Chapter 9
She had made a fool of herself. One and a half beers, and she had practically thrown herself at Bill. Never again, she swore. Alcohol was not her friend.
When she saw him for their date, she would have to swallow her pride and explain that she hadn’t been herself. She wasn’t ready for a romantic relationship. His friendship meant the world to her, but they would have to remain friends and no more.
Now it had been six months since he passed, and her heart ached for him as much as ever. It was loneliness that drove her to seek comfort with Bill, and that wasn’t fair to him. He deserved to be with someone that fully appreciated him for who he was, not just for the comfort he could offer.
Besides, she wasn’t entirely sure they would suit even if she was ready.
The beer hadn’t addled her enough to forget his friends’ comments about Bill’s roving eye.
She needed to be able to trust the man she married fully and implicitly.
While she’d seen nothing to indicate that what his friends said was true, she also couldn’t imagine why they would lie about such a thing.
Bill arrived right on time for their lunch date, but the uncharacteristically somber expression on his face told her that something was wrong.
“Bill, what is it? What’s happened?”
“I didn’t want to cancel on you, but my friend was in an accident. Something went wrong with his plane, and he crashed into the stands at Belmont Racetrack. He’s at Nassau Hospital.”
Emotions tumbled through her like waves in a hurricane. An injured pilot, just like Roger. He was in the hospital, hurting. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do. “I need to see him. If he’s able to have visitors, that is.”
He looked at her with a furrowed brow. “He is. He was awake and talking this morning. He has a concussion and a broken leg. His girlfriend is with him.”
She gasped. “His poor girlfriend! I know all too well what she must be going through.”
“I won’t deny she’s having a rough time of it, and for more reasons than one. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to divulge this, but his gal is Rory Belmont, and her father cut her off for her relationship with Hank.”
Rory Belmont? The head of the PBA? She was the reason Ann met Bill and now had a sound roof over her head, even if the PBA didn’t pay for it. Ann owed that woman a great deal for offering to help, even if Bill was the one who repaired her roof.
“Perhaps you had better tell me the whole story.” She picked up Junior and her bag of baby supplies. “Let’s go to Mineola as planned, and you can tell me everything over lunch. We can visit the hospital after lunch—if that’s all right with you?”
“Yes, that’s fine.” He stood awkwardly, running his hand behind his neck. For a long moment, he gazed at her, biting his lip as if fighting some inner war. “Can I hold Junior for a moment?”
She couldn’t help but smile as she handed her son over.
Bill hugged Junior close.
“Sometimes a man needs to hug a baby,” he said over Junior’s shoulder. “It’s been a distressing morning.”
Her heart melted like butter. How could she not adore a man who so obviously loved her son?
Bill closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. “All right. You can have him back.” He relinquished Junior to her. “Let’s go.”
On the way to Mineola, Bill talked nonstop, spinning the tale of how Hank Hawley and Rory Belmont began seeing each other in secret, only to get caught by a private detective hired by her ex-fiancé.
Her father cut her off completely, but she was able to take a paying job as the Executive Director of the PBA.
She moved into the apartment above Bill’s parents.
“What? Aurora Belmont lives upstairs from your parents? That can’t be true.” It was impossible to picture Aurora Belmont living anywhere but a Park Avenue mansion.
“God’s honest truth. You can ask my parents when we get there if you don’t believe me. My mother tried to fix us up together before she found out that she was with Hawley. Can you imagine? Me. With Rory Belmont.” He shook his head.
Yes, she could imagine it all too well, and it made her want to throw things.
But she was being ridiculous. There was no reason to be upset about the prospect of Bill with Miss Belmont.
It wasn’t as if Ann had any hold over him.
“Why is that so absurd? If she could fall for your friend, maybe she would have fallen for you if he wasn’t in the picture. ”
Bill laughed long and hard. “No. Women like that don’t fall for guys like me. And to be frank, I don’t fall for women like that either. No society types for me. No, thank you. There is no way that would have worked.”
“What type of woman do you like?” she asked, slightly afraid of the answer.
With a crooked smile, he turned to her. “I like you.”
It was embarrassing how her heart leapt at his words. “That’s not an answer. I’m not a type.”
“Exactly.” He grinned. “You are unique and lovely and creative and kind and nothing like anyone else I’ve ever met.” He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. His kiss spread warmth all through her and made her heart pound. Oh dear. This was not the direction she intended things to go.
“I think we’ve strayed from our original topic,” she said, hoping to return to a safer subject. Her hand tingled where he’d kissed it as she folded it back in her lap.
“Ah, yes. Hank and Rory.” He gave her a conspiratorial grin as he settled in to dish his gossip. This whole story could have been torn from the front pages of one of her mother’s magazines.
It turned out the drama was far from over. Bill explained that Hank’s plane had been sabotaged and that the police were now investigating. It looked like Rory’s father, August Belmont, was a prime suspect, as was her former fiancé, a senator from Connecticut.
“I only found all of this out this morning. I can’t wait to tell Pritchard and Thompson.” He looked as gleeful at the prospect as her mother would have been talking to her sewing circle.
It almost made Ann laugh. “That’s quite a story. I wonder how it will all turn out.” She wished them both well, and even she couldn’t resist such a juicy story. Her mother would eat her heart out for the inside scoop on gossip like this.
The thought of her mother gave her a pang as she bounced Junior on her knee. Everything would be so different if she was still here.
The car pulled up beside an adorable florist in downtown Mineola. The building was painted light green with white trim, and a green and white striped awning overhung a profusion of flowers of every color on display.
Bill turned off the ignition. “We’ll have to wait and see. And we’re here. Watch out. Here come my parents. They can be…a lot.”
A tall, gray-haired man with a mustache came up to the car. He wore a deep green vest over his pristine shirt, and he had a gray jacket on despite the heat. Soon after, a generously proportioned woman with brown hair streaked with gray followed. She was wiping her hands on an apron.
“Mum, Da, this is Ann Prince and her son Junior. Ann, these are my parents, Shannon and Finn O’Donnell.” He beamed at them all as he spoke, clearly proud of his family.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Prince,” his father said.
“Very nice to meet you,” said his mother, “and this little fellow too.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Ann said with a little flutter of anxiety in her belly. Why should she be nervous about meeting Bill’s parents? It’s not as if they were about to become her in-laws.
“Bill and Mary told us so much about you.” Mrs. O’Donnell put her hand on Ann’s arm and squeezed. “We’re delighted to finally make your acquaintance. We knew you had to be someone special for our Bill to spend all those afternoons working on your roof. He’s a good lad with a good heart, isn’t he?”
Ann couldn’t agree more. “Yes, he is, Mrs. O’Donnell. He has a very generous heart, and so does Mary. I’m very lucky to have made such good friends. Your children have been exceedingly kind to me.”
Mrs. O’Donnell led the way up to the second floor, and Ann followed, with Bill trailing behind with the bag of baby things.
The door opened, revealing a charming dining room with a long table covered in a linen cloth, which was clearly the heart of this home.
A glass vase filled with roses stood at the center, flanked by two cooling pies.
The scent of apples and cinnamon filled the air.
“I know you and Bill are going to lunch, and I don’t want to keep you unnecessarily.” Mrs. O’Donnell took the diaper bag from Bill and put it on a sturdy dining room chair with a harp-shaped back. “Ah, young love.” She fanned herself.
Ann’s cheeks heated. The last thing she wanted was for Bill’s mother to think there was more between them than there was.
“Let me see this fine fellow here.” Mrs. O’Donnell reached for Junior, taking him into her ample arms. “Oh, yes, we’re going to get along just fine, aren’t we?
Such a precious time.” She turned to Ann.
“They grow up so quickly. It seems like yesterday I was changing this one’s nappies.
” She gestured at Bill, whose ears turned bright red.
“Oh, I suppose I should let you go before I embarrass him any further.”
Junior snuggled against Bill’s mother and wrapped his tiny hand around her finger, staring up at her with wide eyes. It was love at first sight, clearly.
Ann smiled at the picture the two of them made. “Thank you for taking him, Mrs. O’Donnell. It’s very generous of you.”
“Not at all. Not at all, my dear. You just go enjoy yourselves.” She shooed them toward the door. “Go along now.”
“If anything goes wrong,” said Bill, giving Junior one last tickle, “we’ll be at the East Williston Hotel.”
“Well, la-dee-da!” Mrs. O’Donnell waggled her eyebrows.
“We’ll see you in a few hours, Ma.” Bill kissed her on the cheek.
“Goodbye! Have fun, you two!”
Bill offered his arm, and Ann took it, a little burst of warmth suffusing her at having him so close.