803 Wishing Lane by Shaw Hart
Fifteen
Caroline
I’m just cleaningup and trying to disinfect every square inch of our house when there’s a knock on the door. Gracie is supposed to be dropping off a few things for Charlotte so I don’t think anything of it when I open the door.
My stomach drops when I see Heath standing there, two brown paper bags clutched in his hands.
“Hey,” he says, his eyes drinking me in greedily.
I’m sure that I look like a mess. I’ve been up for almost twenty-four hours with Charlotte. She keeps throwing up and I was so worried about her that I didn’t sleep last night. I just sat next to her bed to make sure she was alright.
I’m still in my pajamas, my hair tangled and twisted on top of my head in a messy ponytail. My hands are full of Clorox wipes and Lysol spray and I shift them to one hand.
“Hey,” I say, self-consciously reaching up to try to fix my messy ponytail.
“How’s Charlotte doing?”
“Um, about the same. She’s sleeping right now,” I tell him.
“I uh, I ran into Gracie and she said she was bringing this stuff over to you, so I volunteered. She was busy with some order at the flower shop.”
“Thanks,” I say, setting the cleaning supplies on the table by the door and reaching for the bags.
“Let me put them in the kitchen for you.”
Heath pushes past me and heads for the kitchen. I frown and follow after him.
“Thanks for bringing these by.”
“Of course.”
“You should leave before you catch what Charlotte has.”
“I need to talk to you,” he says, leaning against the kitchen counter and eyeing me.
“No, you don’t.”
It’s hard enough being in the same room as him. I just want to go to him, to lay my head against his strong chest and let him hold me, let him help me with Charlotte and cleaning up. I can’t, though. I need to take care of Charlotte. She has to be my sole focus right now.
“Yes, I do,” he insists and I cross my arms.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Caroline, I love you. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you got so scared yesterday and dumped me out of the blue.”
“Maybe I just wasn’t feeling it anymore,” I lie.
“Doubt it, considering I was inside of you, like, thirty seconds prior.”
My face flames as I think about the way he took me against my office door.
“Maybe that was just goodbye.”
He doesn’t have an answer for that but I can see the flash of pain in his eyes at my words. I can’t handle that. I don’t want to hurt him. Heath has been nothing but good and kind to me and it’s not fair of me to cause him pain now.
“I need to think about Charlotte right now. She’s my responsibility. I’m all the family she has left and she needs to be my top priority right now.”
Heath studies me for a moment, scrutinizing me.
“That’s just an excuse.”
“No, it’s not,” I say, growing defensive.
“I never wanted to make you choose between Charlotte and me. Even if I did, I would expect you to choose her every time. I just wanted to be a part of your life. I just wanted to be with you.”
“Aunt Caroline?” Charlotte calls and she sounds so weak and miserable that my stomach clenches.
“I can’t do this right now. I have to go.”
Heath nods, seeming disappointed as he turns to go.
“I’ll wait for you, Caroline. You’re the only girl that I’ve ever wanted and soon Charlotte is going to get better and you’re going to realize we were meant to be. Then you’ll come back to me.”
I just stare at him as he steps over the threshold. His gaze holds mine and then he leans down, brushing a kiss against my cheek.
“I’ll wait for you,” he whispers again against my ear and I can’t stop the shiver that skates down my spine.
I want to go to him now. I want to admit that I made a mistake, that I panicked and that I need him, but Charlotte calls for me again and I step back inside.
“Bye, Heath. Thanks for the groceries.”
He nods and I close the front door, leaning back against it for a minute as I try to ease the ache in my chest.
“Aunt Caroline?” Charlotte asks as she stops at the top of the stairs and I force a smile.
“I’m coming, bunny,” I say as I push away from the door and head upstairs to take care of her.
