by Sharon Sala
“I waited for you,” Melissa said.
He paused. “You just climbed a small mountain on your belly.”
“I can handle one more mountain if I start at the top and go down.”
Sully threw back the covers and eased onto the mattress. The shape of him crawling toward her on his hands and knees made her ache, and she waited. Then he was over her, hovering. She closed her eyes and felt his mouth on her lips, soft at first, and then harder, more insistent.
One kiss became a thousand, became a pain, became a fire, and then he slid his hands behind her back and rolled, taking her with him.
Like the phoenix rising out of the fire, she went up on her knees, then eased down until he filled her. His hands spanned the width of her waist, then slid down to the sides of her hips and started rocking her against him until the ride turned wild, became an all-engulfing fire, and it burned and burned until the flames went out.
* * *
Sully awoke the next morning, and the first thing he saw was his reflection in the clear-green color of Melissa’s eyes.
She was watching him sleep.
Last night had been magic between them, and today he needed to keep a promise he’d made to her.
“My lady…my love…can you leave town today? Nothing that needs to be done regarding the shop?”
“Yes.”
“You are due one slightly late engagement ring, and today’s the day I put a ring on your finger.”
She sighed. “You’re already in my heart so deep that all the sad and broken parts of me are gone.”
“That’s what love is supposed to do. It took us a long time to find our way back to where we began, but I don’t want to wait any longer to make it official.”
They hurried through getting dressed and settled for coffee and cereal before leaving town.
A little over an hour later, they were at a jewelry store, standing in front of a display case and getting ready to try on rings.
Melissa had done her best to cover up the scratches on her face and had on a long-sleeved top to hide the scratches on her arms, but there wasn’t a thing she could do about her hands.
Sully knew she was embarrassed and quickly put her at ease with a brief explanation to the jeweler that she was recovering from an accident.
Melissa gave him a grateful glance, and when the jeweler began to size her finger, she happily obliged.
“We always start with your proper size, but if you find something you like that isn’t in your size, we can size it for you. Do you know the style you want?” he asked.
“Not really. I’ll know it when I see it,” she said, and then for the next thirty minutes tried on three-stone sets, then the settings he called halos, and then the channel sets, none of which she cared for.
“If you don’t care for the ones with multiple stones, maybe these would be more to your liking,” the jeweler said, and took out a display of solitaires.
Melissa smiled. “Yes,” she said, pointing to one with a white gold band and a small stone.
“No,” Sully said. “That one. Let her try that one on.”
Melissa’s eyes widened. “But, Sully, it’s big.”
He grinned. “Honey, I’ve been single for a long time and didn’t plan on ever doing this again, until you happened. Try it on for me, please.”
“These are all in your size.” The jeweler smiled as he handed the ring to Sully. “Maybe you’d like to put it on her finger.”
Sully took the ring.
Melissa held out her hand, then looked up.
He winked, slipped it on her finger, then kissed her.
The emotions that swept through Melissa were a mixture of the past and the present. Andy was before, and sometimes it was hard for her to remember what he looked like. Sully was here and now, and they loved—oh, how they loved.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“You make everything beautiful, my love,” Sully said, then glanced up at the jeweler. “Does she have to take it off?”
The jeweler smiled. “I think we can work around that. Do you want to look at a band to go with it?”
Sully nodded, and a short while later the final decision had been made. A simple band to complement the solitaire, and one swipe of a credit card, and they were out the door and back in the car.
Melissa kept looking at the ring and smiling.
“It’s so beautiful, Sully. You were my first love. You were the first boy I ever kissed, and it’s so special that fate put us back together again. I love you so much.”
“Then we commemorate the first kiss with another to celebrate the engagement,” he said, and leaned across the console.
She met him halfway, and it was sweeter the second time around.
“There’s one more thing I need to do before we leave,” Sully said. “I don’t have any real dress clothes here. Do you know if there’s a Big and Tall shop in Savannah?”
“We’ll go to Oglethorpe Plaza. There’s a Men’s Wearhouse, and they have a big and tall section.”
“Will you help me pick out something proper for the party?”
She beamed. “I’d love to.”
“We can get something new for you, too,” he added.
“I don’t need anything, honey. I already have several outfits I could wear,” Melissa said.
“Wow, I may be the luckiest man in the world. I have fallen in love with a woman who turned down an opportunity to shop.”
“Oh, just hush and drive,” she said.
Sully laughed, and was still laughing when they drove away from the jewelry store.
They reached the plaza, parked on the side closest to Men’s Wearhouse, and walked in hand in hand. Once they found the store, then went back to the section for big and tall, Sully went straight to black dress slacks and picked out a couple of styles.
Melissa was looking through them on her own and picked out one more style.
“Sully, I think you might like these, too.”
“Okay. I’ll try them on, and you choose.”
“What about shirts? Do you want one to tuck in, or—”
“I brought my good belt, so a tuck-in, but with an open collar,” he said.
“What about color?” Melissa asked.
“White…for the occasion,” Sully said, and went into the dressing room while Melissa gathered up a couple of white dress shirts. One was made of a thick, crisp cotton, and the other was a polyester blend.
She was sitting in a chair outside the dressing room when he walked out in the first pair of black slacks, and she sighed.
“You are such a hunk,” she whispered.
He grinned. “I’ll go try the next ones.”
He came back out a couple of minutes later. “What about these?”
“They both make your legs look even longer. They’re a perfect fit on your cute little butt. You’re still a hunk.”
Sully laughed. “You’re not helping. I have one more.”
Melissa waited.
When he walked out in the last pair, Melissa sighed.
“Pick out the ones that feel the most comfortable, because you rock them all.”
“Then the first ones it is,” Sully said. “Are those the shirts?”
“Yes…the main difference is fabric. Cotton or polyester blend?”
“The one that doesn’t wrinkle,” he said.
“Polyester it is,” Melissa said, and went to put the other one back while Sully went to get dressed.
He paid for the purchases, and as they were leaving the store, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the spot right below her ring.
“Thanks for all the help,” he said.
Melissa paused. “Are you being sarcastic?”
“Maybe,” he said. “When your eyes glazed over, I knew y
ou were thinking about sex. I lost you after that.”
She laughed. “You are such a smart-ass. It’s not my fault you look so gorgeous naked.”
An elderly woman walked past them grinning, winked at Sully, gave Melissa a thumbs-up, and kept walking.
He laughed. “Now look what you did. I have been scandalized.”
“We just need to get to the car before I embarrass myself any more,” Melissa said.
“Lunch here, or back in Blessings?” Sully asked.
“Lunch at Granny’s. I can’t wait for Lovey to see my ring.”
Chapter 17
They drove into Blessings a little before noon, still locked in the joy of what they’d done. A pledge to marry was as serious to both of them as the act itself.
Melissa had smiled all the way from Savannah and was still smiling to herself as they drove up Main toward Granny’s.
“What are you smiling about?” Sully asked.
“Oh, you…me…and life from this point. I don’t know how to explain it, but life feels new to me. I quit participating in it for such a long time, but now I’m different, and life is different, too. We’re going to be happy for a very long time, aren’t we, Sully?”
“We’re already being happy, baby. No doubts. Nothing but joy.”
“Nothing but joy,” she repeated as he pulled into the lot at Granny’s and parked.
“Let’s go start some new gossip,” Sully said.
Melissa laughed. “You already have your finger on the pulse of small-town living, don’t you?”
“I love it here,” Sully said.
They got out of the car and walked into Granny’s hand in hand.
Lovey grinned when she saw them, then slipped out from behind the counter and gave both of them a quick hug.
Melissa held out her hand.
Lovey saw the ring and squealed.
“Congratulations! My cup runneth over. Just good news after good news.”
Sully was nothing but smiles, watching the two women in his life with their heads together, when three more people walked in, and Lovey shifted back into work mode.
“I’ll be right with you,” she said. She grabbed a couple of menus and led Sully and Melissa into the dining room and seated them at a table, then winked as she hurried back to seat the others.
“What are you hungry for?” Sully asked.
“I think today is the meat loaf special. If it is, that’s what I want.”
Sully closed his menu and set it aside. “Sounds good to me. Two specials coming up.”
They were halfway through the meal when Lovey came sailing by, flashed the poster-board sign she was carrying, and kept walking.
Melissa giggled. “She’s already putting up the Thursday afternoon Closed sign.”
A couple of minutes later, Lovey went back into the kitchen and came out with another sign, which she also flashed at them.
Sully grinned. “She’s really getting into this.”
“Surprise reveal party Thursday night in Granny’s. 6:00 p.m. Everyone’s invited,” Melissa said. “Lord. The last time the whole city was invited to something was Peanut and Ruby’s wedding, and they had to hold it at the city park.”
Sully eyed the size of the dining room. “How big is the banquet room?” he asked.
“It’s bigger than this room,” Melissa said, then pointed to the folding doors on the back wall.
Sully was thinking about how many people the state fire marshal would allow in one place, but then decided Lovey had been at this job for years. She knew what she was doing.
“One way or another, we’re all going to be surprised how this turns out,” he said.
* * *
Following Lovey’s request, Ruby ordered small arrangements and two large floral arrangements—one for the dining room and one for the banquet area. Then she ordered another small arrangement to sit on the front desk, with delivery by 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Determined not to make the employees at Granny’s cook and cater on such a grand scale, Lovey told them what was happening and that they were invited to the party as guests, not employees.
She had already contacted a married couple she knew who owned a big catering company in Savannah, asking them if they could do her event on short notice.
Once the caterers found out how casual it would be, and that while the number of people expected was large, all Lovey requested was simple finger foods and one giant four-tiered cake, they readily agreed.
Lovey didn’t blink at the cost and described the cake decor she wanted—small silver Byzantine crosses made from fondant, winding around the cake like a staircase, with a gray-haired woman holding the sign HERE I AM as the cake topper. The caterers would arrive by four and have it all set up by party time.
All the employees knew was that something big was happening, and when Lovey took off work again right after breakfast service on Wednesday to go buy a new outfit at the Unique Boutique, they were in shock. In all the years they’d known her, she’d never done this. Suppositions were flying.
But it was Mercy who finally put an end to the kitchen gossip when she banged a wooden spoon on her metal baking table and yelled, “Hey!”
Elvis, the fry cook, stopped talking. The waitresses all froze. Chet, the dishwasher, jumped and dropped a plate.
“It didn’t break!” he yelled.
Mercy rolled her eyes. “You guys! Why does it matter what’s going on? We adore Lovey. She’s the best boss I’ve ever had, and I’ve had plenty. If she’s happy, we should be happy with her and for her, right?”
They all nodded.
“Then calm down and go do your jobs. Wendy, get back to the register. The rest of you know what you’re supposed to be doing.”
They’d become so accustomed to Mercy being in charge when Lovey was recuperating from her injuries that they thought nothing of her calling them out and quickly went back to work.
* * *
Lovey was like a fish out of water in the dress department and finally settled on some dressy black slacks. The boutique already had outfits for the upcoming holiday season, and when she spotted a black-and-silver sequin top with long sleeves and a V-neck, she was sold before she even tried it on. When it fit, she quit looking.
“This is the one,” she said as she came out of the dressing room.
Satisfied she was ready, all she had left was the Thursday hair appointment. She went back to work, and Wednesday came to an end.
It was the next morning before Lovey began to get nervous. There were parts of their story that Lovey would never share in a public forum, but the simple act of admitting she’d given away her baby still broke her heart. She’d buried the pain long ago, and the only time the memories came back was at night when her emotional defenses were down and she dreamed. The bottom line was she didn’t want to bawl like a baby in front of everyone.
She got through the first half of the day, getting the PA system set up in the banquet hall, and as soon as she locked the doors, her staff began cleaning, getting the place ready for the party and the catering crew. Once they finished, Lovey walked out with them.
“See you this evening,” she said, and locked the door.
“What time do you need to be back to open up for deliveries?” Mercy asked.
“The flowers will be delivered around four. The caterers will be here at four to set up,” Lovey said.
“How about you go home and do whatever you need to do, and I’ll come back to let in deliveries. You can come back whenever you want to, but you won’t have to be in a panic. We don’t know what’s going on, but we know it’s a big deal to you, so let me help.”
Lovey hugged her.
“You stood in for me when I was hurt, and I can’t tell you what it meant for me to be able to heal without worrying about what was happening to my place.
You all saved it for me, and you’re the sweetest thing for offering this. I will take you up on all of that, if you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” Mercy said. “I’ll come back already dressed for the party. Go get prettied up.”
And so Lovey did. She ran home to shower, then hurried to the Curl Up and Dye. Once her hair was fixed, she went back home to get dressed.
She got all the way into her bedroom and then collapsed in a state of nerves and called Ruby.
“Hey, Lovey,” Ruby said when she answered.
“Oh, Sister, I am a nervous wreck. I’m so proud to introduce Sully as my son, but I don’t know if I can do it without crying, and you know how I look when I cry. My eyes swell, my nose gets red, and I ugly-cry.”
Ruby laughed. “You’re gonna be fine, Lovey. So what if you tear up? You aren’t going to lose it. I know you. Just hold onto the thought of what a blessing all this is. You two have had your own little miracle happen right under our noses. You won’t be the only one tearing up, I promise you.”
“You think?” Lovey asked.
“I know,” Ruby said. “And we’ll be there cheering for you when you reveal the reason for the party.”
Lovey sighed. “You’re right. I can do this.”
“Of course you can. Now, make yourself pretty and give Blessings something to talk about tonight.”
“That’s gonna happen anyway, no matter what I look like,” Lovey said. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, girl.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Ruby said. “See you later.”
Lovey hung up, then called Sully.
“Hello.”
“It’s me, Sully. I forgot to ask what time you two plan on arriving.”
“We’ll be there when you want us to be,” he said. “Is there something you need? Something you want us to bring?”
“If you can be there around five, that would be good. We haven’t talked about whether you want to say anything, or—”
“We’ll talk about it when I get there, Mom. Don’t sweat it. I’m so happy this is happening. Nothing matters to me except finding you.”
