Uncle Dominic's Touch Read Online Free PDF Page B

glass on the table along with her fork.
    “I was thinking about going back home.” He did look at her then. “I wouldn’t expect you to drive me back or anything. There's a bus leaving at the end of the week in town.” He carefully set his fork down and leaned back. She shifted in her seat uneasily, acutely aware of the thick tension. “I just think now isn’t the best time for me to be here. Things are just…weird. I hate to put it like that, but I want to be honest.”
    “You hate being here?” His voice was calm and neutral but she knew not to be fooled.
    “I don’t hate being here . I just hate this weirdness between us. It isn’t anyone’s fault. I know things are bad right now, and I just think maybe you need some time to yourself. I feel like a burden.”
    When he ran a hand through his short, dark hair and breathed out, she felt guilt that she opened her mouth. Here she was, making things more stressful when he already had enough on his plate.
    “Are you done eating, Chloe?”
    She glanced down at her plate, a little shocked at the abrupt change of topic. “Yeah.” Grabbing her plate, she was going to take it to the sink and rinse when Dominic was right in front of her holding his hand out for it. She looked up at him, surprised. She hadn’t even heard his chair slide across the floor when he got up.
    As he took their dishes to the sink, she watched him. The plain white tee he wore stretched across the wide, muscular expanse of his back. The sinew and tendons were easily discernable beneath the thin material and she couldn’t help the warmth that blossomed inside of her. She scowled at where her thoughts were heading. Chloe shook her head, hoping to clear it.
    “Join me outside and watch the sun set?”
    She nodded and followed him out the back door. The sun was already started to dip below the horizon, the pinks, yellows and oranges meshing together to create a cacophony of colors that painted everything a shade of happiness. The air was thick and hot, but the beauty of her surroundings helped to stifle the uncomfortable feeling the heat created. They both sat around the fire pit and Chloe stared at the cold, black ash. She remembered when everyone sat around it just a few short weeks ago, the flames between them, laughter ringing loud. Now it was just the two of them.
    Chloe looked up and saw Dominic watching her. “Hi.” Trying to make light, Chloe smiled. Dominic smiled back but it didn’t seem to reach his eyes.
    “I’ve been an ass, Chloe. I’m really sorry.”
    “What? You haven’t been an ass.” He nodded before she even finished. “After everything that has happened I wouldn’t expect you to be all happy and cheerful.”
    “You want something to drink?” Again, she found it slightly odd that he kept changing the subject so swiftly. After she nodded, he got up and went in the house. He was gone for only a few minutes, and when he came back out he had a beer bottle in one hand and a glass of lemonade in the other. Of course he handed her the lemonade. She scowled, and took the offered glass. “I wouldn’t mind a beer.” When he chuckled she glanced at him.
    “You’re only eighteen.” He sat back in his seat and took a long drink from his bottle. “Isn’t the legal drinking age twenty-one?” He was teasing her, she could tell.
    “Oh come on. Like you never had a beer before you were twenty-one?” Raising a brow, she watched him over the rim of her glass.
    “No, I did, and it had me doing a lot of stupid things.”
    “I’m sure drinking at any age will have you doing a lot of stupid things.” They both started laughing. Chloe was happy to feel the tension leaving.
    As the night progressed and the conversation continued, Chloe was finally feeling like her old self again around Uncle Dominic.
    “Come here, Chloe. Sit next to me.”
    She made her way over to him and sat beside him. They hadn’t started a fire and the only thing that made any kind of light was the