Free When Least Expected by Allison B. Hanson

sleep.
    Had he almost kissed her last night?
    He ran his hand through his messy hair and went to his own room to clean up and get dressed. The more he tried to remember, the more it seemed he had indeed almost kissed her.
    Not that he was happy she had gotten sick, but it was for the best. Kissing would have messed up everything.
    It didn’t matter if they had a great time talking about old times. It didn’t matter that her smile made his body respond in the same way it did when he was twenty-two. Under all the happy times and the great memories were still two people who had major problems.
    Problems that wouldn’t just go away with a bottle of wine—or two.
    She wanted things he couldn’t give her, and he had obliterated any chance they’d had to reconcile by moving out and filing for divorce without even talking to her, and then taking on a girlfriend immediately. She would never be able to forgive him for that. The fact that she was even able to be civil was a testament to how incredibly generous she was.
    The downstairs was empty, and for a second he worried she’d left, but her purse was still there. Her suitcase had been in her bedroom. She was coming back.
    She’d probably just gone for a walk, like she normally did when they came there.
    Should he go after her? Should he leave her alone?
    He decided to leave her alone, mainly because he didn’t trust himself to be near her when he was still thinking of how warm her body was when she was lying next to him in bed.
    He definitely needed to clear his head before he saw her again.
    After breakfast, he wasted a bunch of time straightening things. Then he jumped in the car and went for a drive into town to stock up the wine cellar. Because wine had worked out so great the night before.
    When he got back, he decided to go looking for her. He told himself he only wanted to make sure she was safe, but he knew the truth. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to make her laugh. He wanted to talk with her about easy things. He wanted to be happy again.
    He was also aware of the other things he wanted. Things he couldn’t have. Things like touching her, and kissing her.
    Hopefully, she wouldn’t remember how close he’d come to kissing her the night before.
    Â 
    Ian had definitely planned to kiss her.
    Lexi determined this while walking around the lake for the second time. Needing to talk to Roslyn or Kelly, she pulled out her phone to find she had no reception. She was on her own to figure this out. Why else would he lean down close to her lips with that unmistakable look in his eyes?
    He was going to kiss her.
    She didn’t know why, other than the fact that he had been drunk, too, and maybe he had slipped into something that had been so normal he never needed to think about it.
    So many times she’d kissed him and never given a thought that it might be the last time. Until it was too late.
    She sat on the same bench she had sat on with Uncle Jimmy in the fall. Back then, the leaves had been a multitude of warm colors. Now everything was sticks and buds. A reddish haze, threatening to burst open and unleash the green at any moment.
    Her phone was still able to tell her the time at least. It was after noon.
    She needed to get back before Ian launched a search party.
    Before she got up, someone sat down next to her.
    â€œI was just about to send out a search party,” Ian informed her, making her heart hurt. She knew him so well.
    She gave him a smile and looked out over the lake.
    â€œI was just thinking and lost track of time,” she said.
    â€œWhat were you thinking about?”
    â€œHow much I hate white wine.” They laughed together.
    â€œI just got back from the store. There’s plenty of red in the cellar.”
    â€œGood.”
    â€œWere you hiding from me?” he asked quietly.
    â€œYeah. That, too.”
    â€œSorry. You know how much I hate being alone.” She did. He hated it, thus