Free Take a Deep Breath (Lake of the Pines) by Shar Dimick Page B

to see her,
but she’d already gone home with her parents. After that he’d been too
embarrassed to contact her. That was one of his biggest regrets.
    Cam shrugged off the memories of the past as he jogged the
last few feet up the incline to the lookout area. A sudden feeling of déjà vu
came over him as he rounded the corner and saw Liv, the woman, sitting on the
bench. She looked so peaceful, her face uplifted to the glimmer of sun that’d
just peeked out from under the clouds. Simply looking at her made him feel
things he knew he didn’t have a right to.
Damn
, he thought,
so
much for avoiding her. She’s married to another man. Be careful.
His mind
a tangle of thoughts and feelings, he almost turned back before she saw him.
Too
late.
Upon hearing his footsteps, she turned toward him and met his eyes.
What
the hell,
he thought, throwing caution aside. He slowed to a stop and gave
her a slow, sexy smile.

Chapter Six
     
    For the first time in months, Liv fell asleep as soon as her
head hit the pillow. The restless tossing and turning she’d struggled with
night after night suddenly disappeared as quickly as it came and she slept
soundly through the night. Sunlight flooded in through her eastern-facing
window and spilled over her. Liv rolled over and sighed. The clock on the
dresser read 6:09 AM. Smiling, her first thoughts were of Cam. Seeing him the
night before brought all the old feelings she had for him rushing back. He
really hadn’t changed much. Sure he’d gotten older, but so had she. Age only
made him more attractive. His sense of humor, his kindness and compassion for
others, his ability to look at her and know what she was thinking, none of the
traits that she loved about him then, had changed. She knew she could easily
fall in love with him all over again. She was half in love with him again now.
She could tell he was attracted to her, yet he resisted.
I know he wanted
to kiss me last night. I didn’t just imagine it, did I? He must be involved
with someone,
she thought.
    Unable to sleep any longer, she quietly got up and pulled on
a pair of blue jogging shorts and an orange tank top. She pulled her long,
brown hair into a loose knot on the top of her head. She looked in the mirror
as she brushed her teeth. Frowning, she barely recognized the woman looking
back at her.
Who am I?
Liv wondered how she’d gotten to this point in
her life. Somehow in the almost eight years she was married to Ron she’d lost
the sense of who she was.
Ron.
Why did he always have to creep back
into her mind, making her feel so small and worthless?
Stop. You’re not
going to do this to yourself today. Take a deep breath.
She closed her
eyes and exhaled slowly.
That’s it. No self-pity. Concentrate on what you
can control, not what you can’t.
She rounded the corner of the living room
and stood in front of her favorite window. The lake below was perfectly flat.
It was still too early for the skiers and tubers.
    She found her purse on the table where she’d left it the
night before. She checked her phone to see if she had any messages. She had one
text message. Her heart jumped. It was from Cam, letting her know he’d had a
good time the night before. “Me too,” she touch-typed and pressed send. Then
silently hoped he’d call her later. If he didn’t, maybe she would call him.
Gone were the days she was going to sit back and wait.
The new Liv is going
to take charge of her life,
she thought. Courage and determination would
be her new mantra.
    Quiet whimpering from the kitchen grew louder and more
persistent, causing her to turn away from her thoughts. Pup-Pup was awake. Liv
opened her mouth to call to her daughter, but decided against it. Sara needed
to sleep and Liv needed some solitude to think. She sat on the wooden chair by
the door as she pulled on her socks and laced up her hiking boots. She scrawled
a note to her grandmother letting her know that she was taking the puppy for a
hike. She propped it on the table