Divine Phoenix by Heather Rainier Read Free Book Online Page A

leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead. “It took a lot of years but you’re home now.” He lingered there perhaps a breath longer than a friendly peck would dictate, and she breathed in his clean, manly scent. The soft stroke of his lips on her skin was comforting and disconcerting all in the same moment.
    “It’s good to be home, Clay.”
    “I have to get to the shop. You focus on resting and I’ll check on you later today.”
    Lily pressed the button to lower the head of the bed and got comfortable. Clay winked before he slipped out of the door, and Lily was surprised that a blush heated her cheeks. This was so foreign to her, to be flirted with like that. Would any of it ever feel normal again?
     
    * * * *
     
     
    Wednesday afternoon, Lily was released from the hospital. She refused adamantly when he tried to lift her into his gray Ford F-150, but allowed him to help her when she saw that her refusal irked him a bit.
    The scent of leather surrounded her, and she felt like a poor, pitiful relation looking around the luxurious, clean interior of the truck. She wondered again at his generosity. Twenty-six years had slipped by without a word of communication between them and they’d picked back up like they’d hardly been apart.
    Lily was mortified when they drove past his parents’ old place and she realized she had yet to ask about them. When she apologized, Clay waved it off. “Mom passed away in 1998 from a massive heart attack. Never knew what hit her. She was healthy as a horse until the day she died. We agreed that was the way she would’ve wanted it. To not be a burden or linger. Dad died in 2004. He had a nasty fall and got pneumonia later that winter. With his asthma, it was more than he could shake off. We were both with him to the end and nothing was left unsaid.”
    Lily smiled, thinking that in the Cook family that had never been a problem. They had always been loving, demonstrative folks.
    “Have you heard from Del?”
    “Not recently but he was talking about retiring from that private military company. I’m hoping he’ll be home sometime soon. His ranch is in need of attention.”
    “He owns a ranch?”
    “Yeah. Out past the river bridge on FM 709. It’s a little place. We inherited it from one of our great-aunts. I wasn’t interested in working it so he bought me out and I got my own house in town.”
    “Your Aunt…”
    “Delbertine,” Clay supplied with a smirk. “She was close to Mom. Remember those little outfits she used to crochet out of that scratchy yarn that we had to wear every Easter?”
    Lily laughed, remembering the sight of Clay and his brother, who was named Delbert after his mother’s favorite aunt, in their little handmade, itchy sailor suits. “It was nice of her to leave you both the ranch, to make up for the embarrassment.”
    “I still have the pictures of us in those outfits somewhere.”
    “Dad saved all of my baby pictures, too. They’re in one of my boxes. I’m sure I have some with the two of you in them. Oh! I remember this street! That oak tree has gotten huge! The house should be—Oh…boy.”
    “Oh, man,” Clay murmured as he turned onto the driveway and parked in front of the garage. They both sat staring.
    “It’s much smaller than I remembered.”
    Her father had told her that the house had seen a succession of renters over the last three decades. A local Realtor had oversight of the property until the last time it was occupied, which was several years before. It had sat vacant since then. She removed the key from her handbag and looked over at Clay. “This does not look like a do-it-yourself project, does it?”
    Clay smiled and said, “Doesn’t matter what we find, Lily. You have a safe place to live. Whatever shape it’s in, we’ll see it through. Sit tight for a second.”
    He climbed from the truck, and this time she let him help her out without comment. The driveway was cracked and in desperate need of resurfacing.