by Kris Calvert
“And now it’s time for you to have a life of your own.” Leo continued.
“Something like that.”
“Ever thought about profiling?”
“Profiling what? Criminals?”
I watched Leo shrug his shoulders and grin. “You’re pretty good at it.”
“What? And chase bad guys?” I laughed.
“It would certainly keep me from chasing you,” he murmured.
The comment caught me off guard and I blushed and immediately waved across the lawn of Lone Oak to Mimi. “Happy birthday, Mimi!”
“Thank you, honey,” she waved.
“I can’t believe you’re one hundred!”
“I know,” she smiled. “I’m so old my friends already in heaven are gonna think I didn’t make the cut.”
I laughed and looked back to Leo who still sat across from me – his gaze unyielding.
“What?” I asked as it became uncomfortable.
“I don’t want to leave you, cher. I’m going back to New Orleans, not Virginia. Come with me.”
“What?” I asked again.
“You heard me.”
“Look, Leo, I’ve made some bad decisions in my life concerning men. I don’t know if I’m ready for a Leo Xanthis,” I said as I gestured to him up and down.
“You didn’t make mistakes, cher,” he drawled. “You dated them.”
I gave him a smile and cocked my head. I couldn’t argue with his logic.
“Come to Jackson House while you sort through your next move. It’ll be fun.”
“Leo,” I sighed. “You don’t know what you’re asking to get involved with. I’m complicated. I’m not one of your Southern girls in pearls. There’s a lot about me you don’t want to deal with.”
He nodded and searched his inside coat pocket. “I thought you might say that.”
He casually pulled out a long, flat blue Tiffany box complete with white ribbon and held it in his hand, waiting for my reaction.
“What…is…that…?” I coughed.
“A little something for my Midwestern girl.”
“Leo,” I began. “I know I’ve been a bit of a tease, but it’s only because no man has paid attention to me in a really long time and I just –”
“Shhhhhhh…” he whispered. “You’re going to hurt this gentleman’s feelings if you don’t accept my gift.”
I looked at the box in his hand and back to him as he gave me sly smile. He was all sex and dark-skinned mystery to me and I didn’t exactly know what to do with it.
I took the box as he moved it closer to me and pulled on the white satin ribbon. Nothing stood between me and his gift except my insecurities. I knew if I unwrapped it there was no turning back.
I swallowed hard and opened the blue box. Inside was a black velvet cover for whatever preciousness lay inside.
“Come with me, Polly,” he begged quietly as I lifted the hinged box.
I looked down to find the most magnificent double strand of pink pearls with a diamond clasp.
“Leo,” I sighed. “I can’t.”
He took the pearls and stood to move behind me. Before I could utter another word they were around my neck.
He gave me a soft kiss on the cheek as he adjusted the diamond clasp to rest on my collarbone.
“Leo,” I began as I stroked the pearls with my open hand. “There are things about me that I can’t tell you.”
“Polly,” he whispered. “There are many things a gentleman doesn’t want to be told. We like to discover it for ourselves.”
“I–”
Leo held a finger to my lips and then leaned in for a short, soft kiss. It was perfect and I melted into my chair.
“Come. With. Me,” he smiled.
“I don’t know,” I sighed as I looked around the party for someone to help me make a decision or to rescue me from myself.
“Cher,” he said with a hint of impatience.
“But –”
“No buts,” he smiled. “And no reason to get your panties in a wad. I would be honored if you and your new pearls would join me at Jackson House for a little rest and relaxation. We don’t have to make any decisions. Let’s just take a few days and enjoy ourselves.”
“Did you just tell me not to get my panties in a wad?” I asked as I stood.
“Yes,” he smirked as he joined me, tugging on the ribbon belt that wrapped around my sundress.
“Okay,” I nodded.
“Okay?” His face lit up.
“Okay,” I smiled as I pulled him in for a hug and whispered in his ear, “But I won’t be getting my panties in a wad. I’m not wearing any.”
Leo pulled away from my embrace, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he raised one eyebrow and gave me a crooked smile. “When can you be ready to go?”
EPILOGUE
MAC
We stood on the back lawn of Lone Oak, trying our best to stand still. As the photographer snapped the initial pictures for our portrait painter, Samantha hummed through her smile for Katy and Dax.
The girls were dressed in white, Dax and I in khaki summer suits. Sam and the children sat casually on a couch as I stood behind them. It would be our first portrait as a family that would hang in the halls of Lone Oak.
In the past four months, I’d managed to marry the love of my life, retire from the FBI and take a honeymoon to Paris. We’d also redecorated a few rooms inside the house, including the study.
Our new portrait would signify the end of one era and the beginning of another.
“Mommy?” Dax asked. “How much longer? I wanna play.”
“Hang on, Chief,” I smiled. “Be glad you don’t have to stand here all day for an artist to paint us. All we have to do is take a great photo.”
Katy began to fuss, no doubt hot and parched like the rest of us. The summer sunshine was unforgiving and as I watched Miss Celia walk onto the veranda with a tray of iced tea, I felt like whining too.
“Let’s take a break,” shouted the photographer.
“Thank the Lord,” Sam sighed as turned to me and handed me Katy.
We walked to Miss Celia who opened her arms to me, wanting the baby as usual.
“It’s okay, Celia,” I waved her off. “I like holding Miss Katy. She’s a daddy’s girl,” I said in my best baby talk.
“Mmm, mmm, mmm,” Celia laughed, turning to Samantha. “That boy has got it bad.”
“I know,” Sam agreed. “I feel sorry for her first boyfriend. Mac’s going to make everyone’s life miserable when she’s old enough to date.”
“No, I won’t,” I protested. “She can date when she’s thirty. I’ll be just fine with that.”
Samantha rolled her eyes at Celia and shook her head at me.
“Pass that sweet tea down here if you don’t mind,” I requested as I took a seat in one of the oversized chairs on the veranda with a sigh.
Katy sat on my lap as she chewed on her fist. Teething was an everyday thing now that she was almost seven months old. She was getting pretty good at the crawling and needed constant attention as her daredevil instinct had already kicked in. She seemed to enjoy pulling herself up to stand at every turn. I happily took the credit for her behavior.
She hadn’t really said her first word yet, but Sam assured me it was because Dax did all the talking for her.
“I got a letter from Micah this morning,” Sam said as she sipped her tea.
“What’s up with Micah?”
“I guess she’s got a new boyfriend.”
“Let me guess,” I began as I shifted Katy in my lap to face me. “He’s a bartender.”
“Nope.”
“An electrician,” I guessed again as Katy grabbed onto my nose and smiled.
“No,” she laughed at me. “He’s an agent.”
“Who?” I asked cocking my head.
“Micah’s new boyfriend. He’s an agent.”
“I understood that part—I meant who is he? What’s his name?”
“She di
dn’t say.” She paused. “Do you miss it?”
“What? Being out in the field with a bunch of sweaty men and tracking criminal miscreants?”
“Yes. That,” she quipped.
I shrugged my shoulders and looked into Katy’s eyes, knowing the real truth.
“You’d miss Daddy if he was gone all the time,” I baby-talked to Katy. “Wouldn’t you?”
She giggled as I ticked her tummy and my heart melted. Every day she changed just a little bit more. It was like watching a miracle unfold.
“Da da,” she cooed.
I looked to Samantha wide-eyed and amazed. “Did you hear that?”
Samantha smiled.
“Da da,” I repeated to her. “Da da.”
“Da da da da da da,” Katy said, ending with a giggle.
“Sam!” I gasped.
“I heard,” she smiled as she gave us both a kiss on the head. “You know, Ma ma is harder to say. That’s why she’s saying Da da first.”
“We know the real truth, don’t we Katy?” I asked her as she smiled and gave me another sweet gurgle. “You’re Daddy’s girl.”
I took a sip of my sweet tea and held Katy in my arms as we walked toward a fidgeting Sam and Dax. We needed to take just one more photograph.
Before settling into the couch, I gave Samantha a long and lingering kiss. She winced in embarrassment as I slipped my tongue between her lips and cupped her beautiful bottom, still holding Katy in my arms.
“You’re a wicked man,” she giggled as I turned her loose and handed her the baby. We settled into the couch and posed on the lawn for the portrait just as my parents, grandparents and great grandparents had done before. As the photographer gave the countdown, I thought of my mother’s words to me. Try to live for all the small moments that don’t seem to matter very much at the time. As you age, you’ll discover these are the ones that are the sweetest to revisit in your old age.
This was my moment.
Kris Calvert is a former copywriter and PR mercenary who after some coaxing, began writing romance novels. She loves alliteration, pearls and post-it notes. She’s married to the man of her dreams and lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She’s Momma to two kids, now in college – one at the University of Kentucky, and one at New York University – Tisch. She is also responsible for one very needy dog. When she’s not writing, she’s baking cupcakes.
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A note from the Author: If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a positive review or rating on the site where you purchased it. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by distributors/resellers and help new readers make decisions about reading them. I value each and every reader who takes the time to do this and invite you all to join me on my website, blog, Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads.com for discussions and fun. Thank you for your support. I sincerely appreciate you. ~ KC
COMING SOON
SEX, LIES & PEARLS
A Moonlight and Magnolias Novel Book 3