered part of his strength.
"I'm sure," she lied solemnly, kissing his shoulder.
He knew her too well to accept the words so easily, but he seemed to sense her wish for him to drop the subject. Perhaps he, too, wanted to make the most of the remaining week.
"In that case, let's get with it. I want to spend today at Magic Springs Amusement Park," he informed her breezily, climbing out of bed and heading for the shower.
Spring surreptitiously wiped away the tears she hadn't allowed him to see and ordered her mouth to smile. She decided that Summer wasn't the only Reed sister who'd been blessed with dramatic talent.
"Spring?"
"Okay, I'm hurrying," she assured her impatient lover, rushing to join him in the shower.
Chapter Twelve
"So what's Clay doing today? Memorizing the history of central Arkansas? Following the De Soto Trail along the Saline River through Benton? Counting the number of C-130 transport planes on the Little Rock Air Force Base in Jacksonville?" Kelsey grinned as she listed the possibilities on Tuesday afternoon in Spring's office.
Spring shook her head. "He's meeting with a local psychologist he read about in the paper last week. A man who works with troubled kids in their own homes. Clay called him yesterday and they talked for a long time, then set up this meeting for today."
"Got a real talent for meeting people, doesn't he? I couldn't believe how well he fit in at Gordon's on Friday. It was like he'd known the gang for years."
"Yes, he's very good with people." Spring completed a report, signed it and handed it to Kelsey. "There you go. All finished."
"Okay, I'll take care of it." Kelsey paused, frowning a bit, then asked carefully, "Is anything wrong, Spring?"
"No, why do you ask?" The lie was coming easier all the time.
"No reason. It's just that you've looked, I don't know, kind of sad since you came in yesterday morning after your weekend in Hot Springs. I hope you're not having problems with Clay. The two of you seem so good together."
"No, Kelsey, we're not having problems." And they weren't. They were getting along fine. But Clay still hadn't bothered to mention that he was leaving in only a few days. Her hope had slowly dwindled and finally fizzled out completely. If he'd been planning to ask her to marry him and move with him to California, he would surely have done so by now. He was leaving in less than a week.
And still she'd managed to hide her pain from him. She must be a much better actress than she'd ever suspected.
* * *