Always and Forever by Soraya Lane Read Free Book Online

the morning and would be out the door faster than him to take the dog out.
    She drew the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “You don’t need to do that. Just go to work and do whatever you had planned.”
    “Lisa, come on,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “This isn’t like you. Let me take you out for lunch or something. Anything.”
    He was lost. He had no idea what he was supposed to do anymore.

    Lisa lifted her head. It felt like it was stuffed with stones, so heavy she could barely lift it. Matt was trying. She got that, and it wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate it; she just wanted to be left alone instead of him constantly trying to fix her.
    He just didn’t seem to get that she was grieving. That she needed time to herself, to process what had happened, to just stare into nothingness and not focus on the pain. Each day felt worse than the one before, not better.
    Matt was sitting on the bed now. He stroked her hand and she stared at his fingers on her skin.
    “Lisa, come on. Let me spend the day with you.”
    “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” she forced out.
    He sighed and stood, arms folded across his chest as he looked down at her. “But I am worried about you. I don’t know what to do,” he said.
    “Could you close the blinds?” she asked.
    He obliged, crossing the room and pulling both blinds shut so the room was bathed in near darkness.
    “Fine. I’ll be home soon, well before dinner,” Matt said, stopping beside the bed and dropping a kiss into her hair.
    She forced a smile. “Okay.”
    When he left, she slumped down, head on the pillow. She wanted to get up and take a shower, but just the thought of it made her feel exhausted. But . . . She listened to Matt’s footsteps, waited until she heard the jangle of his keys, knew he’d head straight out. Once he was gone, she forced her feet out of bed and stared at the bathroom like it was her target. She just needed to get up and get going, and if she didn’t have Matt hovering then she might just be able to get through a day. It was like he was just waiting for her to come back, thinking that he could be all bright and normal and that some of that would rub off on her. Only it didn’t, and as much as she loved him, it was starting to wear her down.
    Lisa showered, brushed her teeth and put some make-up on. She could wear her glasses so no one could see how bloodshot her eyes were, and she didn’t have to talk to anyone, but she did need to get out of the house. She walked down the hall, stared straight ahead and didn’t look at the nursery door. Tears threatened, but she didn’t let them fall. She grabbed an apple from the kitchen along with her keys and went into the garage. Her work was only a short drive away, and within fifteen minutes she was parked and walking through the front door. It was late morning, so it was already open, and she was grateful to see it was her part-timer, Jules, on, not Savannah, her manager.
    “Lisa?”
    She didn’t take her glasses off, just smiled and kept walking.
    “Morning,” Lisa said. “I’m heading into my office to work on my next collection. I’d rather none of the customers knew I was in.”
    “Um, is there anything I can get you? A coffee?”
    Lisa stopped walking, found her smile came easier here for Jules than it did at home when she was trying to be upbeat for Matt. “Yeah, sure. Put a ‘Back in five’ sign on the door and nip down to get me a latte. Grab yourself one, too.” She pulled a note out of her wallet and passed it to Jules. “Thanks.”
    Lisa straightened her shoulders and opened the door to her office, then shut it behind her and went around to her big leather chair. She collapsed into it, loving the way it seemed to mold to her shape almost instantly.
    “Hello, old friend,” she whispered, running her hands across her glass desk top. She pressed the button on her computer screen and looked around at the piles of fabric samples. She opened her