Baby, Oh Baby! (36 page)

The elderly woman shuffled forward on a metal walker, her eyes bright as bird's. "Well, don't you want to know? I always do. My guess is he's hanging left. My husband always hung to the left, and this fella reminds me of him." Pearl leaned on her walker and stared pointedly at Jake's fly. "Yessirree, I'm certain he's hanging left. You can always tell, because—"

Annie abruptly took her by the arm. "Pearl, sweetheart, why don't you have a seat and we'll get you a drink."

The old woman looked at Annie, not at all perturbed to have been interrupted. Apparently it happened a lot. "All right, dearie. Make mine a double."

She settled on the sofa beside Helen. Annie introduced Jake to Henry, and Spike and Lauren to Ben and his wife. Two minutes later, Pearl leaned forward and pointed at Jake. "Tell me again, who's the fella with the hot bod?"

Annie threw Jake an amused glance. "Jake. He's my husband."

"Oh, my, aren't you lucky. Is he any good in the sack?'

Helen's generous cheeks turned a bright pink. She patted the old woman's hand. "Pearl, dear, that's not a question for polite company."

"Aw, shucks. The good ones never are."

Henry cleared his throat. "They've changed her medication again.. She always gets like this when they change her medication."

Across the room, Spike grinned at Jake. "The old gal's a real trip, isn't she?"

Lauren elbowed her boyfriend again. "Don't talk about people where they can hear you." She rolled her eyes, which made the ring in her pierced eyebrow rise and fall, and she glanced at Annie apologetically. "Guys can be such dorks."

Pearl adjusted her hearing aid. "Dorks? Is that another word for stud muffins?"

Annie reached down and patted the old woman's shoulder. "That's right, Pearl. That's exactly what it is."

Everyone laughed. Annie turned to Jake. "Why don't you fix our guests a drink? I think Pearl would like a lemonade. I'm going to change into an honest-to-goodness party dress."

She returned in twenty minutes, her air damp from the shower, her skin glowing. She wore a long sleeveless apricot print dress that made her skin look like peaches and cream..

"You look gorgeous," Jake said.

He was pleased at the way she smiled, pleased that he had the power to make her cheeks pinken and her eyes brighten.

She turned away, as if she didn't want him to see how he affected her. "Spike, since you're a pro in the kitchen, maybe you can help me with the salad."

"Sure."

The rain continued to pelt on the roof as they gathered in the dining room. The meal was simple and delicious, the conversation lively and punctuated with frequent laughter. Jake looked up from his plate of steak, pasta Primavera, and Annie's homemade bread, and gazed around the table. Six months ago, he never would have imagined he'd be dining with such an odd assortment of people—a pink-haired teenager and his tattooed girlfriend, a dotty old woman with a raunchy tongue, an attorney who practiced law out of a nursing home, and an overall-clad rancher and his wife who looked like they'd stepped straight out of a rerun of Green Acres. Even more amazing, he was having the time of his life.

It was all because of Annie, he thought. Only Annie could bring such a bizarre group of people together and meld them into friends. She was really something—funny, wise, quirky, sweet, endearing, sexy.

His thoughts snagged on the last word, and his gaze returned once again to Annie. He found it hard to take his eyes off her.

At the end of the meal, Annie raised her glass. "We forgot to make the toast. Here's to Jake—for taking a bold step forward on the pathway to his dreams."

"Hear, hear!" Pearl cried. The clink of crystal filled the air.

Helen raised her glass. "And here's to Jake and Annie—who are celebrating four months of marriage this evening."

Jake glanced at Annie. He could tell from her expression that she'd forgotten, too. Four months. Only one to go. For some reason, the thought seemed to dampen the evening more than the rainstorm raging outside.

"Oh, my." Pearl's face wore a sly smile and her eyes held a mischievous twinkle. "A newlywed anniversary. We'd best clear out of here and let the newlyweds do what newlyweds do best."

Annie nearly choked on her wine.

"I hate to say it, but this storm may keep us stuck here all night," Ben remarked.

"Why's that?" Henry asked.

"The creek rises fast. In a hard, fast storm like this, it tends to overflow the road."

"Maybe we should try .. to catch a weather report on TV," Helen suggested.

Jake flicked on the television in the living room, and they all gathered around it. Sure enough, a weather advisory crawled across the bottom of the screen, announcing that a flash flood warning was in effect for a three-county area. The rain was expected to last for several more hours.

Ben strode toward the kitchen. "I'll drive down and check the creek. Everyone just stay put."

He was back in twenty minutes, his cowboy hat dripping. He pulled it off in the garage before he stepped into the kitchen, where Annie and Jake and Helen were cleaning up the dishes. "The road's covered. I'm afraid no one's going anywhere tonight."

Spike and Lauren just shrugged their shoulders.

"I hate to make you put us all up, Annie," Helen fretted.

"It's no trouble. I've got Gran's stash of extra toothbrushes, and you know L have three guest rooms."

"How are we going to divvy them up?" Pearl asked.

"Well, Ben and Helen will take one," Annie began.

"And Henry and I can shack up together," Pearl said spryly. `Boy, won't that give 'em something to talk about back at Shady Acres!"

Henry's expression was clearly alarmed.

"How about if Henry and Spike share a room," Annie quickly suggested.

"Well, okay," Pearl agreed. "Then Lauren and I can bunk together. I'm dying to see all her tattoos and body piercing. I've been thinking about getting some myself."

Jake couldn't suppress a laugh.

"Where do you want Spike and me?" Henry asked.

"You two .would probably be most comfortable in the room at the end of the hall," Jake said. "It has two beds."

It was the room where Jake always slept. Annie glanced at him, her eyes wide.

The electric lights flickered, then went out. The room was dark except for the candles on the dining room table.

Pearl looked around a confused expression on her face. "Is it last call already?"

"No," Jake explained. "The power just went off." Pearl gazed at Jake blankly. "Who are you again?" "I'm Jake."

"And where will you sleep?" she asked.

"With Annie, of course," Helen said. "They're married, remember?"

Pearl smacked her forehead with her palm. "Oh, that's right. They're going to make nookie."

"Pearl!" Henry admonished.

She put her hand over her mouth and stifled a girlish giggle. "Sorry." She cut her eyes at Jake. "Sometimes I say things I shouldn't. It's my age, you know." She leaned conspiratorially toward Spike. "It's the best part about getting old."

Annie felt like she was having a senior moment herself when she stepped inside her bedroom an hour later, a candle in her hand, to find Jake, barefooted and shirtless, resting against the headboard of her bed. The sight of his bare chest made her knees go weak and her heart flutter like a firefly's light.

"Is everyone settled in for the night?" he asked.

"I think so." Annie had doled out towels, toothbrushes and flashlights. The candle in her hand flickered as she closed the door.

Jake's mouth curved in a smile. "I've got to hand it to you, Annie. When you throw a celebration, you sure make it interesting."

"I'm afraid I can't take credit for the special effects."

Jake grinned, but then a long pause stretched between them. The candlelight and the sound of rain on the roof made the room seem as secluded as a cabin in the woods.

"It was a nice party."

Annie placed the candle on the dresser. "It's important to celebrate the big moments in our lives. Deciding to quit a job so you can pursue your dreams is a big moment."

Jake gave a mirthless smile. "It would be an even bigger moment if I had a clearer idea what those dreams might be." He shook his head and exhaled a breath, leaning back on the pillows. "Annie, do you think a person forfeits the right to his dreams if he's ruined someone else's?"

Annie looked at him quizzically. "Whose dreams do you think you've ruined?"

"Tom's. Susanna's. Rachel's. My parents'."

Annie's heart turned over. "Why do you say that?"

"Because of the accident. I've never told you this, but I was supposed to be driving" Even in the candlelight, she could see lines of pain radiating out from his eyes. The bed creaked as Annie turned toward him. She didn't say a word, just sat, waiting for him to continue.

After a long moment, he did.

"My parents were returning from a European medical conference and I had told them I'd pick them up at the airport. I got tied up in a meeting. It was Rachel's day off,, so I called her and asked her to do it for me." A gust of wind blew the rain hard against the window. Jake stared up at the covered-wagon canopy. "
I
was supposed to be in that car, not Rachel. Rachel should still be here, not me. Tom and Susanna should still have a daughter." Annie put her hand on his arm. "Oh, Jake—I'm sure they've never thought of it that way."

"They've never said it, but how could they not think it? I think of it every day."

"And now you're feeling guilty about leaving Tom's firm." So much was falling into place now, so much was making sense. Her fingers stroked his forearm. "Jake, the wreck was an accident. You can't blame yourself."

"Sure I can. I do every day." His voice held the old bitter edge, the edge it had held when she first met him.

Annie's hand slid down his arm. "You're feeling survivor's guilt. I know a little about that." She reached for his hand. Her fingers intertwined with his. "I was at college when my father had his heart attack. I used to feel guilty that I wasn't at home when it happened. I knew how to do CPR. If I'd been there, maybe I could have saved him."

"That's different, Annie. You were where you were supposed to be."

"And you were, too." Her eyes burned as brightly as the candle on the dresser behind her. "Almost everyone who loses a loved one suddenly feels guilty. You wonder, `Why should I be alive when this person I love is dead? What could I have done to prevent it?' It's normal to think that. But the answer is always the same: Nothing."

Jake sat very still for a long moment, letting her words curl around his heart, letting them creep like smoke into the hollow crevices and empty spaces. He didn't know why, but they soothed him like a balm.

"You want things to make sense," she said softly. "Well, some things just don't.. Not from our perspective, anyway, because we can't see the big picture." She tucked a leg underneath her and angled more fully towards him. "See, the way I figure it, life is God's tapestry, and each person is a thread. When we look around, we can't see a pattern. We just see a bunch of other threads, all going every which way. We have to trust that a wiser hand is guiding the weaving, and that later on we'll understand why our thread went where it did."

Jake shook his head. "I don't know that I believe in God."

"That's okay." Annie squeezed his hand. "He believes in you."

Jake smiled; it was impossible to be around her for any length of time and not end up doing so.

"I believe in you, too," she whispered. Her eyes were soft, as soft and bright as the candlelight. "I believe you're a good man. And I believe that if you'd known that accident was going to happen, you'd have given your life to prevent it."

It made no sense that such simple words would choke him up, but they did. His voice grew thick. "Thanks." "No thanks needed. I didn't do anything."

"You made me feel better."

Annie lifted her shoulders. "You just needed to talk. t- Talking helps."

"You help." He reached out a finger and gently traced the line of her jaw. His Chest felt strangely tender, like a sore muscle that hadn't been used in a long time. His finger trailed up to the curve of her cheekbone.

Her eyes were warm and soft, her lips full and slightly parted'. The memory of how her lips tasted pulled him toward her. She leaned forward, until she was so close he could feel her breath on his face. Their lips were just Inches apart, their eyes crooning a love song.

Jake wanted to kiss her so bad it hurt. But most of all, he didn't want to hurt her. "Annie—honey, I don't want to take advantage of this situation." His voice came out low and husky. "It's your call. If you want me to sleep on the floor, I will, and I'll leave you completely alone. But if you want ..."

He heard her breath hitch in her throat.

He swallowed and tried again. "I'll do whatever you want, but you have to tell me. Where do you want me?"

Her eyes glimmered in the candlelight, two hot blue flames. "Right here," she whispered. "Right now."

The fervent way she said it set him afire. He drew her into his arms and down on the bed. The kiss started out slow and sweet, but soon they were plundering each other's mouths, frantically tugging down zippers and unfastening buttons, pulling off each other's clothes as if they were peeling bananas. He stripped her down to a dusky-pink bra and matching bikini panties. She stripped him down to nothing.

He grinned at her. "You appear to be overdressed for this occasion."

"Well, then, why don't you do something about it?"

He unhooked her bra. Her breasts were full and pink-tipped, and they hardened into tight buds as he ran his thumb across the nipples.

He bent and pulled a sweet tip into his mouth. He teased first one, then the other breast, until Annie's breath came in hard little pants and her head tossed on the pillow from side to side. All the while, he slowly slid his hand up her calf along the silky, sensitive flesh of her thigh.

Her hand splayed across his chest, then moved-down his belly. When she closed her hand around him, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven.