On Hummingbird Wings

by Lauraine Snelling

  “I see. So much for no dog sleeps in your bed, right?” He stared at the various boxes, plastic bags, and Styrofoam packing. “I guess you did go shopping.”

  “Have a seat. I’m waiting on this to finish loading.”

  “Did you get all the pots planted? The ones by the front door sure look nice.”

  “Nope, still trying to get rock-hard dirt in the tall pots to soften enough so I can dig it out. Discovered that Winnie likes to dig. A lot. That little white face was more black than white when I finally realized what she was doing.”

  “What was she digging for?”

  “How should I know? I haven’t learned to speak dog yet.”

  “You and feisty there want to walk with Thor and me?”

  “Are you sure Thor won’t eat her in one gulp?” Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “Ah, that’s done for now. I still have to install the printer, but I can do that later. I thought you two usually ran.”

  “We do, but we can walk.”

  “All right. We heard from Enzio today. By text, no less. Having a good time. All is well.”

  “That’s it?”

  She nodded. “Allie was a trifle upset.”

  “I bet. I’ll be back in about fifteen or twenty minutes. Does that work for you? Oh, and Dad and I are ordering pizza for tonight. You want to join us?”

  “I haven’t had pizza in a long time. Sure.” So casual, just like we’ve been neighbors for years. Is this what life in the ’burbs is like? “Can I bring anything?”

  “Nope. You like everything on it?”

  “Everything but anchovies.”

  Adam rose, which sent Winnie into a growl. “Are you a runner?”

  “Nope. Tried jogging but my feet hurt.” And my knees and hips. Ugh.

  “Were you on concrete?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “That’s why.” And out the door he went.

  “You be nice to him, you silly dog. He’s the best friend we have.” She got up to answer the phone; she hadn’t set the new ones up yet.

  “Hi, Gillian, this is Jennifer, Adam’s sister-in-law.”

  “Well, hi. How nice of you to call.”

  “How are things going there? Adam told me about the exodus. And that you get to dog-sit.”

  “Winnie and I are learning to get along. Or she’s training me, I guess you could say.”

  “I was wondering if you would have time for lunch one day this week. I could come out there.”

  Gillian quickly reviewed her calendar in her head. “Wednesday or Thursday?”

  “Good, how about Thursday. I’ll pick you up, say, twelve thirty so we miss the lunch crush?”

  “Great. Thanks.” Gillian hung up, smiling at the prospect. Maybe she’d have a friend there, too. Heading for the bedroom to change into walking shoes, she shuffled her toes toward Winnie, who pounced on her foot. “I think I need to learn how dogs play. And I’m getting a chance to maybe make a new friend. What do you think?” Winnie jumped onto the bed beside her, head cocked, black eyes dancing. “You know, you look like a wind-up toy. You want to go for a walk?” Off the bed and down the hall to the kitchen Winnie went, her yipping sounded a lot like a giggle. Was it the word walk or go that set her off?

  Maybe having a dog would get her out walking every day. Especially if she could walk with Adam. Thor, however, was another matter. She took the leash off the hook by the back door. Another adventure about to begin. She’d been doing a lot of that lately. New adventures, that is. Maybe I’m just going to have adventures for the rest of my life.

  “You’re sure he’s not going to eat her?” Gillian asked when Adam and Thor arrived.

  “He won’t eat her. We’ll just let them get acquainted. Thor, sit.” The huge dog did just that. “Okay, bring her out and let them sniff.”

  Her heart pounding, Gillian did as he said. The two dogs sniffed each other before Winnie returned to sit behind Gillian’s feet, a slight growl voicing her displeasure.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “That’s it?”

  “They’ll adjust.” Adam and Thor took the street side and the foursome headed down the hill, Thor heeling and Winnie trotting in front.

  “I bought a GPS.”

  “Good. Do you know how to install it?”

  “Bought a portable one; I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

  “Call me if you have trouble.”

  “Are you this helpful to everyone?” She caught a frown on his forehead.

  “Hmm, have to think on that. Most people I meet aren’t beautiful, charming, and caught in crazy circumstances.”

  “Adam.” In spite of her, a warm glow suffused her middle. Did he really think that or was he being polite?

  “You have to admit you’ve been in an unusual situation.”

  “More than one.”

  “I rest my case. We follow the path along the road.” He indicated a turn to the right.

  “Do you always go the same way?”

  “Pretty much. We get a run at the school except Saturday mornings when they play soccer or baseball there. Otherwise we take the truck down to one of the parks.”

  “Jennifer called me.”

  “Good. I think the two of you will really hit it off.”

  She wanted to ask, “So, are you and she a pair?” or something along that line but refrained. “Tell me about her family.”

  “She’s been a widow for better than three years now, daughter, Lissa Marie is nineteen, going to college, and working in The City. Son, Lawrence, is seventeen and a junior in high school. Good kids. She’s done well with them.”

  “Does she work? Outside the home, I mean.”

  “A lot of volunteer stuff, manages my brother’s estate, tries to keep tabs on Dad, and I…” He paused. “I’ve tried to get her dating again, but she says she’s not ready.”

  Guess that answered one question, she thought, at least from his point of view. They crossed the road and into the school driveway.

  “I let Thor off leash here, but I’d not recommend that for Winnie until we know she’ll come when called and not run off.”

  “Okay. You go run, too, if you want. We’ll just walk around.”

  “You sure you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all.” She watched as Thor ran in ever broadening circles around them. When Adam took off, Thor ran beside him. Although the two males looked to be having a good time, Gillian had no desire to run or even jog. But she and Winnie could walk fast. By the time they headed up the hill, her heart rate was indeed up and Winnie’s tongue was hanging out. All Gillian really wanted was a chair and a tall glass of iced something.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  He’s not in the habit of eating guests for dinner.”

  Gillian glanced up at Adam. “You sure?”

  “You’re chewing your lip.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “And when you’re nervous, you chew your lip.”

  “Whatever makes you think that?” She clamped her teeth together. Caught for sure. “Smart aleck.”

  “You ready?” He waited before reaching for the door handle.

  “Oh, for…” Gillian inhaled a deep breath and let it out. “Yes.”

  Adam grinned at her. “He’s going to love you.” I know because he and I have similar tastes, and while I’m not sure I’m in love yet, I think it is on its way. He opened the door and let Thor go first.

  “Maybe I should have left Winnie off at Mother’s.”

  “Gillian, you are dithering.”

  She rolled her eyes and went through the open doorway, since he was holding the door.

  Adam hung up Thor’s leash, and, taking her arm, led her back to the family room. “Dad?”

  “Out here.”

  “He’s out with his babies.” He grinned when her eyebrows rose. “Mom called all his plant starts his babies because he is so protective of them. Really it’s a mini-nursery out there.” He ushered her out the sliding screen door to the sl
ate patio.

  “I think it is too chilly to eat outside tonight. The pizza is in the oven.” Bill raised a trowel in greeting.

  “Dad, meet Gillian and the fluffy thing down there is Winnie. Gillian, my father, Bill.”

  “Ah, I now have a face to go with such a lovely name.” Bill held out his hand after wiping it on his pant leg. “All these years I have heard about you and now we finally meet. Welcome.”

  “Thank you. I can tell where Adam got all his charm.”

  “No, no, that came from his mother. I’m the curmudgeon nurseryman who would rather play with his plants than converse with humans.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to believe that. Not for a minute. What are you working with out here?” She looked over his tables and planting masses.

  “I start some plants with cuttings and then I hybridize irises; that’s my real hobby. Someday I hope to introduce a new bearded iris.”

  “Really? But don’t you divide iris rhizomes to propagate them?”

  “Yes, and we do that after I have one that I want field trials on, but you need to pollinate for seeds to come up with new varieties.” He led her over to the seed beds. “Now these are my newest ones, pollinated this year, the real babies. Those are from other years.” He indicated carefully marked rows of irises.

  “And do you have some with real promise?”

  “I do. I’ll show you them in the spring when they bloom.”

  “He has pictures of his best. He won a prize in an iris show one year.”

  “Really, how exciting.”

  “About like watching grass grow, I imagine,” Bill said with a droll nod. “Enough of this, let’s go eat dinner before the pizza dries out.”

  Adam touched the middle of her back to guide her and beamed when she threw him a smile over her shoulder. She’d just made a lifelong hit with his father by showing interest in his babies. What a woman.

  “Hope you like supreme with all the trimmings.” Bill pulled a pizza box from the oven and set it on the table. “There’s salad if anyone wants.”

  “I’m fine. Pizza is a treat.” Gillian handed her plate to Adam, who’d picked up the pie server. “One is fine.”

  Adam shrugged and served them all before taking a bite of his own. “So, how is this different from New York pizza?”

  Gillian looped a string of cheese over her finger. “I have no idea. I don’t do pizza in New York very often. I mostly eat at the corner deli. Mrs. Levy makes sure I get the specials of the day so there is variety.”

  “You don’t cook?” Bill stared at her.

  “Not often. Easier this way.” She closed her eyes, the better to savor the flavors.

  Adam watched the exchange; the shock on his father’s face, the bliss on Gillian’s. He glanced over to see the two dogs lying on the rug in front of the sliding glass door, as if they’d been friends for years and not hours. Hard to believe this was indeed Gillian’s first time in the Bentley home.

  “So, tell me about life in New York.” Bill reached for another piece of pizza.

  “Well, I have a condo in Greenwich Village, which isn’t a village at all but a part of Manhattan. I worked for a company that was taken over with all the management personnel let go. My former boss is taking a month’s vacation, and he said that when he comes back and finds something else, he will call me. So I came back here to take care of Mother, and you know what has happened there.”

  Adam made sure he wasn’t staring at her. The monthlong hiatus was news to him. Why had she not mentioned that? Would she really go back, or was this a pie-in-the-sky kind of thing? He had a feeling there were a lot of things he had yet to learn about Ms. Gillian Ormsby.

  Bill shook his head. “Dorothy retreating to her bed wasn’t like the woman I’ve known all these years. But then going off with Enzio was a shock, too.”

  “Good to hear you say that. I wondered if I was the confused one, gone too long to not have seen this coming.”

  “I was trying to figure what caused this for her, and I got to wondering if it had to do with her good friend dying and the stroke happening so close together. Those two women did a lot together, you know. Alice always said Dorothy was one you could count on no matter what the emergency. Rock solid.”

  “Good thinking, Dad. You know that might be a part of it, at least.”

  Gillian nodded. “I’ve sure been questioning what the catalyst might have been. I know Mother has always been terrified of strokes, so maybe all she heard the doctor say was stroke, not the degree of it.”

  “Depression can bring on all kinds of strange things.”

  Adam focused on another slice of pizza. Was his father speaking of himself in a rather oblique way?

  Bill nodded and slapped his hands on the table. “Guess you just got to find new things to live for when you get dealt a bad hand. I’ll clean up here; Adam why don’t you show her your mom’s scrapbooks? No better way to learn about the family than that.”

  Adam took Gillian’s hand. “Come, the master has spoken.”

  They spent the next hour poring over scrapbooks. The albums filled one of the bookshelves of a built-in entertainment center that took up an entire wall of the family room. Bill joined the couple after he cleaned up the kitchen, and then he told some of the stories that went along with the pages.

  “Thanks for such a delightful evening,” Gillian said when she caught herself yawning. “We better get on home.”

  “I’ll walk you down.” Adam stood and stretched. “Come on, Thor. Let’s walk.” He took her hand when they reached the sidewalk. “Thanks for coming. I haven’t seen Dad that animated for months.”

  “He’s had a hard time, losing first a son, then his wife. I can’t begin to understand how bad that is.”

  “Mom said that losing Charlie was the worst thing that could have happened. She said it left a hole in her heart, and I don’t think that had time to heal before the cancer struck. For Dad, I think losing her was the harder of the two, if one can quantify such tragedy.”

  Gillian squeezed his hand. “And you tried to pick up the pieces?”

  “I guess.” They turned into her yard. “You have the key?”

  She nudged him with her elbow. “Of course.” She let go of his hand to dig in her pocket and pull out the key on a ring of its own.

  But when she started to turn to open the door, he stopped her, tracing her jaw line with one finger, raising her chin. He bent his head and touched her lips, as if tasting first, before he kissed her again. When he raised his head, he smiled. “Night.”

  “Thank you for the evening.”

  “You’re welcome.” He watched as her hand shook slightly when she tried to insert the key. When the door opened, she turned to stare up at him, then followed Winnie inside.

  “Come on, Thor. Let’s go before I’m tempted to do that again.”

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Dear Gillian and Allie,

  Your mother and I were married by the captain of the ship last night. Be happy for us. We are delighted. Love Enzio and his bride. P.S. I’m going to make sure she learns to use the computer. E.

  Gillian stared at the e-mail message, the first one to arrive on her new computer. Probably the most shocking she’d ever received. She saw that both hers and Allie’s names were on the contact line. Surely the phone would begin ringing any moment. So they got married. She leaned her head against the cushion on the recliner, Winnie snoozing by her side. What did this mean for her? Far as she could figure, just a new member in the family and she already adored him, so what was the catch?

  Allie. Allie would be all upset, most likely hysterical. But why? She didn’t want to take care of Mother. She’d proven that by calling in Gillian when things got rough. Not that she’d made a mistake, all things considered. This temporary move to the West Coast had been a good thing. She closed her eyes and ran the last couple of weeks through her mind like a newscast, starting with the failed proposal at work and now reading this latest announ
cement. A giggle escaped where on a movie screen would be printed THE END. Instead of a phone call, Mother and Enzio had e-mailed. Besides which, she knew her mother had chosen to not learn the computer. Who’d have thought they’d do such a thing? Meaning both e-mail and the obviously not planned marriage. She thought back to Enzio and his secret. Maybe asking her mother to marry him had been his secret. Or at least that he loved her.

  She thought of forwarding the message to Adam, hoping he would see the humor in it, too. Hitting the FORWARD key, she knew Allie wouldn’t. What had happened to her sister’s sense of humor? Had life mashed it at some point, or could it be resuscitated?

  Gillian hit REPLY and set to typing.

  Congratulations. I couldn’t be happier for you both. Welcome to the family, Enzio. Love and myriad blessings, Gillian

  After flipping through her e-mails to make sure there was nothing else important, she turned off the computer and sat stroking Winnie. The walk with Adam and Thor had been a pleasure, and she knew she was already in love with his father. Bill Bentley was a delightful man. The pizza was good, but the conversation made her feel like she was already a friend. She figured she was more than just a friend when Adam kissed her good night on the doorstep. Tender was the best word she could think of. Kind of like a hello kiss with hints of forthcoming desire.

  She touched her fingertips to her lips. How long had it been since she’d been kissed by a man, other than a friendly bussing that usually missed her skin?

  Winnie whined and leaped to the floor, glancing over her shoulder so that Gillian would get the point.

  “I’m coming.” Letting the dog in and out was becoming ingrained. In fact, having the cuddly little canine was becoming a habit. A nice one, but she reminded herself that Winnie belonged to Enzio and would return to Enzio when he and her mother got back from their cruise.

  She’d just finished dressing when the phone rang. “You want to bet that is my sister, my highly irate sister?” Winnie cocked her head and then scampered to the kitchen to wait by the phone. “After today we will not have this dinosaur running our life.” She picked up the receiver.