Till There Was You by Lilliana Anderson, Wade Anderson Page B

time?”
    “Just get in,” he grumbled. “He’s not a light dog,” Linc said, feeling glad his jeans were fairly tight. Her groping had woken a certain appendage that didn’t have the same restraint Linc’s mind did.
    Following her inside, Linc walked over to the area he had prepared for Shade that morning and set him down amongst some soft, warm blankets.
    “Lily?” he called, frowning after he turned around and didn’t see her in the living area.
    “Yes?” came the querying reply.
    “Where are you?” Moving into the kitchen to prepare some food for Shade, he set out the painkillers Tim had given him and scanned over the instructions.
    “I’m snooping,” she called out—another helpful response from somewhere deeper in the house.
    After taking care of Shade’s needs, he left him resting before going in search of Lily.
    “I’m beginning to regret this whole friends thing already,” he stated, moving from room to room until he found her resting against the doorframe to the main bedroom, looking in envy at the massive four-poster bed.
    “It’s still here,” she said with a wistful smile as she walked up to the ornately carved mahogany and ran her fingers over the design.
    “You’ve been here before?”
    Nodding, she continued around the antique bed, touching the pale blue drapery ornately twisted around the curtain railing. “My dad brought me out here once. He was helping Ruth with the fireplace one Christmas, and I spent the time exploring.” She glanced at Linc, smiling at her memory of the woman who owned the place. Linc knew the story behind the cabin. It had been in Ruth’s family for many years. She was Canadian by birth but had moved out to Australia with her family as a teenager. She had tried to make it back to Canada every year, but after she married and had a child, her visits became more sporadic. When her husband left her with a young son to take care of, she contemplated moving back permanently, but had told Linc that while she loved the cabin and the quiet life it offered, Australia had become her home. As the years went on, life with a teenage boy became more about stability and her visits were sporadic until she stopped traveling back to Canada all together. Now she stayed in Australia to be close to her son. There was no way she could leave him.
    Lily turned in a slow circle before moving about the room. “This was my favorite room. I thought it should belong to a princess.” Stopping at the headboard, Lily’s hand reached down and touched the cover of the old book that sat on the nightstand. “Pride and Prejudice?” she asked with a smile.
    “Don’t.” His heart leaping into his throat, Linc practically sprinted toward her to stop her from picking it up. But the glint in her eye told him she was oblivious to his plight and thought catching him with the most revered romance novel of all time sitting beside his bed was too good for her to look past.
    Turning her back to him, she laughed and clutched it to her chest. “After the ribbing you gave me over liking trashy romance,” she said, holding it out of his reach as she opened the cover.
    “Lily,” he warned, but she didn’t seem to understand and was treating this as some sort of game.
    “There’s an inscription,” she noted, pulling the book in closer to focus on the words. Linc knew what they said. He’d written them, and in the last year, he’d read them and every word in that book over, and over, and over again.
    For my dearest Rachel.
    Forever and always yours,
    Lincoln
    “Please,” he whispered, immediately reaching out and taking the book from her hands. He’d wanted to get it before she saw that—before she knew. But from the look of sorrow clouding her green eyes, he knew he was too late.
    “I’m sorry.” Her tone was hushed as she watched him carefully close the book, then set it back by the bed where it had been before he reverently touched the gilding on the cover.
    Linc had to clear his