by Peggy Webb
“I think not.” She touched the smile that lit his face. “But I have to be sure. I can’t make such an important decision while my mind is drugged with passion.”
He smiled. “I’d like to keep you drugged a little while longer.”
He stayed until dawn.
o0o
Monday, at mid-afternoon, he called her.
“Josh?”
She could hear him chuckle on the other end of the line. “Surprise.”
“I love surprises.” She caressed the receiver as if he could feel her touch. “I’m glad you called.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes. Exhausted but happy. And you?”
“The same.”
There was a long pause. Finally he broke the silence.
“I just wanted you to know that I won’t push you. I want you here—more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life—but I want you to take your time. Don’t rush. Be very sure.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me, Josh.”
“Hallie . . .”
“Yes?”
“I wish I could offer you more.”
“I’ll take what I can get.”
She wanted to ask about his family. She wanted to know whether George had gotten drunk while Josh was away, whether his dad showed any improvement. She wanted to know if his day at Silken Moments had gone well. She wanted to ask whether he planned to go home early so he could rest.
But she didn’t. All those things were the concerns of a woman in love, not a lover.
“I called to wish you good luck on your thesis defense.”
“Thanks. In two weeks it will be over.”
“Two weeks. Call me, Hallie—anytime, about anything.”
If her heart had been a bird it would have soared. He was making one small concession, giving her one little edge. She thought it best not to make too much of his invitation.
“Take care, Hallie.”
“May the wind be at your back, Josh.”
As she hung up, she thought about all their partings. They’d never used the word goodbye. That was significant to her. These days, being in love as she was, everything was significant. She took small things and built them into a pyramid of hope.
o0o
Josh sent flowers every day—yellow roses, with notes attached. Some of his messages were sweet and sentimental, some friendly and cheerful, and some were pure erotica. She had so many roses, she had to give them away to make room in her small apartment. She gave them to fellow students and teachers and next-door neighbors. She carried them to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. But she kept the notes folded in a neat pile in her nightstand drawer. They became tattered from so much reading.
The day she defended her thesis she celebrated by taking her dogs on a picnic in Overton Park. It was a steamy Wednesday afternoon in mid August. She wanted to cast off her clothes and roll naked on the grass, but she settled for a Texas whoop.
After she returned from the park, she called Hannah. Talking with her twin was almost like having a conversation with herself. She called her to reaffirm her own thinking.
“Hi. It’s me. This is a celebration call.”
The connection to Alaska was bad with lots of crackling and sputtering, but she could still hear her sister’s take-charge tone. “It must be. Calling when rates are prime.”
Hallie chuckled. Hannah was ever practical about money matters. “I am now a full-fledged master.”
“You did it! Congratulations.”
“Hannah . . . there’s something else I want to tell you. You remember our discussion about Josh.”
“I remember a halfway discussion. You kept saying you’d think about it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow finally came.”
“I knew it would.”
“Well, I didn’t. Not really. It just kind of hit me one day. I’m in love with him.”
“I’ve known that for quite some time. The question is, what are you going to do about it?”
“Take your advice.”
She could hear Hannah’s full-bodied chuckle. “Good.”
“I’ve decided to go to Florence, in spite of the fact that Josh still maintains he’s not the marrying kind.”
“You sound just like you did that day in the fifth grade when you set out to prove you could outrun, outjump, and outcuss Hermie Clampett.”
“I did the first two, and would have done the third if the teacher hadn’t come along.”
“Once you get to Florence, what are you going to do?”
“I have a plan.”
Hannah laughed. “I’ve never known a Donovan yet who didn’t. Heaven help Josh Butler.”
“Wish me luck, Hannah.”
“We Donovans make our own luck. May the wind be at your back, Hallie.”
Hallie was smiling when she hung up. She already had a name for her plan—Gentle Persuasion.
o0o
Her next call was to Josh. When she heard his voice, she became so excited she forgot to say hello. Her news just came tumbling out.
“I’m coming to Florence.”
“When?”
“We’ll leave early tomorrow, as soon as we finish packing.”
“You have someone to help you pack?”
“Yes. Wolfgang and Ludwig. They knew we’d be traveling the minute they saw my open suitcase. They’ve spent all week dragging their bones and balls out from their hiding places and dumping them into my open suitcase.”
Josh chuckled. “Tell them not to dally.” There was a long silence at his end of the line. Hallie almost could hear him thinking. She wanted to shout her love to him over the phone. She held her breath, waiting for him to speak. “I’ll be waiting for you, Hallie.”
It wasn’t I love you, she thought, but it would do. “Where?”
“At Silken Moments.” He gave her directions. “Do you think you can find it?”
“Josh, I could find you if you were on the moon.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Hallie remembered Florence as being lovely, but she’d forgotten the wonderful sense of warmth about the town. As she drove down North Wood Avenue, past Pat’s Book Ends, past the campus of North Alabama State, past the stately old trees and the Victorian houses, she felt as if the town were reaching out to her, putting its arms around her, welcoming her. The town exuded a charm that was uniquely southern. People on the street turned to smile and wave at her. She knew it was partly her funny lavender car with the bull horns on the front and the two enormous dogs in the backseat that elicited the response, but there was a natural graciousness that seemed to be bred in Southerners.
She felt the great tranquility that comes to those who know they’ve made the right decision. Whether she and Josh could ever be more than lovers wasn’t the most important issue, she thought. Knowing she’d chosen a job and a town that she loved was satisfying. Every day would be a gift of joy.
As she neared the river, her pulse began to beat faster. The Silken Moments building was there, perched on the banks of the Tennessee, sprawled out like a giant octopus, its tentacles reaching in all directions, pulling in people from Sheffield and Muscle Shoals and Tuscumbia as well as Florence— four cities divided by a river and imaginary boundaries, but united in purpose.
Josh had told her that his company was the single biggest employer in the Quad Cities. She’d laughed and teased him, telling him he certainly was the biggest. He’d called her his wicked skinny-dipping gypsy angel. She loved for him to call her that. She loved the twinkle in his eye when he said it, the smile that seemed to light up his face. She loved him in an uncommon way, she thought as she parked her car. She loved him enough to be patient. She’d teach him slowly that her love was big enough to share his burdens and strong enough to withstand adversity. Gentle persuasion.
Tilting her Stetson at a jaunty angle, she got out of her car. She commanded Wolfgang and Ludwig to heel, then started up the front walk. Her dogs didn’t heel, of course. They never heeled.
She only told them that to remind them who was boss. As she walked through the front door, they gamboled around her like two protective Shetland ponies.
Josh’s secretary, Sadie, had seen her coming. She’d been at the water fountain by the window when Hallie drove up. After taking time to gawk and satisfy her own curiosity, she’d alerted her boss.
Josh left his office on the mezzanine and walked to the balcony railing. Hallie entered Silken Moments with her usual aplomb. She was a combination of Caesar setting out to conquer Gaul and a Barnum and Bailey Circus.
He felt such a surge of tenderness and joy that he thought his heart would burst. He didn’t call out to her, for he selfishly wanted his private time just to soak up her presence. Watching her in secret, he felt as if he were stealing something precious, something forbidden. It suddenly occurred to him what a completely selfless thing Hallie was doing—coming to him on nothing more than the hope of being his lover. The generosity of her heart stunned him.
Josh leaned over the railing to get a better view and chuckled as his employees did a double take. Heads turned in Hallie’s direction; mouths gaped open. George Glasser, on his way to the warehouse with an armload of pantyhose, glanced her way and walked straight into the water fountain. Hallie dispensed smiles and waves in all directions. Reactions ranged from George’s pain and embarrassment to complete stupefaction to broad grins to whispers behind raised hands. Nobody was oblivious to her.
As Josh stepped back from the railing and walked to the elevator, he decided that only dead men would remain unmoved by Hallie Donovan.
The lights on the elevator panels came on, and the electronic whirring announced the exact moment she started upward. Suddenly Josh was consumed with the need to feel her, flesh against his flesh, solid evidence that she really was in Florence.
The doors slid open and she catapulted into his arms. Not knowing whether they were alone, and not caring, Josh kissed her, long and hard. When he finally lifted his head, she was smiling.
“I thought today would never come, Josh.”
“I knew it would come, but it took a long time getting here.” He tucked her hand into his arm and led her toward his office. “Welcome to Florence, Hallie.”
“This town is wonderful. I already feel as if I’ve come home.”
He took time to introduce her to a still-gawking Sadie, before whisking her into his private quarters and closing the door. Without another word they were in each other’s arms, kissing as if their survival depended on it.
Wolfgang and Ludwig, who were accustomed to such carrying on between their mistress and the big man with the booming laugh, took the time to stalk around the office and explore the territory. They chose to flop down in the sun beside the window.
Josh finally pulled back to get his breath. “Hallie, you tempt me to abandon all rational thought.”
She smiled up at him. “Just how irrational do you want to be?”
“I want to shut down Silken Moments for the next hundred years and spend all my time with you. I even want to shut down real life.”
“I am real, Josh.” She spoke with a quiet dignity that riveted his attention. “There’s just as much reality in happiness as there is in adversity. Balance is the key to joyful living.” In a magnificent display of balance, she pulled off her Stetson and sailed it across the room. It settled rakishly on the head of the cardboard Woman in Red. Then Hallie leaned back in Josh’s swivel chair and propped her legs on his desk. “Well, now, pardner. What can I do for you today? My pets and I have come all the way from Memphis, Tennessee, and we aim to please. Anything your little ole heart desires. Just name it and it’s yours.”
Laughing at Hallie’s antics, Josh took a chair across from his desk. “You stole my lines. What does your heart desire, gypsy angel?”
“You.”
The look they gave each other sizzled. “And I desire you.” He nodded toward her dogs then toward the closed door. “But with a smaller audience.”
“Your place?”
She didn’t miss the shadow that passed over his face. “It’s equally as crowded. Dad’s there. And sometimes George.” Although he attempted to keep his voice light, she heard the strain. “We’ll leave your things here while we look for a permanent place for you to stay. I’ve already found several houses that look promising.” He paused to smile at her. “Before you get your dander up, let me explain that my motives are entirely pure. Nothing Robert Gilbertian here. I know this town, and I know what’s available.”
She laughed. “I was hoping for some impure motives.” She rose from her chair and came around the desk. Plopping into his lap, she circled her arms around his neck. Her face was earnest as she gazed into his eyes. “Josh, you need never be concerned about Robert Gilbert again. That’s a closed chapter of my life. I’ll never fear being manipulated or imprisoned by you.” She punctuated her last remarks with small nibbling kisses around his jaw.
“Let’s get out of here before I forget where we are.”
They took the dogs to the advertising department and left them in the care of Herb Williams.
Herb bent at the waist and leaned over Hallie’s hand in the manner of a gallant old-time gentleman. “It doesn’t seem possible, but you’re even more beautiful than when I filmed you five years ago.” He kissed her hand, then released it. “I hope you plan to model again. I’m already getting visions of you on a white bearskin rug in our newest line of silk teddies.”
“I haven’t given modeling a thought. I’m here to do theater work with special children.”
“In your spare time perhaps you can model. I’m serious, Hallie.”
“I’ll think about it, Herb.”
While she showed her dogs around the place and admonished them about good behavior, Herb turned to Josh. “Why didn’t you tell me she was coming? We could have made plans for her.”
“I have.”
Herb smiled. “A silk teddy and a bearskin rug without the camera?”
“Something like that.” He smiled at Hallie, standing across the room under a silk canopy, pointing to the silk pillows scattered across the floor and explaining something earnestly to Wolfgang and Ludwig. “Make no mistake about it, Herb. Hallie’s her own woman. If she wants to do some modeling, that’s fine with me. You know, of course, that I trust your instincts in hiring models.”
Herb gave him a searching look. “Hallie wouldn’t be just any model, would she, Josh?”
“No. Not just any model.” He gazed at her across the room. “Hallie’s special. Very special.”
“In that case, you’d better try to hang onto her. I know about fifteen men in Florence who are going to go crazy when they see her. If I were you, I’d make her mine. Permanently.”
Josh smiled. “Advice well taken.”
“But not heeded?”
“No.” He reached for Hallie as she came to his side. “Ready to go house hunting?”
“Yes. But first I want to see the theater.”
“Anything your heart desires.” Josh turned to Herb. “Thanks for keeping the pets. We’ll be back before five.”
o0o
The theater stood on the corner of North Seminary and East Mobile, an old movie house with a deserted ticket booth and a faded marquee. Hallie stood under a small maple tree on the cobblestones and looked at the theater. There was an aura of magic in the air. Goose bumps rose along her arms. She could feel the excitement of crowds, smell the popcorn, sense the drama of make believe.
“It’s perfect, Josh.”
He laughed. “How can you tell? You haven’t even seen the inside.”
“I know. I can feel it.” She squeezed his arm. “Can’t you feel it?”
“What?”
“It’s magic. Years and years of magic, still lingering around, waiting to be used again.”
“I judge by the shine in your eyes that you’re planning to resurrect the magic.”
“Oh, yes. Can’t you just see it?” She waved her hand as if she were inc
luding all of Florence in her plans. “We have the right combination—a perfect town, a perfect theater, special children . . .”
“A perfect teacher.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Let me show you the inside.”
Even in the heat of August, the theater was pleasant inside. The walls were thick, built many years before air conditioning was an everyday convenience. The seats were plush, the curtains velvet, and the air musty.
“It will take some cleaning and repair. Let me show you backstage.” Taking her hand, he led her through a small door. “Everything back here seems to be in working order. I’ll have a crew come out and help you as soon as you decide what you want.”
She stood for a moment, glancing from the theater to the man who had made her dreams come true. All of them, she thought. Not just her dreams for a special children’s theater, but her dreams of loving a man, the right man. A scene from her childhood suddenly came to her: She and Hannah had been ten, sitting in the meadow behind their house in Greenville. They’d strung sweet red clover blossoms together and decorated themselves. Both wore crowns and bracelets and necklaces of red clover.
“What do you want to be when you grow up, Hallie?” She could hear Hannah’s voice as clearly as if she were standing in the theater.
“I want to be in love and have a big family, just like Mom.”
It was an old dream that had gotten sidetracked. After her marriage to Robert had proved to be such a disaster, she’d shoved the dream aside. Now, standing there with Josh, the dream came back, full force. He was the man, the only man who could make that dream come true.
She was filled with longing. She wanted to marry him, to bear his children. As soon as you decide what you want, he’d said.
She held out her arms. “I want you, Josh,” she whispered.
“Hallie.” He held her close, gazing tenderly into her eyes. Then, ever so slowly, his mouth descended on hers. It was a kiss of such burning Intensity she felt as if she’d reached up and touched the sun.
“I’ve wanted you in my arms so much these last two weeks, I thought the wanting would kill me. Ahhh, my sweet gypsy angel.” His mouth closed over hers.
I love you, Josh. The words sang through her mind, and she longed to say them aloud. Not yet, not yet, caution told her.
