Free Sarah's Prayer: A Sunset Single (Sunset Series 1.1) by J. Brent Eaton Page B

laughed. "Oh, no. I loved the way you did it. You have such a wonderful sense of humor. No. You told me that you wanted me closer to you and I liked that... I have been a little distant the last few weeks. I guess... our conversation after dinner that night was a little overwhelming. Incredible, wonderful, but unbelievable at the same time. I never knew a woman could be so understanding of me and my... situation so soon after meeting me."
    Jen was exactly right. Michael did retreat to his 'man cave.' "Michael, you've been incredibly sensitive and understanding of me and my situation too. Not many men would be so accepting of a woman who was abused and battered like me. Trust me. I know." She put her head on his shoulder and tried hard not to cry.
    Michael pulled his hand from Sarah's grip and put his arm around her. "Sarah, I just knew that you'd been through something difficult, but we both had. We need each other. We're helping each other..."
    They sat on the porch enjoying an increasingly cool breeze as the sun set and the warm feeling of intimacy between them kindled.
    Michael devised the perfect finale to a perfect evening with a request. "Sarah, I need your help with something important to me."
    Sarah's heart skipped a beat and she sat up to look at him. "What's that, Michael."
    "Would you go to Austin with me to help me pick out furniture for the house?"
    "What?"

Chapter 12
    "Jen, we had a wonderful afternoon and evening at Michael's house. He has a gorgeous house by the way. Great meal. Good talk and you were exactly right. He told me he was holding back partly because he didn't want to push too hard and because we got so serious at dinner."
    " Bingo. I nailed it. Guys just do that. We can't keep 'em from doing it, but we can fix 'em if we know it's happening. We make a great team when we work together, Sarah. "
    "Yeah, good catch. Anyway, things were getting really nice and dreamy between us and he breaks it up with a really strange request."
    " Uh, he's not getting weird or anything, is he? "
    "What? Oh, heavens no, Jen." Sarah turned bright red. Fortunately, Jen wasn't there to see it. "He asked me to go to Austin to shop for furniture with the same seriousness as if he asked me to marry him, Jen. It was the strangest thing."
    There was silence on the phone for several seconds.
    "Jen, you there?"
    " Yeah, I was just thinking about what you said. He asked you to go to Austin to help him pick out furniture? "
    "Yup, what's up with that?"
    " Sarah, sweetie, you're a social worker. You analyze the psycho-social stuff in patients and families all the time. You don't see what's going on with Michael? "
    Sarah thought for a minute. "No, not so much. You have to remember, Jen. I'm really new at this. I don't have much... any experience with men at this level. That's why I need you."
    " Well, what I said about Michael retreating to his 'man cave' after you guys got hot and heavy with the serious stuff was true. He let you into his man cave when you asked to come for lunch. Now, he's asking you to help him redecorate his man cave by helping pick out furniture. Sarah, you're slowly but surely owning this guy. Good job, girl. "
    "So, Michael asking me to go furniture shopping is a guy's way of getting more serious in a relationship?"
    " Heck, yeah. "
    "I'll never understand men."
    " Don't worry, sweetie, they feel the same about us. "

    Sarah looked forward to her Thursday off and the expedition to Austin with much more excitement than bewilderment. She accepted Jen's assessment of the situation at face value. This was new territory for her. With each passing day she found it harder to focus on work and caught herself daydreaming about the trip more than doing paperwork. They would leave early morning and get back before dark since Austin was just an hour and a half away. She wondered what they would talk about on the trip. Focus, Sarah. You have work to do.
    Michael called and emailed a few times during the week to plan the