by Webb, Peggy
“Dragons?”
“Yes.”
“I want to. I want to make you put those fears aside. I want to force you to give your life a chance to happen.”
“You can’t. I’m the only person who can decide how to live my life.”
“I know that.” His blue gaze was so intense it seemed to burn right through her. “I’ve tried to be patient. I’ve even tried to be mad at you.” In one swift movement pulled her into his arms. “I must be going crazy.” He smoothed back her hair and cradled her as if she were both fragile and precious.
She leaned against him, loving his strength, reveling in his nearness, grateful for his self-control.
They held on to each other for a small eternity. The heady scent of a thousand roses swirled around them, overlaid with the swirling fragrance of orange blossoms, and the beams from the summer moon washed over them. It was a night made for romance.
To Bonnie and Jeff, peering out the window, Amy and Todd might have been the perfect lovers. But they were fooled by appearances. They couldn’t see the anguish of indecision, the turmoil of restraint. They couldn’t see the shadows of the past, the misgivings about the future. In their blindness they turned from the window and congratulated each other on the success of their matchmaking scheme.
And on the patio, the forlorn lovers drew apart.
“Give us a chance, Amy,” Todd said.
“I can’t.”
o0o
It had been three days since the dinner, and Todd still had not heard from her. He was bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, and his usual good nature had been replaced by a snappishness that tried even Justin’s patience.
He stomped down to the laundry room, taking a perverse satisfaction in the blistering heat. Why should he be comfortable? He was miserable on the inside; he might as well be miserable on the outside too.
He slung his clothes into the machines, not caring whether he mixed colors with whites, then sank into a chair and hunched over a legal tome. Sweat poured down the side of his face and dampened the front of his T-shirt. A mosquito buzzed around his head. He welcomed that annoyance, too.
He tried to concentrate, but the words on the page blurred. He slammed the book shut and paced the room. He had always been a man of action, a man for whom decisions came easy, but Amy had him on the horns of a dilemma. As much as he wanted to have her, he knew he couldn’t make her decisions for her. She had to come to terms with her past in her own way.
He sat back down and listened to the mechanical chugging of the machines.
o0o
Amy hadn’t been able to work for three days. She felt helpless and frustrated. Instead of using the dinner to put Todd completely out of her life, she had used it to store up memories of him. What was she going to do? She had thought she couldn’t risk loving and losing him, but she was beginning to think she couldn’t live without him. If only she could talk to her best friend. But that was impossible. Her best friend was Todd.
She smiled sadly. Friend and lover. Were they one and the same, or could they be separated? She had to talk to him. She reached for the phone, then drew back her hand. It wouldn’t be fair. She couldn’t ask him to be an objective friend in a matter that also involved his heart.
The stifling heat seemed to be closing in on her. She had to get out of the apartment. It felt like a prison.
“Aunt Syl,” she called. “I’m going out.”
“On your way back, stop by the laundry room and get the tea towels out of the dryer. I forgot them.”
“I will.”
“Thanks. Have fun, dear.”
The city of Sunday Cove was a heated blur. After only ten minutes of walking, Amy turned back to her apartment. Her thoughts were her jailer. They had followed her down the streets, relentless in their pursuit. Should she reach out to Todd? Should she embrace life, as Aunt Syl always said, or shut herself away? Wasn’t loneliness almost as painful as loss? Wasn’t it a kind of death?
Her footsteps quickened as she neared the apartment building. The hallway felt cool after the outside heat. She started toward the stairs, then remembered Aunt Syl’s laundry. She changed her direction and took the back stairs down to the basement. As she neared it she could hear the clanging of the ancient, overworked machines.
The steam coming from the laundry room assaulted her face, and the man bending over the machines assaulted her heart. “Todd.”
He turned around, holding a soggy pink undershirt in his hand. Grinning, he said, “I put my whites in with Grandpa Tuck’s red union suit.”
Happy memories flooded over her. The early morning sunrise with Todd at her side, the kisses on the sandy beach. She laughed aloud. “Oh, Todd. The union suit.” She crossed the room and took the pink T-shirt from him. “What am I going to do about you?” she asked softly.
“Marry me.”
“I don’t know. You almost persuade me.” She held the wet T-shirt in front of her like a barrier, but this time Todd crossed over.
He bent swiftly, capturing her lips in a kiss edged with desperation. It confirmed what Amy was almost ready to admit: Life without Todd was no life at all.
“Come with me, Amy,” he murmured into her ear. “Be my love.”
She buried her face against his chest. “Not yet. Oh, please, not yet. This is too important. I have to be very sure.”
His hands caressed her back. “I know, love. I know. But don’t be surprised if Justin kicks me out of the apartment while you’re making up your mind.”
“Out of your own apartment?”
“He’s possessive about his work. He doesn’t like bedroom slippers in the refrigerator and water rings on the coffee table.”
She pulled out of his arms. “I’m afraid we’re wet.” She held up the T-shirt that had been scrunched between them. The fronts of both their shirts were damp and slightly pink.
“Amy, a man can stand only so much temptation.”
Her laugh was shaky. “I’m going.”
He caught her hand. “If I don’t hear from you soon, I’m liable to come break your door down.”
“That would be disturbing the peace.”
“That’s all right. I know the judge.”
She left before things got completely out of hand.
That night she lay in her bed thinking about her choices. She could continue to refuse Todd. She could live a careful life, making no commitments, taking no risks. She’d have her robot and Aunt Syl. And she would be lonely. Or she could reach out to Todd. She could have love and laughter and joy. She could have a rich and full life. But she would have no guarantees. Todd couldn’t make those guarantees. Nobody could. Was she willing to take the risk?
The fog dream returned, but something was different. A bright shaft of sunlight burned the mists away, and she could see Todd clearly. She reached out her hand and he was there. Not just his hand, but all of him. In her dream she looked up into his face and smiled. It was a smile of affirmation.
The next day Amy was positively inspired. She whistled as she worked. If she kept up this pace, her perpetual popcorn popper would be finished by nightfall.
As she worked she thought of Todd. She thought of his wacky sense of humor, of the washtub boat and the union suit flag. She thought of his keen appreciation of nature, of the beauty of the sunset on the Gulf and the glory of the sunrise. She remembered his warmth, his way of touching her at unexpected times. And she knew without any shadow of doubt that she would risk anything— even the pain of loss—to be with him. Not just for a day or a week or a year, but as long as their forever lasted.
“Aunt Syl,” she called. “Stir up some purple pancake batter. Get out your bazookas and tin drums. Put on your party wig.”
Aunt Syl left her typewriter and fairly flew into the room. “What’s all the excitement?”
“There’s going to be a wedding.”
“Hooray and hallelujah.” She grabbed Amy and twirled around the room. There was so much laughter and excitement, Hortense took
refuge on the chandelier.
Suddenly Aunt Syl stopped dancing. “Does Todd know?”
“No. I haven’t told him yet.”
“My dear, don’t you think he should know?”
“Yes. He should be back from court soon. I’ll call him.”
“Oh, my, no. That will never do.”
“Why not?”
“Too unromantic. We must think of a plan,” Aunt Syl said.
o0o
As Amy leaned out the window and watched for Todd, she began to have doubts about the plan. She really wouldn’t blame Todd if he ran like a scared rabbit. She didn’t know how she had let herself be talked into this. Aunt Syl had wisely departed from the scene of the crime, saying she would take in a long movie. Even her argument— that if Todd was going to be a part of the family he had better get used to craziness—was beginning to lose its appeal. Maybe she would call him after all.
She wandered over to her perpetual popcorn popper and aimlessly flipped it on. She was proud of her latest invention.
“Look at this. Herman.” She ran across the room and turned him on. “How can you look if nobody turns you on?”
The robot circled the room, seeming to beam approvingly at the popcorn popper.
Smiling, Amy returned to the window. She stared down at the sidewalk until she began to feel dizzy. Where was Todd?
Suddenly she saw him coming down the street. He was walking with that familiar jaunty self-confidence she loved so much. She was entranced with watching him and almost forgot about her plan. He was directly beneath her window when she remembered.
“Look out below!” she yelled.
She had waited too long. Instead of falling at his feet, the withered rose landed on his head, its petals cascading down his face. The rose was from the bouquet he had sent, the bouquet she hadn’t been able to throw away even after all the petals had dried up.
He glanced up at the window. The nearly naked rose stem fell to the sidewalk. “I’m seeing angels today,” he said.
“Messenger angels. Pick up the rose.”
He knelt and opened the note attached to the flower stem. Marry me, it said.
His smile outdid the sun as he looked up again. “Amy?”
She nodded her head vigorously. “Yes.”
“Stay right there.” He ran around the building and burst through the front door, then bounded up the stairs two at a time.
Amy’s apartment door was unlocked. He pushed it open and walked into bedlam. Hortense swung from the chandelier, Herman whizzed around the room, and the latest invention had gone crazy. Popcorn was spewing into the air and blanketing the floor.
Todd didn’t notice a thing except Amy. He waded through the popcorn and took her into his arms.
“I love you, Amy Logan.”
“And I love you, Judge Todd Cunningham. Now and for always.”
He hugged her close and tipped her face up. “If you hadn’t sent that rose flying out your window today, I was going to storm your castle and take you by force tonight.”
“I thought of tossing the window box. Aunt Syl talked me out of that before she left for the movie.”
“I’m glad she did.”
“Of course, there was another consideration.”
“What’s that, love?”
“I didn’t want to crush the father of all my children.”
“All? That sounds ominous.”
“It is. I want at least six.”
“Then I have a wonderful suggestion.”
“What?”
“I suggest we get started.”
And they did. Right in the middle of the popcorn.
Epilogue
“Hand Mommy that hammer, William. There’s a sweetheart. Chad, take that feather out of Baby Sylvia’s mouth. Margaret, be a love and stop pulling Hortense’s tail.”
Amy was hard at work on another invention, but she paused to look lovingly around the sunshiny room at her children. They had already outgrown one house, and if she had her way, they were going to outgrow this one.
“You have that look again, dear.” Aunt Syl spoke from a rocking chair beside the window. Time had added a few lines to her face, but it had done nothing to dim her spirit. At eighty she was still turning out best-selling mystery novels.
“What look, Aunt Syl?”
“The look that tells me I should start crocheting bootees.”
Amy laughed. “You can’t even crochet.”
“It’s never too late to learn.”
“My sentiments exactly.” Todd spoke from the doorway. At the sound of his voice, the entire family descended on him. He dispensed kisses and hugs all around and counted himself to be the world’s luckiest man.
That night he presided over the family dinner, listened to a recap of everybody’s day, and shared the bathing and tucking-in and telling-bedtime-stories chores.
At last he was alone with Amy.
“Come here, Mrs. Cunningham.” He spread his arms wide. Amy walked across their bedroom and cuddled against him. He bent down and captured her lips. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day,” he murmured.
“Guess what I’ve been wanting to do all day?”
“What?”
She stood on tiptoe and whispered into his ear.
A delighted grin split his face. “The last time we did that your bed played ‘Dixie.’“
She leaned back in his arms and slowly began unbuttoning her blouse. “Perhaps we should tell the children.” Her silk blouse made a rose-colored splash against the carpet.
“Tell them what?”
“That ‘Dixie’ isn’t a love song.”
“What a shocking thing to say, Mrs. Cunningham. ‘Dixie’ happens to be the only love song I know.” He unfastened her skirt.
“Then, Judge Cunningham, I have a suggestion.”
“What?” Her skirt hit the floor.
“I suggest you hurry. The bed’s playing our song.”
-The End-
If You Enjoyed This Book…
If you enjoyed Disturbing the Peace (Sunday Cove), try The Nearness of You (Sunday Cove), coming April, 2015. More Sunday Cove romances this summer and fall!
Don't miss Peggy's new women fiction novel, Stars to Lead Me Home.
Details on the Sunday Cove series and all Peggy’s books are at www.peggywebb.com. Join Peggy on Facebook and Twitter.
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About Peggy Webb
Peggy Webb is a USA Today best-selling author from Mississippi with 70 books to her credit. She writes romance, women’s fiction, an occasional romantic suspense and the hilarious Southern Cousins cozy mystery series starring Elvis, the basset hound who thinks he’s the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll reincarnated. Her peers call her a “comic genius.” She also writes literary fiction and is a member of PEN under the name Elaine Hussey. Pat Conroy calls her literary work “astonishing.” This critically acclaimed author has won many awards, including a Romantic Times Pioneer Award for creating the sub-genre of romantic comedy. Several of her romances have been optioned for film.
Peggy is a member of Novelists, Inc., Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She is excited about bringing her romance classics back to readers as E-books. The award-winning Touched by Angels and A Prince for Jenny, as well as the Donovans of the Delta series and her boxed sets, have all been Kindle Top 10 bestsellers.
Follow the author on her websites: www.peggywebb.com and www.elainehussey.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
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Books by Peggy Webb
Classic Romance
Dark Fire
Touched by Angels (RT Reviewer’s Choice)
A Prince for Jenny, sequel to Touched by Angels
The Edge of Paradise
Duplicity (Rave review, RT Reviewer’s Choice)
Where Dolphins Go (RT Reviewer’s Choice, women’s fiction, optioned for film)
Night of the Dragon (time travel romance)
Christmas in Time
(time travel, prequel to Only Yesterday)
Only Yesterday, (time travel, sequel to Christmas in Time)
Summer Jazz
Taming Maggie (#1 on romance bestseller list)
That Jones Girl (sequel to the Mississippi McGills series)
Indiscreet
The Donovans of the Delta Series:
Donovan’s Angel (Paul Donovan’s story)
Sleepless Nights (Tanner Donovan’s story)
Hallie’s Destiny (award winning book, Hallie Donovan’s story)
Any Thursday (Hannah Donovan’s story)
Higher Than Eagles (Jacob Donovan’s story)
The Mississippi McGills Series (spin-off from Donovans of the Delta)
Valley of Fire (Rick McGill’s story)
Until Morning Comes (Jo Beth McGill and Colter Gray Wolf’s story)
Saturday Mornings (Andrew McGill’s story)
Forever Friends series
Can’t Stop Loving You (Book 1, Helen’s story)
Only His Touch (Kat’s story, Book 2)
Bringing Up Baxter (B. J.’s story, Book 3)
Angels on Zebras (Maxie’s story, Book 4)
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Belinda
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Janet
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Molly
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Bea
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Clementine
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Joanna
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Catherine
Sunday Cove Series
Naughty and Nice
Birds of a Feather
Disturbing the Peace
….5 more to come
Romantic Suspense
Witch Dance
From A Distance
Boxed Sets
Donovans of the Delta
Forever Friends, Finally Brides
Finding Mr. Perfect
Finding Paradise
Time’s Embrace
Warrior’s Embrace
When I Found You
Southern Cousins Mysteries
Elvis and the Dearly Departed, 2008
Elvis and the Grateful Dead, 2009
Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders, 2010
