Henry wiped his hands on his apron and shook her hand. “I’m glad to meet you, Heather. You’ve got a good man there, and from what I’m seeing in ya, I say he’s got fine taste. Welcome.”
“Thank you, Mr. Henry. I appreciate that. I understand you raised the Harrington men. Congratulations. It’s rare to find three such remarkable men in one town, not to speak of one family.”
“Their daddy worked himself to death, and their mother wasn’t suited for parenthood. I was all they had, and I did the best I could. Call me Henry. Tara calls me Mr. Henry because she’s seven. You’re a mite older than that.” His eyes twinkled with devilment, and she suppressed the urge to hug him. “My little assistant here and I will be in there in a minute with some eats,” he told her.
“You gonna let me help, Mr. Henry?”
“Don’t I always?”
She walked back to the living room, and she couldn’t believe the stricken look on Judson’s face. “Tara took me to meet Henry,” she explained. “He was so nice that I didn’t hurry back. I like this family.”
“So do I. What would you like to drink? I’m having bourbon and soda.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? Why?”
“Because I’m not driving. What do you want?”
“I’m not ready to live dangerously, so I’ll have a vodka comet.”
They sat down to dinner at seven o’clock. Henry entered the dining room bringing a large tureen and took the empty chair at Telford’s left. “Am I going to say grace tonight, Uncle Russ?” Tara asked.
“No, you definitely are not. By the time you blessed everybody in the state of Maryland, we’d have died of starvation.” Russ said the grace, and Alexis served lobster bisque.
“Tara and Russ have been playing this game ever since Tara was four,” Telford told Heather and Judson. “No one ever heard Russ say grace until Tara subjected him to her version of it. Thereafter, he managed to beat her to it every time. Now, she asks, and he says no.”
“Uncle Russ is my friend, and Uncle Drake is my best buddy,” Tara said. “I love my uncles, and I love my aunties, ’cause they all love me.”
Heather observed carefully the interactions among family members. “Are you and Velma blood sisters?” she asked Alexis, having observed a resemblance.
“Yes we are, and Velma is the older.”
Russ was the one person there who was taking her measure. She didn’t mind if someone studied her. They’d already made up their minds about Judson, and she supposed they figured that if he became a member of their family, she’d probably be a part of the package. She hadn’t made up her mind about that, but she already knew she’d suffer if she and Judson separated.
After a scrumptious five-course meal, they gathered in the family room. The Harrington women served espresso and chocolates, Tara served mints and Telford served cognac and liqueurs. “There’s nothing so satisfying,” Heather said to herself, “as a meal done right.”
Judson walked over to her and sat on the arm of the big chair in which she sat. “Hi, beautiful! The brothers and I are going to meet at ten tomorrow, right after breakfast, so I doubt you’ll see me at lunchtime. The party for Henry is at the hotel, but we’ll all gather here first. A sitter will stay with the baby, but Tara’s coming to the party.”
“She is?”
“Henry put his foot down. So she’s coming. Alexis will tell you that you and the Harrington wives are having lunch at Drake’s house, but Tara’s taking Henry out to a restaurant for lunch. Telford rented a limousine and driver for them.”
“Let me know when I should wake up. These people do things in style.”
“Alexis will leave a note on your pillow explaining everything. If you want to make a friend, help in the kitchen in the morning. Henry will be in there cooking breakfast about seven-thirty. If he’s in a talking mood, you’ll learn a lot about the family.”
By ten o’clock, she was exhausted. “Would you mind if I turn in, now?” she asked Alexis. “I’ve been up since five, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ve consumed three times the alcohol I usually take in, and I think that’s why I’m so sleepy.”
“Of course I don’t mind. You’ll find a note on your bed that’ll tell you what we’re doing tomorrow and when.”
Judson caught her signal that she was leaving the party and took her hand. “Good night, all,” she said. “Sleep has overcome me.”
With an arm around her waist, he walked with her to her room, stepped inside and took her in his arms. “What do you think of them?”
“So far, I’m enchanted with them. What a wonderful family! They have already embraced you as one of them, and no matter what anyone says, you definitely are one of them. I pray that you find the proof.”
“So do I. It’s sinking into me. I’d better go back, but believe me, I’m in no mood to leave you.” He opened his arms, and she walked into them with her own arms wide and ready to embrace him.
“Take it easy, sweetheart. If you turn it on, I won’t be able to walk back into that room.” She kissed him without parting her lips. “I didn’t say you should forget how to do it.” He hugged her. “See you at breakfast.”
“Man, you could walk away from that woman so fast?” Drake asked him with raised eyebrows.
“Sure thing,” Judson replied, sipping more bourbon and water. “It was leave then or spend the night, and I didn’t have her permission to do the latter.”
“Yeah,” Drake said. “Been there and done that. Life has its crappy moments. Have you made any more progress? We’ve checked out this region, but we’ve found nothing more substantial than you’ve found. Still, that doesn’t concern me much. Nobody in this family really doubts that you’re Uncle Fentriss’s son, but I know that isn’t good enough for you.”
“As much as I appreciate what you’ve just said, and in spite of the deep affection I’m developing for you and your families, I need the proof for my own edification.”
“I’m sure I’d feel the same way. In any case, we’ll all get together tomorrow morning. By the way, I like your girl a lot, and I really hope the two of you make a go of it.”
“Thank you. Your sentiments about this mean a lot to me. I saw her and I was hooked. I only needed to learn that she lived up to her notices, and she does, a few times over.” He sipped his drink with relish. “There are no shortcomings in this group, either. I’ve decided that the Harrington women, including Tara, are a superior group.”
“Thank you. My brothers and I are fortunate that our wives like each other and that they’re good friends. Of course, Alexis and Velma are sisters, but they treat Pamela as if she is, too.”
“You’re fortunate indeed. Say, where’s Henry?”
“Probably sound asleep, either in that room back there or over in his house. He doesn’t stay up late, and I guess he’s resting up for tomorrow, his big day.”
“I think I’d better turn in, too.” He shook hands with everyone, said good-night and headed up the stairs to his room. Ten minutes later, he was in bed.
“Well,” Telford said to his brothers and their wives, “what do you think?”
“They’re a terrific couple,” Russ said, “and she’s every bit his equal. If he doesn’t marry that woman, he’s crazy.”
“She’s warm and friendly, and you don’t see that in many women who are educated, successful and beautiful,” Velma said. “I think she’s perfect for him.”
“You don’t see many women who’re as educated, successful and as beautiful as she is anyway,” Pamela said. “I think she stunning, and he appreciates her.”
“Just like women to look at that side of it,” Telford said with a laugh. “What kind of woman would you expect a man like Judson Philips to have? Same kind of women that we have. Shall we call it a night? Tomorrow will be a long day.”
Heather walked into the kitchen minutes after Henry got there. “Happy birthday, Henry,” she said. “Nobody should cook his own breakfast on his birthday. You sit somewhere a
nd tell me what to cook. I’m not as much of an expert as you are but, when it comes to breakfast, I’m pretty good.”
Henry looked hard at her. “Well, danged if you ain’t just like me others. Me wife—God rest her soul—and I weren’t blessed with any children, but me boys married women who look to me as me boys do, and they’re like daughters to me.”
“It isn’t accidental,” she told him. “Love and caring beget love and caring. Now, what do you usually cook for breakfast?” He told her. “I doubt my biscuits will be as good as yours, but I’ll also make some waffles. No.” She waved a hand when he started to get up. “You sit there and talk to me. Today is Henry’s day.”
She hadn’t made biscuits in a while, but she knew that if she had self-rising flour and put buttermilk, eggs and enough fat in them, they’d be good. She made a big batch, cut them and put them on trays. “Where’s the waffle iron?” Henry put it on the table.
She put on two rings of rope sage sausage and a pound of double-smoked bacon, measured the grits and water in a saucepan and made the batter for the waffles.
“Danged if you’re not real handy in a kitchen,” Henry said. “I put the oven at four hundred, and you can put the biscuits in now.” She did as he suggested, washed strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, and put them in a bowl. Only one hour and ten minutes had passed.
“Where’s everybody?” she asked Henry.
He barely raised an eyebrow. “Sleep.”
“Well,” she said, “they’re going to get up. Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.”
Telford walked in and saw Henry sitting in the corner without his apron. “What’s the matter, Henry? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s me birthday, and me new daughter over there thought I shouldn’t cook me own breakfast. She said it’s ready, and she’s threatened to wake up everybody.”
Telford’s facial expression said, “Heaven forbid.” His words were, “I’ll be right back.”
She heard him running up the stairs. Minutes later, he walked into the kitchen. “They’ll be down shortly.” He sniffed. “I smell biscuits, so I’d better get the table set. I’m surprised that Henry let you cook.”
“She told me to sit down and let her cook, because it’s me birthday. I didn’t realize that she’d know what to do in a kitchen. Judson better know how lucky he is.”
“Oh, but I do.”
She swung around, and her gaze landed on Judson in a pair of black jeans and a red T-shirt. She wouldn’t have been more surprised if all of her hair had dropped on the floor. The man was sex personified.
“Never let a man catch ya with yer guard down, Heather,” Henry said, his voice tinged with laughter and his eyes twinkling.
She closed her mouth, went to a drawer that contained eating utensils and looked at Judson. “You and Telford set the table. The knives and forks are in here.”
His laughter could be heard over most of that big house. “Yes, ma’am. Come on, Telford. She wasn’t joking.”
She heard Telford say “You bet she wasn’t” just above a whisper. “The sight of you all of a sudden got to her. I take it you don’t usually wear casual clothes.”
“No. When I see her, I’m usually buttoned down.”
“Good morning. I’m sorry I overslept, but Marc—the baby—awakened me twice during the night. I’ll set the table,” Alexis said, looking as fresh as a soft ocean breeze.
“The boys are doing that,” Henry said. “Where’s—”
“Hi, everybody,” Tara said, entering. “Happy birthday, Mr. Henry. Ooh. I see waffles. Thanks for my necklace, Miss Heather. How did you know it’s my birthstone?”
“I didn’t. I bought it for you because it looked pretty.”
“You can thank Miss Heather for yer breakfast, Tara.”
Heather hadn’t been in the breakfast room before, and she fell in love with the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling window that let her feel that she was eating in the garden. They gave her kudos for the breakfast, and afterward, Judson and Telford straightened the kitchen and breakfast room. She had four hours until lunch.
“I hate to be away from you this morning,” Judson told her as they walked back to her room, “but it’s an opportunity to see how far the brothers will go with me in this search. Telford told me last night that he went to Atlanta to trace Sparkman’s steps there and discovered that a much younger woman visited him for a week but never came back. That fits with what Aunt Cissy told me. Somehow, somewhere, I’ll get what I’m looking for.”
“You are so much like them that they’re accepting your kinship to them, or at least that’s my take on it.”
“Mine, too, but I need to prove it. If only my mom had put her name as birth mother on my adoption papers.”
“Who’s name did she put?”
“I wrote it down, but I knew it was a fabrication. By the time I saw the adoption papers, I suspected that Mom was my birth mother. I’m going to check and ask Aunt Cissy about that name. Have a good time at lunch with the Harrington women. We’ll meet this evening.”
She opened the door to her bedroom.
“I’m not going in there, sweetheart. Damned if I feel like holding you and gazing at a bed while I do it.”
“Oh, honey. You’re a master at self-control, and I’ve seen you exercising it. So, come on in here. I need a kiss.”
He stepped inside, fastened her body to his, and with one hand on her shoulders and the other on her buttocks, he swirled his tongue across the seam of her lips, made his way inside and possessed her, searching and anointing every crevice and every centimeter of her mouth, firing her until she slumped against him.
“It’s all right, sweetheart. I came on a little strong there, but that’s the way it is with me right now.” He hugged her to him, stroked her arms and patted her shoulders as if trying to ease her discomfort.
“It’s okay,” she said. “See you this evening.”
Heather didn’t think she’d ever had so much fun as she had with the Harrington women at lunch that day. She had never engaged in girl talk, nor had she an inkling of the amusing takes on men and life that intelligent, mature women could express. Pamela’s dry wit and Velma’s wicked, sharp tongue contrasted with Alexis’s loving appraisal of people and life.
“Don’t bother comparing yourself to Alexis,” Velma said. “She’s a Quaker, and she doesn’t even swear when she spills hot coffee on herself.”
“Don’t tell her that,” Alexis said. “She’ll think I’m saintly.”
“Don’t worry,” Velma said. “She’ll wise up. By the way, Judson Philips is a catch and only a stupid woman would pass him up.” She winked at Alexis and Pamela. “Does Heather look stupid to you?”
“Not to me,” they said in unison.
“Listen, girl,” Velma went on. “He’s got the looks, the style, the manners and the profession.”
“Right,” Pamela put in. “He loves you, and if it swings right in the hay, go for it.”
“Don’t I have to love him?” Heather asked with laughter in her voice.
“Oh, that’s not in question,” Alexis said. “We watched the two of you. You’re crazy about each other.”
“Yeah? I wonder what the men are telling Judson about me,” Heather said, letting them know she could hold her own. The women hooted.
“Are you all going formal tonight?” Heather asked.
“Not formal. Just dressy,” Alexis said. “A dressy street dress or something on the order of what you wore last night.”
“Thanks,” Heather replied. “I think I guessed right.”
That evening, Heather and Judson arrived at the hotel along with Alexis, Telford, Henry and Tara at a quarter of seven. Silver and blue balloons and streamers, bouquets of red and white roses, and a Happy Birthday, Henry banner decorated the room. Judson’s hand never left her but was on the ready at her arm, at the small of her back and occasionally around her waist. In a dark blue suit that complemented her navy blue velvet pants and mau
ve pink velvet tunic, he looked stunning to her.
“You look wonderful,” he told her.
“So do you.”
Her tongue bathed her top lip, and when something akin to a fire leapt into his eyes, she realized what she’d done. “Sorry. That was subconscious.”
“And all the better for it,” he answered. They walked over to the buffet table, which was laden with a great variety of dishes and lined one end of the room. The bar stood at the other end.
By seven-fifteen, the room was crowded. First Telford, then Russ and finally Drake offered testimonials of their love for Henry and their appreciation for his importance in their lives. Then Tara walked over to the piano, announced that Henry gave her her piano and played Brahms’s Waltz in A-flat Major for him to resounding applause.
“My daddy said everybody can eat now,” Tara said when she finished.
“I didn’t realize that Tara was going to play the piano,” Judson said to Henry.
“She told me she wanted to give me something that her parents didn’t buy, and asked could she play for me. I told Tel that if she couldn’t come tonight, I wasn’t coming either, but I never told him she was going to play the piano.”
“She’s a wonderful little girl.”
“She’s me very heart.”
Telford stood with Alexis shaking his head as if in awe. Suddenly, he rested his glass of lemonade on a table, put both arms around his wife and kissed her. She took him in, and her face glowed as she kissed the man she loved.
Heather sucked in her breath and looked away, only to see the passion in Drake’s eyes as he gazed at his seemingly hypnotized wife.
“Love doesn’t end with marriage,” Judson whispered to her and gathered her close and began to dance. “Marriage should make it stronger. I know that, owing to your childhood, you don’t really trust it, but I believe it’s up to the two people who share it to cultivate it and make it last. What I saw in my mom and dad really was beautiful. Up to the time of his death, he worshipped her, and she soon followed, because she didn’t want to live without him.”
Love Me Tonight Page 15