Always and Forever

by Lyn Denison

  Shann grinned. “Looking good, too,” she said indicating his slicked down hair. It was already starting to stand up in spikes.

  “And you look perfecto,” he told her.

  She put her arm around his shoulders as they headed out to say good-bye to Liz and her father.

  In the car Corey kept up a running conversation about anything and everything. Shann listened to her son, yet part of her was preoccupied with the chance that she might be seeing Angie again. Of course, Angie would probably be working in the office, and they could come and go without her knowing they were there. Shann knew she could seek her out but—would Angie want her to? Shann hadn’t felt as uncertain in years. Where was the confident, self-assured woman she knew she was? Love had reduced her to an indecisive, ineffectual airhead.

  Love? Where had that word come from? Sex, said a voice inside her. Pure sex. No, it was more than that. Angie was—

  “Angie’s nice, isn’t she?” Corey said beside her and, disconcerted, Shann shot a quick look at him.

  “Yes. Very nice,” she replied.

  “Do you like her?”

  “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? She’s a lot of fun.”

  “No, I mean, do you really like her?” Corey persisted.

  Shann turned into the car park of the hardware store, concentrating on the outgoing traffic. She found a parking spot and angled the car into it.

  “So, do you?” Corey repeated as she switched off the ignition.

  “Do I what?”

  “You know. Do you fancy her?”

  “Corey! Come on, I’m not comfortable talking about this.”

  “Why not?” Corey asked seriously. “If Angie was a guy we’d be able to talk about it, wouldn’t we?”

  “You’re my son, my not-quite-ten-year-old son, and I’m, well, I’m your mother,” she finished inadequately.

  “If I was you I’d want to take her out. She’s cute and sexy.” Corey smirked.

  “I think we should put this conversation into the ‘things not to be discussed’, don’t you, Mr. Wiseguy?”

  Corey giggled.

  “Let’s leave it that I like Angie and make that our little secret. Deal?” She held out her hand.

  Corey shook it. “Deal.”

  Shann opened the door. “Let’s get your stuff.”

  Angie was right. The store was busier on weekends. People were coming and going. Shann and Corey stood back as customers came through the automatic doors wheeling trolleys of all sorts of merchandise. Once inside Shann paused to get her bearings.

  “Wow! This is a big place,” Corey exclaimed, looking around. “Where do you think Angie is? I bet she’d know where to find my container.”

  “Angie will be too busy to do that, Corey. We can find it ourselves. Let’s start in storage.” Shann headed down an aisle on the left.

  “Can I be of assistance? Oh, hello Shann.” Joe Radford beamed at her. “We meet again. You must do a lot of handyman jobs.” He smiled self disparagingly. “Or should that be handywoman jobs?”

  Did the man work 24/7? “Hello.” Shann let his struggle for political correctness go. “Could you point me in the direction of,” Shann turned and took the relevant sheet of paper from Corey, “one plastic container with tray inset.”

  “Of course.” Joe nodded importantly. “Who’s this little guy?”

  Shann watched as Corey drew himself up to his full height. She put her hands on his shoulders proudly. “This is my son, Corey.”

  “Oh. I didn’t . . . I thought you said you weren’t married.”

  “I’m not.” She held his gaze, and he looked a little self-conscious.

  “Oh. Well. You’re single then. I was just telling my brother, Wade—remember him? He’s two years older than Evan.” Joe paused, apparently waiting for Shann to catch up.

  Wade Radford was the school bad boy whose teasing and taunts bordered on cruelty. Shann had never been impressed by him.

  She nodded. “I remember him,” she said noncommittally.

  “I mentioned to Wade I’d seen you, and he was wondering what you do with your spare time? I’ll give you his phone number and maybe you could give him a call.” Joe pulled out one of his business cards and jotted down a number. “Wade’s divorced. He’s had a pretty bad time of it, but he’s starting to feel he should get out a bit again.” He handed Shann the card.

  She took it automatically. “Oh, I won’t be here that long, Joe,” she began.

  “I don’t think Wade’s ready to get involved just yet,” Joe said airily. “But you might both just enjoy the company. Go to the movies? For a drink?”

  “I’m pretty busy at the moment looking after my father and my sister. They’ve both had surgery,” she finished and he nodded sympathetically.

  “Still. You might enjoy just a chat. I think you and Wade would have a lot in common. He has two kids about your son’s age, and they spend every second weekend with him.”

  “Mmm.” Shann murmured vaguely.

  “Well, come this way, and I’ll show you what we’ve got in stock.” Joe turned, and Shann and Corey followed him.

  Shann raised her eyebrows at the range of containers.

  “Wow!” Corey stood with his hands on his hips. “Look at all these.”

  Joe started stating the pros and cons of each container, and then another staff member hovered beside him seeking his advice for a customer. “Would you excuse me, Shann? I’ll only be a minute.”

  “Sure.” Shann breathed a sigh of relief as he left them, and then she frowned at the sheet of paper.

  “Did you go to school with him, too, Mum?” asked Corey.

  “Yes. But he’s younger than I am,” she said vaguely.

  Corey looked up at her. “Is everybody younger than you?”

  Shann laughed delightedly. “Are you calling your mother old?” she asked him and pretended to tickle him. Corey wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. “Don’t worry, Mum, you look really young. And cool.”

  “Flatterer.” She hugged him back. “Now, let’s see which container fits the criteria.”

  “What about this blue one?” He lifted the lid. “Nope, no tray.”

  “We should have brought a tape measure.” Shann tried to measure the box with the span of her hand.

  “One tape measure coming up,” said a familiar voice.

  Chapter Seven

  Shann spun around and Angie smiled at her. She pulled out the end of her tape. “No self-respecting hardware store assistant would be caught without one. Especially,” she let the end of the tape zip back, “a retractable one.”

  “Hi, Angie.” Corey beamed at her. “Mum and I hoped we’d get to see you.”

  Shann’s eyes met Angie’s and slid away again.

  “How are you?” Angie asked softly, and Shann swallowed.

  “Fine thanks. Bit tired after my late night,” she added quickly and felt herself flush.

  “Me, too. I almost rang my boss to say I was sick and couldn’t come to work.” She grinned, and Shann found herself smiling back.

  “But you are the boss, aren’t you?” Corey frowned.

  Angie laughed then. “I guess I am so I had to come to work. So what do you need to measure?”

  “I need a container for art for school,” Corey told her.

  “Mrs. Corcoran’s class?”

  Corey nodded, and Angie pointed out a stack of plastic boxes.

  “This is the one then. We’ve supplied containers for quite a few of Mrs. Corcoran’s students. Choice of red or blue.”

  “Red,” Corey decided, and he lifted the lid. “Look, Mum, it’s got a tray.”

  “That’s it then.” Shann said. “Thanks, Angie.”

  “Sorry I took so long, Shann.” Joe Radford rounded the end of the aisle, and he stopped when he saw Angie.

  “It’s okay, Joe. Shann found what she was looking for.” Angie told him.

  “Good. I’ll get on then. Maybe I’ll get Wade to ring you.”

&
nbsp; Angie raised her eyebrow as Joe left them. “Wade Radford?”

  “Seems he’s divorced,” Shann said, mindful that Corey was listening.

  “He asked Mum to go out with his brother,” Corey said and frowned. “You aren’t going to, are you, Mum? I mean—”

  “No. I don’t think so, love.” Shann put in quickly, concerned about what her son might say. “As I said, I don’t have time.”

  “That’s good. I don’t think I liked him so I probably wouldn’t like his brother.”

  “Corey!” Shann grimaced at Angie. “And Angie’s not interested in all this. We’re probably holding her up.”

  “No worries.” She glanced at her watch. “I was about to have a break. Want to share it with me?”

  “We’d love to,” said Corey before Shann could reply. “What do you do on your break?”

  Angie laughed. “I think perhaps refreshments. Coffee again, Shann? And maybe a fruit juice for you, Corey?”

  “Are you sure you have time? We don’t want to keep you if you have things to do,” Shann persisted, and Angie shook her head.

  “Do you know you are the most difficult customer to get to the coffee shop.” Angie touched her arm, and Shann’s skin tingled beneath the material of her shirt. “Come on. Relax, Shann. And I can take a break. I’ve passed it with the boss.”

  Corey laughed and walked ahead of them, carefully carrying his new container.

  “So Wade Radford’s my competition, is he?” Angie asked quietly so Corey wouldn’t hear.

  Startled, Shann looked at her, only to see the twinkle in her eyes. She laughed softly. “Not a chance.”

  “Not a chance for me or not a chance for Joe’s apparently available brother?”

  “Joe’s brother, available or not. I couldn’t stand him at school. And I can’t see he’d change,” Shann added.

  “He hasn’t.” Angie sighed. “At the risk of being accused of undermining a potential, um, opponent, Wade Radford has a problem with alcohol.”

  “I’m not surprised. He always made a fool of himself getting falling down drunk back then.” Shann grimaced. “So thanks, but no thanks. How does that sound?”

  “Music to my ears.”

  “That’s good. So how does,” Shann looked at Corey and dropped her voice even more, “I never date guys appeal to you?”

  “I do believe I hear a symphony,” Angie said with mock seriousness, and Shann suppressed a laugh. “I’m so glad you don’t,” Angie added softly.

  They walked on, and Shann felt inordinately pleased.

  “How did you sleep?” Angie asked huskily.

  “Not so well.” Shann replied.

  “Me neither.” Angie gave a soft laugh. “And I’ve been walking around in a daze all morning.” Her voice dropped even lower. “Can’t seem to think past having you in my bed.”

  Shann’s knees went weak, and she felt her heartbeat accelerate. “You’re very honest.”

  “I suppose I am.” She touched Shann’s arm again. “I also can’t seem to keep my hands off you. Just thinking about what I want to do to you could get me arrested.”

  Shann laughed breathily. “I think you’re pretty safe. No witnesses except me. And I can be easily bribed.”

  “I’m so pleased to hear that.”

  “To hear what?” asked Corey, who had stopped to wait for them to catch up to him.

  A blush crept over Angie’s cheeks, and Shann wanted to kiss her, right there and then.

  “That your mother is dying for a skinny cappuccino,” Angie improvised, not looking at Shann.

  “Oh, yes. She likes them. I think I’ll have peach iced tea,” Corey said. “Do you have that in your coffee shop?”

  “I think we do.”

  They reached the coffee shop, but all the tables were full.

  “No matter,” said Angie. “We’ll go to my office. It’ll be quieter. Just hang on a minute, and I’ll give Cindy our order.” She walked to the counter spoke to one of the two young women behind the counter and rejoined them. “Cindy will bring our drinks to the office.”

  Shann hesitated.

  “It looks busier than it is,” Angie said. “I told Cindy there was no hurry.” Her eyes moved over Shann’s face, settled on her lips, and then she led them over to her office.

  Corey put his container down and looked around. “It looks busy in here.”

  Angie laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t like you to think I get it too easy.”

  “It’s a really big shop. There must be stacks to do,” Corey commiserated. He glanced at the computer screen on the desk. “Have you got games on your computer?”

  “Only solitaire.”

  Corey screwed up his nose. “It’s okay. I brought my own game,” he said, sitting in Angie’s chair and pulling out a handheld computer game.

  “Corey, that’s Angie’s chair.” Shann admonished him.

  “Oh. Sorry. I thought you and Angie wanted to talk.” Corey went to stand up.

  “It’s okay, Corey. Stay there. Your mother and I can sit over here.” She took some papers off an easy chair and motioned for Shann to sit before she sat in the matching chair. “These are my ‘impress my business associates’ chairs.”

  They were comfortable, and Shann sat back, trying to relax. With Angie so close that was well nigh impossible. If she reached out she could run her hand over Angie’s thigh—Shann swallowed. “It must be . . . you must have to put in long hours.”

  “I guess I do. It’s not so bad now. We’ve got everything in place, and I have exceptionally good staff. It’s easy to delegate because I trust my staff implicitly.”

  “Do you—” Shann swallowed again. “Do you get days off? I mean, you don’t have to work seven days a week, do you?”

  Angie laughed. “No. I have been known to, but no, I don’t anymore. How about you?” she asked, her gaze holding Shann’s.

  “Oh. I can have a break whenever I want to as long as it fits in with Dad and Liz. I usually have time to myself when Rhys is off duty. I feel better knowing Rhys is there even though Liz insists she’s feeling far better than she thought she would.” Shann wanted to ask Angie if she’d like to go somewhere, but her brain couldn’t seem to form the words.

  “So,” Angie looked across at Corey before turning back to Shann. “Would you like to go somewhere one day this week? Maybe we could have lunch and be back before Corey finishes school.”

  “I can walk home on my own,” Corey said. “Mum doesn’t have to hurry back.”

  Shann rolled her eyes. “Corey, just concentrate on your game.”

  “Well, I am old enough to walk home on my own.”

  “I know. And you know I enjoy the walk.”

  “Mum hates going to the gym,” Corey told Angie.

  Angie’s eyes moved over Shann. “You seem to be doing fine without it.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Corey sprang up to open it. Cindy carried a tray in and set it on the low table near Angie’s chair.

  “Thanks, Cindy.”

  “That’s okay, Angie. Yell if you need anything else.” The young woman left them.

  Corey sat down on the floor and took the bottle of iced tea Angie handed him. “Thanks, Angie. Uncle Rhys is off on Tuesday. Are you off that day, too?”

  “Tuesday? I do believe I am.” She passed Shann her cappuccino and smiled at her. “That’s settled then. Lunch on Tuesday?”

  “I’d like that,” Shann said, sipping her coffee.

  Liz, Shann, and Corey were sitting on the back deck as the sun went down on Monday afternoon when the phone rang. Shann answered using the hand-held receiver.

  “Shann Delaney.”

  “Hi, Shann Delaney.” Angie’s soft voice seemed to caress Shann, the low sound sending shivers over her body like a cool breeze on damp, warm skin.

  “Hi, yourself. What are you up to?” she tried to keep her voice light.

  Angie groaned. “Still at work for a couple more hours. So, are we on for lunch tomorrow?”<
br />
  “Of course. If you still want to go.”

  “I do. And I know this nice little restaurant up near Montville. Do you mind driving so far?”

  “No. Not at all.”

  “We’ll be back in time to collect Corey from school, but we should leave by about ten.”

  “Sounds great. Is this casual as far as dress goes?”

  “Yes.” Angie laughed softly. “I’m just trying to imagine you in a dress. I think black, sleeveless, low neckline, straight skirt slit up one side to mid thigh. Incredible,” she finished brokenly.

  Shann laughed. “Very colorful description, but I don’t own one.”

  “A dress or a black dress?”

  “Neither. And I think you already know that so stop teasing me.”

  “Me teasing you? Can we wait a minute while I stop fantasizing over unzipping that little black number.”

  Shann could almost feel Angie’s fingers finding the zipper, her lips languidly sliding nibbling kisses over the bare skin of Shann’s shoulders. Desire clutched at her and she turned slightly, resting her hip on the table, unsure her legs would continue holding her. She heard Angie’s broken sigh in her ear, and the ache between Shann’s legs intensified. “Now that, Angie Callahan, is hitting below the belt.”

  “Below the belt? I think in deference to the proximity of my staff and your family I’d better leave that alone.”

  “Probably the best idea.”

  “I can hardly wait to get away on our own and the Montville-Maleny area is so picturesque.”

  “I can’t remember when I was last up there. It would have to be twelve years ago.”

  “Then you’ll notice the changes,” Angie said. “It’s very upmarket, and even though it’s a bit touristy it’s still retained its quaintness. Actually, I have a couple of friends who own a gallery near the restaurant. It might be interesting to browse through there if you like that sort of thing.”

  “Sounds good. What sort of gallery is it?”

  “They’re a very talented couple. Alex is a photographer and Jo does exceptional watercolors. I haven’t had a chance to see them since Christmas.”

  “I think I’d enjoy that.” Anything or anywhere, Shann thought, as long as she spent time with Angie.