Sweet on Peggy

by Stella MacLean

  “Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate that.” She shrugged and smiled at him, so happy to have her dad with her. “I’m so glad you came here today. I feel better about everything.”

  “Does that include your mom?”

  Did it? Clinging to the negative feelings she held where her mother was concerned wasn’t doing her any good. Besides, her mother lived in Seattle and was unlikely to visit her here in Eden Harbor anytime soon after their last conversation. “Yes, it does.” She smiled at him. “Would you like to stay for dinner? I have to feed the horses and let them out into the paddock for a little exercise, but we could eat after that.”

  “Are you a good cook?”

  “You’ll only find out if you stay,” she teased. She was so lucky to have found her father.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THEY HAD DINNER TOGETHER, a wonderful evening during which she learned a great deal about her father. He loved country music. He’d taken her mother out on their first date after a basketball game during which he’d scored the winning basket. He was a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy, and he loved trout fishing. He’d spent his summers in high school on a scallop dragger, following his dad’s career choice. But he had decided that he didn’t want to make a living fishing, and with dreams of being the coach at the local high school, he’d gone off to college.

  They were enjoying a cup of coffee when her father brought up the subject of Ellen. “I never stopped loving your mother. After she left, everyone kept saying that I’d find someone else. I wanted to, believe me. It’s lonely living on your own. I had always dreamed of having a family. I used to kid your mother about how we’d have a family big enough to start our own basketball team. But as the years passed, my students became my family. I put everything I had into being a good coach and a good phys ed instructor. After Ellen left, my life settled into a very comfortable routine punctuated by the occasionally well-meaning friend or neighbor setting me up with a date. I seriously tried to find someone and went out with several different women, but it never felt right.”

  Peggy put her cup down on the coffee table. “You loved Mom that much.”

  “I did. In the early years I thought about going to find her, but when it came time I made an excuse. Eventually it was too late. I assumed a woman as attractive as your mother would have married, and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself by showing up on her doorstep. The one instance when I did attempt to find her, there was no record of her. Of course, by then she was married and had you and a whole other life of her own.” His smile was sad as his gaze met Peggy’s. He reached for his cup and took a slow sip, his eyes focused on Peggy.

  “I’m sorry, Dad.”

  “Don’t be. We all make choices. The scary thought is, one small choice can alter your life forever.” He got up from his chair. “I have to get home. Got a big day tomorrow and a championship game here this weekend.”

  “I’ll walk out with you,” she said, feeling so close to this man. She could hardly believe they hadn’t known each other all these years.

  When they got to his car, he turned and hugged her. “I want you to think seriously about what you want out of life. Finding someone to love is a precious gift not to be squandered on some misplaced sense of pride.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Remember that.”

  “I will.”

  He opened the car door. “And you’ll be at volleyball practice next week?”

  She smiled, feeling connected and happy. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  Going back into the house, the familiar rooms held a feeling of emptiness she’d never experienced before. Filling the sink with water to soak the pots, filling the dishwasher, cleaning the counters all made her feel more at peace but did little to ease the turmoil in her mind.

  She loved Rory. She wanted him. He loved her. Yet there didn’t seem to be an answer to what held them apart from each other. She glanced at the phone. Should she return his call? She’d been putting it off all day. He had to be wondering what she was doing, how she was feeling. Or maybe he had been calling to tell her that he was on the way to the airport. Knowing him, he might be sitting in the Boston airport now...no, he wouldn’t do that to her.

  She snatched up the phone, anxiously dialing his number. He answered before the second ring. “I’ve been waiting for you to call,” he said.

  “Where are you?” she asked, fearing she might be right about the airport, as she could hear voices in the background.

  “I’m sitting in my apartment waiting to hear from you. Hold on a minute while I turn the TV off.” He came back to the phone. “There, that’s done. How was your day?”

  “It was okay. My dad had dinner with me. The first dinner we’ve had together. Seems so strange to be saying that, but it’s true. I’m planning to invite him to dinner again soon.”

  “And what about us? Have you come to any conclusions?” he asked, his voice oddly quiet.

  “I...I know it’s late. Would we be able to get together tomorrow?”

  She heard something hit the floor. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine... I’d like to come over. I can be there in half an hour. Would that be okay?”

  What was she going to tell him? Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought that he would be expecting her to agree to go with him to Haiti. She had to make him understand that a decision like that was very difficult for her. She wasn’t good at decisions that involved change of any kind. Darn! She needed time to know her heart, to find her way through to what worked for her. Yet if she didn’t sit down and talk it out with him now, she was almost certainly facing another sleepless night. “Yes.”

  She hung up, raced to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Looked at herself in the mirror and realized she needed to put on a little makeup. Came back out to the mirror, realized that the jeans she was wearing she’d been wearing in the barn when she groomed her horses. She fumbled through her closet looking for a clean pair of yellow pants and an orange top before pulling earrings that matched the top out of her jewelry box. All the while, her hands were shaking so much she could hardly finish dressing.

  Why had she agreed to his coming here when she didn’t know what she was going to say? She was still trying to figure it out when she saw the lights of his truck coming along the driveway.

  Meeting him at the door, she felt frantic about what she should do. They had so much to work out between them. She drew in a deep breath to ease the fluttering of her stomach.

  Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to feel calmer. She could do this. She would listen to everything Rory had to say, then she would go with her feelings. She’d never done it before, but her feelings were what really mattered here. She was finally clear in her mind what she needed. Whatever she chose to do, it would involve loving someone more than she loved herself. She would not let her mother’s influence interfere in her feelings for Rory.

  She loved her mother, but Gayle was right. In order to be happy she had to be her own person.

  Rory got out of the truck and came around toward the open door where she stood.

  He walked up to her, his eyes intent on her face, his smile tentative. Ever so gently he took her hands in his, his warmth reaching out to her making her feel safe, the sheer maleness of him stopping the air in her lungs. “That didn’t take long,” she said, acutely aware of how trite her words sounded.

  “In the past few hours I had considered parking at the end of the road where it turned off the highway and hope you might pass, that I’d get a chance to be with you.” He gave her the smile, the one he smiled the day they met, and she was mesmerized.

  “Then I thought better of it, thought maybe you’d think I was stalking you. Or, equally as bad, an overzealous cop would pick me up for behaving like a pervert.”

  “All those thoughts all at once?” she asked, offering him a teasing smile.

  “That’s me.” He looked down at her, a half smile on his face, his gaze radiating a strange vulnerability she hadn’t seen before.

>   She was torn between wrapping her arms around his neck and making some flimsy excuse about needing to go to do something...anything but be swallowed up by his eyes. “Come in.”

  They walked into the living room, each sitting down on either end of the sofa. “I’m not sure what to say,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “Where would you like to start?”

  * * *

  RORY FELT HER words like a dagger to the chest. If she was about to say she’d go with him to Haiti, she wouldn’t have started off that way. He struggled to think of a smart comeback, something that would ease the tension rising through his body in a wave so strong it took his breath. He braced himself, waiting for her words of refusal. “You can say anything to me, anything at all. I love you.”

  A smile flickered across her face. “A few weeks ago I was afraid that I had cancer. I don’t, and that was such a relief.”

  He wanted to reach for her, to cradle her in his arms, but knew the futility of that. Peggy was her own person and obviously had something to tell him that he probably didn’t want to hear. “A whole new chance, a new beginning in a way, don’t you think?”

  “Yes.” She worked her fingers over the cotton fabric of her pale yellow pants. He wished it was his fingers touching her. He had to fight down the urge to reach for her.

  She didn’t meet his gaze. “I’ve always been reluctant to take risks. I believe I told you that moving here was the biggest risk I’d ever taken.”

  “Yet you did take the risk and you’ve been very happy with the outcome.”

  “Absolutely. But maybe it’s time I took another risk.”

  “Like what?” he asked, holding his breath, terrified of what she’d say next.

  “I’ve always wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. It’s probably why I enjoy tutoring children and working at the phlebotomy clinic. When you came here wanting me to give up my life and go to Haiti with you, I couldn’t see myself doing such a scary thing.” She turned to him, reaching across the space between them.

  He moved closer, breathing in her scent, his body tense with anticipation. “Yeah, I thought maybe I should have done that differently.”

  “I’m still not sure I could do such a thing. I mean going to Haiti.” She shrugged. “I need to tell you that I should have done something differently, as well. I should have told you the truth.”

  Oh, no. You’re finished, MacPherson.

  “I’m sorry. I should have told you I loved you days ago.”

  The air whooshed from his lungs. He had waited to hear those words, had wanted to hear those words. Now he wasn’t sure what he should do next. Taking her in his arms was his first thought, but Peggy hadn’t met his glance since he’d sat down. “Yeah, it would have been good if you’d told me you loved me. Real good.”

  Finally, she looked into his eyes, her brown eyes filled with warmth and caring. “I love you, Rory MacPherson.”

  “I knew it.” He gathered her in his arms, his heart flooding with happiness at her words. “The two of us together. Two people who love each other,” he said, smoothing her hair from her face, feeling the softness of her skin beneath his fingers.

  She took his hands in hers. “I don’t know if I can go to Haiti with you. I can’t leave my life right now. Sherri is expecting a baby. My father and I are really getting along well. I love you, but I also love my life. Can you understand all that?”

  There was no way he could let Grant down in the middle of such a crucial project, but if he worked really hard and pushed to complete the project early, they could be back here in a matter of months. Maybe if he postponed going until the modular units were on-site, he could stay here a little longer with Peggy. “What would you think if I told you that I would be willing to go down only until the units are in place?”

  Her smile brightened. “Is that what you want?”

  “I want us to be happy. I’ve been thinking that we might be able to make this work if once the modular units for the orphanage have been shipped to Haiti, which is a few weeks from now, you’d have more time to get used to the idea of living in Haiti.”

  “But I want to be here for Sherri’s baby.”

  “We can be back here in time for that.”

  He took her face in his hands and turned her to look straight into his eyes. The moment hung suspended between them. “We love each other. We’ll make this work.”

  “Rory, are you sure about this? The only way we’ll ever have the kind of relationship we need is for us to be honest with each other.”

  Looking into her eyes made his words so much easier. “I would like to commit for longer in Haiti, but I don’t want to lose you,” he said, feeling the sincerity of his words go straight to his heart. “I don’t want to be without you.”

  “I don’t want to be without you, either.”

  “Then what about this for a compromise? We go down to Haiti together. Hopefully, we can get your paperwork and immunizations completed sooner rather than later. Then we can go for as long as you feel comfortable.”

  “How will you complete this orphanage project if I get down there and want to come home?”

  He could insist that Grant hire a second carpenter or someone willing to learn the basics and work alongside him. He’d prepare a list of what needed to be done, and with the support of the salesperson who sold Grant the units, they’d be able to finish the project. He’d teach the man Grant hired everything he needed to know to complete the work. If necessary, he could fly down to help finish up. It would be expensive for the organization Grant worked for, but if they needed him this urgently, they would have to accept his conditions.

  The one thing he was certain of—he was not going to leave without Peggy. He pulled her into his arms. “You let me worry about the details. Grant and I will work something out.”

  She smiled up into his face, her dark eyes shining with happiness. “Are you sure about all this?”

  “Are you sure is the more important question. What about your farm and your horses?”

  “My dad says he’ll look after everything for me.” She tapped his chest. “But he can’t do that forever, and, besides, I can’t leave my horses for very long, either.”

  “You won’t have to. I promise.” He tipped up her chin and kissed her lips, happy in the sudden intake of her breath, the way her body melted into his. They clung to each other. He held her tight and kissed her, blood pounding in his ears, his hands following every curve of her body.

  He wanted to make love to her, to claim her as his own. He wanted to be near her every minute of every hour. She felt so good in his arms, so right. Whatever it took he would not be away from her ever again.

  When they finally moved apart, she smiled. “Would you like to stay the night?”

  He had waited a long while to hear her say those words. As he touched her face, reveling in the smoothness of her skin, the vulnerability in her eyes, he hadn’t felt like this in his life. “I’m here as long as you’ll have me.”

  “Then what are you waiting for, MacPherson?” She pulled his face to hers and kissed him, her mouth open, inviting and irresistible.

  * * *

  PEGGY PRESSED HER body into his, her fingers curled around the back of his neck as she kissed him slowly, her lips moving over his, her heart pounding. His musky scent excited her. He returned her kiss, his touch eager, as he lifted her off her feet and into his arms.

  “I’m not going to let anyone interrupt us this time,” he said, holding her tight in his arms, a determined smile on his face as he started up the stairs.

  She snuggled deeper into his embrace, feeling safe and loved and completely happy all at once. “First room on the right,” she said as he turned at the top of the stairs.

  He eased her onto the bed, tossing the pillows to the floor. He kissed her throat, his lips making their way to hers as he reached for her tank top and began peeling it off her heated body.

  Her skin tingled at his touch, the cool air caressing against her
skin. With one movement he tore off his shirt and tossed it to the floor beside her top. She reached for his belt, his sudden intake of breath spurring her on. She undid the belt, struggling to get at his zipper.

  “No fair. Ladies first,” he said, pulling her pants off, followed by her flimsy panties before yanking his own pants down over his feet where they joined the growing pile of clothing on the floor.

  “You’re fast,” she said, teasingly, as need made her tremble.

  “I’m just getting started,” he whispered next to her ear as he stretched out beside her, his fingers playing over her body, easing toward the space between her legs.

  His eyes were dark as he gazed into her face, watching her expression as his fingers moved against her heated flesh.

  Her hands reaching for him, she touched his lips, his face, as if memorizing it.

  He kissed her slowly. She writhed beneath his demanding touch, the tension building to an exploding point.

  She looked at him, saw the lust and need in his eyes and pulled him closer.

  “I love every part of you,” he said, trailing his hand up her body to her lacy bra. “I’m going to take all evening to prove it.”

  “Please do.” She wanted to touch him, feel him. With a low groan of pleasure he moved on top of her, his breath hot against her cheek. He eased his body along hers, slowly at first, exploring her. She cupped his head in her hands, pulling his face to hers, pressing her lips to his in a frantic dance that seemed to have no end. She’d never felt such need for another man.

  “Just a minute,” his voice shaky as he scrambled to the edge of the bed and took a condom from the pocket of his jeans, slipping it on in a hurried movement.

  Her body pulsed with his as he entered her. It was as if the world had stopped turning, that she no longer was separate and alone. She moved to his rhythm, her whole being attached to him as their bodies arched together. She clung to him, to his strength, responding to every nuance of his touch.