Midnight in Brussels (7 page)

“But I’ve had so much food already, and I don’t think I could eat lamb, really. They’re so cuddly.”

Richard’s eyes were gleaming as he reached across and touched her hand that was resting on the table cloth by her wine glass. “Just try it. One bite. You don’t have to eat more of it if you don’t want to.”

Richard decided at that very moment that he wanted to give Amanda every pleasure she could imagine. He wanted to show her the world. His feelings for her were overwhelming; he had never felt this way before. His heart felt as if it would burst, the love for her was exploding inside him, almost impossible to hide. What a pleasure it would be to introduce her to a life she’d never had.

On top of it all, he was physically attracted to her. She was an untarnished, unbiased, unassuming, untouched, intelligent beauty. He wanted her more than anything.

Chapter 11

It was nearly dark when Richard parked the car on the street by Amanda’s cottage. He hurried around and opened the car door and reached for her hand as she stepped out of the Caddy onto the curb.

“I’ve had a real good time, Richard. Thank you. I’m glad I went with y’all.”

He reached across her back and gripped her shoulder as they began walking toward her front door. “I knew you would enjoy yourself, and as I promised you, you’re home before the witching hour.”

She laughed. “I thank you for that, too. Although I was having so much fun at Noriega’s talking to the old-timers, I hadn’t noticed how the time had flown. Thank you for getting me out of there.” She reached in her purse for the house key. With key in hand, she turned to face Richard on the first step. “This has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

He couldn’t help but notice the tears welling up in her eyes and couldn’t contain what was welling up inside of him.

“Amanda, please understand me when I say this … I want to give you all the fun you can handle. Will you let me do that for you? Will you trust me and let me show you things and places you’ve never seen?”

She hesitated. “How old are you, Richard?”

He laughed. “Well, I’m nearly twice your age, I’m sure. I’m forty-five, but I feel like I’m twenty-five. Why?”

“I don’t mean to be nosy, really I don’t. I was just wondering, and I was hoping you weren’t fifty or sixty. Forty-five don’t seem all that old.” Her heart was melting as she gazed into his handsome face and blue eyes, and feeling his strong hands gripping her arms.

“Even if I were fifty or sixty, I’d still feel young with you.”

Amanda suddenly felt nervous. “Well, maybe so. Anyway, I got to go inside; got some things I still have to do before I go to bed.”

“May I have a goodnight kiss? A little one?” He moved closer to her. He could feel her body heat emanating between them. “Just one?”

She was mesmerized by his half closed eyes inviting her lips to his, and the mellow hypnotic sound of his voice.

He kissed her and they both lingered for a moment, their bodies touching in all the right places.

Amanda panicked. “I have to go in.” She pulled away and ran up the steps, hurriedly unlocking the door. “Thank you for lunch and all,” she said a little too loud.

“When can I see you again?” he asked with a longing, pleading look.

“Next time you’re at KC’s, I guess. Good night. Thanks, again.” She closed the door.

Once inside she took a deep breath and dropped her purse on the cocktail table near the stack of magazines. She plopped down on the small sofa and stared across the room towards the fireplace, thinking about Richard, about the kiss, and how her heart was racing. She mustn’t give in to him, she mustn’t. She couldn’t help but feel that Arlie had run off because of how she was in bed. She must have been awful for him to do that. And she was afraid Richard would drop her if he knew how bad she was at making love.

Besides, she couldn’t let Richard interfere with her plans. She figured within six months, no later than June, she would be on her way to Belgium, anyway. She would spend at least a couple of months there, maybe more if she could swing it. She might even stay forever. So Richard couldn’t be a part of her life.

Besides, she definitely didn’t want another man telling her how to live and what to do. She didn’t want another man restricting her comings and goings. She wanted a life of her own, without sex and all the other things a man wants from a woman.

Nope. She didn’t want a relationship with anybody. Anybody!

Chapter 12

It was a stormy day in February.

Amanda decided to call in sick. She had never missed a scheduled day of work at KC’s and had always been on call for extra work when Frenchie needed her. But today she had the worst case of the flu she’d ever had. If she wasn’t sitting on the toilet, her face was in it. And to top it off, it was raining hailstones. She could hear the heavy ice rocks hit the roof and occasionally hit a window. The garden was covered with a white knobby blanket of it. If she weren’t so sick she’d be sitting at a window enjoying the view, sipping hot chocolate with a fire blazing in the fireplace. She loved storms.

She grasped the sink as she rose to her feet from the toilet after another round of dry heaves. There was nothing left in her stomach or intestines. There couldn’t be. She wondered why the convulsing and cramps still went on after the body was empty of all matter and fluids. Didn’t it know it’d expelled it all?

Feeling too weak to stand, she crawled to the doorway over the wooden floor and leaned back against the doorjamb. She could see through the living room and out the windows and marveled at the beauty of the storm. How she wished she were out in it gathering hailstones. When she was a girl in Arkansas she and her sister would fill buckets with giant hailstones and put them in the ice box in their grandmother’s house. They didn’t have a refrigerator, so a hail storm was a blessing.

The phone rang.

Amanda crawled to the table next to the loveseat and reached for the phone.

“Hello? Oh Paula. I’m so sick. Sicker than a dog. I’ve been up all night puking my guts out and I have a bad case of diarrhea. No. I don’t have any of that. I’ve got some Alka Seltzer Cold & Flu capsules, been waiting till I quit vomiting long enough to take them. No. It’s just the flu. I’ll get over it. Okay, but wait till after the hail stops. Don’t come out in this storm. Okay. Love you, too.”

Twenty minutes later Paula was at the door, knocking.

“Just a minute!” Amanda called out while she raised herself from the loveseat where she’d just fallen asleep wrapped in a blanket. She opened the door. “Didn’t I tell you not to come out in this storm, Paula? It’s too dangerous for you to be driving.”

“Oh, don’t you be silly. I’ve been out in worse than this. I remember when neither one of us ever worried about any ol’ storm.” She took off her coat and reached for Amanda. “Now let’s take a look at you. My God, you look like shit!”

“I feel like shit.”

“Have you eaten anything today?”

“Hell no. Wouldn’t be able to hold it down, if I did.”

“You got any cans of soup?” Paula asked.

“Some tomato and chicken noodle in the cabinet.”

“Okay, you go lie down. I’ll fix some crackers and chicken noodle. That’ll do the trick. You got any tea?”

Amanda pointed with one hand and held her belly with the other. “There’s some green tea in the basket on top of the refrigerator.”

Paula immediately brewed tea and poured a can of Campbell’s soup in a pan on the stove. She stepped back in the kitchen doorway to look at Amanda lying on the loveseat in her blanket. “Hon, you don’t look too good. Maybe we ought to take you to the doctor.”

“No, I’ll be all right. It’s getting better, really. You know I don’t like doctors.”

“Well, I don’t know. Your face looks drawn and it looks like you lost some weight and you can’t afford to do that. You’re skinny as a rail as it is.”

Wanting to change the subject, Amanda said, “You look like you’re ready to pop that child, Paula.”

“Yep, you got that right. Come hell or high water you’re gonna get a nephew this month.”

“Looks like it might be high water if this storm keeps at it.” They both laughed.

Paula stepped back into the kitchen to prepare the soup and the tea. She carried out a cup and saucer for Amanda. “Okay now, sip on this. I put some honey in it. It’s good for you when you’re sick like this. It’ll give you some energy. You need to get some liquid in you since you’ve lost it all.”

“Actually I feel better than I did when we talked on the phone. Must be the capsules I took.”

“Well, the soup will help, too. I’ll have a cup of tea with you.” She went back to the kitchen for the tea and stirred the soup. “Have you heard from Richard?”

“He’s coming down on Monday. We’re going out to dinner at the Woolgrowers.”

“He’s such a nice guy, isn’t he? And he really does like you, hon. I couldn’t believe how much he watched you when y’all were at the house last week. He couldn’t take his eyes off you. Drake remarked about it after you left. And talk about getting along with Drake! I mean, they’re like two peas in a pod. We couldn’t ask for a better brother-in-law.”

Amanda smirked. “We ain’t getting married. I’m already married.”

Paula waved a hand dismissively. “That doesn’t matter. You can’t go back to living with Arlie even if he did come back. You wouldn’t
want
to, would you?”

“Hell, no.”

“Well, you can annul that one. You said Richard wants to marry you.” Paula sat in the chair next to the loveseat with an inquisitive look on her face.

“I didn’t say I would.”

“Why not? You like him and he’s good to you. It’s obvious he’s crazy about you.”

“The soup’s boiling over, Paula.”

“Dammit!” She lunged for the kitchen and the pan of soup. “It’s okay. Not much of it boiled over.”

“You never were much of a cook.” Amanda laughed.

“I didn’t have to be, I had you and Grandma to do it all for me.”

They both giggled as if they were little girls again.

Paula reached for a soup mug. “Remember the first time I made spaghetti, wanted to surprise you and Grandma? I put a half cup of salt instead of sugar in the sauce?”

“Oh yes. I remember that. It was awful.” Amanda grimaced at the memory. “And Grandma ate it anyway, like it was supposed to taste like that. Told you it was good while you and me were spitting it out on our plates.”

“I miss her,” Paula murmured. “I really do.”

“I do, too.”

Paula returned carrying a tray. “Okay, here you are … a nice hot cup of chicken noodle. Just like we used to have when we were sick.” She set the tray on Amanda’s lap.

“Thank you. It looks good. You didn’t put any salt in it, did you?”

“No, I didn’t put any salt in it. Now you just be grateful and behave yourself.”

“Just wondering.” Amanda grinned as she blew on a spoonful before putting it into her mouth.

Paula returned to the kitchen and poured more tea for both of them. She was worried. Worried that Amanda would make the biggest mistake of her life by rejecting Richard. She only wanted the best for her little sister. She wanted her to be loved by a man that could take care of her. And she knew in her soul that Richard was that man. Drake thought so, too.

Chapter 13