Chapter 20：Ch 20: Toast and tea?

CHAPTER 3

When she awoke the next morning, he was gone. There was an indent of his head in the pillow to remind her that he was there.

Lifting herself, she leaned over and inhaled his scent causing heat to well up in the pit of her stomach.

Unreal, how he could affect her when he wasn't even in the room. Crawling out of bed, she made her way to the bathroom to shower.

Even though it was Saturday, she was sure it was a workday for him. Sure enough, he was dressed in a tailored dove grey suit and dark tie when she came down to breakfast.

His hair was still slightly damp letting her know that he had a shower too.

He looked wonderful in every possible sinfully delicious way. She took a deep breath and approached the dining table while he was reading a folded newspaper and sipping coffee.

He glanced up. Her chest tightened when he gave her a generous grin showing his straight white even teeth.

She returned in the same even tone he gave her not wanting to show him how much his presence affected her and how disappointed she was that he didn't seem even the least bit excited as she was to see him. Miss Bennett appeared at that moment asking her what she'd like.

When she told her, she looked indignant, "Toast and tea? No wonder you're so thin." She sputtered with disproval before leaving. "She's right Abigail. You do look thin." She spun around to see that she took precedence over his newspaper again. "I know."

She answered truthfully, "The past few months have been hard on me." "Understandable." Setting down the paper and his coffee, he stood up and pulled out the chair next to him, "Come and sit down. I have to leave for work in a few minutes, but I want to talk to you first."

It was a far cry from the tenderness he'd shown her last night. She sighed; he was back to his cool, calm and collected self, talking to her as if they were discussing the weather, whereas she wanted to crawl into his lap. "Sure."

She took the seat folded her hands on her lap, and gave him her full attention. It took a great deal of courage to look at him after they'd shared the same bed last night, but she couldn't let him know that it had left her so shaken.

"I just want to know what you intend to do about the house?" he asked She was surprised at the question.

"I never thought about it." she should have known that Owen had, he always was good at seeing everything despite tragedy.

He didn't get where he was by having tunnel vision. He reached over and took her hand, "There's something you should know." He paused studying her expression for a moment, "Joseph gave me power of attorney over his estate."