Come Back To Me (18 page)

Cara thanked her and reached for her bag, but James already held it. He snatched up her hand, tugging her toward the stairs. Cara kept her eyes locked on him because if she looked at anyone else, especially her mother, she’d die with embarrassment.

“Every single person knows what we’re about to do,” she hissed.

“Then let’s not disappoint them.” Tossing her suitcase into his old bedroom, James swung her into his arms with a whoop. He kicked the door shut behind him.

∗    ∗    ∗

James had forgotten to bring condoms. They searched through the drawers in his nightstand and came up with a pack that was at least ten years old. Cara stuck her head in a pillow to smother her laughter while James tried to put one on. It ripped in his fingers. Cara laughed even harder at James’ profane response. After two more failures, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close.

“I want you, baby.” His voice sizzled against her ear. “My hand has been a lousy substitute for three fucking months.”

Cara smiled. “Why you poor thing. But what about me?”

“What about you?” His grin grew positively wicked.

Cara reached between their bodies to stroke him. She nibbled on the side of his neck. “There is no substitute for the real thing,” she said, making her point as she tightened her caress, hearing James’ low rumble of pleasure.

He lowered her beneath him on the small single bed, positioning her exactly the way he wanted her. He spread her legs and slid down her body to sample her.

“God you taste like heaven.” He lifted his head for just a moment. “I was beginning to think I’d imagined you.”

Cara couldn’t manage a response. His tongue was persistent, causing her to arch against his mouth again and again as he brought her to one peak after another. By the time James covered her with his body, Cara felt like butter left out in the hot summer sun. She gasped the moment he entered her, the pleasure of his body moving within hers was so intense she nearly screamed. James’ mouth descended upon hers, muffling her cries. He lifted himself on his elbows, withdrawing nearly all the way, driving deep inside her as she thrashed beneath him.

“That’s it, baby, just like that. Come for me again just like that.”

Cara’s eyes locked onto his. “Oh yes.” The rhythm of James’ thrusts brought her to the brink.

He plunged stronger, harder, deeper, practically vibrating inside her, wild with need. His mouth sucked the delicate skin of her neck as her hands clutched at his buttocks, drawing him inside, holding him tight. At last James came, his mouth buried in her hair in an attempt to muffle his roar. It took several minutes for their hearts to stop pounding, for their breathing to slow.

James rolled onto his side, taking Cara with him.

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you.” He smoothed her curls.

“I think you just showed me.”

James’ laughter shook her too. “You’re right about that, honey. I hope you don’t mind, breaking the condoms I mean.”

“Our luck has held so far,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Hey.” They heard a voice from beyond the door. “I’m counting to three and then I’m coming in.” It was William.

Cara ducked her head, as James scrambled to pull a blanket up over them while William counted to three. When he reached three, he flipped open the door, glaring in their direction.

“Shut the door,” James ordered.

William shut it with a bang and strode into the room. Deliberately making a great deal of noise, he pulled a chair out from under James’ old school desk, flipped it around backward and sat facing the bed.

“Look, do I need to call a minister? Are we having us a shotgun wedding? I had to turn the music way up downstairs to cover the noises drifting down the stairs.”

“Will, get the hell out of here.”

“Uh-uh, not until I know your intentions are honorable.”

“You mean not until I ask you to be my best man.”

“Hey, as far as I can tell, I’m the closest thing to a big brother Cara has, and yeah, that too.”

Cara giggled, shaking the bed.

“He’s been harassing me all afternoon,” James muttered under his breath. “Okay, yeah, you can be my best man. Now get out so I can ask her to set the date.”

William didn’t move.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Isn’t there some sort of custom about the best man seeing the bride naked before the wedding?”

Cara let out a shriek from beneath the covers.

“Oh hell no,” James said. “Didn’t you just say you were the closest thing to a big brother she has? Move it or you’ll see me naked when I throw your ass out the door.”

“Jesus, that’s a scary thought.” William unfolded himself from the chair. “All right, I’ll go, but don’t expect me to cover for you for the next two days.” On his way to the door, he turned around again.

“Get out,” James repeated.

“You’re positive there’s not some custom about naked brides and best men?”

James threw something. Cara heard it hit the door.

“Now where were we?” He reached for Cara.

“Setting a date.”

“Later, I’m busy right now.” James lifted the blanket over his head, diving beneath. Cara squealed as his mouth closed around her erect nipple.

Forty minutes later, they descended the stairs. Catching the cockiness in James’ step, Cara held back her laughter. She, on the other hand, felt her face flush with embarrassment.

She disappeared into the kitchen to help James’ mother prepare a light supper while her mother and grandmother conversed with James and William. Cara was delighted to hear her mother ask James questions about his cardiology fellowship. Her mother had changed over the past six months. It was as if she had been offered a second chance and she’d jumped at it.
Like mother like daughter?

For the first time in memory, Cara’s mother wasn’t critical. She didn’t fuss or complain. It made Cara wonder if her parents had been as united in their marriage as they’d seemed. In that instant, Cara remembered David Walker’s accusations about her father and his secretary. She dismissed them once again, refusing to give his words any credence. Her mother seemed happy, she and James were happy, that’s all that mattered.

Cara could hear James and William discussing football and medicine, in that order and she grinned. Another month or so and she’d be living with James in North Carolina. The idea nearly stopped her in her tracks. Cara felt like hugging herself, or maybe pinching herself. She’d never imagined her life could do such a one-eighty. Not in a million years.

T
hree days before Christmas, Cara’s grandmother passed away. She raced home to console her mother and help with the funeral, relieved to find that Phil Jackson was already there.

Cara stayed with her mother through the holiday, worried she’d fall into another depression like she did when Cara’s father died, but instead her mother wanted to focus on the wedding and Cara’s upcoming move to North Carolina. Odd as it seemed to her, Cara felt closer to her mom than she had in her entire life. Her mother, who had never wanted much physical contact with Cara, hugged her tight and kissed her before she left for Iowa City.

She said, “Drive carefully.”

Cara wondered if this was Phil’s doing, but truth be told, she didn’t really care. Her mother’s new and improved attitude caught her off-guard and Cara didn’t quite know how to respond. Dropping her defenses with anyone besides James was not in her repertoire. It felt odd and unnatural to put her arms around her mom. Cara did her best to hide her discomfort, but still . . .

Perhaps her mother had forgiven her for not being the daughter she wanted. Perhaps it was time to forgive her mother for not being the mother she wanted.

Cara mulled it over as she white-knuckled it back to Iowa City on icy roads. She had a lot on her mind, and her stomach churned like crazy. First and foremost, she needed to finish packing and then check on James’ flight. He was supposed to arrive in Chicago the next day, weather permitting. She’d be meeting him at O’Hare and they’d hit the road, driving as far as they could before stopping at a motel for the night.

She’d tried to reach James several times over the past few days, but she’d missed him. Of course she and her mother hadn’t been home much either. She knew this was a busy time for him, especially since he would be taking a few days off to help her move. But James didn’t know about her grandmother unless William had managed to reach him. She’d dropped by the hospital before driving home to tell him what had happened.

As soon as she hit Iowa City, she headed back to the hospital to see if William had heard from James.

∗    ∗    ∗

William paced at the gate. The winds were so bad at O’Hare that James’ plane had been held up several hours in Atlanta. According to the arrival board, the plane had just landed.

When James had called yesterday to find out why he hadn’t been able to reach Cara, William filled him in and made arrangements to pick him up a day early. James didn’t want Cara to be alone. William managed to get the day off, but the drive had been tough, and chances were they’d get back to Iowa City pretty late. He hoped Cara would already be off the road. William didn’t want her driving home in the dark in this kind of weather any more than James did.

To his great relief, James was one of the first passengers off the plane.

He shook William’s hand. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know how you feel. I don’t like the thought of her driving alone in this weather either.”

“Have you heard what time she expected to make it back to Iowa City?”

“No but I imagine she left early. Cara’s no dummy.”

The two men threaded their way through the holiday crowds.

James cleared his throat. “I’ll be glad when the move is over. The separation has been hard on her, not to mention all the work she’s had to complete this semester. I imagine things at home haven’t made it any easier. I was sorry to hear about her grandmother. I wish she’d been able to reach me.”

“She checked in with me at the hospital before she left. She seemed all right.”

“That’s good,” said James. “Where Cara’s concerned, everything happens at once.”

“Yeah, well, don’t worry. You’ll see her in a few hours.”

∗    ∗    ∗

Cara parked in front of the Med Center and headed up to Orthopedics. Will might be in the middle of afternoon rounds, but she could wait. The nurses’ station was crawling with staff, but no Will. Cara managed to attract the attention of one of the nurses, asking if she knew Dr. Donovan. The woman knew who he was, but she didn’t know where he was. For a time Cara stood by the desk, searching for a familiar face. When no one appeared, she gave up and returned to the elevators. As she hit the down button, she felt a presence close behind her and she whirled around. It was Dr. Payne. Startled, Cara gasped.

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Cara wondered when Dr. Payne had learned to use the word
sorry
.

“No.” She put some distance between them. “It’s okay. I was just looking for Dr. Donovan.”

“He’s off this afternoon,” Payne said. “He took the entire day off.”

“Crap,” mumbled Cara.

“Anything I can do?”

Cara looked at him, surprised. This was the first time Ezra Payne had ever spoken to her with any semblance of politeness. He’d been the only fly in her ointment all semester.

For some reason he’d stuck around the cholesterol screening project as a volunteer. Cara was convinced he’d done it just to make her miserable. He spent his time grousing and complaining about her management of the screenings, criticizing and insulting her every chance he got. When William found the time to join them, Payne kept quiet, but William could rarely make it. There were occasions when Cara got the distinct impression Payne was coming on to her. The thought seemed ridiculous since the man so obviously disliked her. He’d loiter near the vans until she climbed inside, then he’d follow her, making his usual snide comments. Several times she’d tried waiting for him to get in first, but he never did. He’d just wait to see which van she was riding in, climb in after her and sit right next to her. It had gotten so bad that Cara pretended sleep the entire way home. She felt sorry for him. Everyone else who worked at the screenings went out of their way to avoid contact with him. Cara tried to cut Payne a little slack. She’d lived on the periphery most of her life too.

Cara snapped back to reality. “No, thank you,” she said. Then she reconsidered. “If you see Dr. Donovan, you can let him know that I’m back and I’ll be in my apartment. I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure. No problem,” replied Dr. Payne. He continued to stand beside her as she waited for the elevator.

“Are you going down?”

“Yes, I’m on my way to the cafeteria.”

They rode the elevator together in an uncomfortable silence. When the doors opened on the first floor, Cara nodded in his direction and headed to the exit.

∗    ∗    ∗

Ezra Payne followed Cara. He watched her get into her car and pull away from the visitor’s lot. He took his time walking to his car parked in the staff lot. He knew where Cara lived. He decided he’d give her some time to relax. There was no reason to rush. William Donovan had gone to pick up James Mackie in Chicago. He’d heard him tell the Chief of Staff early this morning that Mack was flying in and he needed the day off to meet his plane. Considering the weather, Payne doubted they’d make it back before late this evening.