Chain Reactions by Lynn Ames

Author:Lynn Ames [Ames, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781936429165
Publisher: Phoenix Rising Press
Published: 2019-02-04T05:00:00+00:00

Brooke regarded herself in the bathroom mirror. Deep purple circles had taken up residence underneath her eyes, which were dull and glassy. You look as though you haven’t slept for weeks.

That was not far from the truth, as she hadn’t slept an entire night through since taking over Nora’s care. Part of her wanted to fall into her own bed now and sleep for a week. The other part of her was grateful Diana accepted her solution and acquiesced to her sleeping on the couch.

Still, the prospect of sharing space, even platonically, with Diana made her pulse race, and that was the problem. She wasn’t interested in a fling. What she wanted with Diana went deeper than that, and, given their rocky beginning, waiting until the emotional dust settled was imperative to ensuring any chance of anything else.

You got yourself into this. Wrestle your libido under control and deal with it. She splashed cold water on her face and wiped it off, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and dabbed on a little perfume. Because you always put on perfume before you go to bed. Yeah, right.

She paused as she passed the open bedroom door. Diana was awake, lying in the bed, hair splayed on the pillow, arms folded on top of the covers. Brooke swallowed hard. The sight of Diana in her bed…

“I’m not on your side, am I? Because if I am and it makes you uncomfortable, I can sleep on the other side—”

“You’re not. On my side of the bed, I mean. I don’t have a designated side. I mean, I don’t have a firm preference. I mean…” She took a deep breath. “I think I should quit while I’m behind.”

Diana’s eyes held mirth. “I get the idea.”

“Thank God.” She wiped her brow in mock relief and motioned to Diana’s empty hands. “What? No journal article to memorize?”

Diana pointed to her empty hands. “What? No book to read?”

“Touché.”

They were quiet for a moment.

“I want to say—”

“I wanted to tell you—”

They spoke at the same time.

“You go first,” Diana said.

“No, you go,” Brooke insisted.

“Okay. These past few weeks have been a blur. Honestly, I haven’t even begun to figure out where to put all of my emotions around Aunt Nora—the missing years, her re-appearance in my life…” She ticked the items off on her fingers. “The one thing I know for sure is that I never could’ve gotten through any of it without you.”

“That’s not—”

“Don’t interrupt me, please.” She propped two pillows behind her and sat up in the bed. “It’s true. You were my green wire—the one who grounded me when I felt untethered. Your compassion, your kindness, your caring, your steadiness… I came to rely on all of those things, and on you. Every day I knew Aunt Nora was in the best possible hands. And every night I looked forward to our exchanges like a kid anticipating her favorite bedtime story. So, thank you. Thank you for being there for me and for Aunt Nora. Thank you for everything.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.