Blind Faith (6 page)

“It’s very nice of you to offer but I…uh…I’m meeting a friend for dinner so I’m afraid you’re on your own tonight.”

“Oh.
 
Tomorrow then.
 
I’ll even stop at the store and get the makings for a salad.”

“I’m sorry, Will, tomorrow is out too.
 
I promised my parents I
would
have dinner with them.”
 
She rose from the table and carried her coffee cup and plate to the sink.
 
“Actually, I’ll probably spend the day over there so you’ll have the house to yourself.”

Will finished drying the cup he’d used and put it in the cupboard then propped himself against the counter, studying the faint lines of tension on Serena’s face.
 
He wasn’t fooled for a minute
,
but if she wanted to pretend they hadn’t shared something special last night there wasn’t much he could do.
 
Still, he couldn’t let Serena retreat to that solitary place she’d kept herself
in
for the past seven years or they
would
be back to square one.
 
He waited until she finished cleaning her dishes and had gone to stand by the backdoor while Rufus did his business before moving away from the counter to stand a few feet behind her.

“So, who’s your friend?”

“My friend?”

“The one you’re going to dinner with tonight,” Will reminded her.

Serena’s shoulder’s visibly stiffened.
 
“Oh…she works at the school with me.
 
I don’t think you know her,” she added hastily.

“I might.
 
I
did
grow up in this town, you know.”

“She’s not from around here and doesn’t know very many people so I thought it would be nice to have a girl’s night out and make her feel welcome.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you.
 
Which restaurant are you going to?”

“We…haven’t really decided
.  I
was thinking Mancini’s or maybe Cordova’s.”
 
Serena opened the back door and called for Rufus.
 
“It’s about time, you silly dog,” she said as Rufus brushed by her.
 
“I
have
to run or I’ll be late.”

She scurried past him before Will could ask any more questions, not that she would have given him a straight answer anyway.
 
He’d bet his right arm she wasn’t meeting anyone for dinner, and he was fairly certain her parents weren’t expecting her tomorrow either.
 
Why was she fabricating stories instead of just saying she didn’t want him interfering with her life?
 
Or maybe in a roundabout way, that’s the message she was trying to convey.
 
It didn’t really matter.
 
Will had no intention of letting Serena push him out of her life.
 

True, she was making it more of a challenge
,
but he hadn’t expected it to be easy anyway.
 
Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Serena wasn’t afraid to be around him because she didn’t trust him; she was afraid because she
did
trust him.
 
All she needed was time and patience, and Will had plenty of both.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                       
***

He knows you were lying.

All day long, that thought kept rattling around inside her head and she felt worse each time it did.
 
She should have owned up to the truth and told him she wasn’t ready for the type of closeness they
had
shared the night before…except, a part of her didn’t want to close the door on it either.
 
Serena liked having someone to talk to, she just didn’t like how vulnerable she’d felt afterwards.
 

Coward.

Okay, so she was a pathetic, spineless coward for lying to Will just so she could avoid spilling her guts to him again.
 
And she was even more pathetic for spending a Friday evening hiding out in the library when she could be home relaxing while Will made them both dinner.
 
Serena’s stomach made a little rumble of protest when she started thinking about the nice, juicy steak Will was probably grilling for himself right now.
 
Her dinner was still in a paper bag on the table she was sitting at; half of a roast beef sandwich she’d picked up at the deli a few blocks from the school.
 
She’d stopped just outside the little sandwich shop and fed Rufus his half of the sandwich before they walked another two blocks to the library
,
but she hadn’t been hungry at the time so she’d left her portion in the bag.
 

She supposed she should take it outside and eat it, if for no other reason than to keep her stomach from grumbling, but she couldn’t seem to motivate herself to do it.
 
Maybe she was punishing herself for not going home and having dinner with Will, not that she hadn’t beaten herself up about it enough already.
 
Serena’s fingers found the button on her wrist watch and pressed it to make the glass covering spring open then lightly brushed one fingertip across the face.
 
A small frown tipped the corners of her lips when she discovered it was only six-thirty, which meant she
would
have to stay here another two and a half hours until the library closed.
 

She snapped the cover back in place with a heavy sigh then tilted her head as a familiar scent slowly filled her senses; sandalwood aftershave mingled with the fresh scent of soap, the same kind that Will used.
 
Serena’s pulse spiked
,
and for a few breathless moments
,
she was caught up in a surge of happiness before she realized it couldn’t possibly be him.
 
If Will was going to a library
,
it would be the medical library on campus, not the small public one she was at.
 

Disappointment sliced through her, along with a healthy dose of self-reproach.
 
It was her own fault that she was sitting here alone when she could have been enjoying Will’s company, and had no one to blame but herself for the time she
would
have to spend at her parent’s house tomorrow.
 
After a few hours of being suffocated by her mother’s constant pampering she
would
be ready to pull her hair out.
 
How was she supposed to survive being there the whole day?
 
At least when she lived there, she could escape to
her bedroom but she wouldn’t be able to do that now or
it would
hurt her mother’s feelings.
 

On the floor beside her, Rufus let out a pitiful whimper.
 
“I know what you mean,” she whispered, reaching down to stroke his head.
 
“I’m not any happier about this than you are but I’ve made my bed and now I have to lay in it.
 
Sorry, buddy, I know you miss him too
,
but I’m afraid you’re along for the ride whether you like it or not.”

Rufus lifted his head and there was a succession of muffled thumps as his tail hit the carpeted floor.
 
Serena slowly straightened up, unaware that she was holding her breath until her lungs started to burn.
 
There was only one person who could trigger that kind of tail wagging response in Rufus; the same person who sent her own emotions spiraling out of control.
 

“Will?”
 
She heard the chair between her and Rufus being pulled back and couldn’t quite contain her smile when he replied with a soft chuckle.
 
“What are you doing here?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that question?
 
What happened, did your friend bail on you?”

“Yes…no…I mean…” Serena hesitated for a moment before blurting out the truth.
 
“I made it up, all of it.
 
I didn’t make plans to have dinner with a friend…in fact, she doesn’t even exist.
 
I just said that because I didn’t want to have dinner with you…no, that came out all wrong…”

Will’s hand closed over hers.
 
“It’s okay.
 
You don’t have to explain anything.
 
I thought about it after you left this morning and came to the conclusion you fabricated the whole story because you were confused about what happened last night.
 
Listen Serena, I realize how difficult it is for you to open up, especially to a man, but trying to outrun your own emotions isn't the answer.
 
 
 
Eventually they're going
 
catch up with you.”

“Now you sound like Rose,” she said with a groan.

“You should listen to her; Rose is a very smart lady.”

“Don’t you mean pushy and overbearing?”

“That too,” he agreed.
 
“And now, Miss Cross, you have to make a very important decision.”

“Will, I…need time,” she started but he cut her off.

“I’ll give you two minutes.
 
You can stay here and brown bag it like poor Rufus had to do, or you can come home with me and have a delicious steak dinner.”

“Steak sounds much more appealing…wait a minute,” her voice was suspicious, “how did you know Rufus ate half my sandwich?
 
Will Duncan, were you following me?”

“Of course not,” he sounded genuinely offended.
 
“I just happen to be sitting outside the school when you left, and by sheer coincidence was driving this way.”

“Hmmmm, that was over two hours ago.
 
What made you come back?”

“Well, I…uh…didn’t exactly leave.
 
You see, I dropped in to get a book on…” he glanced around at the rows of books, desperate for a plausible subject when Rufus nudge
d
Will’s leg with his nose.
 
“Golden Retrievers,” he said with a note of triumph.
 

“Really?
 
You must have discovered quite a lot if you spent two hours browsing books about them.”

“Yes, it was pretty fascinating stuff.
 
Did you know they originally came from Ireland…
?”

“Scotland, you mean?”

“Ireland, Scotland, whatever.
 
They have an instinctive love for water, which is why they’re such good hunting dogs, and they’re very intelligent.
 
Oh, and they are
extremely
loyal to their owner.”

Serena arched a brow.
 
“So…based on what you read, Golden Retrievers are more of a one man, or woman, dog?”

“Definitely,” he said with conviction.

“And being so loyal to one person would also make them superb guard dogs then because they
would
naturally be suspicious of strangers?”

“Yes, I’m sure several of the books mentioned they make excellent guard dogs.”
 
He eyed Rufus who didn’t seem the least bit concerned there were half a dozen people milling around the aisles.
 
“Or not,” he mumbled under his breath.

Serena made a clicking noise with her tongue.
 
“You didn’t even look at any of the books on Retrievers, did you?
 
If you had, then you
would
know they make horrible guard dogs because they
are
too trusting and gentle and are usually as amiable to strangers as they are to their owners.”

“Uh
,
oh, busted.
 
Okay, I admit I didn’t browse the canine aisle
,
but I
did
read the entire swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.”