“Sorry. I should’ve warned you first. Relax and let me lift you.”
Oh, hell no!
“No, no, no, you don’t have to do that,” she said with skyrocketing trepidation. “I don’t want you in a back brace for the prom.”
He relaxed his hold at her words, made a disgusted noise, and then moved around in front of her. “I am perfectly capable of lifting you.” He looked offended.
“I’m not skinny like Maggie. Okay? Okay?” she asked, exasperation rising up in her for having to explain.
His frustration showed in the way he gritted his teeth but he didn’t bark back at her. He just gazed at her for a few seconds and then that slow sideways smile that always made a warm knot form in her stomach crossed his lips. Instead of speaking, he took action.
Returning to her side, he curled his arms around her again and lifted her with seemingly little effort and gently placed her in the seat. Now that they were nearly at eye level with each other, he said, “When I think about Maggie, I don’t think how little she weighed. I think about how she talked too much, and too loud, and how controlling she was, how she threw fits for attention. When I’m with you, I’m not worried about how much you weigh. I’m always wondering what you’re thinking behind those beautiful blue eyes. I’m wondering what it would feel like to put my arms around you. And how it would feel to kiss you. I’m not trying to figure out ways to not date you or trying to figure out how to get out of taking you to prom. Tell me what’s really bothering you.”
Noah’s words disarmed her. Her heart pounded as she reached for words to explain and then realized there was no need to sugarcoat it. “I’m going to miss you when you leave after graduation.” She looked down because her eyes stung and she prayed that the tears didn’t form. Don’t be a ninny!
He tipped her chin up with his index finger and mesmerized her with his warm chocolate-brown eyes. “I didn’t brave the gauntlet with your dads to back out on you now, beautiful.” He looked aside for a second and she saw the tension of a fleeting emotion cross his face and then he looked back at her. “And I’ll miss you, too.”
Standing so close to her, his masculine scent—a somehow comforting combination of fresh laundry and his own clean skin—teased her senses and made her heart flutter. He leaned closer, still holding her gaze, and she wondered for a split second if he could hear her heart pounding.
His warm lips brushed across hers, tentative as the touch of a butterfly, as if giving her the opportunity to pull back before returning. He stroked her cheekbone and kissed her once more, his lips brushing against hers with slight pressure and the barest teasing flick of the tip of his tongue. The warm sensation of his touch lingered as he drew back and smiled at her. There was no teasing in his eyes, only sincerity as he said, “I wish we’d had more time.”
Just then she caught a glimpse of her father wheeling her mom out of the first set of automatic doors. “Yeah, my parents are coming,” she whispered breathlessly.
“No, beautiful. I meant I wish we had more than just this spring together before I leave. I’ll be right back.”
“Uh…oh,” she replied, placing a hand to her lips as he backed the wheelchair away from the truck, closed her door, and turned the wheelchair to take it back into the hospital.
Her dad helped her mom into the front passenger seat, lifting her in the same manner Noah had just lifted her. Noah accepted the wheelchair from her dad and took it back in for him before jogging around the truck to the other rear door. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he climbed in and sat beside her.
He had my first kiss all this time.
* * * *
A couple of days after the accident, Ransome waited with Charity and Val as their friend Vincent Elder had a brief, quiet conversation with a nurse in the ICU department. Ransome felt funny about being there, like he was intruding, but Vincent gave them a reassuring nod and led them to the curtained, glass-walled cubicle Patterson was currently in. Vincent’s eyes were bloodshot and tired-looking as he paused and listened through the curtain barrier.
A soft, female voice filtered through the thin fabric, the sound of someone reading aloud. Vincent lowered his eyes and smiled and then he looked up at them. “She’s reading his favorite Zane Grey novel to him.”
Looking ready to start crying, Charity put a hand on Vincent’s forearm as he reached for the opening in the curtain and she whispered, “Vincent, we don’t want to interrupt Leah if she’s spending time with him.” Ransome agreed, especially knowing that Patterson might not make it. He didn’t know Leah well, but the last thing he wanted was to cut into her remaining time with him.