Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Serena sat on the motel bed with the phone between her ear and shoulder, watching Courtney sort through the pictures she'd taken. Austin relayed the message that Jake would meet her at Grams' for lunch on Sunday. Her stomach rolled over in nervousness. It had been so long since she'd seen him and their reunion would be steeped in bad news. How exactly was she supposed to tell her first love that she was dying?

She closed her eyes. "Thanks, Austin."

"Just make sure you tell him."

She laughed without any humor at all. "Don't you think he'd find out anyway? Yes, I'll tell him."

"That's not funny." He paused, conceding the argument. "Where are you two at anyway?"

"Shreveport, Louisiana."

"You should be home before Saturday then."

She picked up one of Courtney's pictures from the bed and found herself in the photograph. "Probably not. We've been stopping to do some sight-seeing and I need to quit driving by late afternoon."

"All right." His voice was tight with concern. "Where did you go tonight?"

She frowned. "To this bar next door. One of the assholes there trapped Courtney and tried to assault her."

Austin bit back a string of curses and instead asked, "Is she all right?"

"Yeah. This really nice guy helped us out." She laughed. "He punched the guy right in the jaw. Probably broke his hand doing it too."

"Is she there now?"

"Yeah, we're looking through some pictures she took. I was going to take a bath anyway. You want to talk with her?"

He rubbed his neck. "Uh, I guess so."

Serena mumbled something away from the phone, and then a peculiar, very feminine voice came on the line. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Austin, Serena's brother. She told me what happened tonight. Are you all right?"

She didn't answer at first, and he imagined a faceless woman winding hair around her finger in nervousness. Her voice was hesitant when she finally spoke. "I'm okay, thanks."

"Good." There was an awkward pause. He tried to think of anything at all to say, but she cut him off before he could.

"We shouldn't have been in there anyway. There was too much smoke for her."

"I like you already." Besides the fact that she seemed to be looking out for his sister's interests, her voice was like a wet dream. Sultry, quiet, and smooth. A pang nailed him right between the legs and he bit back a curse. She was just a woman. One he'd never seen. No matter how long it had been since he'd been with someone, a voice shouldn't get him this excited.

Unlike a moment ago, her voice became shaky and hesitant. "Really? Why?"

"It's good to know someone is looking out for her. Serena is very fond of you."

That earned him a nervous laugh. "The feeling is mutual." She breathed into the phone and the hair on his arms rose as if she was right there against his ear. "She's letting me do some sight-seeing. I know it's not as much for her as it is for me, but it's been fun. When we stopped in Las Cruces we went into this amazing cave. I got great pictures."

She was chatting a mile a minute and Austin couldn't help but laugh. She was just as Serena described--innocent without being incompetent. She sounded as if she really cared for his sister's company, and he was glad for it. He couldn't wait to meet her and put a face with her angel-like voice. Without realizing it, he said so, cutting off her rambling about their sight-seeing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm probably boring you."

Anything but. "No, not at all. I'm very sorry I interrupted you. It's just that I'm intrigued to meet this person who won over my sister in twenty minutes." She didn't say anything, Austin didn't even hear her breathing. "Don't stop talking. Please, you have a great voice."

"Um, okay."

"Tell me about your photos," he prompted. He had no idea what this sudden urge was to keep her on the phone, but for that instant, he needed to hear her voice like he needed his next breath.

They were still at it when Serena stepped out of the shower and stood in the doorway of the bathroom, unnoticed, long enough to overhear Courtney tell her brother about every picture she'd snapped so far. Serena couldn't move. Courtney was not only opening up, but appeared comfortable doing it. Warmth spread around her heart that two people she cared about greatly had felt a connection with each other. It might make Courtney more relaxed when they got back home.

Not wanting to disturb them, she padded to her bag where she pulled out her pajamas.

As if just noticing her there, Courtney put down the phone. "Oh, Serena. Do you want to talk with him again before we hang up?" Her smile lit up the whole room, completely reaching her eyes and making them a livelier blue.

"No, that's okay. Tell him goodnight for me. I'm just gonna rest."

Courtney said goodbye to Austin in a tone of voice that took Serena days to get out of her. And look at that. Her grin was contagious.

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