by Terri Reid
“Hello. No, no, I totally understand. It’s your job. People are counting on you. No, really I can wait.”
She hung up the phone. “Really? There’s no one else in Stephenson County who can help with a train derailment?”
“It’s a plot to ruin your date,” Ian said. “Do you have an old boyfriend who works for the railroad?”
She snorted. “Be quiet.”
Thirty minutes later Mary slipped a big white apron over her dress, took her earrings out of her ears and made her way into the kitchen. “Anyone else want grilled cheese?”
An hour after that, she went upstairs and read the children a bedtime story and got slightly emotional when the clock struck twelve and Cinderella had to leave the ball. “At least she got a chance to go,” she muttered.
Once the children had fallen asleep, she left their room. The clock in the hallway displayed 9:15. She went to her bedroom, slipped off her stockings replaced them with thick wool socks.
“Now there’s a look I’d thought had gone out of style,” Ian said, as she walked down the stairs. “And seeing it in person, I can truly understand why.”
She just growled at him.
An hour later, she was dressed in sweats and eating Breyer’s Ice Cream from the container. Ian was upstairs working on his computer and Mike was floating somewhere in the house.
“I hate my life,” she said sadly, eating another forkful of Rocky Road.
She shuffled over to the refrigerator and put the ice cream away. Then she climbed back into the recliner, pulled a blanket over herself and turned on “While You Were Sleeping.”
Chapter Fifty-one
A soft buzz woke Mary from a deep sleep. She raised her head and blinked her eyes open, realizing she was asleep in the recliner instead of her own bed. The buzz repeated and she recognized her cell phone was on the vibrate setting. She reached over to the end table, snatched it and answered.
“Hello,” she said with a yawn.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Bradley replied from the other end.
Mary shook her head and smiled. “Yes, I’m awake. But just barely.”
“What are you wearing?” he asked.
Her eyes widen. “Bradley, this is so not going to be one of those kinds of phone conversations.”
His chuckle sent warm feelings through her. “No, nothing like that. But, really, what are you wearing?”
“My CPD sweats,” she said with a huff, “My usual nighttime attire.”
“Excellent, I was hoping you’d say that,” he replied. “I’ll be there is ten minutes. Put your running shoes on.”
She sat up in the recliner. “Wait. What? It’s 11:30 at night. I don’t understand.”
“We have a date.”
“But it’s 11:30 at night,” she repeated. “What can we possibly do at 11:30?”
“Mary, trust me,” he said simply.
Sighing, she tossed the quilt off and stood up. “Fine, running shoes,” she said, “Anything else?”
“A warm coat,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”
He hung up without giving her another chance to respond. Mary tossed her phone onto the recliner and jogged up the stairs to her room. “Running shoes,” she muttered. “Is he nuts?”
“Troubles?” Ian asked, poking his head out of his room.
“No. I’m going out on a date.”
He looked her over. She was dressed in baggy sweats, her hair curling around her face in sleepy waves and pink lines across her face from where she laid against the recliner.
“What?” she asked.
“You look lovely,” he said. “Lucky’s the man who has a chance to date a woman like you.”
“That bad, huh?”
Grinning, he started to move back into his room. “Aye, but it’s dark outside and the bugger left you waiting for more than four hours.”
“Ohhhh,” she yelled, darting into her room and rushing for the bathroom.
Glancing into the mirror she saw the marks left by the tufted fabric. “I look like a quilt,” she moaned as she splashed warm water on her face and then slathered on moisturizer. “My first official date with Bradley and I look like a waffle.”
She patted her face dry, added a little make-up and brushed her hair so it lay in smooth waves over her shoulders. Walking back into her bedroom, she glanced forlornly at the cute little black dress hanging on the outside of the closet. She glanced into the mirror and sighed. “Some girls never get to dress up for the ball.”
She pulled some thick white socks out of her dresser drawer, put them on and padded downstairs for her shoes. She was tying her shoes when the front door burst open and Bradley entered.
“Hi,” he said, a big smile spreading across his face. “You look wonderful.”
“Wonderful?” she asked, looking down at her sweats.
Laughing, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Perfectly wonderful.”
She stepped back and stared at him. “You haven’t been drinking or exposed to a chemical contaminant have you?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m in control of all of my senses, I promise. Now let’s grab your coat and get going. We’re running out of time.”
“Running out of time?”
“You’re spending a lot of time repeating what I’m saying,” he pointed out.
“Repeating…”
His raised eyebrow stopped her.
“Fine,” she said, grabbing her coat and slipping it on. “Let’s go.”
The cruiser was at the curb, the engine running. Bradley hurried her into the car, drove down the street to Empire Street and turned left.
“But there aren’t any restaurants down this way,” Mary said.
Bradley nodded. “We can grab something to eat later,” he said. “We have to do this first.”
Within minutes they were entering the long drive to Krape Park. “I got special permission to enter the park after hours,” he teased. “I know the Chief of Police.”
“I hear he’s really good looking,” Mary said.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that too,” he said, with a grin.
“Too bad his ego is out of control,” she replied.
“Well, he hangs around with this gorgeous woman who keeps him in line, so it’s really not a problem.”
He pulled the car into the parking lot near the bandshell. “Okay, ride’s over.”
He got out of the car and slipped off his overcoat. Mary was surprised to see that he was dressed in sweats and running shoes too.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I thought we could run a little.”
For a moment she couldn’t even form words. “You thought that it would be a good idea to go running on a freezing February night at 11:45 p.m.?”
He nodded, clearly unabashed. “You did say I could pick any kind of date I wanted, right?”
She stepped out of the car and took her coat off. “Yes, I did,” she said. “So are we racing?”
His mouth spread into a grin. “What else?” he asked, before dashing off towards the path.
“Wait!” she yelled after him, breaking into a run. “I wasn’t ready!”
She saw him disappear around the first bend and stopped yelling so she could concentrate on making up for his head start. She scanned the area as she ran, but realized the snow and ice on the ground would hinder any cross-country shortcuts.
Reaching the top of the first hill, she saw his lead wasn’t as great as it had been at first. She was catching up with him. She ran down the hill at breakneck speed, hoping she didn’t have to stop suddenly. He glanced over his shoulder, saw her coming and increased his speed. However, her downhill momentum was giving her the advantage and she knew she would catch up with him within the next few yards. Suddenly, he veered off the path and headed toward her favorite shortcut, but it required vaulting over two park benches.
“Don’t try it, Bradley,” she called, her voice lost in the night air. “You’ll get hurt.”
She ran after him, her shoes slipping on the snow covered field, her breath appearing as puffs of white steam. “Bradley, wait!”
He dashed toward the first bench, grasped the top and vaulted over it without a problem.
Impressive, Mary thought, running after him. But he hasn’t won yet.
Turning to her right, she angled her run downhill, towards the playground. The ground was covered with chunks from recycled tires and would have better traction than the ground. She watched from the corner of her eye as Bradley took the other bench with ease and headed toward the carousel.
She darted through the entrance of the wooden fortress play area. She dashed around the tire run, hopped over the balancing bar and jumped off the edge of the structure, propelling herself toward the carousel from a slightly difference direction.
Her lungs were burning, but she put her all into the last few yards. Glancing over, she could see Bradley was doing the same. Both just feet from their goal, the chain-link fence that surrounded the carousel, she watched in amazement as Bradley threw himself forward and smashed into the fence seconds before she was able to touch it.
“I won,” he gasped, as he slid to the frozen ground. “I won.”
“You cheated,” she panted.
He turned to her and grinned. “Yeah, I know.”
Her laugh sounded more like wheezing. “That was a brilliant move.”
“I’m sure I learned it from you,” he huffed.
“Probably.”
“So,” he started, turning towards her. “Since I won, I get a prize.”
“You admit you cheated and you still want a prize?” she asked, inhaling deeply to catch her breath.
“The prize is why I cheated,” he confessed.
“Ah, the ends justify the means?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded. “In this case, yes.”
“Well, then, I suppose you worked hard enough for it,” she said. “What would you like for a prize?”
Snow began to softly fall on them. Big fat flakes that landed on their faces and then melted away. Bradley looked up at the sky and laughed. The full moon appeared from behind a cloud and the snowflakes were suddenly a thousand sparkling points of light. He dug into the pocket of his sweat pants, pulled out a small box and pushed himself up and away from the fence. He knelt on one knee in front of Mary.
“You,” he said softly. “You’re the prize. Mary O’Reilly, will you marry me?”
He clicked the catch on the lid and held the open box out to her. The diamond ring caught the moonlight and sparkled brilliantly.
Mary shook her head. “But, I don’t understand,” she stammered.
“I didn’t want to ask you on Valentine’s Day, everyone does that. I wanted it to be special,” he explained, glancing down at his watch. “We made it by three minutes.”
“Oh, Bradley,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Mary, just say yes,” he said, leaning towards her. “That’s all you have to do.”
She pushed back into the fence. “But there are so many questions, we don’t have answers to,” she said, panic creeping into her voice. “I may never be able to have children. I’m still not over what happened to me. I’m still having flashbacks.”
With tears streaming down her face, she jumped to her feet and slowly stepped backwards. “I’m sorry, Bradley. I just can’t.”
She turned and ran away from him, knowing the path before her was mirroring her future; dark, cold and alone.
Chapter Fifty-two
Mary had taken about five steps when a hand clapped down on her shoulder, stopping her midstride.
“No,” was all Bradley said.
She took a deep shaky breath and swallowed back her tears. “Bradley, I really can’t…”
“I won the race, I get the prize,” he said simply. “No.”
She twirled around, anger and hurt replacing sadness. “This isn’t a game,” she hissed.
Then she saw his face; calm, serious and determined.
“No, you’re damn right, this isn’t a game,” he said softly. “This is our lives.”
“But I told you why…,” she began.
“But you didn’t give me a chance to respond. You gave me your reasons, fair enough, but now you have to listen to me.”
She wiped her arm across her face, brushing away her tears, and nodded.
“You’re right, I want children,” he said. “But the only children I dream of are the ones we have together. The only child I want is one who is nurtured and loved by both of us. If we can’t have children of our own, then we can adopt. I don’t want a child if you’re not the mother.”
He pulled her gently into his arms. “I need you in my life Mary. You hold my heart in your hand. If you walk away, you walk away with my heart. I’ll never be whole again.”
Crying softly, she laid her head against his shoulder and placed her hands on his chest. This was not fair, she thought. She was trying to do the right thing for both of them. She was trying to protect him. Why couldn’t he see that?
He lightly rubbed her back and laid his head on hers. “Mary,” he whispered. “What are you worrying about now?”
“But, what if…if I can’t…” she began.
“I told you that I was not going to ever let fear and doubt stand in the way of our love,” he interrupted. “I’m more afraid of facing life without you than I am of helping you work through the flashbacks.”
He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned back, meeting her eyes. “Our love has been strong enough to overcome obstacles much bigger than this. You have to have a little more faith in both of us.”
She thought about what he’d said and realized that he was right. She had let fear rule her life lately, instead of faith. She’d nearly let Gary win again. When in the hell had she turned into such a wimp? An O’Reilly never runs from a good fight!
Taking a deep breath, she met his eyes. “You cheated,” she said.
Relief spread over his face and he grinned down at her. “Darn right and I’d do it again.”
“I have to admit, it was a pretty impressive run,” she said.
“It was the most important race of my life,” he replied seriously. “And I won.”
She shook her head and watched the happiness leave his eyes for a moment. “No, I won,” she said softly, as she reached up and kissed him softly on the lips.
He wrapped his arms tightly around her and lifted her off the ground, spinning in a circle as the snow flew around them. Then he kissed her until she was breathless. “Say it,” he insisted, lowering her feet to the ground, but keeping his arms firmly around her. “Please say it.”
“I love you, Bradley Alden,” she said, her eyes glowing with love. “And, yes, I will marry you.”
Chapter Fifty-three
The sun was barely up when Ian came down the stairs to the kitchen. Mary was already busy in the kitchen. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and sniffed the air. “What is it that we’d be having for breakfast this morning?” he asked.
“Waffles,” Mary said, with a quick smile.
“Waffles?” he repeated. “That’s a fine way to greet the day. Are we celebrating?”
Mary tried to hide her smile, but the joy she was feeling was too great to hold in.
“Yes,” she said with a wide grin. “Yes, we certainly are celebrating.”
“Ach, do you think you’ll be hurting the wee bairns feelings acting this way?” he asked.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Oh, that’s right, I dinna tell you,” he said. “While you were getting ready for your fancy date last night Katie called. They were getting in late last night and would be coming over this morning to pick up Andy and Maggie.”
“Oh,” she said, her light mood slightly diminished. “Oh, well, I’m going to miss them.”
“Aye, like a splinter,” Ian teased.
“Come on,” she said. “Admit it; you loved every moment of it.”<
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He nodded, straddling the kitchen chair, and looking longingly up stairs. “Andy’s full of wit and Maggie, well she’s wrapped my heart around her wee finger.”
“Do we really have to give them back?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Aye, I’m sure Katie’s just as fond of them,” he said. “So, if we aren’t celebrating being free and single once again, what are we celebrating?”
She held her left hand out, displaying her new engagement ring. “Not being single,” she said.
Ian got up, walked over and took her hand in his. “Well, look at this shiny rock,” he said. “But it’s no competition to the sparkle in your eyes. I ken you’re happy.”
“So happy,” she admitted.
“Aye,” he said. “And it’s about time.”
She laughed. “Yes it is.”
The sound of small footsteps on the stairs was almost bittersweet.
“Guess what, Mary?” Maggie said. “My mom is coming home today.”
“That is so wonderful,” Mary said. “I’m sure she missed you.”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, I’m sure she missed me too.”
Ian laughed and ruffled her hair. “What do you think about waffles?”
Her eyes widened. “Really? Waffles? I love waffles.”
Ian pulled some plates from the cabinet and set them on the counter. “Well, we’re celebrating this morning,” he said. “So we’re all having waffles.”
“Do you want butter and syrup or strawberries and whipped cream?” Mary asked her.
“How about…,” she said, lengthening the word as she made up her mind. “Both.”
Ian laughed out loud. “Aye, darling, you can have both.”
Andy hurried down the stairs carrying his suitcase and his backpack. “My mom is coming to get us today,” he announced. “I told her we could stay longer, but she said she missed us too much.”
“Well, I can understand that,” Mary said. “I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”
Andy slipped onto a chair at the table. “I could come over every day and eat breakfast with you,” he offered. “So you wouldn’t miss me so much.”
