Sleepless Nights (The Donovans of the Delta) (13 page)

The shop sizzled with energy when they stepped through the door.

Halite swooped down on Amanda, gave her a quick bear hug, then leaned back to look at her. “Since I got home Tanner has talked of nothing but you. I insisted on seeing your shop.”

Tanner laughed. “Hallie’s up to mischief, Amanda. Pay no attention to a word she says.”

Hallie’s bracelets jingled as she waved him aside. “Go over there and spend some of your money, Tanner. Buy me a present. I want to talk to Amanda.”

“Don’t be bossy, Hallie. It’s unbecoming in a lady.”

“I’m no lady,” Hallie rejoined, chuckling.

Maxine had taken refuge behind the jewelry counter, and Amanda finally managed to catch her breath and get a word in edgewise.

“I’m glad to see you, Hallie.” She’d be glad to see the devil if he had Tanner in tow, she decided. Her gaze swung around the shop till she found him. He looked up from a stack of Victorian blouses and winked. “You’re home for the holidays?”

“I’m home for as long as the spirit moves me. Wolfgang and Ludwig and I are just batting around the country, looking for fun and adventure.”

“Wolfgang and Ludwig?”

“My Great Danes. They like classical music.” Hallie hooked her thumbs through her belt loops, tipped back on her heels, and gave Amanda an appraising look. “Tanner was right. You’re even more beautiful now than when the two of you were engaged.”

Tanner caught Amanda’s eye and blew her a kiss. Hallie didn’t miss a thing.

“Are you planning to marry this cocky brother of mine?”

“No.” Amanda avoided Tanner’s gaze when she spoke. She wondered if Hallie had guessed his intentions or if he had told her. Probably the latter. It wouldn’t surprise her if he hired a plane and wrote it in the sky. He never could do anything the ordinary way.

“That’s smart.” Hallie’s eyes twinkled with mischief. Amanda knew that Hallie idolized Tanner, always had, even when she was a pigtailed first grader and Tanner was in junior high. She was also quite a prankster and loved playing the devil’s advocate. “Tanner has too much money. Men with too much money can be a pain in the—”

“Association,” Tanner said, cutting in smoothly. He was having a hard time holding back his laughter. “Hallie believes in guilt by association. Men with bank accounts of more than six figures are automatically guilty of all sorts of wicked deeds, including keeping their women in gilded cages.”

He left Maxine at the cash register totaling a huge stack of merchandise, and crossed the room to Amanda and Hallie. Wrapping them both in a bear hug, he continued. “Hallie enjoys rabble-rousing. Actually she’s embarrassed to say what she really thinks about me. She thinks I’m wonderful. Just as you do. It’s a pity that both of you are too shy to say it.”

Amanda and Hallie laughed.

“What did I tell you? A pain in the—”

“Arrogant,” Amanda said, “He was always arrogant.”

“Listen to the two of them, Maxine. The slings and arrows of love. They’re wild about me.”

“Everybody is, Tanner, and if they’re not, they ought to be ashamed of themselves.” Maxine waved her arm over the stack of Victorian blouses and petticoats, velvet dresses, and beaded gowns. “Do you want all this gift-wrapped?”

“Yes, please. In one big box.”

Hallie whooped for joy. “For me, Tanner? You got all that for me?”

“Weren’t you the one who wrote a letter to Santa and slipped it under my door not more than ten minutes after you arrived in Greenville?” He released her and tousled her hair. “For a woman who vows to hate money, you sure do love the things money can buy. You’re a fraud, Hallie. Lovable but a fraud.”

She laughed. “Watch what you say, buster. I’ll sic all my older brothers on you.” Suddenly she stood very still, cupping one hand around her ear. “Do I hear a noise? It sounds like the rushing of little airplane wings.” She took Amanda’s hand and tugged her toward the door. “Come on, Amanda. We don’t want to miss this.”

Tanner followed them and circled his arms around Amanda’s waist from behind. “My baby sister was supposed to be subtle. Nonetheless, she got the job done.” He rested his chin on Amanda’s hair. “Look up, love. I’ve planned a surprise for you.”

Spider Hendrix’s yellow crop-dusting plane flew low over Washington Street, trailing a huge banner across the sky: “Amanda, I love you. Tanner.” Before the banner was out of sight, Spider dipped and turned back toward the antique shop. A curious crowd blocked Amanda’s view.

Tanner walked her through the door. “We don’t want to miss the show.” He lifted her to his shoulder with no effort at all. With one hand supporting her bottom and the other holding her legs, he grinned up at her. “Comfortable?”

She affectionately smoothed his hair. “Oh, Tanner. This is too much.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“I’m not sure.” Shading her eyes against the afternoon sun, she tracked the plane until it was out of sight. The banner proclaimed to the entire city what Tanner had been professing since the night before. “That was a good show, Tanner. It’ll give everybody something to talk about besides Christmas presents and the weather.”

“It wasn’t just a show, Mandy.” He caressed her legs. “I meant it. I mean it.”

Before she could argue with him, she heard the roar that signaled the return of the plane. Looking up, she saw not Spider’s plane but the red crop duster belonging to Toad Ellis. The banner streaking along behind him declared, “Marry me, Amanda. Say yes.”

There was a collective sigh from the crowd on the sidewalk.

Perched on Tanner’s shoulder, Amanda heard everything that was said.

“Isn’t that romantic?”

“Nobody but Tanner Donovan would propose like that.”

“Did she say yes?”

“She’d be crazy not to.”

“After all these years! Who says love doesn’t conquer all?”

As the plane became a speck in the sky, the crowd dispersed, all still talking.

Amanda brushed a telltale tear from her eye and put a brave smile on her face.

“Would you put me down now so I can go back inside, Tanner?”

He lowered her until her feet touched the sidewalk, letting her slide against his body so that every inch of her felt branded by him.

“Mandy?”

He had such a look of happy anticipation on his face that she wanted to cry. How could she deny her love for this man? she wondered. But she knew she must, for both their sakes.

Lifting her hands, she touched his face. “It was a beautiful gesture. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He waited. She could feel the tension in his body. “Please, Tanner. I can’t marry you. It would be a mistake.”

“Do you love me, Amanda?”

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. He deserved the truth. “Yes.” She opened her eyes and saw the joy in his face. “Yes, Tanner. I can’t seem to help myself. I’ve fallen in love with you all over again.”

“That’s enough for now.” His lips touched hers as gently as spring dew on new leaves. “I want to marry you, Mandy. And I’m not a patient man. I won’t sit back and wait. I’ll pursue you to the gates of hell, if that’s what it takes to convince you you’re wrong.”

“Somehow I thought you would.”

“You’re smiling, Amanda. I take that as a sure sign that I’ll win.”

“You take everything as a sign that you’ll win.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? Winning’s my style.”

She patted his cheek. “Not this time, Tanner. This is not a game; it’s life. We nearly destroyed each other once. I won’t let that happen again.”

He bent down and kissed her, swiftly and hard. “I’ll see you at the altar.”

As if she’d been waiting for a cue, Hallie came through the door. With a final wave and a smile, she and Tanner crossed the street and drove off in the lavender Cadillac.

Life with Tanner surely would be fun, Amanda thought. Her brave smile was sad around the edges as she went back into her shop.

Maxine was standing beside a brass hat rack near the window. “That was the most romantic proposal I’ve ever seen. Imagine proclaiming his love with the whole town as witnesses.”

Amanda put her hand on the forlorn spot right over her heart. “Maxine, do you mind if we don’t talk about this right now?”

“Sure. There’s always work to be done around here. In fact, I hear three frayed dresses calling my name.” Her step was jaunty as she started toward the back room. “Lead me to a needle.”

Amanda’s conscience smote her. She figured that lately she’d been about as much fun as a case of indigestion. In her zeal to keep Tanner at bay she’d probably run off all her friends, Maxine included.

“Maxine, do you remember that time in sixth grade when you and I were so glum?”

“That time we both made C’s on our spelling tests because we couldn’t spell discombobulate and disestablishmentarianism?”

“That’s the time. I still can’t, can you?”

“Heck, no. And it never has mattered one way or the other.” Maxine’s grin was devilish. “Unless it caused me to lose my second husband. He always was a stickler about things like that.”

“You recall how we got ourselves out of the dumps, don’t you?”

“You mean . . .” Maxine’s eyes got big and sparkly.

“Precisely. Man the fort. I’m going to Tudberry’s.”

Grabbing her sweater, Amanda raced out the door and down the street.

 o0o

 Everything about Tudberry’s looked the same as it had when Amanda was a child, even the display window. The little red wagon and the red fire truck were shinier, but she’d swear that the dusty old teddy bear with the faded ribbon was the same one she’d seen there twenty some years ago.

Mr. Tudberry was a hidebound traditionalist. Knowing that some things never changed made Amanda feel good.

She passed through the dimly lit aisles of dolls and dart boards and baseball bats and tricycles, until she came to the place she sought—Mr. Tudberry’s sports center. It could be called a sports center only in the loosest sense. Actually it was a mixture of sporting equipment piled together around an old poster of Esther Williams in one of her movies.

Mr. Tudberry himself was in the center of all the confusion. With his tufts of white eyebrows sticking up like an owl’s, his glasses almost falling off his skinny nose, and his brown wool sweater hanging on his body as if on a skeleton, he looked exactly as she remembered.

“Well, now.” He always greeted his customers by rubbing his hands together, and if he ever said anything besides “Well, now,” the whole town would consider it a miracle.

The familiar routine comforted Amanda.

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Tudberry. How are you?”

“Can’t complain.” He always said that, too, right before he did complain. “Of course, the old arthritis is actin’ up. Must be some bad weather comin’ on. And the dentist wants to pull all my teeth and give me a false set. Can’t stand the thought of the dad-blamed things. Ever since Clarence got his, he can’t eat a thing except infernal milk and cornbread.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“We all have our aches and pains. The price of getting old, I guess. Well, now. What can I do for you?”

“Do you still have hoola hoops?”

When Mr. Tudberry chuckled, he sounded like a couple of turkey gobblers locked in a closet. “Nobody’s asked for hoola hoops in a month of Sundays.” He began to rummage through an assortment of basketball hoops and tennis nets and badminton rackets. “Nope. Don’t get much call for them anymore. Not since that craze. When was it? Sixties? Seventies? Whoops. Here they are. If they’da been a snake, they’da bit me.” He held up a fluorescent orange plastic hoop.

Amanda bought two hoola hoops, said good-bye to Mr. Tudberry, and hurried back to her shop.

Four customers were browsing leisurely through the racks of blouses. She leaned the hoola hoops against the brass hat rack, then went about her business of selling.

As soon as the last customer was out the door, she brought out the hoops.

“Here, Maxine. One for me and one for you.”

Maxine hooted. “You don’t expect me to use that thing, do you? I’m likely to throw my back out of joint.”

Amanda slipped the hoop around hips. “Where’s your sense of adventure? One never forgets how to do this.” She began gyrating in a remembered rhythm. The hoop made three shaky revolutions around her hips, then skittered to the floor. She picked it up and started again. “There’s nothing to it, Maxine. Watch this.” This time the hoop stayed up for six revolutions.

“I’m impressed, Amanda. But then, your equipment’s better than mine.”

Amanda picked her hoop off the floor. “The hoola hoop?”

“No. The hips. Mine are carrying about six pounds of extra baggage.” She stepped into her hoop and did a brave bump and grind. The hoop banged her toes on the way to the floor. “Ouch. Probably chipped my polish, to boot.”

“Trouble is, you don’t have the rhythm.” Amanda got her hoop going. “We used to sing. Remember?” She started singing.

“Greenville, are you ready for this?” Maxine said, joining in now.

They laughed and gyrated and sang every old “doo-wah” song they could think of. A few customers who drifted in thought they were crazy, but that didn’t bother Amanda. The hoola hoops had served their purpose. They’d helped her put Tanner out of her mind for an entire afternoon.

 o0o

While Amanda was hoola hooping, Hallie was driving through the town in a manner that made even Tanner’s hair stand on end.

“You burned rubber back there at the stoplight, Hallie. It’s a wonder Lard Pritchard doesn’t put you under arrest.”

Her bracelets jangled as she leaned over and patted his cheek. “Smile, brother. I’m just taking a little tour of the dear old hometown.”

“You’re going so fast, you can’t see a thing.”

“I like adventure.” She whizzed past a McDonald’s at such a speed the golden arches looked like a smear of butter.

“If you don’t mind, get me home in one piece. I don’t plan to walk down the aisle to the altar in a body cast.”

“Love’s turned you into an old sourpuss.” She turned the Cadillac around—on two wheels, Tanner speculated—and headed toward home. Hallie pretended to pout, but Tanner knew she was faking. She was hardly ever upset, and besides that, when they passed Coot Sampson’s farm, she forgot she was supposed to be mad at him and laughed out loud.