Captain Of Her Heart Ch. 15

"Oh, God! Oh, God, Tawnya! Wake up!" My head was aching enough without the added yelling. I moaned and tried to sit up. "No, honey! Don't move!"

"Let me up. I'm okay." I sat up slowly, fighting the urge to vomit and scream at the same time and I didn't realize that Alisa was crying until I looked over at her. "Hey, I'm okay."

"Don't touch me." She whispered, turning her back to me. "I'm so mad at you!"

I didn't understand what she was mad about but I decided not to say anything. I rubbed the back of my head and was happy not to find any blood, just a lump that looked like an Indian mound. I stood slowly and balanced myself on a stack of boxes, waiting for the vertigo to go away and I suddenly remembered what had happened. I turned to the trunk, staring at the sweaters that were still left.

"Alisa, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I don't know why you're upset but I'm sorry, okay?"

"You don't know why I'm upset? You leave me in a bubble bath and you don't know why I'm upset?"

"No, I don't. I thought you wanted me gone. I just saved you from doing the hard work."

"Oh, my God!" Alisa whirled on me, her green eyes angry. "You are just as stupid as some guys I've dated!"

Oh, God! My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach. "I ... I don't understand."

"Let's talk about this at home. What are we going to do about this?"

I turned back to the trunk and lifted out the brick-red sweater that was still tucked under the pictures. The fire-engine red sweater was gone and the maroon sweater was half-in, half-out of the trunk. Only Daddy and I knew the reason that the brick-red sweater was my favorite. The year he got the sweater was the year I got my first box of 64 crayons and brick-red was included. I colored the white instruction tags on the inside of the sweater, telling Daddy that they didn't match. He laughed and wore the sweater to work, smiling as he saw the crayon-stained tags. That was why it was my favorite and it was still here.

I took both sweaters out and was surprised to find an envelope tucked into each of the sweaters. Both were identical copies of the old will except that the one in my sweater was correctly signed by Dad with his real name, Winslow. The other was signed Reggie. I pushed the real one back into the envelope and pulled the door down, locking it.

We left immediately, heading to my hotel room and she sat down on the bed, her beautiful eyes red and her cheeks wet. I put my keys and the will on the nightstand then walked around to her, kneeling at her feet, my hands on her knees.

"Alisa, talk to me."

"Maybe I should say the same thing to you." She sniffled, staring at me, her voice soft and broken. "Why did you leave?"

"I thought you were going to break up with me."

"How ... where did you get that idea?"

I shook my head, looking down. I really was a stupid idiot. Really stupid. "I was wrong?"

"You were very wrong."

"I'm sorry, Alisa. I'm just ... "I looked up into her soft eyes. "I'm terrified."

She touched my cheek, her eyes growing silvery again. "Don't you think I am, too?"

I pulled her to me, my head against her stomach and we remained that way for a long time, each crying in turns as we each came to the realization that we had found the person we wanted to be with, that we were willing to let go of our lonely existences and risk our hearts. We'd stepped up another level and so quickly in the short span of our relationship that my head was spinning. I now understood that hers was as well but that she didn't want to end things between us, she wanted to make them solid.

"Do we have to stay here?" She asked quietly and I shook my head.

"No."

"Good." She pushed my head back, smiling down into my eyes. "I want you to take me home and make love to me."

Her stomach growled and we both laughed. "Sounds like another part of you wants the attention first."

"I haven't eaten since yesterday."

I knew why she hadn't eaten. Because of me. I stood up, pulling her with me and gave her a soft kiss that deepened into a passionate give-and-take of two people in love. In love. Those words hit me like bricks and I pulled back, looking into her eyes. In love. I was aching to tell her, to say what was in my heart ...

"Come on. Let's go."