To Protect Her Son

by Stella MacLean

  Once inside the house, she was about to call Nate when the florist truck pulled into the driveway. A man got out with a large bouquet of cut flowers.

  “Do we have something to put all these in?” Adam asked as he held the door open for the deliveryman.

  “Probably not,” Gayle said, opening and closing cupboards, finally coming up with two glass water pitchers meant for outdoor barbecues. She tipped the man and closed the door, all the while unable to take her eyes off the massive amount of flowers resting on the dining room table. The card read, “Love you always, Nate.”

  She had never received so much as a single rose in her entire life. Tears suddenly gushed over her cheeks.

  Adam put his arm around her shoulders. “Ah, Mom, it’s okay to cry.”

  She held him close, remembering how she used to hold him just to feel the warmth of him. The nights when he was small and she’d get him out of his crib and rock him even though he was asleep, simply to feel his tiny body next to hers.

  “I’m crying because I’m happy. Happy about you, about our life here, about Nate. About everything. About how finally we are going to have a life surrounded by friends that love and care for us.” She sniffed back another rush of tears.

  Adam awkwardly patted her on the back. “Does this mean that you and Nate are getting married?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Would you like to marry him?”

  “Would you like it if I did?” she countered, not wanting to divulge how she felt until Nate said something. They’d spent a perfect night at the inn, but one night didn’t make a relationship. Nate was free to live his life as he chose, while she had a son to consider.

  “I’d like to see my mother happy, like she is now,” Adam said, his eyes filled with so much hope Gayle had to glance away.

  “Let’s arrange my trip into Anaheim, and then we’ll see.”

  “I’ll turn the computer on and find you some flights. I think I like doing this kind of thing,” he said as he headed upstairs to his room.

  Gayle watched her son taking the steps two at a time, and it brought back memories of the first time she’d seen the inside of this house. She had gotten word from a lawyer in Bangor that her aunt Susan had left the house to her in her will. Gayle hadn’t had any idea what she wanted to do about it. She’d never owned property and didn’t have a clue what she was getting herself into.

  She’d talked it over with Adam. To her surprise, he’d been excited about the chance to move to a new place. She’d been so concerned that he might balk at leaving his new friends, who were turning out to be bad influences.

  They’d gone to the library and used the internet to get information about Eden Harbor. They discovered a quaint little town on the edge of the sea with all sorts of tourist shops, a good high school and a hospital where Gayle might find a job. When they’d located Aunt Susan’s house on one of their searches and had seen how quaint and charming it was, they had both been determined to go. But it had been the flower beds at the front of the house and the garden in the backyard that had made the final decision for Gayle. She’d always wanted to garden, to grow her own vegetables and spend hours digging in the dirt. It had been the first time Gayle had felt lucky, that something had gone her way in life.

  To her complete surprise, she’d applied to the hospital to learn that they had a job opening if she could be there in four weeks.

  Gayle had cleaned out her savings, bought a secondhand car, stuffed it full of their belongings and they’d started across the country, just the two of them. And it had been the best time of their lives. She and Adam had wedged themselves in among their stuff and headed down the road. They hadn’t looked back, and had no regrets. They’d spent their days on the road singing and eating takeout at whatever town they passed through. Adam had become very good at reading maps, and had managed to keep them out of the big cities, focusing on country roads and less-traveled highways. It had been a wonderful learning experience for both of them.

  When they’d arrived exhausted and out of money, they’d been delighted to discover that the house had also meant the contents, offering them a complete package, as Adam liked to call it. And now she felt as if they’d always lived here. She finally had a community to call her own.

  But the best part was having Nate in her life, a man who loved her. After being part of the wedding, Gayle couldn’t help but hope to have a wedding of her own someday. Her heart fluttered in her chest at the possibility. In the meantime, she wanted to enjoy being in love. She’d never had a real relationship with a man before, and spending time with Nate, getting to know him, and him getting to know her, was what mattered most to her at the moment.

  Her thoughts returned to Nate and the beautiful flowers he’d sent her. She needed to call and thank him. She sighed. She simply needed to hear his voice, and thanking him for the flowers was the perfect excuse. He answered on the first ring. “Were you waiting by the phone?” she asked, delighting in his deep male voice.

  “Caught in the act,” he said.

  “I’m calling to thank you for the beautiful flowers. They are so gorgeous...and the card.” She steadied her voice. “The card was wonderful.”

  “I meant every word,” Nate said, his voice intimate, filling her with longing for him, even though they’d only been apart a matter of hours.

  “If you hadn’t called about the flowers, I was going to call you.”

  “Why?”

  “A couple of reasons, starting with wanting to hear your voice, to hear you say you love me.”

  “I love you,” she said, a sigh of longing escaping her lips. Maybe she should have accepted his offer to go with her to Anaheim.

  “Adam is upstairs finding flights for me on the computer.”

  “Tell him to wait until after I get back.”

  “Are you going out of town?”

  “Just to Portland. I’m a witness in a trial there. It should only be a couple of days. Then I’ll get back here and see you off at the airport.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine.”

  “Maybe you will be, but I won’t. If I can’t go with you, I want to be there when you leave and when you get back.”

  Warmth curled around her heart. Her throat constricted with happiness. “It’s so different...”

  “What is?”

  “Someone wanting to care for me...love me.”

  He gave a deep chuckle. “Listen, we’re just getting started. We have so many firsts yet to enjoy, you and me.”

  “And I can’t wait,” she offered, feeling his concern like an invisible protective shield.

  “You’d better. I’m not going to spend any more time away from you than I have to.”

  She was lonesome for him already and she hadn’t left yet. Was this how love worked? Every minute being the prelude to the next? Every thought starting and ending with the other person? She could get used to this. “I’ll let you know when my flights are once Adam has finished booking them on the internet. I promise I won’t leave until you get back from Portland.”

  There was a long pause, during which she wondered if he was still there.

  “When you get back, we’re going to have a serious discussion about our future together. You mean everything to me, Gayle. Everything.”

  “Does that mean you’ll make dinner?” she asked, suddenly unable to stop herself from making light of what he suggested.

  “Tease all you want, woman,” he said, and she could hear the laughter in his voice. “But I will do more than make you dinner when you get back.”

  “I’m counting on it,” she whispered as need swamped her. “Promise me you’ll take me to the airport.”

  “I promise.”

  * * *

  EVERYTHING WAS ARRANGED. Gayle clutched her carry-on bag as
if it had plans to escape from her. Glancing around, she felt pretty sure by the bored and indifferent expressions of the people waiting in the departure lounge in Bangor that they had all flown somewhere before. She debated whether she should go to the restroom one last time before the boarding call came. Her flight was scheduled to go into Newark, then into Detroit, then into Las Vegas and finally to Anaheim.

  Adam had found the flight for her, and he was really proud that he’d gotten her to Anaheim for a few hundred dollars. She had to smile at his new enthusiasm for just about everything in his life. He kept bringing up the subject of her and Nate, of what their plans were. And not for the first time she wished she’d relented and let Nate come with her. Flying was so much more complicated than she had imagined.

  Getting checked in was easy, but going through security had been really weird. She’d slowed the line because she didn’t know what she had to remove, where she was to put her jacket, and then when she’d passed through the scanner, the officer had asked her to spread her arms and legs while she’d swept a wand over her that emitted soft beeps every few seconds.

  She hoped the takeoff went okay...and landing.

  She’d gotten permission for four days off work. Everyone knew she was going to take her first flight and had given her all sorts of advice. She glanced up at the clock. She’d be boarding pretty soon.

  She was still taking it all in when a woman sat down next to her with a small child in a stroller. “Hi, I’m Alexa. I’ve never flown before, but my husband can’t take the time off right now and my mom is ill.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Gayle said, relieved to have someone to talk to.

  “Yeah. Kind of unexpected. Heart attack. You just never know what can happen from one day to the next, I guess. Sure makes you focus on what’s important in your life, don’t you think?”

  Gayle thought of Adam and Nate. “I sure do.”

  “I’ve got to make one more call to my hubby before I board. He’s so anxious about me traveling alone with our little girl. I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t have to. We’ve only been married for five years this October, but we’ve never been apart from each other. We fell in love in high school. I went away for computer-tech training and came back home. While I was away, Jack and I were so lonely for each other we vowed we’d never be apart again.”

  “But sometimes things happen that mean you have to be apart, right?”

  Alexa smiled. “Yeah, but we’ve always put each other first. Nothing is more important to me than Jack and now our little girl. Being away from either of them makes me feel empty inside.”

  As she met the young woman’s eager smile, she realized that leaving Nate to chase down a part of her past, to be away from him simply to assuage her guilt, seemed like such a meaningless thing to do. Suddenly she needed to talk to Nate, to hear his voice one more time before she boarded the flight. He picked up on the first ring. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I just needed to hear your voice.”

  “Me, too,” he said. “I wish you weren’t going. When you get back, we’re going to start planning our life together. I thought we might take a vacation when Adam’s school year is finished. And I want you to meet my friends and for us to have time with each other. I know you feel you have to see the police officer, but that doesn’t change the fact that your life and your future are here with me and Adam.”

  Was she willing to face the possibility that visiting Officer Perry might not change how she felt, might make her feel even worse? “I can’t simply walk away from this. I have to go.”

  “No, you don’t. You don’t owe him anything. What happened to him had nothing to do with you. You were a victim of Harry’s aggressive nature. You’ve paid the price for your guilt all these years. You’ve never allowed yourself to see your life in any other way but as someone who was guilty of not doing what was right. You don’t owe anybody anything. Let it go. Please let it go,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.

  What was she doing here? The time for whatever good she might have done for the police officer had passed. He’d gotten on with his life, and she needed to get on with hers. What if all she accomplished was to stir up painful memories for the officer? What if he didn’t need any more reminders of a past that couldn’t be changed?

  What mattered was the future—her future. Nate was right. It was guilt driving her. Guilt over something that had happened a long time ago. “Nate, I love you. I’m coming home.”

  “Hey! I’ll come and pick you up. I can’t wait to see you.”

  She laughed with the sheer joy of it. “You just saw me a bit ago.”

  “I know. I know.”

  * * *

  CLUTCHING HER PURSE and pulling her carry-on behind her, Gayle made her way back through security and along the open corridor with its array of colorful shops. She saw none of it, her gaze fixed on the long walkway leading out of the terminal. She wasn’t sure how long it would take Nate to make it back to the airport, but she couldn’t help but wish that he would be waiting when she got out of security.

  Up ahead a man walked with a cane, his black hair shot through with gray, his height making him stand out in the crowd. She would recognize him anywhere.

  Yet it was the look in his eyes that held her. No one had ever looked at her like that before—the love, the happiness, the sheer delight.

  “Gayle,” Nate said as she rushed toward him.

  She walked into his open arms as if she’d been doing it all her life. “I’m so glad I didn’t go.” She soaked in the scent of him, the solidness of him, and was grateful to be alive and here with him. “But how did you get here so quickly? I thought you’d be on the highway back to Eden Harbor.”

  “I missed you. I couldn’t leave the airport until I knew your plane had taken off and there was no hope that you’d change your mind.” He held her close, his hands moving up her back as his mouth took hers.

  “I’m so happy you waited.” Safe in his arms, she thought back to her past, her struggle to find happiness. She’d made mistakes, but she was not alone in that. She’d experienced how it felt to spend her early years as an outsider, but that was all over now. She belonged in Eden Harbor with this man.

  She’d expended too much energy focusing on her difficult past. This was her time, her life. She had earned every good thing being offered her. And as she looked up into Nate’s handsome face, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was holding her future in her arms. “I missed you,” she said.

  “Can we sit down for a moment?” Nate asked.

  “Is your hip hurting you?” she asked, concerned.

  “No,” he said, leading the way to a coffee bar along the corridor. “I have something I have to ask you, and it can’t wait.” He sat down, braced his cane on the chair beside him.

  She sat down across from him, curious to know what was going on.

  He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small jeweler’s box. “I picked this up this morning. I decided that I couldn’t wait any longer.” He snapped the case open, holding in his palm a sapphire-and-diamond ring. “Will you marry me?”

  “Marry you?” she asked. “You mean right away?”

  “Yeah, that would be nice.” His smile was so sweet she wanted to hug him. “But we deserve a wedding with all our friends and family to celebrate with us.”

  How long had she waited to hear these words? The life she’d always wanted was about to be hers. The man she loved was waiting for her answer. “I’ll marry you. Anytime, anywhere, anyplace,” she said, feeling so completely happy she was overwhelmed.

  He moved to the seat next to hers. Taking her left hand in his, he slipped the engagement ring on her finger. “Then, let’s get started on our wedding plans.”

  He kissed her. A gentle kiss that held a promise of happiness to com
e. She touched his face, ran her fingers along his jaw, luxuriating in the fact that this man was hers for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from SWEET TALKING MAN by Liz Talley.

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  CHAPTER ONE

  August 1978

  SIMEON HARVEY TURNED away from the open window noting the ceiling fan did little to relieve the discomfort of the sultry Louisiana night. He supposed he’d have to buy a damned air conditioner. Days ago, he’d discovered the humidity had damaged some of the priceless artworks hanging in the gallery. And that could not be.

  He glanced at his grandnephew, Bartholomew Theriot Harvey, who sat in a chair in desperate need of reupholstering, fanning himself and sipping a gin and tonic.

  “I don’t know why you don’t install air-conditioning in this old dump. It’s hotter than shit in here,” Bart said, wiping his brow with a handkerchief. He looked so much like his mother, Brenda, it was difficult to be angry at him...until he opened his mouth. “So why have I been summoned? Usually I call you. Regardless, you pulled the strings and the puppet dances.”

  Simeon stared hard at the boy. No, he wasn’t a boy any longer, but rather a spoiled little popinjay of a man who’d turned thirty years old yet still acted like a frat boy, drinking too much, spending too much, ignoring his old uncle until he needed more funds. Simeon itched to smack the boy, but he wouldn’t. Simeon wasn’t a man of violence.