To Protect and Serve (19 page)

             
He heard the door close behind him right after he heard Sam say “Come on, baby.  Close the door.  It’s cold.”

             
Now he was cruising down Katella and realized he was just a couple of blocks from Nancy’s house.  Nancy.  It would be very good to see her.  But it was so late.  And he wasn’t sure he wanted to contaminate her life with what he’d been submerged in that afternoon.

             
Doug convinced himself that if he went there and the lights were off, he’d just drive past without stopping. 
Please have your lights on, Nancy.  I really need to talk to you tonight.

             
Now he was sitting in the driveway of Nancy’s house and she was sitting just a foot away from him.  Smelling clean and fresh and looking soft and pretty.

             
He’d told her everything that had happened and she hadn’t said a word, except to clarify what he’d said here and there so that she could fully understand.

             
Some time during the dissertation, she’d taken his right hand and had held it softly between hers.

             
Somehow she’d mended the hurt.  Now she leaned across the console that rested between them and kissed Doug softly on the jaw.

             
“Would you like to come in?”

             
Her invitation included much more than just coffee and they both knew it.

             
Doug was so tempted to bury himself in her arms and forget about the rest of the world.

             
However, this wasn’t how he’d planned the first time they made love.  Oh, he’d thought about it for hours all right, but tonight was not going to be that night.

             
He looked down into her eyes and then gently kissed her.  “No.  Not tonight.”

             
Somehow Nancy understood that he wasn’t rejecting her offer.  He was just postponing it.

             
He kissed her again, this time drinking from her mouth and making her moan.

             
“You sure you don’t want to rethink my offer, Saunders?”  Nancy sounded breathless and sexy.

             
“I must be some sort of fool.  But the answer is still going to be no for tonight.  Can I take a rain check?”  He smiled as he dipped down for another lingering kiss.

             
“I’ll have you know I’m not the local department store.  No rain checks allowed.  And I’m not sure the offer will still stand tomorrow.”  Nancy was teasing him and he loved it.

             
“Well then, we’ll just have to wait until the perfect time, won’t we?”  Doug wasn’t sure when that would be, but he sure knew it wasn’t tonight, although Nancy was cute enough to tempt the devil sitting there in the front seat of his black and white in her robe and no slippers.

             
“Hon!  You don’t even have slippers on.  Aren’t you freezing?”  Doug hadn’t even noticed that she’d come to him barefoot.

             
“They’re just slightly cold.  Not that bad.”  Nancy rubbed her right foot to warm it up.

             
“Wait right there.”  Doug got out of the driver’s side and rounded the front of the unit.  He opened the passenger door and leaned in and lifted Nancy into his arms.

             
“Doug!  Put me down.  You’ll hurt your back!”  Nancy was half mortified and half excited.  No one had carried her since that one summer in high school when the lifeguard she had a crush on at the pool was fooling around flirting with her and had picked her up and thrown her into the deep end.  He’d ruined her hair and make-up, but she’d

floated on air for the rest of that summer whenever she thought about how he’d then jumped in after her.  She sure was a sucker for heroes.

              Doug shifted Nancy in his arms so she was more settled and just stood there holding her.

             
Their eyes met and Nancy was certain that he was going to change his mind about coming in.  Doug carried her to the front door porch and set her down gently, releasing her feet first.  Of course, he made sure that she slid down his chest for a good portion of the time he was releasing her.

             
Just about every fantasy that Nancy had was rolled up in this one man.  He was handsome.  He was gentle.  He was sexy.  He was a hero.  And he really seemed to care about her.  Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was also wearing Kevlar and a gun belt.

             
Doug leaned down and kissed Nancy on the nose.

             
“Goodnight, sweetheart.  Catch you later.”  He backed away from her with his hands behind his back as though keeping himself from reaching for her again.

             
“So what are you going to do now?”  Nancy was breathless just watching him walk.

             
“Take a very long cold shower.” 

             
Nancy could hear Doug’s laughter as he pulled out of her driveway and drove down the street.

             
It wasn’t until she could no longer hear him that she realized she was standing on her front porch wearing just a robe and oversized tee shirt under it. 

             
Her feet WERE cold!

             
She turned and quietly entered her house.  She softly shut the door and latched the lock.  Then she turned around… and screamed.

             
Her heart stuttered to a stop and then drove itself into a spectacular rendition of the Anvil Chorus.

             
“Hey!  Mom Adams!  It’s me.  Jackson!  Geez!  You scared the sh… stuff out of me!”  Jackson was backed against the entry hall wall with both his hands to his chest.

              Just then, both Kate and Christy came running to the front door from their respective bedrooms, yelling “Mom!  Jackson!”

             
Nancy felt a nervous bubble of laughter rising in her throat and was afraid that if she let it go, she’d end up sounding hysterical.  Too late.  The giggle came out of her mouth against all her wishes.

             
Well once Nancy’s laughter started, then Jackson’s did.  Then Kate and Christy chimed in.  The four of them ended up laughing so hard, they slid to the floor in glee.  Just about the time they thought the hilarity was drawing to a close, one of them would make eye contact with another, and off they went again.

             
It finally died down enough that they were able to get themselves off the floor.

             
“Anyone hungry?”  Nancy asked the group of young people.

             
“Always.”  Jackson answered with such a tone of mournfulness in his voice that it started them all off again in peals of laughter.

             
Nancy grabbed bowls and spoons while the girls got out the ice cream and chocolate sauce from the refrigerator. 

             
Jackson was now sitting quietly at the table, which got Nancy to thinking.

             
“Jackson?  What were you doing in the hall way?”

             
Jackson and Christy sneaked looks at each other and then got very busy making their sundaes. 

             
Nancy realized with a start that it was probably way past the time she should have had “the talk” with her girls.  While they were growing

up, she’d always answered all their questions honestly; but she’d never brought up the subject of sex herself.

              Now she just looked at the kids.

              “I assume you were going home.”  Nancy tried hard to make her voice sound normal.  Christy and Kate were old enough to have boyfriends.  She also knew that they both could think for themselves and she found she wasn’t worried.

             
Jackson cleared his throat and looked at Nancy.  “Mom Adams, I’ve been wanting to talk with you.”

             
Christy grabbed Jackson’s hand.   “Not now, babe.  Later.”

             
“Not now what, honey?”  Now Nancy was curious.

             
Jackson looked intently at Christy until she finally nodded ‘OK.’

             
“Mom Adams.  I’d like to ask for Christy’s hand in marriage.”

             
Nancy’s mouth dropped open in surprise.  Boy she hadn’t seen that one coming.  Well, at least not yet.

             
“Jackson.”  Nancy pulled her thoughts together because she knew how important this conversation was.

             
“Jackson.  I’m honored that you’d ask me.  However, Christy makes her own decisions and can give you her hand herself.”

             
“Well, Mom,” Christy spoke up.  “We want your blessing and approval.”

             
“Of course you have that, Honey!  Jackson is a wonderful man.  You make a great couple.”

             
Christy turned to Jackson.  “See?  Didn’t I tell you she’d understand?”

             
Jackson just nodded and smiled.

             
Nancy looked over at Kate and noticed that she was drawing patterns in her melted ice cream and chocolate sauce.

             
Nancy made eye contact with Christy who just shrugged her shoulders.

             
“Kate?  Honey?  You okay?”

             
“What?  Oh, sure.  Sure!  Congratulations you guys!  This is awesome.”

             
Kate’s metamorphosis was so complete that Nancy would have doubted that anything was troubling her.  Except that she knew her daughter pretty well.

             
Nancy made a mental note to have a heart-to-heart with Kate as soon as they were alone.  And it wasn’t after midnight.

             
It only took everyone a couple of minutes to clean up the bowls and spilled ice cream.  Jackson kissed Christy goodnight and left on his motorcycle.

             
She gave both her girls a goodnight hug and they all went to bed.

             
As Nancy snuggled down under the covers on her bed, she again thought about how Doug had come to her tonight and told her about his day.  It felt wonderful.  He seemed to need her as much as she needed him.  They balanced each other.

             
She also really liked the way he’d carried her to the door.  Just the way he’d looked at her made her wish she’d been wearing better sleepwear.  Maybe she should go shopping.

Chapter 18

             
“A tuxedo!  A penguin suit?  No way.”

             
“Come on, Doug!  You’ll look great in it.”  Patty was determined to meet Nancy and this was the only way she knew how.  “All you need to do is stand up and propose a toast.  I’ll even write it for you.  It couldn’t be easier.”

             
Doug had absolutely no recollection of having agreed to being Bill’s Best Man when Bill and Patty renewed their wedding vows.  In fact, he didn’t even remember Bill saying anything about any ceremony.

             
Doug turned to Bill for support, but Bill suddenly found his cup of coffee to be extremely interesting and wouldn’t let Doug catch his eye.  Bill had stayed married as long as he had with good reason.  He knew when to stay out of the way and let Patty do whatever it was she was determined to do.  And right now, he honestly was clueless about what Patty was saying.  A ceremony?

             
They were having a postponed dinner of steak, salad and chocolate cake.  Since Doug hadn’t been able to make it the previous evening, Patty had insisted on him coming for dinner tonight.

             
Her idea of a vows renewal was one of her typical on-the-spot ideas.  Surprisingly, most of her best ideas were off the cuff.

             
“Bill!  When did you guys decide to do this?”  Doug was half perplexed, half perturbed.  He cursed himself for having the sneaking suspicion that Patty was doing all this just to meet Nancy.

             
“Uh, Dear?  When did we decide this?”  Bill turned a bland face to his wife.

             
“Oh, you remember, Honey.  It was way back last summer some time.  Remember?”  Patty had on one of her patented sweet smiles.

             
“Of course, last summer.  See, Doug?  Last summer.”  Bill went back to perusing his coffee cup.

             
“So, how come I hadn’t heard of it before now?”  Doug was not going to be easily swayed.

             
“You did!”  Patty even said it with what appeared to be an earnest look.

             
“When?”

             
“Last summer!  In fact, we were sitting right here, weren’t we, Bill.”  She continued to toss the salad.

             
“Yes, Dear.”

             
“See, Doug!  Even Bill says it’s true.”

             
Doug rolled his eyes and kept his mouth shut.

             
“Salad?”

             
“Yes, please, Patty.”  Doug knew when he was beat.

             
“By the way…”

             
Doug braced himself for what he just knew was coming next.

             
“Why don’t you invite your new lady friend.  What was her name?”  Patty should have been on the stage.

             
“Nancy Adams.”  Doug was starting to find this whole conversation somewhat comical.

             
“Right!  Nancy.  Do you think she’d be able to attend?”  Patty put baked potatoes on each of their plates.

             
“I imagine she would.  When is the ceremony?”

             
“Next Saturday.”

             
At that announcement, both men turned to Patty and just stared with their mouths open.

             
Patty didn’t miss a beat.  “Since it’s only family and very close friends, it will be somewhat informal.”

             
“Then why the tux?”

             
“For the photos, of course.”  Patty poured more coffee into their cups.

             
                                                        …………….

             
Nancy was thrilled and appalled at the same time.  She was meeting Doug’s best friends – which was good.  However, she only had one week to find a suitable dress and shoes, get a haircut, manicure (time for a facial?) to make herself presentable.

             
What would they think of her?  Would they approve?  She hoped so.

             
Doug had just stopped by after school and asked if she’d be his date for the event.  He seemed slightly reluctant, which made her nervous.  However, he’d picked up on her nervousness and had explained that this was Patty’s way of finally meeting Nancy.  He then explained his real reason for the reluctance – the tuxedo.  At that, Nancy had laughed and told him that she was sure he’d be the most handsome guy there.  Doug

then explained that except for Bill, his two sons, and the minister, he’d be the only other guy there.

              When Nancy looked puzzled, Doug explained that it was going to be a very small, intimate ceremony.

             
“Then why the tux?”

             
“The pictures, of course.”

             
And with that last statement, Doug had pulled Nancy into his arms and kissed her thoroughly despite her half-hearted attempts at stalling him in case any students walked in on them.

             
As he walked out her classroom door, Doug turned and said “Wear something special.  I’ll take you out dancing afterwards.”

             
So now Nancy was out shopping trying to find “something special.”  Should it be classy?  Soft and feminine?  Bold and daring?

             
“Mom?”

             
“What?”

             
“You’re doing it again.”

             
“I am?  Sorry.”  Nancy had once again drifted off into her thoughts instead of looking at the selection of dresses that Kate and Christy had picked out for her to try.

             
“I really think you should wear this one, Mom.”  Christy was holding out a deceptively simply dress of a soft draping material – which the price tag announced cost around two weeks pay.  Nancy had never paid that much for a dress in her whole life.

             
“I agree, Mom.  It’s perfect.”

             
And with that, Nancy took the dress and tried it on.  Now standing in front of the mirrored panels that showed her from several different angles, Nancy understood why the dress cost so much. 

It pulled in here, tucked up there, and presented her body splendidly.  The soft peach color made her skin look creamy and her eyes a clear green.

              “Yep.  This is it.”  Before she could talk herself out of it, Nancy changed back into her everyday clothes, took the dress to the cashier and put it on her credit card.

             
“Now, underwear.”  Kate was again in charge of the shopping expedition.  Sincerely, if anyone ever needed someone to take over a small country single-handedly, Nancy knew that Kate was the one to do it.

             
“Yeah, and not old-lady underwear, either.”  Christy had her own opinions, too.

             
“Okay, but you’re NOT getting me into a thong.  It would be like having a perpetual wedgie.”  Nancy and the girls giggled about that all the way to the lingerie store.

             
“Besides, it isn’t like he’s going to see my underwear or anything.”  Nancy tried to keep her voice neutral.

             
Kate and Christy just exchanged glances behind their mom’s back.  Kate winked and Christy smirked.

             
When they finally made their purchases about forty minutes later, Nancy was bemused by the fact that she’d just spent over $200.00 on underwear that didn’t amount to over eight square inches total.  And who would have thought that a thong DIDN’T feel like a perpetual wedgie.  In fact, her new undergarments made her feel attractive and desirable.

             
Now for the shoes.  Something sexy, but not too come-hither.  For Pete’s sake, she was a mom!

             
They discovered that the local department store had the absolutely best shoe department anywhere!  And not only was the selection extensive, but Nancy and her girls were served coffee in small demitasse cups with tiny finger pastries while the salesman brought out pair after pair of shoes for them to try.

             
Nancy, Kate and Christy all bought new shoes, and Nancy was especially surprised that her high heels didn’t hurt her feet!  Just goes to show what a pair of very expensive shoes feels like.  It’s sure different than a pair of tennies!

****************

              “If Madam would just allow me to add a few subtle highlights framing her face, she would be amazed at how much younger she would look.”  It had been years since Nancy had heard herself referred to in the third person while being directly addressed.  And that had been in college – in a very bad play.

             
“Madam likes her color the way it is.”  Nancy tried to keep a straight face.

             
“Oh, come on, Mom!  Try it!  The worst that will happen is that you don’t like it and you can get your hair dyed back to your regular color.”  Both Kate and Christy were determined that their mom see herself as beautiful as they both saw her.

             
Nancy watched “Mr. Tomas” shudder slightly at that and took pity on him.

             
“Alright, Mr. Tomas, you talked me into it.”

             
And those were Nancy’s final words of control for the afternoon.  She was whisked off by “the shampoo girl” who did the most delightfully relaxing job of shampooing and massaging that Nancy had ever encountered.  She didn’t want it to end, it felt so good.

             
Then while sitting at Mr. Tomas’ regal station, Nancy found that her hair was no longer her own.  Mr. Tomas had several of his salon personnel crowded around the chair while he proceeded to hold forth on the correct way to make a “woman of a certain age” look more beautiful.  After unsuccessfully trying to keep up with what he was saying (fringe, shading, luminosity, depth, and angle) Nancy’s thoughts drifted.  She thought back to Doug’s kisses.  And the way he’d looked at her.  And the way her heart hammered into overtime whenever he touched her.  Doug knew instinctively how to touch her.  And she loved the fact that he

loved the back of her neck.  He’d discovered that right away!  Nancy sighed contentedly.

             
“And see?  She is looking younger already!  It makes her face glow.”  Mr. Tomas announced to his disciples who all made agreeable noises. 
And my toes curl
, Nancy added to herself.

             
The truth was, when Mr. Tomas was done, Nancy love the way her hair looked!  It looked natural, only better.  And Mr. Tomas was right.  The highlights were very subtle and absolutely perfect.  Nancy had no qualms about paying what he charged.

CHAPTER 19

             
On Wednesday when Nancy got home from school with the girls she opened their front door to a flood.

             
“Oh, no!! There’s water everywhere!  What happened?”  Nancy stepped into the foyer and could see water covering the floor in the kitchen and had the gruesome suspicion that the carpet in the living room and hallway were soaked.

             
Kate and Christy checked out the rest of the house and found that the flood had contained itself to the kitchen, foyer, living room, hallway and guest bathroom where it had all started.

             
The water was pouring out from the cabinet under the sink and when Nancy opened the doors, she found that the hot water pipe had corroded through.  The water had been running so long that they’d drained all hot water and it was now running at lukewarm temperature.

             
“Okay!  Who knows where the water shut-off valve is?”

             
Christy already had Jackson on the phone.  “Yeah, babe.  The pipe has a hole in it about the size of a quarter.  Uh-huh.  Uh-huh.  Okay.  Love you too.”  She closed her cell phone.  “Jackson says to put silicone tape around it.”