Her Secret Valentine. Cathy Gillen Thacker

recalled. “You’ve only seen the place once.” He set their suitcases down in the front hall and went to adjust the downstairs thermostat that had been lowered in his absence.

      Ashley felt the chill seep from her bones. “You’ve obviously worked hard on it. I’m impressed.”

      The two-story farmhouse had been painted a sunny yellow on the outside. The pine-green shutters and door coordinated nicely with the new slate-gray roof. Inside, the hardwood floors had all been redone. The walls were painted a creamy sand that went well with the white crown moldings and trim. She couldn’t help noticing, however, that the parlor and formal dining room at the very front of the house were empty and the walls bare.

      “I thought you might like to help me decorate these rooms,” Cal told her casually. “So I haven’t done anything with them.” Looking happy to have her there again at long last, he took her hand and led her back toward the rear of the house.

      He continued to show her around proudly. The country kitchen had all new glass-front maple cabinets and marble counters and was painted a soothing shade of taupe that blended well with both. The color continued into the laundry room at the rear of the house, as well as into the tastefully decorated family room that overlooked the fruit orchards edging the backyard. A big stone fireplace was the focal point of the room. The mantel was lined with photos of Ashley and Cal. Formal engagement and wedding day portraits, as well as casual snapshots of them with family and friends from happier times. Before things got so complicated, Ashley thought wistfully.

      Cal moved to the entertainment cabinet and showed her where the remotes for the wide-screen TV, stereo and DVD player were kept. “There’s no cable out here—so we’ve got satellite. I’ll show you how to use it whenever you want.”

      “Later would be fine,” Ashley said, wondering at the formality that had risen up between them now that they were physically together again. When had things become so awkward between them they didn’t even know how to be in the same house together? she fretted miserably. A house they co-owned as husband and wife.

      “Want to see the upstairs?” Cal asked, continuing to play the perfect host.

      “Sure.” Ashley nodded agreeably. “And then I’m really going to have to crash.” She was so fatigued from the flight back, she was nearly light-headed. She turned and looked at the dark circles beneath his eyes that hadn’t been there sixteen hours previously. “You must be beat, too.” He had flown to Hawaii, and then hours later, turned right around and flown back to North Carolina.

      “I am,” Cal admitted, stifling a yawn. Logging nearly twenty-four hours travel time in a thirty-two-hour period was finally catching up with him.

      He led her past the hall bathroom, which looked as if it had been outfitted for guests and was rarely used, and two empty bedrooms. A guest room was next. It had the cozy brass bed they had used the first five months of their marriage and an antique bureau with a mirror that conjured up a lot of memories for Ashley that she wasn’t sure she was ready to remember yet.

      Next was the master bedroom. A brand new king-size sleigh bed with matching cherry nightstands and antique brass lamps took up most of the space. Two separate walk-in closets had been built. And where the fifth bedroom and bath had been was a brand-new master bathroom.

      Ashley gaped at the changes. There were dual pedestal sinks, a sit-down vanity, a separate water closet for the commode, and a whirlpool tub beneath a bay window of privacy glass. But it was the shower that commanded her attention. Pale-green marble covered the floor, walls and ceiling of the six-by-eight-foot space. A high window at one end let in plenty of sunlight, and a long green marble bench was situated beneath it. There were two showerheads—a handheld and an overhead—and the glass shower door stretched all the way to the ceiling.

      “This doubles as a sauna,” Cal boasted, showing her where the controls for that were.

      “Wow,” Ashley said. She had never seen anything quite so luxurious.

      Cal’s gaze drifted over her appreciatively. “The sauna can feel pretty good after a long day or night at the hospital.”

      As would their lovemaking, the implication seemed to be. Ashley swallowed, pushing away the flutter of desire deep inside her. She had promised herself she would not let passionate sex distract them from the work they needed to do on their relationship. She would keep that vow.

      Cal frowned, apparently registering the sudden drop in temperature between them. “Anyway, I know I promised you separate accommodations,” he said gallantly ushering her back out into the hall.

      And it was good they’d made that agreement, Ashley thought. Otherwise she would have been tempted just to say the heck with caution and fall into bed with her husband once again.

      He gave her a hot, assessing look. “So unless you’ve changed your mind…”

      “I haven’t,” Ashley said, pretending her thoughts weren’t traveling down the same ardent path as his.

      To Cal’s credit, if he was disappointed by her careful outward demeanor, he did not show it. He paused to turn the upstairs thermostat higher. “I’ll take the guest room then,” he said mildly.

      “You don’t have to do that,” Ashley said, knowing that she’d be more comfortable in the bed she had used before than in anything that had been exclusively his.

      He looked at her a long moment, the faint hint of disappointment radiating in his pewter-gray eyes. “I’ll carry your suitcase up then,” he said quietly. And that was that.

      THE PHONE RANG AT 6:00 P.M. Cal reached for it with a groan, and dutifully talked to his mother on the other end of the line. By the time he hung up two minutes later, he found Ashley standing in the doorway of the master bedroom. Tousled and adorable, she looked as disoriented as he felt after only a couple of hours sleep.

      “Everything okay?” she murmured.

      Damn, she looked sexy in a thigh-length cotton nightshirt and bare legs, Cal thought as he struggled to shake off his jet lag and sit all the way up against the headboard. Since she had obviously gone right from the shower into bed, her dark hair had dried in thick unruly waves.

      “Who was that?” Ashley stifled a yawn with the back of her hand as she padded closer.

      Knowing they would both adjust to the change in time zone if they stayed up the rest of the evening and went to bed at the normal time, Cal rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “My mother wants us to come for dinner. I told her I wasn’t sure you’d feel up to it. She said, if not, she’d send something over.”

      “Is the whole family going to be there?” Ashley asked, with the hesitation she always evidenced when confronted with all five of his siblings. And now, thanks to a recent round of satisfying romances, four of them had spouses, too.

      Cal shrugged. He didn’t want to make things any more awkward than they already were between him and Ashley. “We can always see everyone later,” he told her.

      Looking as sleepy and out of it as he felt, Ashley perched on the end of the bed and tucked one hand around the sleigh-shaped footboard. “I know everyone wants to see me.”

      An understatement if there ever was one, Cal thought. Particularly since his whole family had decided to help “fix” his marriage, unless he managed to do it first.

      “So we might as well go this evening,” Ashley continued practically. “If you feel up to it.”

      Cal figured it had to be better than staying here alone with Ashley, wanting to make love to her when he had promised to abstain. At least for the time being. He was still hoping she would change her mind about that and realize making love to each other always brought them closer. And now, more than ever, with so many important things ahead of them to decide, they needed to be closer. “We can make it a quick visit,” he said. He didn’t want to stay long lest his brothers decided to get into the advice-giving business again.

      Ashley nodded her assent. “Just give