“Thelma,” Noah murmured in his sleep. “Don’t. Please.”
Callie sat up, shifting Noah’s body a little more off her and onto the oversize chaise. She looked down to his tortured face, his brows drawn together, his jaw clenched.
“No,” he cried. “Don’t worry.”
Callie shook his shoulder. “Noah. Noah, wake up.”
He muttered something else she couldn’t quite make out and the intense look on his face tore at Callie’s heart.
Shaking him harder with one hand, Callie tapped at his cheek with her other. “Noah. You’re dreaming.”
His lids fluttered open, his eyes darted to hers, held there, and then he closed his eyes again.
“Damn,” he whispered.
Callie wasn’t sure how to proceed on this shaky ground, but she wasn’t backing down.
“Care to tell me what just happened?”
Noah shook his head, running a hand down his face. “Just dreaming about Thelma.”
Callie nodded. “I got that. Who is she to you?”
His gaze met hers. “She’s the lady at the assisted-living facility I visit.”
Noah got up, walked naked through the room and rummaged around to find his pants, using only the pale glow of the distant city lights cutting through the windows.
Callie eased back on the chaise, hoping he’d elaborate more, needing to understand why this woman who wasn’t even a blood relative was in his nightmares.
“So, how does she have such a hold on you?”
Noah pulled up his dress pants, leaving them unbuttoned, and rested his hands on his hips. Callie watched as he struggled with himself. He lowered his head between his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s a long story, Callie, and one I’m just not comfortable getting into.”
Hurt filled her, tugging at her heart she’d so freely given to him.
“I’d like to think we are here for each other, Noah. I want to help, but you won’t let me in.”
He turned to face her, that look of torment still all over his face. “If I could let anybody in, Callie, it would be you.”
Callie came to her feet. That declaration was bittersweet. She knew he wanted to open up, but something in his past simply wouldn’t let him, and he was hanging on to whatever it was that was not healthy for him or this relationship they were starting.
“Can I come with you?” she asked, placing her hands on his shoulders.
“To see Thelma?”
Callie nodded. “She’s obviously very important, Noah. I’d like to be there for you.”
“That’s not a good idea,” he told her.
“Why not?”
His hands slid around her waist. “Because she’s confused. She won’t know who you are.”
“If she’s got Alzheimer’s, then she won’t even remember I was there.” Callie squeezed his shoulders and slid her hands up to frame his face. “I want to be there for you, Noah. You’ve done so much for me. Please, let me do this for you.”
His lips softly slid over hers before he leaned back and smiled. “Can you go tomorrow?”