Kathy Hogan Trocheck - Truman Kicklighter 02 - Crash Course (35 page)

Bless her heart; Margaret was just as practical and thrifty as Truman. They’d been keeping steady company all that fall. It seemed perfectly natural that he would just stay over at her condo, on evenings when they’d had dinner and a glass of wine, and then watched a movie.

He’d broached the idea of marriage in October, on a cool evening, on a park bench at Mirror Lake.

“I’m flattered, but marriage is out of the question,” Maggie said briskly. “We’re not kids, Truman. I have my own property and pension, and you have your social security and your pension from the wire service. Think of the tax repercussions if we marry! And all the paperwork. You should just move in here with me. I’ve got air conditioning. And cable.”

Truman had blustered and blushed. “What would Cheryl say? What would I tell Chip? I can’t just live in sin with you. It’s not right!”

Cheryl, as it turned out, thought it was a fine idea. “Maggie’s right, Dad,” she’d said, when he’d delicately raised the subject. “It’s not like you two are going to have children, right? And anyway, you don’t have to worry about what Chip thinks. He knows his granddad is a good person.”

So here they were, in the lobby at The Fountain of Youth. Truman had insisted on a ceremony, even if it wasn’t going to be a wedding, per se.

They lined themselves up in front of the rock-walled fountain, which Jackie had mysteriously managed to get turned on again after decades of disuse. Frank Boore, a balding retired Methodist minister who’d just moved into the hotel after retiring from Buffalo, took Truman’s hand and placed it atop Margaret’s.

The fountain burbled. Margaret glowed. Truman was vaguely aware that he was grinning like a kid, but he couldn’t help himself, couldn’t stop smiling. He knew the room was full of family and friends, but he couldn’t see their faces. Only Margaret’s. Her clear blue eyes twinkled like sapphires, her lips twitched with suppressed mirth.

Truman heard Rev. Boore read some Bible verses, and there was something to the effect that they should honor and respect each other all the remaining days of their lives.

And then it was done. “You may … “

Truman stopped him right there. “I’ve got it, Rev.”

The kiss was a doozie. Everybody applauded. Especially after Margaret turned, and looking straight at the Great Book Club girls, announced. “He’s kissed his last widow.”

OTHER BOOKS BY KATHY HOGAN TROCHECK

Happy Never After

“Fast paced, entertaining.”

—
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Callahan and her cohort of continuing characters (her mom, Edna; the ancient cleaning ladies Baby and Sister) are great company. If
Happy Never After
were a song, we’d all be dancing in the streets.”

—
San Jose Mercury News

The Callahan Garrity Mysteries

Every Crooked Nanny

To Live & Die in Dixie

Homemade Sin

Heart Trouble

Happy Never After

Strange Brew

Midnight Clear

Irish Eyes

A Truman Kicklighter Mystery

Crash Course

BOOKS WRITTEN AS MARY KAY ANDREWS

Summer Rental

The Fixer Upper

Deep Dish

Blue Christmas

Savannah Breeze

Hissy Fit

Little Bitty Lies

Savannah Blues