She was so stunned by her private admission that she was surprised to realize she had the capacity to be shocked even further. The branches on the old elm rustled in the stillness of the night, and Marc’s face appeared outside her window.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” Mari whispered when she’d opened the window.
She stepped back as Marc clambered across the sill. Marc tried to suppress his laughter when he met her stare. She’d looked poleaxed when she’d seen his face in the window.
“I couldn’t think of how else to see you.”
Mari made a repressive motion with her hand and walked over to a fan that sat on top of the dresser.
“For God’s sake, why didn’t you just knock on the front door?” Mar
i scolded him.
His amusement faded. He nodded significantly at the fan she’d turned on so that Ryan couldn’t hear them speaking. “You really have to ask me that after what happened today?”
She placed her hands over her eyelids and sat on the edge of the bed. Guilt rushed through him when he realized how fragile she looked. His gaze lowered.
Fragile and beautiful. The little gown she wore left her smooth arms and legs bare and gifted him with the sight of her breasts pressed against very flimsy fabric. He yanked his eyes off the tempting sight of Mari sitting on a bed wearing next to nothing and tried to focus on what was important. She’d almost passed out cold on his mother’s sidewalk today, and here he was gawking at her like a horny teenager.
He sat next to her on the bed. “I had to see if you were okay. I was worried.”
“I’m fine,” she said, sounding exasperated.
“You almost fainted today. What did you find out at the doctor’s? Are you sick?”
He saw her throat convulse. “Dr. Hardy said I was perfectly healthy.”
“Then why did you almost pass out?”
“Is it really that surprising?” she exclaimed, pulling her fingers away from her eyes and meeting his stare. “Your mother doesn’t want me in her house any more than Ryan wants me to be there. This is a stupid, tangled-up mess and I can’t believe I was so dumb as to put myself smack dab in the middle of it. I was an idiot to come back to this town!”
“You’re not an idiot. You’re compassionate and you’re brave. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you.”
She just looked at him, her mouth gaping open in amazement. He resisted an urge to send his tongue through the tempting target of her lush, parted lips. He cleared his throat and forced himself to meet her incredulous stare. “Colleen told me about the center you plan to open for victims and survivors of substance abuse.”
“She…she did?” Mari asked him slowly. “I wanted to be the one to tell you. I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was planning on doing just that, tonight at dinner,” she whispered. “But then—”
“Ryan came home.”
Mari nodded. When he saw how dull her usually brilliant eyes looked, he pulled her into his arms. She held herself stiff at first, but as he stroked her back, he felt her muscles begin to mold against his body. He didn’t think she was crying, but he sensed she needed comforting, nonetheless. He felt a measure of satisfaction when her arms surrounded his waist.
It must have been a hell of a day for her.
Neither of them spoke for a minute or two, but he had never been more aware of another human being in his life. He held her against him, all the while thinking of her saving that lawsuit money got for all those years and slowly coming up with the plan for The Family Center.
He nuzzled her temple, inhaling the fresh, citrus scent of her hair, urging her to lean back and look at him. She complied. He stared down at her lovely face, glad to see some of her typical vitality had returned to her eyes.
“All these years, I thought maybe you’d forgotten Harbor Town.”
“How could I ever forget this place?” she whispered. “It was the place where I’d been the happiest I’ve ever been in my life…and the saddest. It was the place where I’d lost the most.”
He kissed her softly. Her lips felt warm and responsive beneath his.
“And you came back to try and make some sense out of it all,” he said next to her mouth a moment later. “To give some purpose to a random, meaningless act that should never have happened.” He shook his head slightly, still half in awe. “You’re incredible, Mari.”