A Reason to Stay (Oak Hollow) by June Stevens, DJ Westerfield Page B

death. Taking a deep breath, his strong masculine scent filling her nose and playing havoc with her senses, Ellie wondered what he would think of her if he knew just how wrong he was. She wondered what he would do if he knew she was crying because of him.
    No, she couldn’t say she was crying because of him. Though it would make her feel better and make all of this easier, she couldn’t put the blame on him. He’d done nothing wrong. That was the whole problem. It wasn’t his fault she’d been stupid enough to fall in love with him.
    Jake held her until her body stopped shaking with sobs and was replaced by the occasional jump of hiccups. Stroking her hair, his voice was soft and soothing as he said, "Feeling better, Sweetheart?"
    Surprisingly, she did. It had felt good to let go and let the tears flow. It had felt even better to have Jake’s arms around her while she did it. It was pretty ironic that the root of her problems was how much she wanted to be in his arms, yet whenever she needed comfort that was exactly where she ended up. Just not in the way she wanted.
    "Now, are you ready for Movie Night? I’ve rented some of our favorites in honor of the last one we’ll have for a while." Jake asked as he squeezed her tighter for a moment, and then let her go.
    Ellie managed a smile and nod, trying to look cheerier than she felt. She felt downright lonely without his arms around her.
    Oh, get a grip Ellie , she chided herself. You’re acting like a lovesick teenager instead of a mature woman who is in control of herself.
    The problem was she didn’t feel very much like she was in control of herself. But she had to get control. Fast. Tonight was the last night she would get to spend with Jake in a very long time, possibly ever. She would not waste it by moping around and pouting over what would never be. She would enjoy their last Movie Night if it killed her.
    They’d been having movie night since their teens. One night a week they got together, watched movies and gorged themselves on take-out. At first Movie Night had been Saturdays, but as Date Night took its place and then they got older and busier, Movie Night became adaptable to their schedules. Once, when they were in college, they’d combined Date Night and Movie Night into one. It had been a complete disaster.
    Their dates hadn’t understood the ritual of renting one gratuitously violent action film and one pitifully sappy romantic comedy, and then talking all the way through both movies. Neither Jake’s, nor Ellie’s date had understood why they would want to rent movies they’d already seen about a hundred times. Nor had either date been impressed by the fact that both Jake and Ellie knew the movies so well they could, and did, say the lines along with the actors. In fact, both had complained so much Jake had shut the second movie off within minutes of its start and took his girlfriend home. Ellie’s date had left just before the end of the first movie. From that night on , dates had been permanently banned from Movie Night.
    Her smile brighter and more genuine this time, she asked, "Pizza or Chinese for dinner?"
     
Chapter Two
     
    Ellie loved Jake’s bathroom. She knew it was an odd room in the house to find the most attractive and comfortable, but she couldn’t help it. The first thing Jake had done when he bought the old farmhouse he lived in was remodel the master bath. It was once dark and cramped, with fixtures that had been there since the early sixties, but now it was huge and light and airy.
    The wall separating the original bathroom from one of the house's five bedrooms had been knocked out in order to expand the bathroom and create a massive walk in closet. A huge tiled shower and a separate roman-style whirlpool tub replaced the old built in shower-tub combo. It could have been the bathroom of a multi-million dollar mansion instead of a hundred-year-old farmhouse.
    She was going to miss this bathroom. Ellie sighed as she poured some