His mother had told him more than once how much she liked Amanda--and her daughter. "They don't mind, believe me."
"See you in a little bit, then," Amanda responded with a definite lilt in her voice.
When Alex hung up the phone, he felt like cheering. He wouldn't push Amanda, but he was going to show her how good they could be together, both with and without their girls.
Alex spent every spare minute he had the next couple of weeks with Amanda or with Amanda, Heather and Kristy. When the girls were along, they went swimming or miniature golfing. He also took Amanda and Heather to his favorite stables for horse-back riding. Other times just he and Amanda went out to dinner, attended a concert at Hershey stadium, hiked in the mountains, or simply drove and perused craft shops in Lancaster county. It didn't seem to matter what they did together. He had fun. He just liked being with her. And although he would have preferred to spend some of their afternoons or evenings in a motel room, or his bedroom, he knew Amanda was special and that she needed time to make all the decisions that would affect her and Heather.
One evening while the girls were watching a DVD, he and Amanda sat on her back porch eating ice cream. The stars were bright, the air sweet with summer flowers and mown grass, the temperature balmy. It was perfect, and he couldn't think of a better way to be spending it. After Amanda finished her ice cream and set her dish on the porch, he turned her face to his and kissed her slow and long and deep.
After he finished the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers. "You taste like peanut butter ripple."
"So do you," she responded with a smile in her voice.
The phone rang then, interrupting their intimate moment. Hoping Heather or Kristy would get it, Alex didn't move away from Amanda. But after the third ring, they both realized the girls were engrossed in their movie. Going inside, Amanda turned on the kitchen light. She was only gone a few minutes and when she returned, she gave him a tentative smile.
"Anything important?" he asked.
She shook her head. "It was Ted."
"Oh?"
Sitting on the swing beside Alex once again, she said, "He wanted to go to dinner this weekend."
Alex didn't know if he should let her see the jealousy that picture provoked. "What did you say?"
"I told him I was dating you." The light from the kitchen spilled onto the porch, and her expression was uncertain as if she didn't know if she had said the right thing.
"I think we're more than dating, don't you?"
"What are we doing?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper.
"I'm courting you."
Her smile came slowly, then lit up her whole face. "I see. Well, if he calls again, I'll be sure to tell him that." She was teasing him, and he realized how very much he cared for her. He kissed her again then, thinking he couldn't wait much longer to make love to her. He couldn't wait much longer to make her his.
***
The following evening, Kristy and Heather were having a powwow at the lean-to at the edge of Alex's property. He watched for them from the back porch where he was reading the newspaper. Amanda was having dinner with another teacher from her building. They were going to shop for a wedding present for the first-grade teacher who was getting married. Immersed in an article about plans for a large shopping mall to be built in Cedar Grove, Alex didn't hear Kristy and Heather until they opened the door to the back porch.
"What's up, mates?" he teased, thinking they were going to ask him to go for ice cream.
"We want to tell you something," his daughter informed him. "It's very important."
The "very" caught his attention immediately. He closed and folded the newspaper and laid it on the glider beside him.
"I'm listening," he assured them.
Kristy looked a little nervous, which wasn't like her at all.
"What's wrong, honey?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's just... Well, I really, really miss having a mom. You're great, Dad. Honest, you are, but moms are...well, different...special. And I'd really, really like to have Mrs. Carson for my mom."
Alex couldn't say he was shocked. He knew how well Kristy and Amanda got along. He was just surprised Kristy was speaking so plainly about it. But then he looked at Heather. "And how would you feel about that?"
The nine-year-old smiled shyly. "I think it's a great idea. I've always wanted a sister. And I like you, Mr. Woodsides. I'd like having you for a dad."
Alex wasn't sure exactly what to say.
Kristy and Heather came closer to him and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him. Kristy offered, "We just thought you should know, Dad, because you're the one who has to do the asking."
The asking. By that his daughter meant a marriage proposal. He supposed he would have come to that decision on his own in a little while, but the girls had made the idea more of a reality. "So you want me to ask Mrs. Carson to marry me?"
The two girls exchanged a look, then nodded. "We sure do," they said in unison.
Chuckling, he thought about how much brighter the world looked since Amanda had come into his life. "Let me think about it," he said with a smile.
Thinking about little else for the next two days, Alex finally decided the girls were right. Kristy needed a mom, Heather needed a dad, and he needed Amanda beside him in his bed every night. It would be very easy to combine their lives. All they had to do was sell her house. Knowing that Amanda had lost both her parents, that she had no living relatives, the idea of marriage sooner rather than later should make her happy.
After work, Alex picked up Kristy at his mother's, and then made another stop at a florist. Kristy was grinning from ear to ear as if she might suspect what he had planned. They drove to Amanda's house, both of them smiling at each other every few seconds. He'd called Amanda and told her not to cook dinner, that they'd take the girls to one of their favorite restaurants in Camp Hill, preferably one with great ice cream desserts. So he knew that she'd be waiting for them.
The front door was open, and he let Kristy proceed him inside. Amanda was paging through a magazine, while Heather sat on the floor across the room playing with a hand-held electronic game. When Kristy joined Heather on the floor, he crossed to where Amanda was sitting in the Boston rocker. She looked up at him, and he thought he'd never seen eyes as blue or as beautiful as hers.
Presenting her with the bouquet of pink roses, he said, "I have something to ask you."
She took the flowers, rubbing her cheek against the rose petals, inhaling their fragrance, and responded, "Oh, Alex, they're beautiful. Thank you. With a surprise like these, you can ask me anything." There was laughter in her eyes, and he realized she had no idea what was coming.
Taking her hand, he drew her up before him.
Her laughter faded, and she searched his face. "What is it?"
After a quick glance at the girls, noticing their thumbs-up encouragement, he smiled. "Amanda Carson, will you marry me?"
Her mouth rounded with her slight gasp, and he decided some convincing wouldn't hurt. "Kristy wants you for a mother, and Heather tells me she'd like me for a dad. They both need two parents, and sooner rather than later."
Regaining some measure of composure, Amanda asked, "You've discussed this?" She was looking at the three of them.
"Yep, and it's unanimous. Except for your vote. What do you say?"
Her cheeks became pink. "Alex, this is so sudden. You expect me to give you an answer right this minute?"
Obviously she still wasn't convinced. He wasn't sure what to say or do, but it seemed propitious to back off slightly, but only slightly. "I'll give you twenty-four hours to think about it. How's that?"
"Twenty-four hours?" she asked as if it were two minutes.
"Amanda, either we're right or we're wrong. I'm hoping you'll decide we're very right."
Both girls bobbed their heads.
After looking down at the flowers, Amanda looked back up at him. "All right. I'll give you my answer in twenty-four hours."
> "I'll see if Mom can watch the girls tomorrow night. You can come over for dinner. Okay?"
"Okay," she agreed, still looking somewhat stunned.
He was feeling a little stunned himself. But tomorrow night could be the beginning of a new life for all of them.
***
Thunder rumbled in the distance, but Amanda was almost oblivious to it as she weeded her garden in an attempt to sort her thoughts. She hadn't slept last night. She'd closed her eyes. She'd plumped her pillow a thousand times. But all she could see was Alex's face. And all she could hear was his proposal and his reasons for making it--Kristy needed a mother and Heather needed a dad. Besides that, there was a smoldering flame in Alex's eyes that said he wanted her in his bed. Was all that enough for a good marriage? What about love?
Alex hadn't mentioned love.
She realized now that her attraction to Alex was much more than attraction. Yes, she felt as if she'd go up in flames when he looked at her or touched her or kissed her. But she admired him as a man, his ability to love his daughter, his tenderness, his strength of character. She'd fallen deeply in love with him. But did he love her? Wanting a life with her wasn't the same as loving her, was it?
Maybe it was. Maybe he couldn't put his feelings into words. Maybe his desire was his way of showing her his feelings. Over the past few weeks as he'd kissed her, the yearning for more than that was always there on both their parts. But he'd restrained himself. He'd told her he wanted her to be ready, and maybe he'd realized they wouldn't be ready until they made a commitment to each other and a commitment to a life together. Maybe he knew her better than she knew herself.
She'd married Jeff when she wasn't mature enough or experienced enough to realize what a marriage needed, how it had to be nurtured, the investment both people had to make. With Alex...they could laugh and play and talk. She felt Alex needed her in some way he didn't want to admit, just as she needed him and didn't want to admit it. They could be independent, yet together, as well as respect each other as equals. That was a very special gift Alex gave her, and she gave him.
The back screen door slammed, and Heather came running to Amanda. "You'd better come in, Mom. It's gonna rain."
Amanda laughed. "Do you think I'm going to melt if I get wet?"
Heather wrinkled her nose. "Aw, Mom, you know what I mean. Besides, it's almost time for you to get ready. You don't want to be late."
Although her daughter hadn't said as much, Amanda realized that Heather was as excited as she was about tonight.
"Did you decide on your answer yet?" Heather asked.
The wind picked up as more black clouds gathered, and Amanda rose to her feet. "Yes, I have. If you're sure you approve, I'm going to tell Alex I want to marry him."
Heather let out a yelp and hugged her mother tight around the waist. Amanda hugged her back, sure she was making the right decision, sure that as soon as Alex could feel the depth and breadth of her love for him, he could tell her he loved her, too.
***
The storm that had threatened all afternoon let loose around six p.m. Alex had just returned from taking Kristy and Heather to his parents' house and was setting up the dining room for dinner with Amanda when rain poured from the sky as if someone had turned on a huge spigot. He was spreading the white table cloth that he'd borrowed from his mother on his dining room table when the first flash of lightning ricocheted across the sky. All day the humidity, along with the high temperature, had been unbearable. For most of afternoon he'd cleaned out and made necessary repairs on his storage shed. The truth was he was too restless to do anything else--and worried. What if Amanda didn't accept his proposal?
When he'd picked up Heather, Amanda had waved from the door and he'd wanted to kidnap her right then and there and make her say yes. But he knew he had to wait. He knew he had to set the atmosphere. He knew he had to do everything just right.
The problem was--he needed to get a shower, and the lightning wasn't going to stop him. He'd be in and out in five minutes. Then he could finish setting up downstairs. He'd ordered dinner from the best restaurant in town and paid to have it delivered between seven and seven-thirty. By seven-thirty, when Amanda was due to arrive, everything would be perfect.
His first indication that "perfect" would be a little difficult to manage was when he was showering and the thunder clapped so loud it felt as if it were in the house. No sooner had the boom sounded than the light in the bathroom went off, followed by another boom. Hoping the storm had simply tripped a breaker, he quickly finished, turned off the spigot, and toweled off. But when he went into the bedroom to dress, none of the lights would go on, and he guessed the electricity was out. That wouldn't be so bad. They could eat by candlelight. But the humidity still seemed near 100%, and it wouldn't be long until the inside of the house felt like a rain forest.
Quickly stepping into a pair of khaki shorts, he went down to the basement to make sure the problem simply wasn't breakers. But after checking the box, he knew the electricity was definitely out, and that meant not only the lights but the air conditioning. He'd just have to open the windows as far as he could so that the rain didn't pour in and hope the breeze would keep the house below oven temperature. But as he set the dining room table, rain managed to pelt in the window, wetting the window sill, and he slammed the sash down with an oath, going to the kitchen for a towel to mop up the mess.
At seven o'clock, his doorbell rang. He'd just finished mopping up other window sills and setting the table and still hadn't dressed. When he went to the door, he found Amanda standing under an umbrella, her flowered silk blouse and short skirt molding to her in the damp weather and breeze. Her gaze passed from his bare shoulders down the middle of his chest to the band on his shorts... If he hadn't been feeling the lack of air conditioning before, he was now.
Quickly lifting her gaze to his face again, her cheeks pinkened, and she motioned to her car in his driveway. "I drove because of the weather."
When he opened the screen door for her, she closed her umbrella and propped it next to the door. As she stepped over the threshold, her arm brushed his chest, and they both seemed to hold their breath.
Letting the door close, he said, "You're early."
"I thought I could help." Her smile was apologetic.
Uh oh! She thought he was cooking dinner. "Uh...I'm still getting ready, and...I don't want to disappoint you, but dinner is being catered."
At that moment a mini-van pulled into his driveway and parked behind Amanda's car. In the pelting rain, the driver hopped out, went around to the sliding door, opened it and took out a stack of styrofoam containers. Then he ran up to the door, a piece of paper in his hand--which he shoved at Alex.
Alex let the man inside and watched him drip all over his foyer. The receipt was soaked, and beads of water fell from the styrofoam. Pulling money from his pocket, Alex shoved it into the man's hand and took the containers from him saying, "Keep the change."
"Lousy night, ain't it?" the man asked. The bill from his baseball cap dripped water onto the money as he counted it. Amanda laid her purse on the marble-topped foyer table. "That depends on how you spend the night," she said with a smile. "I'll get some towels," she added and then went into the kitchen.
Alex knew Amanda had a good sense of humor. He just wasn't sure how good it would be with his plans for tonight derailing one by one. After the delivery man left, a fine mist sprayed in the screen door, and Alex had to shut the main door with his foot. So much for letting a breeze in.
Carrying dinner to the kitchen, noticing at least the containers were still warm, he deposited them on the counter. I hope you like chicken cordon bleu because..." But when he lifted the lid, it wasn't chicken with cheese and ham that looked up at him. The smell of onions hit him first, and then the aroma of liver. Suspecting somehow take-out dinners had mistakenly gotten switched, he swore long and hard. When he faced Amanda, she looked...not shocked, not surprised, just very concerned.
Laying th
e towels she had found on the counter, she asked gently, "Alex, what's wrong?"
He blew out a long breath. "I wanted tonight to be right...special." He might as well not even mention perfect. "Not something out of a sitcom."
Coming over beside him, she peeked into the container. "You don't like liver and onions, I take it?" Her elbow brushed his arm, her soft skin sliding across his hairs, intensifying the heat already in the kitchen.
"Do you?" he murmured.
Turning toward him, her bangs curling in the humidity, her hair waving more than usual around her face, she looked up at him with honest, wide blue eyes. "Not particularly. Why don't we see what else we have?"
But he couldn't remember what else he'd ordered, let alone care about it. Her perfume wound around him, the silkiness of her outfit invited his touch, her pretty pink lips mesmerized him. He hadn't even had time to finish dressing. The night was turning into a disaster, and if he didn't kiss her right now...
His hand slid into her hair as his lips met hers. He loved the feel of it; he loved the feel of her. Her silk blouse caught against his chest and moved as he did, sliding over her breasts, making him crazy with needing her. Even before his tongue entered her mouth, he wanted anything and everything she could give him. But he couldn't take it, not yet, not until he knew her answer.
Hotter than he'd ever been in his life from both the end-of-July heat and the fiery desire inside him, he broke away and swore again. "I promised myself I wasn't going to push you, that I wasn't going to ask before dinner. But for God's sake, Amanda..."
The passion they'd stirred up was alive on her face and in her eyes, and suddenly he could see she knew the power she had over him. And she was going to use it.
With a slow sensual smile, her voice sexy and low, she came as close to him as she possibly could. "We can still make this evening as special as we want it. And I think since you've gone to so much trouble, we can improvise a little."
"Improvise what? It's so damned hot in here," he muttered.
She laughed, and the sound of it swept through him like music he'd needed all his life. "I think it's going to get dark sooner rather than later. Why don't we put together whatever dinner we can and take it onto the porch?" she suggested. "We can have a picnic on the floor. Light some candles..."
When Mom Meets Dad Page 10
