Package Deal (15 page)

Sh
e
nodd
e
d
,
dripp
e
d
wax into th
e
sauc
e
rs to anchor th
e
candl
e
s, th
e
n ging
e
rly walk
e
d
th
e
m into th
e
living room.Sh
e
plac
e
d
on
e
on th
e
mantl
e
of
the
old rock
fir
e
plac
e
,
and anoth
e
r on a tabl
e
n
e
ar an ov
e
rstuff
e
d
chair.Marcus s
e
t a third on
e
n
e
xt to a lov
e
s
e
at
. The
ottoman in front of it
held a
pil
e
of books
almost
as high as th
e
lov
e
s
e
at arm
, and
told
Amanda
wh
e
r
e
Marcus
sat to
rea
d
when he was not on campus
.

He disappeared down a
short
hall and came back with several towels in his hands. “Here you go, Cecelia. On
e for your hair and another for
the rest of you.
” He draped a large towel around Amanda’s shoulders, and handed her another.“
You, too, Amanda.”

With the candles positioned around the room, Marcus started a fire
in th
e
fir
e
plac
e
. B
e
for
e
long, its light gav
e
off a cozy glow, warming th
e
room. “Th
e
two of you look gr
e
at by
candl
e
light
,
”
he said,
before
wrapping a towel around his head and rubbing vigorously. When he came out from under it, his hair stood in half-dried tufts in all directions.

Cecelia laughed. “You look funny, like a clown.”

Amanda smil
e
d
broadly
,
her cheeks
growing warm
at the
romantic implications of his
earlier
stat
e
m
e
nt
, as she finished toweling Cece’s hair
.

“Let
me give you a tour of the place,
so you’ll be able to find things.” He
l
ed Amanda
back toward
the kitchen.
“You’ve already seen
this
room, what there is of it.”

“It’s compact,
”
she admitte
d.

“And easy to stock.” H
e grinned. “If I stand in the middle, I can almost touch every
countertop
.”

“
But it doesn’t feel cramped. And t
his place is
s
o
private and ou
t of the way
. Does
it
have a view, too?”

He
chuckle
d and nodded
, pointing to the front windows
. “On a clear night,
the
hills to the west.
Come upstairs, you two. I want
to finish this
loft as another bedroom.
But
I h
aven’t had time to do that yet. M
aybe when Ernie Pyle is done and my evenings are freer.”

“It’s very nice.
I’m envious. This is the kind of place I
’d
like to have someday.”
Amanda’s
voice was wistful as
she
let her hand slide down the
carved wood
banister
when
they moved back downstairs.

He grinned and winked
at Cecelia
.
“L
e
t m
e
show you wh
e
r
e
you’ll sl
ee
p tonight.”
H
e opened the door to the master bedroom,
revealing
a huge four-poster bed. “It’s one of the only pieces of furniture I insisted on taking
,
when Mike and I divided up the family homestead.
”

The bedroom’s single large window looked out into
deep
woods, offering a
barely visible
picture of
soft
greens in the midst of a
thick
stand of choco
late-
tinted tree
trunk
s,
their
upper
limbs
swaying wildly in the wind
.

“This is so cool
!” Cecelia exclaimed. “I’ve never slept in a bed so big!”

Marcus laughed. “You’ll need a running
start to get into it, kid. Here,
use
this
.” He
removed
two of his shirts and a pair of slacks
from a chair, then pushed it
next to the bed. She climbed on the chair and scooted into the center of the bed.

“Let’s take your shoes off, hon,” Amanda suggested.

Cecelia slipped off her shoes and dumped them over the side of the high bed. “Where are you going to sleep, Mom?”

“Right next to you,” Amanda and Marcus said in unison, and both laughed.

“The other bedroom is my office,
where the bookshelves are on that one long wall.” Marcus moved away from the four
-
poster. “I’ll
sleep in
the living room. For tonight, this is the women’s room.”He gave Amanda a candle to hold high, and he used its meager light to pull extra blankets and a pillow from the back of the closet.

“But that loveseat can’t
possibly
be long enough for you.” She imagined his long legs hanging over the sides of the small couch.

“That’s okay. I’ve made do with worse.
Good night. Sleep well.
” He shut the door behind him
.

Amanda h
e
lp
e
d
C
e
c
e
lia out of h
e
r cloth
e
s and und
e
r th
e
cov
e
rs. B
e
for
e
long, sh
e
was asl
ee
p, a small lump
in th
e
middl
e
of th
e
larg
e
b
e
d
,
with Eeyore standing guard near her shoulder
.

Marcus was sitting in th
e
chair, r
e
ading by candl
e
light, th
e
b
e
d
cloth
e
s in a
nearby
pil
e
on th
e
floor wh
e
n
Amanda wand
e
r
e
d
into th
e
living room
.

His presence seemed to fill the room, enveloping her
with
a sense both comforting and
exciting
as she watched the flames from the fireplace, their reflection dancing in the windows
.
“I appreciate you rescuing us. But I hate putting you out this way.”
What did he want from her? Could he tell what she had been thinking
as he’d shown her his house
?
Her pulse picked up as she imagined the possibilities.

H
e
look
e
d
up at h
e
r.
“You ar
e
n’t. It was my choic
e
. Had I not com
e
for you, I’m sur
e
th
e
polic
e
or fir
e
department
would hav
e
. Th
e
y’
r
e
e
vacuating all of that part of town. B
e
sid
e
s—
” h
e
got up and approach
e
d
h
e
r
, a smile
brighten
ing his face, reflected in his eyes
— “t
his way, w
e
c
an
hav
e
som
e
tim
e
tog
e
th
e
r
,
g
e
t to know
each o
th
e
r b
e
tt
e
r
.
We can think of t
onight
as our second date.
”
Marcus
took
her
hand in his.
“Is she asleep?”

“Y
e
s. It didn’t tak
e
long for h
e
r to conk out.”

“Good.” H
e
brushed an errant strand of hair off her cheek and
r
e
ach
e
d
for
her
.

S
he
w
e
nt willingly into his arms, th
e
slow
thumping of
his
h
e
art
reassuring
against
her breast
.
Could h
e
t
e
ll how
fast
her
h
e
art was b
e
ating? H
e
kiss
e
d
h
e
r ch
ee
k and wh
e
n sh
e
turn
e
d
h
e
r fac
e
to
look at him
,
h
e
kiss
e
d
the
small of h
e
r n
e
ck
and then her lips
.

She relished his proximity
,
his attention
s
, and her quickening heat
.
H
ow long had it been since she’
d been
this
close to a man?
She kissed him back and thrilled to his response.
Sh
e
l
e
t his hands
—how warm they were
, just like at the movies
—
start
to mov
e
ov
e
r h
e
r should
e
rs and arms
. Her heart thudded faster as she felt the tension in his back muscles
,
but
wh
e
n
his hands moved to her waist and
slip
ped
under her b
l
ou
se
, sh
e
pull
e
d
away.