“Wait here,” Ben said, a strange look on his face.
Emily waited. She thought about her little speech, wondered if her heart would ever beat normally again, before Ben returned fifteen minutes later.
“Close your eyes,” he called from the hallway. Emily obediently closed her eyes.
“Okay, now you can open them.”
His voice sounds funny, Emily thought as she opened her eyes. Clamped between his teeth was a silver whistle. In both hands he held Christmas bells. “Do you hear them now?” he said around the whistle in his mouth. The bells rang and the whistle shrilled.
Emily whooped with laughter. “Only you, Ben. I swear, this makes it all right. Thank you, thank you so much. C’mere,” she said, crooking her index finger. “I want you to make love to me right here on the kitchen floor.”
“Lady, I thought you’d never ask. Can I stop with the bells and whistles now?”
“The way I look at it, you can’t kiss me with that whistle in your mouth, and I have other plans for those hands of yours.”
The whistle landed in the sink and the two bells sailed across the room. “Emily, I’m all yours. For now and forever.”
“Shhhh, you talk too much. You made it possible for me to love again, Ben, so let’s do what we do best.”
It was midafternoon before Emily and Ben were willing to untangle themselves from the bedclothes. “You are a man of endurance, Mr. Jackson,” Emily said contentedly.
“And you, Miz Thorn, fueled and stoked that endurance. I love you, Emily, so much it hurts me sometimes.”
“So that’s what all those twinges are. I thought it was the aging process.” How wonderful it felt to be here with this man who understood and loved her the way she needed to be loved. “I love you, Ben. I guess I always loved you. I was afraid to say the words. Afraid if I said them aloud it would…be like before. I didn’t want that. This is what I want. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to realize…to come to you and be honest.”
“All good things come to those who wait. I told you I’d wait forever. I meant it. Look at us now, you crazy kid.”
“Ben, let’s go home. I want to tell my friends. I want to…I have so many ideas and I want you all there to hear them because each of you has a voice in our future.”
“Okay. But I have an even better idea. Let’s take a shower together first.”
“You devil,” Emily squealed as she beelined for the bathroom.
“What is this?” Emily demanded as she pushed her chair away from the table. “It tastes like one of Sister Tiny’s secret surprises.”
“It’s a bunch of cookie crumbs with pudding and brandy for zip. Tell us! Don’t play dumb either. All of us watched you two walk up the driveway and we all decided that, in the whole of our lives, we’ve never seen such sappy expressions. We’re calling it love. Are we right?”
Emily flushed and nodded. Ben displayed a silly grin.
“Toast! Toast! All we have left is, Bud Ice.”
“Sounds good to me.” Ben’s silly smile grew wider.
Emily stood, her beer bottle held high. “This is a special toast. Listen up. To bells and whistles. Who needs them? Okay, now down to business.”
They talked intensely for two hours. “Then we’re in agreement. We’re going to sell our shares in Emily’s Fitness Centers and move on. The lawyers will handle everything. Our pensions are intact; we all have excellent health insurance. We have enough money in the bank to last all of us the rest of our lives, and the money we set aside for Ben’s son’s college will grow so that, when he’s ready to go off to college, he’ll be able to go on for his MBA or Ph.D. if he wants to. The choice will be his. So, I say we start to do some good deeds. With Ian’s money. He had this house…a monster house, lots of grounds, quite a few acres. I suggest, and you all have a voice in this, but I suggest we turn that house and grounds into some kind of women’s shelter so that women who are in the same situation we were in won’t have to live with the fear we lived with. It will mean we’ll be pretty much going back to the basics, but I think we can do it. Yes, there’s a lot of money, but it won’t last forever, so we’ll have to make our endeavor a working endeavor. There won’t be a time limit as to how long they can stay either. Maybe we could buy an extra piece of property, raise chickens, sell eggs, plant gardens, and peddle the fruits of our labors. We could even board dogs and do grooming. Whatever we have to do, we can do. We proved that some time ago. That’s it,” Emily said.
“Vote!” the Demster twins shouted.
“The ayes have it!” Ben said. “Listen, this wouldn’t have anything to do with Ted living in California with his mother, would it?”
“It has everything to do with it. I suggest we make another toast. I’ll get the beer,” Emily said. Her head was half in the refrigerator, the cold air swirling about her. Atta girl, Emily. I couldn’t have done it better myself. He’s the one for you. Good-by, dear Emily.
“Hey, what’s holding up the works?” Ben shouted.
Emily turned, a smile on her face. She set the beer on the table before she wrapped her arms around Ben’s shoulders from behind. “I just want you all to know I love this guy. And…and I have it on good authority that he’s the one for me.” The silly smile was back on Ben’s face, but Emily couldn’t see it.
The girls whistled and hooted. Emily sat on Ben’s lap and nuzzled close. She was happier than she’d ever been in her life and all because Ben had taught her how to love again. She felt herself being pulled closer, heard the whispered words, “I love you, Emily Thorn.”
“Not as much as I love you, Ben Jackson.”
“Wanna bet?”
ZEBRA BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 1995 by Fern Michaels
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Zebra Books and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-1-4201-1828-5
Table of Contents
Cover
Also by Fern Michaels...
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Part Two
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Part Three
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Copyright
Dear Emily Page 35