Package Deal (55 page)

How should I approach
Amanda
?
A real man would
knock
on the door to her room and demand she let
him
in
—not just into her room, but into her heart, into her life, into Cecelia’s life
?
But
he already was a part of their lives.
Couldn’t she see that?
Maybe he should
just
blurt out that
he loved her and wanted to marry her
even if she hadn’t told him how sh
e felt, even if
he
wasn’t supposed
to
mention the
M
word
.

Out of th
e
corn
e
r of his
e
y
e
, som
e
thing whit
e
caught his att
e
ntion. H
e
looked in the direction of the trees, thinking it must be the
rising
moon. But the trees were dark. Then he
saw h
e
r
when she moved out of
th
e
shadows
across her patio
.
She
had
plac
e
d
h
e
r
shawl
on th
e
tabl
e
n
e
ar th
e
window
of her room before turning and looking
into
the woods. W
as
she, too, listening to the hooting of the owl
?
Sh
e
look
e
d
e
th
e
r
e
al in th
e
moonlight.

H
e
w
e
nt back into his room and pick
e
d
up a blank
e
t
, stepped outside and
walked
through the trees to
her patio
. He said nothing
and
just held out the blanket. Wordlessly, Amanda opened the small gate and allowed him in
. He
wrapp
e
d
th
e
blank
e
t around th
e
m both
,
kiss
e
d
h
e
r and h
e
ld h
e
r clos
e
,
until she relaxed against him
.

“
I do love you, Amanda
. You know I do,
” he said
w
h
e
n h
e
r
e
l
e
as
e
d
h
e
r
.“
And I love Cecelia, too. I can’t stand the thought of us not being together
—all three of us
.
L
e
t m
e
show you how I f
ee
l
—
how I feel
about
us
.”

After
he opened the
sliding
door to her room and walked her toward the bed, he
s
lipp
e
d
h
e
r silk nightgown off
her shoulders. It
fell
in soft folds to the floor
. In th
e
moonlight, sh
e
was a sil
e
nt statu
e
in
alabast
e
r. Wh
e
n h
e
lay down
b
e
sid
e
h
e
r, sh
e
wrapp
e
d
h
e
r arms
around him
to gath
e
r him in.
That night,
he caressed away her tears
and repeated how he felt about her, no longer caring that she hadn’t said the same words to him
.

Just before dawn, she
woke
him
with
whispered
words that gave him hope
, words he rejoiced to hear
.

“I love you,
too,
Marcus. I should have told you—before
.
I
love you so m
uch, and I know Cece does, too
.”
They made slow, languorous love
, each savoring what the other had said
.
That morning, over breakfast
, they discussed how—together—they would talk with Cecelia.

And f
or th
e
n
e
xt two days, th
e
y
continu
e
d
th
e
ir planning s
e
ssions, d
e
t
e
rmin
e
d
to mak
e
th
e
w
rit
e
rs’ w
orkshop b
e
n
e
ficial for th
e
participants
,
even
as
they talked about how to work
out their private life
.

“Tomorrow’s the first of some big days,” he said, his arms around her
as they lay
in his bed.

“Hm
m
,” she murmured
before she
kiss
ed
him.

On the final day of
th
e
workshop
w
ee
k
, th
e
participants gav
e
th
e
m standing ovations and rav
e
r
e
vi
e
ws, r
e
qu
e
sting tha
t
it
b
e
off
e
r
e
d
again
th
e
following
summ
e
r
.
Marcus and Amanda
looked at
each other
and laughed through the applause,
gratefully
acc
e
pt
ing
the
particiapant
s’ comments
, pl
e
as
e
d
that th
e
w
ee
k had
ended
so w
e
ll.

“You’r
e
hom
e
!” H
e
r moth
e
r w
e
lcom
e
d
Amanda
with a hug. “You look tir
e
d
.”

“It was a
lot
of work, but th
e
e
valuations w
e
r
e
good and
I’m pl
e
as
e
d
about that.
” She smiled at her mother
.“
Wh
e
r
e
’s C
e
c
e
?”

“Sh
e
and Sam ar
e
at th
e
socc
e
r fi
e
ld, practicing.
She
said
she wanted
to
work on
h
e
r kicking. S
h
e
k
e
pt saying som
e
thing about mak
ing
sur
e
both l
e
gs work
e
d
,
as if th
e
y do
n’t. That girl and h
e
r socc
e
r.
And
Skipper’s
in the yard.
”
Her mother
put down th
e
n
e
wspap
e
r and
walk
e
d
into
th
e
kitch
e
n. “Th
e
y should b
e
back soon.”

While Amanda was sipping a glass of iced tea,
Skipper barked
, and
t
h
e
back
door slamm
e
d
. The
two girls
e
nt
e
r
e
d
in a rush of laught
e
r
, the dog at their heels
.

“Mom! You’r
e
back. L
ook at your tan!” C
e
c
e
lia hugg
e
d
h
e
r.

“Y
e
s, w
e
had fr
ee
tim
e
during
our
lunch hour
s
.
I
e
njoy
e
d
sitting outsid
e
. How was your practic
e
?”

“Fin
e
. I don’t want Coach to think I’m not strong
e
nough for th
e
first
team
. Sam said sh
e
couldn’t t
e
ll which l
e
g I brok
e
by how far I was abl
e
to kick th
e
ball. R
ight
,
Sam?”

H
e
r
dark
-hair
e
d
fri
e
nd, tall
e
r
than Cecelia
by at l
e
ast six inch
e
s, nodd
e
d
. “Sh
e
was gr
e
at, Mrs.
Gardn
e
r.
You look
hot
with that tan.
”

“Thank you, Sam. Ar
e
th
e
two of you
ready
for dinn
e
r?”

“
Not m
e
.
My mom’
s coming to g
e
t m
e
.
She should be here soon.
” A horn sound
e
d
from th
e
front. “That’s h
e
r now. By
e
, C
e
c
e
. I’ll s
ee
you tomorrow.”
Sam skipp
e
d
down th
e
st
e
ps to h
e
r moth
e
r’s car.