Chapter 13 #2
“So, you do?” His whole face brightened, and he spun her around.
“Yes.” She clasped his hand again, knowing she’d confessed too much but unable to resist the romance of the evening.
“I care for you too, Ann.”
Even though she already knew, it was a thrill to hear the words. “I thought so.”
“Imagine for a moment what it could be like if tonight’s dream didn’t have to end.”
This was exactly what she was afraid of. One night of letting go was excusable, but more simply wasn’t possible.
“Bill—”
“Before you argue, hear me out.”
She had a sinking feeling. This was why she oughtn’t to have loosened up in the first place.
He looked into her eyes, a mischievous smile twitching on his lips. “If it didn’t have to end, how much strawberry cake do you think we’d eat?”
Her mind stuttered. “What?”
“How much strawberry cake versus how much baked Alaska?”
She laughed out loud. She couldn’t help it. “All the strawberry cake, and none of the baked Alaska.”
“That’s what I thought. How about champagne versus lemonade?”
“No champagne. Only lemonade.” What was he up to?
The foxtrot ended and gave way to a waltz. They stayed on the dance floor moving with the music as if no one else was there.
“Would I be more likely to kiss your right elbow or your left thumb?”
She giggled and tried to ignore the warmth coiling within her at the mere thought of his lips on any part of her. “I couldn’t begin to guess.”
“I think your left thumb. More accessible,” he said sagely, as if this was a perfectly reasonable conversation. “Would we be more likely to name our son Kermit or Everard?”
She tried not to feel wistful about the thought of raising a child with him. It was abundantly clear he would be an excellent father. “Kermit, I think.”
“Really? Interesting.”
“Oh? Which would you pick?”
“Definitely Kermit.”
The rhythmic ebb and flow of the waltz carried them around the dance floor, and her heart lightened with every step. He had a special way of lifting her spirits when she needed it most.
She decided to try her hand at his game. “Would we be more likely to live in Timbuktu or Zanzibar?”
His smiled, and it was dazzling. Her heart thrilled at the sight. “Excellent question, Ann. Terribly important. Hmm. I’d say Zanzibar. You?”
“Oh dear. I was going to pick Timbuktu,” she said, laughing.
“Then we are certainly doomed.” The dance came to an end, and he brushed his lips across her forehead. Her knees turned to water.
The evening spun around them, and they threw themselves into it, dancing and laughing. Hours passed in the blink of an eye. They danced the night away until Mary came to get them. “Mum wants to go home. Would you be able to take Junior?”
The real world came rushing back. She was a widow and a mother, and, like Cinderella at the ball, it was time for her to go home. The bride and the groom were long gone, and the evening was at an end.
Taking back Junior, she said goodnight to the O’Donnells, and Bill walked her out to his car, helping her up. She settled a drowsy Junior in her lap. Thank heavens he was sleepy. Hopefully, he would stay that way for the long journey back to Merrick.
After Bill slid into the driver’s seat, he turned to her. “Thank you for tonight, Ann. It was a beautiful dream.”
A dream, and that was all. Her heart broke a little at the thought of it ending. “Yes, it was.”
“Ann?” Leaning close, he reached out to caress her face and rested his forehead against hers.
“Yes?” She could hardly breathe.
“Will I kiss you now or walk away and regret it for the rest of my life?”
A warm, summer breeze caressed her face, and the sounds of the city faded around her. She shouldn’t. She knew that much. But for the life of her, she couldn’t remember why.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
His lips brushed hers gently, tentatively, tasting, testing.
Each gentle touch sent ripples to every part of her.
She wanted this. Yes, she wanted it desperately.
Until she met Bill, she thought that she would never feel like this again.
But now that she did, she didn’t want it to end.
She didn’t want to go back to her life, her grief. She wanted to stay here, suspended.
As he deepened his kiss, she became pure longing.
Every fiber of her being craved him. Parts of her awakened that had been dormant since losing Roger.
A long-forgotten hunger came alive. She didn’t just want this kiss.
She wanted him—his hands touching her body, his own body moving against hers.
Could she recapture the joy and rapture she remembered with this man? Would it feel the same?
Junior made a disgruntled noise, and they broke apart.
“My God, Ann. You are so much more than I ever dreamed.”
The ardor in his gaze was too much to take.
She didn’t want to break his heart. That kiss made her forget her worries and drown in a dream of possibility.
It was everything she hoped and more. “But that’s all it is—a dream.
Tomorrow, I’ll be a widow and mother, and you’ll be my friend again. We can’t stay. We should go home.”
As they sat silent and exhausted on the ride home, he held her hand once again.
She thought about Roger. Would he be disappointed in her?
He loved her. Would he truly begrudge her a moment of happiness?
No, he wouldn’t, and that was all the more reason to stay true to his memory.
He was a good and loving man. There wasn’t a selfish bone in his body.
He was a lot like Bill, actually, always going out of his way to help people that needed a hand.
She had allowed herself the relief of this one night, and now it was at an end.
Things had to go back to the way they were.
They turned off the highway and drove the familiar streets of Merrick. As they got close to her house, she smelled smoke in the air and began to cough. Something was wrong. She hoped whatever had happened, no one was hurt. She would have to keep the windows closed tonight to keep out the smell.
As they turned onto her street, she took in the bucket brigade outside her neighbor’s house, and her heart lurched. Then she saw her own house billowing smoke. “No,” she screamed, as all her dreams crumbled to ash before her eyes.