Almost Like Love(72)

“Let me go talk to Jacob,” he said.

An hour later, having had tea and cookies and met Mr. Burton, Ian was driving south on the Saw Mill Parkway with Kate in the passenger seat. They’d been invited to breakfast the next morning with the Burtons, after which they would take Jacob—and Remeow—back to Manhattan.

It was a quiet drive. Ian’s heart was too full for him to be able to say much. Every so often he glanced at Kate, who was looking thoughtful beside him.

Something had happened to him in that cemetery. It was as though everything inside him had shaken loose from its moorings. And after the dust had settled, all his priorities had shifted.

Things that had once seemed important no longer did. And things he’d once believed he could live without, he now knew he couldn’t.

He pulled up in front of Kate’s building, and the two of them sat in silence for a moment.

He was the one to break it.

“If your answer is no, I’ll understand. But is there a chance you’d consider coming home with me tonight? Not to sleep with me—just to stay with me. I have two guest rooms, and you can have your pick.”

Kate looked at him. “I will if that’s what you want. But why don’t you stay here instead? I have a guest room, too. And I’m ten minutes closer to White Plains,” she added with a smile.

A wave of gratitude filled him. “I’d love to stay here. Thanks, Kate.”

She directed him to the nearest garage, and a little while later the two of them were sitting in Kate’s living room.

They talked about Jacob, and Tina, and Kate’s three brothers. They talked about music and their favorite movies. They talked about Powers, and which actors they thought should voice the different characters.

Kate informed him that he should start getting more comfortable with cats, and as a first step she put Gallifrey in his lap and showed him how he liked to be petted.

At first he just put up with it. But after a while, as Gallifrey settled down and began to purr, he actually started to enjoy it.

“You know, there is something kind of comforting about having a cat on your lap,” he mused.

Kate nodded smugly. “There’s a scientific basis for that. Cats purr within a range of twenty to a hundred and forty hertz, which has proven therapeutic benefits, from lowering blood pressure to promoting bone strength.”

It was at that moment that Ian knew the truth.

He was in love with Kate Meredith.

As he sat there looking at her, it occurred to him that for the rest of his life he’d never be able to forget that cats purr within a range of 20 to 140 hertz.

There was nothing explosive or earth-shattering about the realization. It came gently, softly, almost invisibly.

But it changed everything.

Someday soon, he was going to tell her. But first he wanted a chance to show her that he was a man worth loving.

So when they realized it had gotten late, he didn’t give in to the urge to sweep her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Instead he followed her down the hall to the guest room, thanked her for the spare toothbrush and towels, and said good night.

He shucked his clothes and slid naked between the clean-smelling sheets. Everything in this room made him think of Kate—the comfortable cleanliness, the mix of antique and modern furniture, the pictures on the walls and the books on the shelves.

He fell asleep with a smile on his face.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Kate lay awake for a long time, staring up at the ceiling.

It had happened while Ian was walking across the grass towards Jacob. She’d known exactly how he felt—how much he wanted to say the perfect thing to his nephew, and how certain he was that whatever he said would be the wrong thing.

But she didn’t just know how he was feeling. She knew him.

And she loved him.

She shifted restlessly in bed, curling up on her side with her hands tucked under her chin.

The thought of telling Ian how she felt seemed impossible. She knew she loved him, but nothing else had changed. He was still himself, commitment-shy and emotionally unavailable.

And she was still herself.

She might be more emotionally mature than Ian, but that wasn’t saying much.

She’d been with Chris for the wrong reasons. She’d been with him because it was easy and comfortable and predictable. Not exciting, not challenging, not exhilarating—just simple.

Being with Ian would never be simple.

She wasn’t ready for that—and God knew Ian wasn’t. But right now he was sleeping in her guest bedroom after a day that had wrung his heart and wiped him out emotionally.

And she wanted to comfort him. To be with him.

It would only be for one night, but she could live with that. As her grandmother had always said, right now is all we ever have.