Happily Ever Afters Guaranteed

by Lacy Williams

  Keegan, her mutt of a dog, shifted on the bench seat next to her and groaned a doggie groan.

  “I know,” she soothed him. “We’re caught.” Well and truly caught.

  She started to roll down the window, then realized Brody would have to stretch halfway out of the wheelchair to reach the pickup window. She got out of the car instead, Keegan following her out. The dog approached and sniffed Brody, who accepted the welcome with a rub and a soft, “Hi, fella.”

  “Didn’t your mama teach you not to play in the middle of the street?” Kate teased gently.

  “Yeah.” Brody grinned up at her, one hand buried in Keegan’s ruff. “But I was in a hurry.” He glanced pointedly at the front step. “I guess I should thank you for making sure I get fed once a week.”

  He had seen her. A flush heated her cheeks. “It’s no big deal. You don’t have to thank me.”

  She hadn’t done it for recognition. It had started as a way to support him when he’d been unable to do much for himself. Then it had morphed into a secret connection between them. Even if he never found out she’d brought the meals for him, she knew.

  He reached out and clasped her hand in his larger, warm fingers. “I want to. Come in and eat with me, will you?”

  She shouldn’t.

  He tugged on her hand, gently, and winked. “I’ll even invite Kujo here in. I don’t have anything breakable at his level anyway. Saves me from knocking knickknacks off with my elbows.”

  Kate allowed him to tug her forward. She waited momentarily as he navigated the incline at the bottom of his driveway.

  She was really going to do this. Have dinner with Brody.

  GO TO PART SIX

  PART FIVE

  Kate took a deep breath on Brody’s front step. Her finger rested on the doorbell but she hadn’t pressed it yet. She shouldn’t have come.

  What had prompted her to say “yes” to his dinner invitation?

  He out-classed her.

  A light flicked on behind the door and the knob rattled. Brody appeared, a welcoming smile on his face. No turning back now.

  GO TO PART SIX

  PART SIX

  Kate followed Brody into a well-appointed kitchen. The granite countertops and fine woodwork were so much nicer than the Formica and buttercorn yellow cabinets at home.

  A reminder that she and Brody came from different worlds.

  Brody wheeled up to one of the cabinets and pulled out a couple of plates and then extracted silverware from a drawer.

  “This is… really nice,” Kate said, looking around.

  “After the accident, I had to have the counters lowered and then rearrange the whole kitchen,” he said with a self-deprecating smile.

  She’d never really spoken to him about his disability. It hadn’t seemed appropriate when she was simply his pool-girl. She didn’t really know if it was proper now, but the words were already coming out of her mouth.

  “I hope you won’t think this is rude, but you haven’t seemed to have that hard a time adjusting to… to…”

  “Not having use of my legs anymore?” he finished for her. “You want to set the table?”

  She took the plates and silverware from him.

  “I’ve had my moments,” he went on, removing a dish from the box he’d set on the counter when they came into the kitchen and pulling away the foil that covered the top. “Some things have been harder to bear than others.”

  Brody put a folded towel across his lap and settled the dish on top—a pasta casserole that was her mom’s recipe. He motioned her to a doorway on the right. “The dining room’s there. You probably noticed I’m a little nervous tonight. I haven’t dated since the accident. I’m afraid I might be rusty…”

  His words ringing in her ears—he thought this was a REAL date!—Kate moved on autopilot toward the doorway. One glance into the formal dining room brought her out of her stupor. The heavy, long table and expensive floral arrangement were so fancy… It looked like it seated twelve! How could she be herself when faced with this reminder of the differences between Brody’s circumstances and hers?

  Thinking as quickly as possible, Kate called over her shoulder. “Could we eat out on the patio? It’s a nice night.”

  And it was. February in this area of Florida averaged highs around seventy degrees, but today had been a bit warmer. Beautiful, really. And she didn’t want to eat in that stilted, formal dining room.

  “Sure, the patio’s fine,” came Brody’s voice behind her. “Just go back through the living room.”

  She did, Keegan’s nails clacking on the floor behind her. She’d almost forgotten that her canine companion had been invited on this date with her. With any luck, he’d behave himself tonight and not beg for scraps too much.

  Kate moved out onto the patio. Her territory. She spoke as she set out the plates and arranged the cutlery, aware that Brody wheeled out the door right behind her, pasta balanced on his lap.

  “So… why’d you pick me? To do this… date, I mean—” Kate cut herself off, embarrassed that she couldn’t get the words out right. She closed her eyes, praying he wouldn’t say, because you were the only woman around.

  Brody’s warm hand enveloping hers brought her eyes open. His serious, dark gaze showed sincerity. “I asked you to dinner tonight because you captivate me. I want to get to know you better.”

  “Oh.” Kate knew she was flushing. What a nice thing to say. But would he still feel the same when he found out about her background? She was a high school dropout, after all…

  Brody released her hands and pulled out a chair for Kate to sit down in. Their knees knocked when he wheeled himself up to the table.

  “Whoops. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Every touch, even the accidental ones, served to discombobulate her more. She’d been attracted to Brody from the start, but the connection jumping between them was almost frightening in its intensity.

  She tried to compose herself while Brody offered a prayer for the meal, but his warm, attentive look as the prayer ended sent her heart soaring. Should she just let go and allow the evening to play out as it would? For someone who was used to planning her days in fifteen-minute increments, it wouldn’t be easy.

  “So I know you take care of pools like mine during the day, but what else do you do, Kate? Any hobbies?”

  Kate kept her eyes on her plate as Brody loaded it with the casserole and a slice of the garlic bread he must’ve brought out with it. “I don’t really have time for hobbies. I’m still working on my bachelor’s degree. Night school.”

  Would he comment on her long-term plan? Ask why she wasn’t finished with her degree yet?

  “That’s great.” His comment surprised her into raising her gaze. He didn’t seem to think anything of her school situation, was actually digging into his pasta. “Mmm. And so is this,” he said when he’d swallowed his bite.

  “Thanks. It’s my mom’s recipe.”

  “I’d love to meet her sometime and tell her how wonderful it is. So what are you studying?”

  Kate had just taken a bite and motioned that she needed a moment.

  Brody grinned at her. “Wait, let me guess. Advanced Pool Treatments?”

  Kate took a sip of water to wash down the pasta but spluttered it at his comment. She shook her head and dabbed her mouth with her napkin.

  “Hmm. Not it, huh? What about… Something in athletics? I think you must really like working outside…”

  “Wrong again,” Kate said with a chuckle. “Biology.”

  “Really? Interesting.”

  She wanted to change the subject before he wondered why she was still working on her degree at twenty-five. “What about you? I couldn’t help but see you had a manuscript laid out on the living room couch. What are you working on?”

  For the first time tonight, a cloud passed over his face. He frowned. “Not what my agent wants to see.” He blew out a breath, waving his fork in the air as he spoke his next words. “She wants me to write
a travel guide for those with… ‘physical limitations’ is how she puts it.”

  “But you don’t want to?” Kate asked, genuinely confused. “I’ll bet it would sell, with your reputation…” She tried to hide her grimace behind a bite of garlic bread. She hadn’t meant to reveal just how much she’d followed his books.

  “It might,” came his casual reply. He shrugged. “But if I write that kind of book, it would feel like…”

  “Giving up?” she guessed, fascinated by the play of emotions crossing his face.

  “Exactly. Giving up.” Color swamped his cheekbones as he went on. “I know the doctors don’t think there’s much chance—any chance, really—that I’ll get back mobility in my legs, but…”

  Now it was Kate’s turn to touch him. She brushed her fingertips across the back of his hand. “But we both know that God works miracles sometimes.”

  ###

  Kate couldn’t stop laughing as Brody regaled her with stories of disasters he’d had during his travels. She stretched her feet out in the hot tub—he’d talked her into sticking their feet in after dessert—and leaned back on her palms, more relaxed than she’d been in a long time.

  She was enormously happy she’d decided to come tonight.

  “I’m glad you came tonight,” Brody said, bumping her shoulder with his, and she laughed again.

  “I was thinking the same thing.”

  “Yeah?”

  He turned toward her and suddenly they were face-to-face—close enough that she could see the lighter flecks in his ebony eyes.

  Her breath lodged in her chest. Was he going to kiss her?

  He didn’t. Instead, he leaned his forehead against hers, and the moment was almost more intimate than a kiss would have been.

  “We should try an outing for our next date,” Brody said, holding her gaze.

  Kate allowed her eyebrows to raise. “You’re sure there will be a second date?”

  “I’m hopeful.”

  And she could see it in his eyes.

  She was still fearful that he would find out about her past and decide she was too far outside his social class to continue a relationship. But he’d taken the chance asking her for dinner… Maybe she should take a chance too.

  “Listen, my friend is having a party at,” he named one of the nearby beaches, “on Valentine’s Day. Would you come with me?”

  Kate leaned her head to one side. “My mom cooks a fabulous pot roast, and she’s planning on making lunch on Sunday. Would you like to come to lunch and meet her and my brother?”

  Does Kate agree to meet Brody at the beach party? GO TO PART TEN

  Does Brody agree to join Kate’s family for lunch? GO TO PART NINE

  PART SEVEN

  Four days to Valentine’s Day.

  A truck door slammed and Brody looked up from his computer. A glance out the office window showed Kate’s truck in his driveway. Was it that time already?

  Brody wiped his suddenly sweaty hands on his gym shorts and grimaced at the paint-splattered t-shirt he wore. It was a favorite, soft and worn in, but… He’d meant to change before Kate’s pool-cleaning appointment this afternoon but been caught up in a first draft of his new book.

  It was no wonder she’d declined his invitation to dinner last week. He knew there were several times she’d seen him at his worst, right after the accident. He absently rubbed the ugly scars that showed on his right knee, a reminder of how broken he’d been. Including his attitude.

  She probably felt sorry for him.

  Ouch.

  Nothing for it, but to go back to being pals, no matter how much it galled him.

  He wheeled into the kitchen and fixed a couple of tall glasses of lemonade, then loaded them into the makeshift cup-holder he used. He attached it to the arm of his wheelchair and forced himself to join Kate by the pool.

  “Hey,” he greeted, placing the glasses on the glass-topped patio table. “Fixed you a drink if you can spare a few minutes.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  Yeah, she sounded real enthused about it. She barely looked up from where she was adding chlorine tablets to a little container that he knew she would put in the pool.

  Instead of waiting for her excuse as to why she couldn’t stay, Brody plunged ahead with the apology he’d planned.

  “Listen, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable the other day…”

  He swallowed past the lump of embarrassment in his throat and tried to remind himself that he was no less of a man just because all his limbs didn’t work correctly.

  “…When I asked you out. That wasn’t my intention. I just… really like you and—”

  Okay, he hadn’t meant to blurt that out. He rushed on.

  “I know I’m not… not exactly a prize catch with these two chunks of driftwood,” he slapped one of his thighs to emphasize his point, “not working, and I know I’ve had my moments where my attitude hasn’t been the best—”

  Kate dropped the little basket into the pool with a splash and stood up, wiping her hands on her khaki shorts. “That’s not it at all, Brody.”

  It wasn’t? Hope leapt to life in his chest, and sounded an awful lot like his heart thrumming.

  “There are things you don’t know about me…” For the first time in all the times he’d asked her to share a cold drink with him, she sat down at the patio table and began fiddling with one of the lemonade glasses.

  Brody maneuvered his wheelchair up to the table next to her, hoping his face showed he wanted to hear what she had to say.

  She took a deep breath. “I’m…” Suddenly she turned her head to the side so that he had a profile view. “Goodness, this is harder to say than I thought it would be. I’m just going to say it.” She gulped another breath. “I’m just going to say it,” she repeated. Closed her eyes.

  “I never graduated high school.”

  Brody heard the words but they didn’t register at first. When the silence lengthened, Kate finally looked at him. She must’ve read his confusion because she went on.

  “I dropped out of high school when I was sixteen.”

  “Because…”

  “My mom got cancer and my brother and I had to eat somehow.”

  “And you got your diploma…”

  Her eyes narrowed at his leading statement, but she continued the sentence. “GED. I was nineteen.”

  “And that’s why you’re still in school?”

  A nod.

  “So… Are you telling me that the reason you turned me down was because of something that happened… what? Seven, eight years ago?”

  Her face flushed. “Nine. But, Brody, I’ve been in your office. I saw your degrees framed on the wall. I have a hard time believing you’d want to be in a relationship with someone who isn’t as smart as you are.”

  “You are intelligent, Kate. Those degrees are just pieces of paper—I know I’ve learned more about life outside of the classroom.” He looked down at his lap. “Including this,” he gestured to his legs.

  This was his chance. To go big and hopefully get what he wanted—a date with Kate. Brody hoped his hand was steady as he reached out and took Kate’s hand in his.

  “What you’ve just told me confirms what I already knew about you. You have a big heart.”

  Kate’s face remained a rosy hue.

  “It’s something I really admire. A lot more than a college degree.

  “So I guess the question is…”

  She met his eyes. Held his gaze this time. Her response gave him enough hope to put himself out there again.

  “Will you go out with me? There’s a party my friend is throwing on Valentine’s Day, out at a nearby beach. Would you come?”

  For a moment, he feared she would reject him again, but then she smiled and said a soft, “Okay.”

  GO TO PART TEN

  PART EIGHT

  Chicken.

  That’s what he was. The old Brody never would have wasted a thought on asking out Kate—he just would have done it.
Not chickened out. Twice.

  Brody watched her truck roll into the driveway and allowed the blinds in his office to flick closed.

  The question was… was he going to chicken out a third time?

  Brody straightened the collar of his polo shirt and checked that his jean shorts hadn’t ridden up thanks to the wheelchair. Clothing okay.

  Next, he breathed into his curved palm and inhaled. Breath okay.

  He’d just spritzed himself with cologne so he should be okay on any body smells.

  He needed everything to be perfect.

  Praying as he maneuvered his chair through the house, he was concentrating so hard that he wobbled as he crossed the threshold.

  He’d navigated the patio doorway a thousand times and would have been able to right himself but his landscaper had left a potted plant too close to the door on the patio side and he overbalanced to avoid it.

  For the first time since his lessons in piloting the wheelchair, he tipped too far and fell out. The chair flipped over on top of him, metal ringing as it banged against the concrete patio.

  “Brody! Oh my goodness! Are you okay?”

  Through the blood rushing in his ears, he distantly heard Kate’s sandals slapping against the concrete.

  Embarrassment flooded him. Brody did a push-up to get his chest off the ground and pulled his body out from under the chair.

  Quickly, he turned himself over so he sat upright with his useless legs outstretched in front of him.

  Kate knelt next to him, hand on his shoulder.

  His face flamed. “I’m all right. Just embarrassed.”

  “Well, don’t be. You couldn’t help it. I saw that pot and didn’t think anything of it.”

  “Well, I should’ve seen it,” he muttered. “I’m used to checking if things block where I’m going.”

  He couldn’t look in her face to see the pity there. How could he ask her out now? When she’d seen him fall on his face like a toddler?