Instructions for Love Read Online Free Page B

shrugged off her foolish imaginings.
    The cabinet built above the lavatory enticed her to open it.
    She touched its round white knob. A tinge of guilt surfaced. She chose not to look within. Doing that would be like invading others’ privacy. Even though someone would eventually have to endure going through the former couple’s personal things, that person would probably be her aunt’s brother.
    The sound of Dane’s shower stopped. Erin grabbed towels from a stack on a stand, washed up, and changed clothes. Then she headed for the bed that would surely keep her awake, reminding her too much of Aunt Tilly.
    She slid onto the bed and laid her head on a down pillow. Her eyes adjusted to the dark and took in deep shadows. Massive posts on the bed. The mantle and bare pieces on it. As Erin’s eyelids fluttered and then clamped together, and she noticed—this room did not make her think at all of her aunt.

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
    Dane scrambled from bed at the usual hour, much too early for the little sleep he’d had. The woman in the next bedroom made him stay awake into the wee hours, punching his pillow and trying to get her presence out of his mind.
    He’d been foolish to let her believe Tilly’s ridiculous words in that envelope. After Erin woke up this morning, he would tell her the absolute truth. Or even better, the page Tilly wrote for her to read today would disclose it. Probably Tilly, with her great sense of humor, would have said the whole idea was only a little joke. It would be like Tilly to try to play a prank even after her death.
    Dane looked forward to learning what Tilly had to say on that next page. In the meantime, he needed to get dressed. And his clothes were all in that room, his bedroom where Erin lay asleep in his bed.
    He wrapped a bath towel around his waist. Creeping to the door between them, he avoided any boards that squeaked. Annoyance built inside him. How ridiculous for him to skulk around his own house and try to open the door to his bedroom without making noise.
    He grabbed the doorknob, a grin sneaking to his face when he recalled the click of that door last night. Right after he’d closed it, Erin had shoved it even tighter, just to make sure. Had she thought he might sneak in after she undressed?
    A frown replaced Dane’s smirk. Why did he want her to stay in his bed? He should instead, shake her out of it.
    He yanked the door open. A long squeak sounded.
    He peered through the space he created, making sure she hadn’t jump up, ready to scream for help.
    Erin formed a small mound on his bed. She faced away from him, her breaths barely audible as though calling him closer.
    He stepped toward her. Then stopped. No—this woman wasn’t the one he wanted. He wanted Anna returned to him. This woman with her breaths against his sheets wouldn’t soothe him. They only brought back memories he refused to have.
    He yanked his clothes out of the closet and did not worry about shutting the door all the way when he went out.
     
    “I can’t believe it,” Erin said as she rose from the bed with the firm mattress. She had slept an entire night. She never slept through a night without waking many times, hearing horns blare as cars raced past each other near her apartment or thinking of all the things she needed to get done and trying to hurry back to sleep but unable to.
    Now the sun was high, she could tell by the bright rays streaming through tilted slats on the floor-to-ceiling green shutters. For a change, Erin woke up fully rested.
    She wanted to look around her aunt’s wonderful house, but that would have to wait. First, she had to see about that man who said he also lived in this house. She glanced at the door between their bedrooms.
    It was open half an inch.
    Her back stiffened. Had he come into this bedroom last night? Or just now?
    “Hello,” Erin called out through the open doorway. “Hello. I’m up.”
    She listened. Heard nothing different. The momentary tingle of