“Stew. My friend Tricia texted me, and she went into early labor. They have her on bed rest. Everything’s okay, but I decided to make a big batch of stew and take it to her this afternoon. We can take some to your parents’ this evening, too. Have you heard from them? Is Stanley still going home today?”
He turned and leaned against the counter. “Yes, hopefully they’ll discharge him before too long. They’re waiting for the doctor to make his rounds and check on Dad one more time.” He nodded toward the potatoes. “That’s a sweet thing to do. Can I help?”
His offer surprised her. “You don’t have to. It shouldn’t take me too long.”
“I don’t mind.” Preston washed his hands in the other sink basin. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Mandy used to spend her time in the kitchen visiting with Granny. She hadn’t realized how lonely she was, working on her own. “If you’ll cut these potatoes, I’ll do the same with the carrots and onions.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He went to the knife block and withdrew the largest blade. “This should do the trick.”
She chuckled. “I’d sure like to think so.”
They worked in tandem to fill the pot with chopped vegetables. They chatted about the lack of sleep, how hard it would be for Stanley to make himself rest for awhile, and how Papa had been just as bad anytime he was sick.
When they finished with the vegetables, Mandy poured broth into the pot, added the beef, and set the whole thing on the stove to heat up.
“I don’t suppose there’ll be enough of that for us to eat tonight, too, will there?” The hopeful look on Preston’s face made Mandy smile.
“There’ll be plenty. I’m planning on making a pan of cornbread to go with it.”
His eyebrows rose and a playful glint lit up his eyes. “Have I mentioned you’re my favorite wife?”
That made her laugh. “I’m glad you approve. I thought about making brownies, but I wasn’t sure whether your dad could have sweets or not. Do you know?”
“I don’t.” Preston wiped his hands off on a towel and stood in front of her. He leaned forward and kissed her briefly on the lips. “But I can have them.” He winked.
“Well, you did help me make dinner. It only seems fair.” Mandy realized that not only was Preston flirting with her, but she was dishing it right back. Flirtation was never something she was comfortable with, but this was easy. Natural. When had that happened?
“I like the way you think.” He kissed her again. “And if Dad gets the go ahead, maybe I’ll share a brownie or two with him.” He paused. “Can I come with you?”
“Where?”
“To take stew over to Lars and Tricia’s. I’d like to go with you.”
Boy, he was full of surprises today. “Are you sure you can get away?”
“I made a lot of progress this morning. I think it’d do me good to take the afternoon off. Do you mind?”
His thoughtfulness warmed her heart. “I’d like that. We can head over there about two. That way we can visit for a few minutes and not tire her out too much.”
“Sounds perfect.”
~
Mandy gave Tricia a hug before introducing Preston and Lars. The men shook hands and visited about work. Mandy carefully sat down next to her friend on the couch.
Tricia laughed. “I’m not going to break. The doctor mainly said I need to stay off my feet.”
“I can’t believe this. You were fine for the baby shower. We didn’t tire you out too much, did we?”
“No.” Tricia rubbed her large baby bump and gave it a pat. “This little one is in a hurry to meet her mommy and daddy. We’re hoping we can get her to stay put for another couple of weeks. I’ll be thirty-seven weeks along then, and my doctor said they’ll let things progress at that point.”
Two weeks. At least this hadn’t happened earlier. One lady from church had gone into pre-term labor at twenty-two weeks and spent months in the hospital. “So, what are you going to do for fourteen days?”
Lars spoke up, his eyebrows raised for emphasis. “She’ll stay off her feet and let her husband help her. I had extra vacation saved up, so I took one week off, and then Tricia’s mom is flying in for the second week.” He gave Preston a look that insinuated he’d know what it was like to have a persistent wife. “If we don’t have someone here with her, Tricia will be up cleaning or something anyway.”
“That’s not true!” Tricia scowled at her husband but couldn’t keep the serious face for long. “I stay off my feet.”
Lars shook his head at Preston who chuckled.
“Oh!” Tricia shifted her hand a little. “See, Jasmine says you need to be nice to her mama.”
Mandy watched as Tricia’s whole belly shifted to one side a little and bounced back again. She’d felt Jasmine move twice when Tricia insisted she put her hand over the kicks, but it was insane to watch this. She tried to picture the baby all curled up in there. What would it be like to carry a baby for nine months and wonder what he or she looked like? She imagined the doctor handing a little bundle to her as she and Preston counted ten fingers and ten toes—
She shook herself when she realized what was going through her head. The others were talking, and she looked up to find Preston watching her with concern and something else she didn’t recognize. Her face warmed, and she stood suddenly. “You know what? I’m going to find a place for the stew in your fridge. I’ll be right back.”
Once in the kitchen, Mandy leaned against the counter and rolled her eyes. What had gotten into her? She’d never imagined having a baby before. Obviously, between hanging out with Tricia and the shower last weekend, it was the baby overload that was causing her wandering thoughts. That and the lack of sleep last night. Having rationalized it, she shifted things around in Tricia’s fridge and put the stew on one shelf. When she turned around, she found Preston standing in the doorway.
“You need any help?”
“No, I’ve got it. And it’s fine for the cornbread and brownies to sit out until they’re ready to eat.” She moved to walk past him, but he stopped her by pulling her into his arms.
“You are a kind and thoughtful person, Mandy. Your parents have no idea what they missed out on when they chose not to be in your life.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I can’t imagine mine without you in it.”
Mandy squeezed her eyes shut and welcomed the warmth of his arms. It ended way too quickly when he stepped back, put an arm around her shoulders, and walked with her back into the living room.
~
As Preston worked on Friday, he smiled to himself and thought things might finally be turning around. Sales had continued to increase every day. Mr. Logan brought in more items on consignment than Preston had dared to hope. Time would tell how much of it the tourists would purchase. Not only that, but Dad was on the mend and the weather had finally cooled. They’d be enjoying temperatures in the seventies for the foreseeable future.
Mandy had been spending hours upon hours working on the different websites she managed. Even though he said nothing to her about it, Preston worried she was overworking herself. But if all went the way he hoped it would, sooner than later they’d have enough money coming in to allow the B&B to become more of a hobby or supplemental income. That was the goal, anyway. At least no one else had been harassing her about selling the place. It was a good thing, too, because he’d been ready to march down to Vincent’s place and have a word.
Best of all? It was becoming clear his beautiful wife was changing toward him. He’d been able to steal several kisses, and she’d been flirting with him. Mandy. He wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. And yes, he was enjoying every minute of it. Spending more than a month married to Mandy only convinced him even further how right they were together. He prayed every day that she’d see that, too.
After lunch, Preston whistled as he made his way from the house to the workshop. The sky was shrouded in thick clouds hinting at rain in the future. J
ust before four that afternoon, a clap of thunder shook the workshop. Preston set the sander down and checked the weather on his phone. They were under a severe thunderstorm warning for the next half hour with heavy rain and large hail expected. In addition, there was a tornado watch in effect. That meant the conditions could lead to one, and it was best to stay alert just in case. Not an unusual weather forecast this time of the year. But Preston decided he’d rather be at the house with Mandy during the storm and called his workday good.
It was already raining when he exited the workshop. By the time he reached the back porch, it had turned into a downpour. Mandy met him at the door, holding it open for him. Once inside, he turned to marvel at the rain, which made it hard to even see the workshop.
Mandy rubbed her arms and the goosebumps that covered her skin. “We needed rain, but this is crazy.”
Preston would’ve put his arms around her to warm her up except it might make it worse, as wet as he was. He was just about to go in and grab a towel when the first thunk hit the roof over the porch. That was followed by two and then three more. Within seconds, marble-sized hail pummeled the ground and bounced off the edges of the porch.
“I haven’t seen hail like this in a long time.” Preston watched as the ground started to look more white than green. A louder thud hit the roof, and a piece of hail the size of a small plum landed on the porch and rolled to Mandy’s feet. “Come on, we need to get inside.”
He hadn’t finished his sentence before both of them were scrambling to get indoors. More of the larger hail began to fall, and the sound was deafening.
“This is some of the largest hail I’ve ever seen.” Mandy had to raise her voice to be heard over the noise.
“Yeah, me, too.”
Suddenly, a loud crack resounded from the living room followed by the shattering of glass. They ran into the room to see hail had hit one of the windows. Glass littered the floor below it. At least it sounded like the hail was beginning to subside.
“I’ll go get the broom and dust pan.” There was no missing the resignation in Mandy’s voice.
When she returned, Preston took them from her. “Hey, this isn’t a big deal. I’ve put windows in myself before. I’ll go get some new glass and have it installed tomorrow.”
“You don’t think I should call the insurance company?”
“We’ll take a look around outside when the storm ends. If the window is the only thing that’s been damaged, the deductible will be more than the repairs. No sense in worrying about it until we know more.”
She nodded her agreement. They worked together to clean up the mess and then Preston changed into some dry clothes. After making soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, they sat down in the living room and watched the weather channel while they ate. The sun was setting by the time the storm cleared enough for them to go outside.
Preston wasn’t sure what he expected to see when they stepped onto the front porch. Mandy’s gasp drew his attention to the flower beds along the front of the house. The hail had ripped through them like paper. Flower petals were scattered over the ground and at least two of the bushes probably wouldn’t recover at all.
Mandy’s chin quivered. “I can’t believe most of Granny’s flowers are gone. She’d be devastated.”
He put his arms around her. “It’s been one thing after another. It’s okay to be upset, Mandy. Even to cry.”
“No.” Mandy pushed away from him and steeled her jaw. “They’re just flowers, right? They’ll grow back, or we’ll plant more in the spring.”
Preston used one finger to gather some of the loose strands of hair framing her face and swept them behind her ear. “I’m proud of you, do you know that?” She shrugged, and he kissed her briefly. “Come on, let’s see how everything else looks.”
When all was said and done, damage to the house was minimal. The broken window and the plants had taken the worst of it. They decided it wasn’t worth contacting house insurance and dealing with the deductible.
The cars, on the other hand, had a different story. Both had multiple large dents on the hood and roof. “We are going to have to call insurance for this, though.” Preston was glad they’d combined policies.
“Wow, they took a beating.” Mandy ran a hand over the hood of her car. “I’ll go in and see where I can dig up the funds for the deductible.”
Preston suppressed a sigh. The woman’s stubborn streak ran a mile long. “We’ve got the money in the woodworking bank account. We’ll pay for it out of there.” He was prepared for an argument. He expected her to at least insist on paying half of the deductible herself.
She finally gave a small nod. “Okay.” She turned to look at him. “I think that sounds like a plan.”
“Good.” He put his arm around her and steered them back toward the house. He’d been ready for another battle over where the money would come from and this was a pleasant surprise. “Let’s go call and file claims on the cars. We’ll come out here tomorrow and get all of this cleaned up.”
~
Mandy handed Preston another long piece of tape. He used it to secure a thick section of cardboard over the jagged hole in the window. It was nearly eleven at night. Between the sun going down and the rain earlier, the temperature had cooled off drastically. Mandy was almost cold and looked forward to changing into something warmer before bed.
Preston tapped the window. “We’re not supposed to get any more storms. This should hold until I can get a new window pane put in tomorrow. Do you want to come with me to the home improvement store?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“Good.” He smiled. “We can look at the garden department, too, though we probably want to wait until spring to plant anything new.”
He was right. While it still looked like their first freeze was weeks away, you just never knew what to expect from the weather in Texas—aside from the fact it was unpredictable.
“I’ve always liked Texas sage. Those would look pretty along the front of the house. Maybe we can just re-do the flower beds. I don’t think Papa would mind.”
“I don’t think he would, either. Besides, we can do it together.” He turned to face her, a twinkle in his eyes. “If you haven’t noticed, I rather enjoy spending time with you.” There was that wink of his again.
Mandy’s pulse jumped. “I do, too. With you, I mean.” She suppressed an eyeroll at herself. She really should just stop talking now.
Preston chuckled and took a step closer, his shoes touching the tips of her toes. He fingered a section of her hair. “The last month hasn’t been easy for either of us. There’s been a lot of adjustment. I want you to know I appreciate everything you’ve been doing.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done, too.” She swallowed her nerves. “Can I admit something?” He motioned for her to continue. “This…us…hasn’t been as hard as I thought it’d be.” It was true. She still wasn’t so sure what their future together looked like. The fear and uncertainty that had bubbled up in the beginning gave way to curiosity and hope. In fact, she found it more and more difficult to keep the distance between herself and Preston than she’d originally sworn she would.
His hands held hers and then slowly moved up her arms. He gazed into her eyes before focusing on her lips. “Mandy…”
He kissed her then, his arms wrapping around her like a warm cocoon of safety and promises. Mandy melted into his embrace as he deepened the kiss.
Minutes later, he put his forehead to hers, and they both took shaky breaths. He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. Do you?”
It was the last thing Mandy wanted right now, either. She shook her head.
Preston’s eyes closed for a moment before he softly kissed the tip of her nose. He took her hand in his and they headed upstairs together.
Chapter Eighteen
Preston awoke trying to sort through his dream and reality. The moment he felt Mandy’s sleeping form beside him, he smiled. Thi
s was what he’d wanted for longer than he could remember: To wake up next to the woman he loved every day for the rest of his life.
He breathed in, expecting her familiar scent to fill his nose. When he inhaled something acrid instead, he lurched upright in bed. That’s when he noticed the high-pitched beeping downstairs and realized what had awakened him in the first place.
The alarms upstairs chimed in and Mandy sat with a start. “Preston?”
“There’s smoke. We’ve got to get out of here and call the fire department.”
He grabbed his phone and wallet off the side table and shoved it into the pocket of his knit shorts. Then he snagged a T-shirt off the chair and pulled it on. Mandy came around the bed, her fear-brimmed eyes focused on his, and reached for his hand.
The darkened hallway greeted them. Mandy’s hand slipped from Preston’s as she dashed into her room. “Mandy!” She returned to the doorway in moments with the framed photograph of her grandparents, the other from their wedding, and her phone. He shoved her phone into one of his pockets and reclaimed her hand. He had no intention of letting her get away from him again.
The smoke became stronger as they descended the stairs. Preston tamped down his alarm at the eerie orange glow emanating from the kitchen area. It caused strange shadows of the dining room table and chairs that seemed to dance against the walls. Mandy coughed then pulled the front of her shirt up to cover her face.
He led her through the living room and out the front door. Once they got a little distance from the house, Preston dialed 911. “I need to report a house fire.” He gave them the address. As he spoke, he picked his way across the grass in his bare feet to the side of the house. From there, they saw the back porch was consumed in flames. “Yes, the fire seems to be originating from the kitchen. I understand. We’ll stay outside.” He hung up the call and glanced at Mandy. She stared at the house as though she couldn’t quite process what was happening. He tightened his hold on her hand. “The fire department is on the way.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I know.” He dropped her hand and instead put his arms around her waist. She let her back relax against his chest. “Me, neither.” It was only then he realized they were in bare feet. All the rain from the night before had turned the ground soggy. Water and mud seeped through the grass beneath the soles of his feet.
Marrying Mandy (Brides of Clearwater Book 1) Page 14
