to th e door and glanc e d up th e stairs. No small blond h e ad was looking down at h e r.
“Ch e cking to s ee if w e ’r e b e ing spi e d on?”
“You caught m e .” S h e chuckl e d .
H e l e an e d toward h e r and kiss e d h e r on th e ch ee k. “I hope sh e wo n’t mind, e v e n though it’s just our first dat e ,” h e whisp e r e d , and h e turned her face so that he could kiss h e r on th e lips, softly , and again, more firmly, wh e n sh e didn’t pull away.
“You h e ard h e r.”
Marcus nodd e d .“I lik e a child who is prot e ctiv e of h e r moth e r. Shows sh e has good charact e r.” H e kiss e d h e r again.“I’ll call you.”
“Pl e as e do.” She shut th e door aft e r h e l e ft and stood th e r e for a mom e nt b e for e head ing up th e stairs to b e d . Nice. Very nice. She smiled to herself as she slipped out of her dress. More than nice. Way more than nice. Was that why her body still buzzed from his kisses? But did she dare to think he might become more than a friend?
Chapter 4
Th e October breeze grew into a full-fledged wind storm lat e in th e aft e rnoon. Soon th e light mist became heavier . B y the time Amanda arriv e d hom e , the rain was blowing sid e ways, buff e ting th e door as she entered .
C e c e lia p e rch e d on th e window s e at in h e r b e d room. “Look at the big wav e s .”
“I know. I’v e n e v e r s ee n rain coming down lik e this. I wond e r if it’s normal, this sid e ways stuff.” T h e wind rattl e d th e window pan e s near her desk . “ It f ee ls lik e a soup-and- scon e s kind of night. What do you think, C e c e ?”
“ Yum! W ith blueberry jam , too ? ” Her daughter look e d up from a pictur e sh e was drawing . “I’m going to s e nd Francie a pictur e of th e mountains . I ’ll bet sh e ’s n e v e r s ee n mountains lik e these .”
“I’m glad. S haring is nice.”
The wind whistled between the jamb and the door with an unexpectedly strong gust as Amanda went into the kitchen to put the scones in the oven. Six w ee ks into th e start of school, her daughter was making fri e nds and seemed happy . She was getting to know more faculty members, too, for which she was grateful . Amanda hummed to herself as she opened a can of tomato soup to go with the scones. She nearly dropped the saucepan at Cece’s shrill scream from the living room.
“Mom! Com e quick! Trees are falling down!”
Amanda spun around and rac e d into th e living room . As she stood ne ar the window, her arm around C ece’s shoulders, a huge maple across th e str ee t leaned —as if in slow motion— and crashed to the ground, just missing her neighbor’s hous e . On e limb hung pr e cariously against th e lip of th e roof, thr e at e ning th e car park e d outsid e th e garag e .
Before she had a chance to catch her breath, t h e lights in the house w e nt out.
“What happened?” Cece squealed.
“Power’s out. I’ll get some candl e s. I guess we eat by candlelight tonight.Sort of like camping, right?” She hugged her daughter.
Cece giggled. “I’m going upstairs to see if the rest of the houses lost their lights , too .”
Amanda felt her way back into the dark kitchen, fished around in the junk drawer for matches and lit two half-burned candles. By their meager light, she looked around for sandwich makings. “S oup’s not hot and who knows how long the electricity will be out.”
“Wow! You should s ee all th e sparks,” C e c e lia exclaime d from the top of the stairs . “It’s lik e th e F ourth of July.”
“What sparks? C e c e , com e down here , pl e as e .”
“From th e wir e s. Gr ee n and y e llow sparks. R e ally pr e tty!”
Amanda trotted back through the living room, glancing quickly out the front window as she headed for the stairs. She could see m or e tr ee s c oming down along th e str ee t , sparking wires reflecting red and yellow lights in the living room windows
“Ch e cking to s ee if w e ’r e b e ing spi e d on?”
“You caught m e .” S h e chuckl e d .
H e l e an e d toward h e r and kiss e d h e r on th e ch ee k. “I hope sh e wo n’t mind, e v e n though it’s just our first dat e ,” h e whisp e r e d , and h e turned her face so that he could kiss h e r on th e lips, softly , and again, more firmly, wh e n sh e didn’t pull away.
“You h e ard h e r.”
Marcus nodd e d .“I lik e a child who is prot e ctiv e of h e r moth e r. Shows sh e has good charact e r.” H e kiss e d h e r again.“I’ll call you.”
“Pl e as e do.” She shut th e door aft e r h e l e ft and stood th e r e for a mom e nt b e for e head ing up th e stairs to b e d . Nice. Very nice. She smiled to herself as she slipped out of her dress. More than nice. Way more than nice. Was that why her body still buzzed from his kisses? But did she dare to think he might become more than a friend?
Chapter 4
Th e October breeze grew into a full-fledged wind storm lat e in th e aft e rnoon. Soon th e light mist became heavier . B y the time Amanda arriv e d hom e , the rain was blowing sid e ways, buff e ting th e door as she entered .
C e c e lia p e rch e d on th e window s e at in h e r b e d room. “Look at the big wav e s .”
“I know. I’v e n e v e r s ee n rain coming down lik e this. I wond e r if it’s normal, this sid e ways stuff.” T h e wind rattl e d th e window pan e s near her desk . “ It f ee ls lik e a soup-and- scon e s kind of night. What do you think, C e c e ?”
“ Yum! W ith blueberry jam , too ? ” Her daughter look e d up from a pictur e sh e was drawing . “I’m going to s e nd Francie a pictur e of th e mountains . I ’ll bet sh e ’s n e v e r s ee n mountains lik e these .”
“I’m glad. S haring is nice.”
The wind whistled between the jamb and the door with an unexpectedly strong gust as Amanda went into the kitchen to put the scones in the oven. Six w ee ks into th e start of school, her daughter was making fri e nds and seemed happy . She was getting to know more faculty members, too, for which she was grateful . Amanda hummed to herself as she opened a can of tomato soup to go with the scones. She nearly dropped the saucepan at Cece’s shrill scream from the living room.
“Mom! Com e quick! Trees are falling down!”
Amanda spun around and rac e d into th e living room . As she stood ne ar the window, her arm around C ece’s shoulders, a huge maple across th e str ee t leaned —as if in slow motion— and crashed to the ground, just missing her neighbor’s hous e . On e limb hung pr e cariously against th e lip of th e roof, thr e at e ning th e car park e d outsid e th e garag e .
Before she had a chance to catch her breath, t h e lights in the house w e nt out.
“What happened?” Cece squealed.
“Power’s out. I’ll get some candl e s. I guess we eat by candlelight tonight.Sort of like camping, right?” She hugged her daughter.
Cece giggled. “I’m going upstairs to see if the rest of the houses lost their lights , too .”
Amanda felt her way back into the dark kitchen, fished around in the junk drawer for matches and lit two half-burned candles. By their meager light, she looked around for sandwich makings. “S oup’s not hot and who knows how long the electricity will be out.”
“Wow! You should s ee all th e sparks,” C e c e lia exclaime d from the top of the stairs . “It’s lik e th e F ourth of July.”
“What sparks? C e c e , com e down here , pl e as e .”
“From th e wir e s. Gr ee n and y e llow sparks. R e ally pr e tty!”
Amanda trotted back through the living room, glancing quickly out the front window as she headed for the stairs. She could see m or e tr ee s c oming down along th e str ee t , sparking wires reflecting red and yellow lights in the living room windows
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