He gazed into my eyes, his own eyes shining with sincerity. “It was the easiest thing in the world.”
I swallowed hard. “Easier than this?” I asked, and then I kissed him.
41
Paul put a couple of books in the duffle bag next to the tin of oatmeal cookies Marigold sent over. Celia folded and placed his mom’s clean nightgown on top of it. He had found it in the dryer the day after she left, and it was her favorite one. He wanted her to have it with her.
“I brought a few things for her, just little things for when she needs something to get through the day.” Celia shrugged. “I don’t know if she likes the same things I do, but I figured it would at least be a distraction.”
She handed him a paper sack, and he opened it up and peered inside. There was a magazine, a romance novel, a couple chocolate bars and some red licorice, a lavender scented hand lotion, and a bright red lipstick. Paul pulled out the lipstick and grinned.
“Never underestimate the power of red lipstick,” she said.
He gently set the sack into the suitcase, and then stepped around it to Celia. He put his hands around her waist, and pulled her body flush against him. “She’s going to love it.”
Celia rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his back, sighing softly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
After a few weeks of simmering thoughts, Paul had finally confided in Malcolm all the things that were going on with his mom. Malcolm, with Paul’s permission, told his parents. Lyle had wasted no time scheduling Rebecca a six-week stint in a treatment facility in Indianapolis. Directly upon completion of the program, Marigold booked them both slots at a week-long women’s retreat in the Smoky Mountains. She said she was long overdue for some mountain solace with a friend.
The Dearings had not let Paul speak so much as one word about the cost of any of it, nor about the cost of the mortgage or any other expenses. He was keeping track, and intended to pay them back one day. And though they offered to let him stay with them, he had declined. He wanted to be in his home.
“I want you to come, but I think this first visit ought to be just me. I don’t know what she might be going through, and I don’t even know how she’ll feel about seeing me so soon.” She had been at the facility for a week now, and was allowed visitors. Paul was eager to see her, and nervous that she might not feel the same about seeing him.
“I have news,” Celia murmured into his shirt.
He zipped the duffle bag shut, lifted it with one hand, and held onto her as they walked to the living room. He dropped the bag by the couch, and pulled her down onto it beside him. “Tell me.”
“Mom filed for divorce.” She released a huge breath, and relaxed into his side as the tension drained out of her. “I wasn’t sure she was going to go through with it.”
Paul nodded and tried not to let his relief show. Celia had confided her worry that her mom would think his time in jail would lead to sobriety, which could lead to forgiveness. He was glad that didn’t seem to be the case.
They were still waiting for Mr. Young’s pre-trial conference. He was being held in the local jail in Bakerstown until then. Apparently her mom had been to see him once, and he told her he was going to plead guilty. The whole thing would take a long time to resolve, but the likely outcome would be a felony conviction and some time in prison.
Paul picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “How’s Abe feeling about the divorce?”
“He’s confused and grieving. We both are. Marigold said it will take a while for our hearts to catch up to our brains. And the money thing is still stressing him out, and when he heard about the divorce, that was the thing he couldn’t let go of.”
“Has your mom heard back about her interview at the college?” Mrs. Young had learned that if she got a job at the community college, she could take one class per semester for free. Everyone had their fingers crossed.
“Not yet.”
Paul shifted in his seat so he could see Celia’s face clearly. “It’s going to work out.”
She nodded. “I think you’re right.” Then she gave him a sneaky look. “Will you be home early enough tonight that we can do the same thing we did last night?”
Because he had an entire house to himself for the time being, because her mom now took sleeping pills to help with her anxiety, and because she no longer had to worry about Abe, last night she had climbed out her window and into his.
It had been a cold night, and he hauled her in quickly. “You don’t have to use the window, you know,” he said.
“I know. Just let me do it.”
He climbed into bed and lifted the blanket so she could slip in beside him. “You must be freezing.” Their legs slid together, winding into a knot. Their bellies touched, and their hands wandered. After plenty of time spent warming up, Paul had slept the best sleep of his life.
He chuckled into her hair. “You can do that again. I wish you’d do it every night, but please do not get caught. I want to stay on your mom’s good side.”
“I’ll try my best, though I don’t think anything could tarnish your reputation with her.”
“I don’t know, that might do it.” He stood and grabbed the bag. “I better get moving. But when I do get back tonight, before you come climbing into my window, I want to take you to dinner.”
42
Fay sat on my bed, laughing as I tried to curl my hair. “What is the problem here?” I said, examining the curling iron. The thing went up to four hundred fifty degrees, but no matter how much hairspray I used or how long I held it in my hair, I couldn’t get more than a very slight bend in my hair.
“It’s the price you pay for having such gorgeous hair that lays perfectly with only the touch of a comb. I don’t feel bad for you at all.”
“Yeah, but you’ve always been a brat.”
She grinned and scratched Osa under her chin. The kitten stretched out her stubby neck as far as it would go.
“Well, I give up. Want me to put some eyelashes on you? I bought some new ones that look mostly natural,” I said.
“What’s the point of false eyelashes if they look natural?”
“They don’t look that natural. Just not quite as bold as some others I have.”
“Nah, I’m just hanging out at Malcolm’s tonight. Speaking of, I better take off.” She scooted to the end of my bed and dumped Osa to the floor. “Have fun with Paulie,” she said, blowing me a kiss on her way out.
After she left, I put on some tight jeans and a loose top, and contemplated wearing heels. I had one pair, and rarely got to wear them. There was no snow on the ground, so it could work. I didn’t know where Paul was taking me, but “out to dinner” sounded a lot like heels to me. I slipped them on just as the doorbell rang.
By the time I got to the living room, Mom had answered the door and let Paul in. He grinned when he saw me, and walked over for a kiss. “What time do you want her back, Mrs. Y?”
I looked at Mom, who was smiling softly. She waved her hand at him. “Oh, it’s a special night—how about twelve?”
He grinned and walked me to the door. “Twelve it is.” He pulled me out the door and closed it, and before I could ask what was so special about tonight, he pushed me up against the door and looked down at me, his eyes on fire. “Celia, I’m going to kiss you a lot tonight.”
“Okay,” I said, breathless.
“There’s going to be so much kissing.”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to start right now.” He put one hand on my neck and one hand in my hair, and put his mouth on mine. He pressed me harder into the door, and I moaned at the delicious way it felt. Before I’d had enough, he pulled away. “Unfortunately, we need to get going. I don’t want to be late.”
I followed him down the steps of the porch, feeling lightheaded. Feeling light. “Late for what? Did you make a reservation or something?” I didn’t know of any restaurants around here that even took reservations.
“No more questions,” he said, and opened the truck door and boosted me in.
“How was your mom?” I asked, once he climbed in and started the engine.
“She was so good, Celia. So good. And she was glad to see me.” He paused and swallowed thickly. “That place is really great for her. She says she wants you to come next time.”
I scooted over to the middle seat, so I could be right next to him, and buckled up. I put my hand on his knee. Whenever he didn’t need to use the gear shift, he placed his hand on top of mine.
Two minutes later we pulled up in front of Malcolm’s house, and he smiled over at me. “I need to grab something I left here earlier. Come in with me and say hello?”
“Sure.”
I followed him out of the truck and he led me across the yard and through the front door. He never knocked before entering this house. The living room was dark, and he flipped the light switch.
“Where is everyone? Fay said she was coming over here.” I looked down the hall, and my eyes traveled up. Colorful balloons hugged the ceiling, spilling out of the kitchen. “What’s happening?”
Paul smiled and wrapped his hand around mine and we walked toward the kitchen. When we rounded the corner, a handful of my friends jumped up from behind the table, which held a huge cake. “Surprise!”
I jerked, startled, and then had to laugh because the rush was amazing. I looked up at Paul, who grinned down at me. “What is this?”
“This is your surprise sixteenth birthday party.” He squeezed my hand.
I furrowed my brow. “But my birthday was two months ago. It’s almost Christmas.”
“This is a redo,” Fay said, her hands clasped in front of her in glee. “You had two bad birthday celebrations. Third time’s the charm.”
I blinked back tears, looking around at my friends. “You didn’t have to do this,” I said softly, amazed that they had gone to the trouble.
Paul shrugged. “Okay then, I guess I’ll have to keep your gift until next year.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket.
“There are gifts, too?” I snatched it off his palm and opened the lid, aware that our friends were watching. I looked down into the small box. It was a silver sun pendant. I turned my face up to Paul.
“A sun to go with your rain. Life’s a little bit of both.”
I threw my arms around his neck to hide my tears. Paul had seen me cry a million times by this point, but that didn’t mean I was okay with all my friends seeing. I wiped my eyes while hidden in his neck, and then pulled away from him. He took the pendant from the box and walked behind me, unclasped my necklace and slipped the sun onto it. It slid down the chain and rested next to the rain, both of them right beside my heart.
The End
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Also by Lora Richardson
Outspoken
The Edge of Juniper
(The Juniper Series Book 1)
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Acknowledgements
I am so grateful to have the time and space in my life to write. My family makes that possible for me, and so I thank Ryan, Walter, and Sylvia for offering me their support and encouragement. I love you so much, and you three are the heart of my life.
My beta reading team blew me away once again with their ability to feel a story. Thank you to Bev, Erin, Portia, Jill, and Jana for your thoughtful work! I am so lucky to have friends like you. This book really needed all of you, and I’m grateful.
Thanks go to Jennifer Evans for helping me analyze the legal issues in this book. She put a lot of time and effort into assisting me. If there are any errors, they are definitely mine. Thanks go to Shelby on this topic as well.
To Kelly, thank you for your encouragement and all our chats about writing.
I have three other friends to thank, whose names all begin with K and who were always happy to listen to me talk about writing—Kristy, Kim, and Karen.
To my mom, Bev, thank you double, for reading and also helping me with the medical details in this book. Having a nurse for a mother sure comes in handy!
Juniper Limits (The Juniper Series Book 2) Page 26