by Webb, Peggy
“That’s okay. Just think what a dull world this would be if everybody had the same talents.”
“I can’t grow plants, either. Look what happened to poor Christine.”
Todd smiled as he remembered the airborne window box and the wilted petunia.
“If you want plants, I’ll have Justin bring you a window box full. He has a green thumb.”
“That will be wonderful! I want blue ones and pink ones and red ones and yellow ones. I want to look out my window and think of a rainbow. I want—” She stopped in the midst of her enthusiastic response and stared at him. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you have Justin do that for me?”
Todd considered his answer carefully before he spoke. He couldn’t tell her that he loved her. Not yet. He wasn’t even sure, himself. And he didn’t want to say sending a window box full of blossoms was just a neighborly gesture, for that certainly wouldn’t be the truth. He decided to choose the middle ground.
“Because I like you, Amy Logan, and I’m happy that you’re my upstairs neighbor. You’re a delightful woman, and if a window box promotes my cause, then I’ll give you a rainbow of flowers.”
Amy didn’t ask what his cause was. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Instead, she chose to talk of rainbows and shelves and parrots on the chandelier. Anything except Judge Todd Cunningham’s cause.
“I love rainbows. Don’t you? They’re full of promise.” She leaned down and picked up her broken shelf. “It looks like we’ll have to start all over. Are you really good at carpentry?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “We’ll put the shelf over there. Of course, Hortense will probably think it’s a perch built especially for her. That’s what she thinks about the chandelier. Naughty bird. Are you sure you don’t mind building a shelf on your day off? There must be dozens of other things you want to do ... like sailing.”
She ran out of breath, her cheeks quite pink from the effort of talking so much. Todd thought she had stopped at exactly the right time.
“We’ll go sailing after we build the shelf.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t think of a reason right now.”
“Could it be the Chinese fortune?”
“What do you know about the Chinese fortune?”
“I have a friend at the Chinese restaurant where I bought the cookies. I’ve had those cookies a while, just waiting till you came to dinner.”
“But you don’t know which fortune I got.”
“One plus one equals happiness.”
“How did you know?”
“I think that fortune has a nice ring. Don’t you?” He grinned. “I had my friend put it in all the cookies.”
“Sneaky.”
“How else could I be certain you got the right one?”
“I don’t believe in fortunes, Todd.”
“Then why do your cheeks have roses?”
The temptation was too great, he thought. How could he stand here in Wonderland and not touch his enchanting Amy? He reached out both hands and smoothed her hair back from her flushed face. Her skin was velvety-smooth and slightly damp from the heat and her exertions. And it felt exactly right. It felt so right that he let his hand linger on her face.
Amy was glowing inside and out from his touch. She thought she might just stand there amid her clutter until she floated off on a cloud, or at least until Christmas. She had missed a man’s touch, and not until that moment did she know how much.
Without thinking she covered his hands with hers. It was one of those spontaneous gestures that never would have happened if she had paused to consider her reasons.
“Your hands feel so good on my face,” she said. ‘I wish they could stay there forever.”
“We’ll see about that. Amy.” He lowered his lips to hers.
The kiss lasted through another one of Hortense’s tirades. It lasted through Aunt Syl’s breakfast. It lasted until both Todd and Amy had forgotten what they had started out to do. It lasted until they both wished for privacy instead of an apartment with a ready-made audience.
At last Todd lifted his head. “What was it we were going to do?”
“Move these boxes?”
“That’s as good an idea as any.”
They spent the rest of the morning moving boxes back to the closet. They were so enchanted with each other that they completely forgot they had intended to build shelves.
Todd looked at Amy over the boxes and wanted to take her into his arms.
She looked at him and wanted to kiss him.
His arm brushed against hers. Deliberately.
She bumped into him. Not quite accidentally.
He opened his mouth to say I’m falling in love with you, but remained silent. He was afraid of pushing her too fast, too soon.
She started to tell him how much she liked him, but she didn’t. She was afraid of being vulnerable.
Once he dropped a box on his toe. His muttered word was not because of the box but because of another missed opportunity. He wondered how much longer he could restrain himself. He wondered how many more times he could see Amy without taking her into his arms and making love to her. He thought that such restraint might give him a heart attack. He even thought of appealing his case to Amy to see if she would make love with him simply as a preventive measure.
More than once Amy forgot where the closet was located. And when Todd finally left, he forgot his cup.
Chapter 7
Amy’s second day in court wasn’t nearly as terrifying as her first. Todd winked at her as she scooted into her seat to await her turn before the judge’s bench. He had bolstered her courage so much that she even winked back. As a matter of fact, she thought she might disturb the peace again just so she could come to court and see him in his robes. He looked dignified and imposing. Princely. Solid. Endurable. He looked like a man who could conquer anything, even death. She squelched the urge to run up to the bench and stroke her hands across his broad shoulders just to see if he was real.
She spent most of her day in court studying the judge. It seemed a safe enough thing to do, especially since he was sitting on a platform and she was way in the back of the courtroom, out of reach. She wondered why, as much as she loved touching, that touching Todd Cunningham disturbed her. Then she decided she wouldn’t think about it. The ceiling fans were lazily stirring the humid air, and the day was much too hot for introspection.
She tried to force her attention away from Todd, but he would no longer be denied. He was at the front of the courtroom, solid and unavoidable. He was a tangible part of her present, not some ephemeral dream of her past. Now that she had put away the seascapes and the pipe, wasn’t it time to move forward? Wasn’t it time to embrace the present and live, really live?
She studied the face that had become dear to her. She hadn’t realized how dear until that moment. It wasn’t just that he was handsome and princely in his judicial robes. It wasn’t simply the stunning blue of his eyes and the thick cap of dark hair that drew her to him. It was the man himself. His humor and compassion, the way he was strong when she need strength and light-hearted when she needed cheering up.
Here was a man who had come unbidden into her life, a man who offered her more than friendship, more than companionship. He offered her passion and joy. Did she dare reach out for him? Did she dare risk loving and losing again? She didn’t know. All she knew was that his charm was fatal. With a certainty that comes from self-analysis, Amy realized she could never again walk away from his embrace.
She could only guess when the time would come, but when it did, she would not turn away. She wouldn’t ponder the future or the past. She was going to live for the moment. Starting now.
With that thought she turned her attention away from Todd and onto her accuser, Mrs. Matilda Hildenbrand. The matriarch of Sunday Cove society glared down her long nose at Amy, scowling as if she had just caught sight of an odious bug. The look put Amy on th
e defensive. Although she was sorry the picnic had been ruined, she wasn’t sorry enough to roll over and play dead. She had come into the courtroom prepared to enter another guilty plea and have the business over with, but Mrs. Matilda Hildenbrand’s look of contempt made her change her mind. She vowed that today she wouldn’t be putty in anybody’s hands. It was a day for momentous decisions, she thought as she slipped from her seat to call her aunt Syl.
“I need Herman,” she said over the phone. “Can you bring him down?”
“Of course.” Even over the phone Aunt Syl’s voice vibrated with good cheer. “My curiosity is killing me. Why do you want Herman? I thought you and Todd had worked everything out.”
“I’ve changed my mind about pleading guilty.”
“Goody. Herman and I will be right there.”
Amy waited in the hall until Aunt Syl and Herman arrived. They were not alone.
“I’ve brought reinforcements,” she said. “You remember Clara, don’t you?”
“Oh, my goodness. Of course, I do.”
The tall, self-possessed woman had the look of a Confederate general getting ready to lead troops into battle. “Amy, your troubles are over,” she said. “I was at that luncheon and I can guarantee my support is not with that self-important old biddy.”
The strange little crew put their heads together for a quick consultation, and then they slipped into the back of the courtroom.
When her name was finally called, Amy pressed Herman’s switches and led him to the front. A murmur went through the room as the little robot whirred toward the judge’s bench.
Todd hadn’t missed a thing—Amy’s exit from the courtroom, her return with the robot. He wondered what in the devil she was up to. Only years of habit enabled him to keep his face solemn as he looked down at her.
“Amy Logan, how do you wish to plead to charges of disturbing the peace?”
“Not guilty, your honor.” Amy was proud of herself. Gone was the timidity that had marked her first day in court. She spoke so loudly that Mrs. Matilda Hildenbrand nearly jumped out of her seat. Amy’s plea was so forceful that even Todd was a bit rattled.
“Who is pleading your case?” he asked.
“I am.”
He didn’t bat an eyelash at the news. Now that the first shock of her bold move was over, he was eager to see what she would do next.
He heard the plaintiff’s story first. It took all his willpower to sit patiently through Mrs. Hildenbrand’s rambling account of a summer picnic gone awry. With dramatic gestures she painted such a villainous role for Amy that even the onlookers occasionally muttered in disbelief. There was a collective sigh of relief when the woman sat down and Amy approached the bench to speak in her defense.
She began her plea with simple eloquence.
“I plead not guilty, your honor, because I didn’t disturb Mrs. Hildenbrand’s summer picnic. A stray cat did.”
Todd couldn’t suppress his smile. He remembered how frightened Amy had been the last time she had been in his courtroom. He approved her newfound confidence.
Encouraged by his smile, she continued. “My robot...” She stopped and punched instructions into Herman’s computer panel. “Say hello to the people, Herman.” The little robot turned toward the packed courtroom and saluted. The crowd applauded. “As I was saying,” Amy continued, “my robot and I were merely walking down the street, when a stray cat crossed our path. The cat became frightened and ran up a tree bordering Mrs. Hildenbrand’s yard. The blue jays in the tree flew down into her yard and frightened the members of the Ladies’ Auxiliary. Hearing the screaming, I climbed over the fence to see what I could do to help.”
Clara and Aunt Syl led the loud burst of clapping from the onlookers.
“If I had stayed on the other side of the fence, your honor, Mrs. Hildenbrand would have had to charge the cat and the blue jays with disturbing the peace because she wouldn’t even have known I exist. My only crime is in being a good Samaritan. Should I have to pay for that crime? Should I be charged because a stray cat became frightened? Am I responsible for the behavior of all the cats in Sunday Cove?”
A loud “No!” resounded throughout the courtroom. Although Todd hated to reprimand Amy’s Greek chorus of supporters, he banged his gavel.
“Order in the court,” he demanded.
Mrs. Hildenbrand turned and stared at the crowd, apparently stunned to find public opinion so against her.
From the back of the courtroom, Clara called, “Looks like every cat in Baltimore will have to be brought to justice for disturbing the peace.”
Everyone started laughing, and even Todd had to bend down on the pretext of examining his notes to hide his smile. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what he had to smile about. Not only had Amy disrupted his quiet home, she had now turned his courtroom upside down. But through it all she had maintained an innocence and vulnerability that made him want to go out and slay dragons for her.
When he looked up again and pounded his gavel, calling for order, Mrs. Hildenbrand rose to her feet. As the courtroom refused to come to order, she opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to speak, then finally threw up her hands in exasperation.
“This is ridiculous!” she exclaimed. “I withdraw the charges!”
The spectators cheered. Amy smiled with relief and happiness.
“Case dismissed,” Todd declared, and banged his gavel down once. To be honest, he was relieved too.
As Mrs. Hildenbrand swept from the courtroom, Amy considered going home as well, until she noticed the way Todd was studying her.
She followed Aunt Syl and Clara into the hallfway.
“Both of you were just wonderful,” she said. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Looks like you’ve got more to celebrate than winning the case.” Clara winked at her. “Looks like I can take a certain judge off my list as most eligible bachelor in town.”
“Have you been matchmaking again, Clara?” Aunt Syl asked her.
“Now and always. I’m looking for somebody for you, Syl.”
“What makes you think I need any help?”
“You’ve found somebody ready?” Clara clapped her hands. “This is too delicious! It calls for a long gossip session over a bowl of my peach cobbler.”
As they linked arms to leave, Amy said, “Do you mind taking Herman?”
“Of course not!” Clara said. “He’s cute as a button. What all can he do?”
“He can do dishes,” Syl told her, “but I wouldn’t recommend it.” With that, they waved at Amy and headed out, heads together, chattering in the way of good friends who pick up where they left off no matter how long it has been since they’ve seen each other.
Amy slipped into back into the courtroom, prepared to wait patiently.
Justice had never been dispensed so quickly as Todd hurried through the rest of the cases on the docket. After the last case had been dispatched and the courtroom had emptied, he took Amy’s arm and started leading her to his office.
“I must say I’m relieved Mrs. Hildenbrand withdrew the charges,” he said.
“Why?” Amy asked. She felt like a cork bobbing along in the lee of a great ship as she followed Todd. Being attached to all that steadiness and solidity was a pleasant feeling.
“Because as I listened to you defending yourself, I realized I couldn’t judge you impartially.”
He pushed open the door, ushered her inside and locked the door. With slow deliberation, he shed his judicial robe.
Amy’s heart tripped into double time as she watched him hang it in a closet.
“If Mrs. Hildenbrand hadn’t dropped the charges, what would you have ruled?” She meant the question to be light and teasing, but her voice was oddly husky.
“Amy Logan, if I could, I would sentence you to life.”
“In prison?” Her question was purely rhetorical. She saw destiny shining in his eyes.
“In my arms.” They came together, seemingly in s
low motion. Without hurry he put his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. The soft hair at her temple stirred felt exactly right against his lips.
“You are my rainbow. Amy.”
She hid her smile against his chest. “Why?”
“I don’t know. Who can explain joy?” He tipped her face up with a finger. “Who can explain how one woman out of the dozens I’ve known has the ability to wrap herself around my heart? I’m falling in love with you, Amy Logan.”
His lips descended on hers before she could protest. And then there was no more need for denial. The kiss said it all. Until Todd, she had never known that kisses were like this—erotic, unbridled, a pulsing imitation of lovemaking. Her arms slipped around him and she wound her fingers in his crisp hair. As his tongue explored the warm depths of her mouth, she was more than compliant. She was eager—eager to know and to be known, eager to take that one final step that would catapult her over the barriers of the past.
Only when she felt his hands move across the front of her blouse did she rouse herself enough to protest.
“Todd?” The small question in her voice made him pause.
“Don’t fight it. Amy.”
“Maybe we should talk.”
“We’ve gone beyond talking. I love you. What more is there to say?”
“I can’t say those words to you. Not yet.”
“It doesn’t matter. I want you.”
“Here?”
“Here. Now.”
“Todd ...” What more could she say? There was no need to deny that she wanted him. Her body had already betrayed her. She had known from the moment he had kissed her in the soap bubbles— perhaps even before—that they were destined to be together. What did it matter how or where or when? She could run from love until she dropped from exhaustion, but it would not be denied. “Todd,” she said again, and it was a soft sigh of acquiescence.
He needed no more invitation. He unbuttoned her blouse and pushed aside the restraining material, slipping it down her arms.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, right before he lowered her to his leather sofa.
It was magic. New sensations exploded in Amy. Tim, her sweet artist husband, had rarely taken the time to appreciate every aspect of intimacy. Theirs had always been a gentle, unimaginative coupling, almost sedate in its lack of fire and passion.