Always You (A Magnolia Falls Novel) (10 page)

Melinda nodded and continued to ask questions, which Diana and Liz took turns answering. It was unnerving to see her writing what they said. At the end of an hour and what Diana felt was an inquisition, they were done. Melinda put her notepad and pen into her bag and stood up. “From what I can see you are both working hard to make this work for Jessica. I have to make two more visits before I turn in my recommendation, but if all goes as well as it has been I don’t foresee any problems.”

“That’s great,” said Diana. One less thing she had to worry about. Now, worry about her date with Zack could take priority.

When they closed the door after seeing Melinda out Diana turned to Liz, panic rising. “You have to help me find something to wear tonight.”

Liz clapped her hands. “Yes, finally I get to dress you. I’ve been wanting to do that for years.” She grabbed Diana’s hand. “Let’s go.”

Jessica came out of her playroom. “Where are you running to?” She asked.

“Diana’s room. Come with us.”

She followed them, giggling all the way. Liz went straight into Diana’s large walk-in closet, and Jessica jumped on the bed holding her blue, stuffed rabbit. Diana stood in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do. She could hear Liz’s many exclamations of either dismay or approval. Finally she came out holding several articles of clothing in her arms. “Okay, time to start trying things on. We are going to find you an outfit that will have Zack drooling.”

“
Eww
, that’s gross.” Jessica made a face eliciting a laugh from Diana and Liz.

“Before we begin this we need music,” Diana said. She picked up a remote, pressed a few buttons, and the room filled with music. Jessica jumped up and started dancing on the bed while Diana tried on the first outfit Liz handed her. Jeans with a black, silk wrap top.

“What do you think?” Diana asked walking around the room modeling the outfit. Liz held her chin considering.

“What do you think, squirt?” Liz asked Jessica.

Jessica looked at Diana then at Liz and shook her head.

“I don’t like it, either. Take it off and try this instead.” She held up a red jumpsuit that fell below one shoulder.

Diana stepped into it and turned her back so Liz could fasten the four large buttons on the back. She turned around holding her hands out to her side. “How do I look?” She asked, striking a pose that made Jessica giggle.

“That’s not how Liz does it,” Jessica said while she rolled on the bed laughing, holding her stomach.

Diana stuck her tongue out at her little sister then turned to Liz. She shook her head. “It’s not right. Here’s another one.”

Diana again changed into another outfit. This time it was a basic black jersey dress that fell a few inches above her knees, had a princess neckline, and was sleeveless. Diana twirled around and did a little dance to the beat of the music. Jessica jumped up. “I like it!” she exclaimed.

“Me, too,” said Liz.

“We have ourselves a winner.” Diana went to the bed and grabbing Jessica’s hands, pulled her down. They started dancing. Liz joined in the fun. The three sisters danced around the room, laughing and smiling. When they passed Diana’s vanity Liz picked up the hairbrush and handed it to Jessica who used it as a microphone to sing along with Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Zack waited by Diana’s car for Gavin to arrive with his tow truck. Diana had agreed to go out with him tonight. He could feel a silly grin spread across his face that needed to be wiped away before Gavin arrived. Gavin would give him grief and never let him live it down. Poker night with the guys would be torture.

Ten minutes later Gavin arrived with his bright yellow tow truck. A person could see that thing coming from a mile away. “So, does she have you carrying her purse now, too?” Gavin asked him before he even got out of his truck.

“Just being a gentleman is all. Something you would know nothing about.”

“You got that right. The gentleman thing is overrated. It tells women they can walk all over you.”

Zack shook his head. “One day you are going to meet the one you will be happy to give your player card to.”

“No way. The woman doesn’t exist. I was born a player. I’ll die a player,” Gavin said.

Zack laughed. “I am going to make you eat those words on your wedding day.”

This time Gavin threw his head back and laughed. “You will be waiting a long time for that day because it’s never happening. Now, let’s get this car hooked up so I can get it to the garage and see what’s wrong with it.”

Zack went over to help his friend hook Diana’s car to the tow truck. The sooner he got this done, the sooner he could go home and get ready for his date tonight.

***

Diana heard the doorbell ring, and her heart flip-flopped. Zack was here. She had picked up her phone a thousand times to cancel since he had left her. Each time she stopped herself. Or rather, the memory of their kiss stopped her, and the way it had made her feel complete and safe. Every man she had dated had lacked something. Now she knew what it was. None of them made her heart soar with a look or a touch the way Zack did.

With one last look in the mirror she rounded the corner and approached the staircase. At the bottom he was talking to Liz, who was introducing him to Logan. The two men were shaking hands when Zack noticed her. He froze on the spot, still holding onto Logan’s hand. Liz and Logan looked up at the same time. Logan smirked and pulled his hand out of Zack’s grip. Zack didn’t seem to notice. He just watched her as she came down the stairs. She silently thanked Liz for making her wear the little black dress. Liz had also done her hair. She had piled it on top of her head, leaving a few curls hanging.

When she was two steps from the bottom Zack reached his hand out to her, she placed hers in his. “Hi,” he said, raising her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over her knuckles.

“Hi,” she said, suddenly shy with everyone looking at her. “
Um
. Are you ready to go?” She asked.

“Yes.” He held onto her hand as they walked out the front door.

“You two kids have fun. Don’t worry about the girls. I’ll keep a close eye on them,” Liz said before closing the door.

Once outside, Diana’s attention was captured by the candy apple red classic convertible behind him. “Oh my gosh. She is beautiful.” Diana stepped around him and went to the car. She ran her hand from the hood to the trunk. “What’s her name?” She asked Zack.

“Gavin calls her Lorena. She belongs to him, and right now I am very jealous of a car since you so quickly forgot all about me at the mere sight of a hunk of steel,” he admitted.

Diana flashed him an unrepentant smile. “Did he restore her himself?”

“Mostly,” he said, walking to Diana’s side, resigned to let the car be the center of attention for now. “I helped some in exchange for being able to borrow her whenever I want to.” Zack opened the passenger door, and Diana slid into the soft and supple white leather seats. She rubbed the seats with her hand. Zack shut the door and walked across the front of the car to the driver’s side and got in.

“Do you think he would let me drive?”

Zack laughed. “You can ask. But I wouldn’t hold out much hope of him saying ‘yes.’ He is very protective. I had to give him our complete itinerary, including a list of all the roads I would be driving her on before he handed over the keys. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is watching the GPS in real time to make sure I stay on the approved roads.”

“I don’t blame him. I would be just as protective if she were mine.” Diana turned around in her seat to inspect the back seat.

Zack wondered if her thoughts on the back seat were the same as his. Probably not. “Since when are you a lover of classic cars?” He shifted his thoughts to something safer. Zack thought he knew everything about Diana, all her likes and dislikes. This one was something new. Although, after ten years of separation there were probably many new things about her he needed to discover.

“When I was in college, there was a classic car show on campus every year. I went one year at the insistence of a guy I was dating, and I liked it. After that, I went every year.”

At the mention of a guy Zack could feel his brow furrow, and he had the urge to find and punch the unknown man. “Did you go with the same guy each year?” He asked.

“No way. He was a jerk. We didn’t have to date very long for me to figure that out. Guys come and go, but cars are forever.” Diana flashed him a smile that nearly had him running off the road.

He turned his focus back to the road to prevent that from happening.

“Where are you taking me? This looks like the road to your house,” Diana said.

“It is the road to my house,” he said evasively.

“Did you cook me dinner?”

“Nope.” He could tell that his not offering more information was beginning to annoy Diana. She always needed to know what was going on in any given situation, which was what made her such a great attorney. She dissected the issue from both sides, so she could see any surprises and deflect them.

“There is food involved in this date, right? Because I am starving. I didn’t have time to eat after the social worker left today.”

“Yes, there will be food,” he assured her.

“Okay. We will eat, then what?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises.” She reminded him unnecessarily. He remembered that little fact about her, along with many other little and big facts about her.

“You will like this one. I promise.”

“Do you remember the time you tried to surprise me at the Firelight Festival with a purple snow cone?”

Zack smiled and nodded. “I remember I wore a purple snow cone on my head the rest of the night. It turned my face purple for two days.”

Diana laughed. “It was the funniest thing. You looked like Barney
®
.”

“Thanks a lot. I guess it didn’t help I was wearing a green t-shirt that night.”

Diana laughed harder. “You kept insisting you didn’t want to go home and change. If you had washed it off right away you probably wouldn’t have turned purple.”

Zack turned into his driveway and parked the car facing the side wall of the barn. He turned off the engine and looked at Diana. “Billy Stevens was trying way too hard to get in your good graces that night. He liked you so there was no way I was going to leave you at the festival with him.”

“You were jealous.”

“Darn right I was jealous. Seeing the two of you flirt with each other all night while I stood by looking like a purple dinosaur made that the worst night of my life, up until that point.”

Diana placed her palm on his cheek. “I wouldn’t have had to flirt with him if you had been flirting with me instead.”

Zack raised his hand to cover hers as it lay on his cheek. “I wanted to. I wanted you so badly, but I was a kid, and I didn’t know how to do that without ruining our friendship. I guess my fears were well-founded because when I finally worked up the courage to take our relationship to the next level—I ruined our friendship. Ten years is a long time to live without you in my life.” He turned his face into her palm and kissed her hand softly.

“Yes, a decade is too long not to have one of my best friends to talk to and laugh with.”

Zack looked into her eyes and held her attention. He wanted her focused on him for what he was about to say. He didn’t want any misunderstandings of exactly which realm he wanted their relationship to be in this time. “I want to talk and laugh with you again. I want to be your best friend—but I want more. I want to claim your heart, and I always get what I want.”

Diana’s eyes flared quickly, and he hoped he hadn’t misread her or scared her away. Her next words allayed his fears. “I want that, too.”

They sat looking at each other for a few moments. Zack needed to get used to the idea he was actually doing this. He was starting a romantic relationship with the woman he had been in love with most of his life.

Diana finally turned away and looked around. “So, are we going to sit here and look at your barn? It’s a very nice barn, and I like the color. But unless you have food hidden in the glovebox, I think we are going to starve.”

“Open the glovebox.” Zack almost laughed at the stunned expression on her face.

“Dinner is in the glovebox?”

“You won’t find out unless you open it.”

She complied and pulled out boxes of milk duds and junior mints. Zack opened the center console and pulled out a bucket of popcorn and two bottles of water.

“This is movie food.” She looked at him confused. He watched her face to see her expression when his surprise finally came up. A projector went on somewhere behind them and projected a movie onto the side of the barn.

“It’s a drive-in movie.” Then she saw exactly which movie it was. “‘Casablanca.’ My favorite.”

“I remembered.” Zack was not disappointed by the happiness on her face. He had seen nothing but sadness there lately and was glad he could put a sparkle back in her eyes and a smile on her face. “Hopefully, the movie food will keep you going until the movie is over. Then we can go to dinner.”

“I’m sure it will,” she said, popping a junior mint into her mouth as the credits began to roll.

They relaxed back into their seats to watch the movie. Zack put his arm around Diana and she leaned back and rested on him. All the running around, favors he had called in, and mountains he had moved to accomplish this was worth having her in his arms.

***

After dinner Zack took her to the falls. There was a long bridge crossing the water. They used to go there all the time as kids. That bridge was where Zack had asked her to Prom. The sound of water falling into the pool of water surrounded them. The moonlight reflected off the water. The night was slightly cool. Zack held her hand as they walked across the bridge. “Do you remember coming here during the summer? We would spend all day in the water,” said Zack.

“What I remember was my preteen antics to get you to notice me.” Diana almost winced remembering all her crazy antics.

“Oh, I noticed, but you were my sister’s best friend. My twin sister. I would have violated the twin code.”

“The twin code,
huh
. I’ve never heard of it.”

“That’s because only twins know what the twin code is.”

“Right. You know what I think Mr. Connelly? I think the twin code is non-existent.”

There was a breeze, and Diana shivered. Zack stopped them in the center of the bridge. He wrapped his arms around her. “Better?” He asked. Always the gentleman.

“Much,” Diana said. She laid her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. In Zack’s arms she could almost forget all the pain and loss she had experienced. He made things right in a world that had gone so very wrong.

“Diana,” he said her name softly as his hand stroked up and down her back.

She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “Yes.”

“Today. That kiss. I’ve been waiting a long time to do that. Now that I have, I don’t think I ever want to stop.” He lowered his head to hers slowly, looking into her eyes. Giving her time to stop him. She leaned up on her tiptoes and met him halfway. When their lips met, it was with tenderness and love cultivated over a lifetime of friendship and shared experiences. This kiss was between two hearts that had long yearned for this very moment. The moment when two hearts would become forever linked as one.

Slowly, they broke the kiss and came out of the sensual haze they had created. Zack kept his strong arms around her. After several moments of comfortable silence, Diana looked up at him with a smile. He dropped another kiss on her lips and said, “The twin code does exist.”

She threw her head back and laughed. It felt so good to laugh again.