Courting Alley Cat (19 page)

              “I know,” she said. “I understand. That’s not it.”

              “Oh? You don’t want to marry me,” he said, turning away to sit on the floor.

              “It’s not that either,” she clarified.

              “Ok,” he said, glancing at her, only to look away again. “Then, tell me what it is.”

              “There’s something I have to do right now.”

              His brow furrowed, he placed a hand against his forehead. “You have to finalize your divorce.”

              She laughed. And it felt good. It felt even better when he looked up and almost smiled back at her.

              “You aren’t married already.”

              “I’ve never been married, Justin.”

              “You do like guys?”

              “I’m hopelessly heterosexual. I can’t believe you asked me that.”

              “I think that’s good - though I’m not really all that sure.”

              “It’s good. And no - there is no one else - at least not exactly.”

              She could tell that worried him - seriously.

              “There is just Winston.”

              “And who is Winston?”

              “Don’t worry, he’s in love with Allora.”

              He shook his head, silent now, and looked at her questioningly.

              “I’ve told you about this.”

              “Your friends that live here?”

              She laughed. “No, they’re getting married, by the way.”

              “Really? The ones who came to visit you? The gay ones?”

              “Well, they aren’t gay and if they were, I don’t think they could get married. I guess they could, but there wouldn’t be much point. Anyway, why did you think they were gay?”

              “No,” he agreed. “I don’t suppose there would be much point. You told me, didn’t you?”

              “No, I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”

              “Maybe I heard him talking on the phone.”

              “You could tell by his voice?”

              “Apparently not.”

              “It’s ok. I thought he was gay.”

              “Well, that’s a relief.”

              She decided to let it go that he was listening in on her phone conversation. With cell phones, she knew from experience that it was sometimes hard not to listen in.

              “Are you going to tell me who Winston is?” Justin persisted.

              “He’s going to marry Allora.”

              “And what does this have to do with us getting married?”

              She glanced at the coffee table. “Let’s have a cookie,” she suggested.

              “Oh, no, I couldn’t,” he said, putting his hand on his stomach.

              “They’re good. My mom made them.”

              “I know. I just ate half a dozen of them.”

              Her eyes widened. “You did not.”

              “Oh, trust me, I did. And they are just about the best chocolate-chip cookies I’ve ever eaten.”

              “Then, I have to try one,” she said, picking one up and taking a bite. She closed her eyes. “You might be right.”

              “Now, you were about to tell me why you can’t marry me.”

              “I didn’t say I couldn’t marry you. I just can’t marry you right now.”

              “Ok, why you can’t marry me right now.”

              “I have to finish my book.”

              “Your book?”

              “Yes, you know. My novel.”

              Squinting his eyes, he studied her. She calmly bit into another cookie. With this interesting conversation that they were having, she was feeling more like herself every minute.

              Almost absently, he wiped a crumb from her lip. And besides, now that the excitement was over of him killing a man, she was beginning to enjoy having him there - in Dallas. This was her turf. She couldn’t wait to show him, well - everything.

              “And I suppose Winston is a character in your book.”

              “You catch on fast. I’m impressed.”

              “I’m going to impress you,” he said, tickling her sides.

              She squealed. “Stop it!”

              “You are a vixen.”

              “I am not!”

              “I can’t believe I proposed to a vixen.”

              She laughed. And laughed some more. She laughed so hard her sides hurt.

              “Don’t hurt yourself,” he said.

              “I’m going to hurt you,” she said, putting her hands in his hair and pulling his lips to hers. Which she kissed and kissed passionately, putting her heart into it.

              “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize my teen-age daughter was home,” Bradley Alexander said, coming into his living room.

              Alley and Justin shot apart - like teenagers.

              “Hi,” Bradley said, “coming to stand in front of his daughter. “I’m Alley’s dad.”

              “Dad!” Alley said, jumping up to throw herself in his arms. “Where have you been?”

              “At work, sweetheart. I see something finally got you away from your computer.”

              “Daddy, this is Justin. He saved my life.”

              “Is that so,” he said, pushing her to arm’s length and giving her a once over. “You look ok to me.”

              “I am,” she said, going to stand next to Justin, who had stood up to shake Bradley’s hand.

“Thanks to Justin who shot an intruder.”

              “Is that so?”

              “Unfortunately, yes,” Justin said. “Although there is a little bit more to it than that.”

              Alley and Justin proceeded to tell her father about the man Alley had come to call “the intruder.”

              “I don’t know how we can repay you,” Bradley said. “For watching out for our daughter.

              “Don’t worry, Daddy,” Alley said. “I’m going to marry him.”

              “Marry?” When neither of them appeared to be joking, he began to back toward his chair. “I think I need to sit down.” And he did manage to make it to his recliner without falling to the floor first.

              “Alley, dear, you know you don’t have to marry a man just because he saved your life.”

Alley and Justin laughed and Bradley looked more worried than before.

              “It’s ok. I was going to marry him before he saved my life.”

              Justin looked at her quizzically. “Is that so?”

              “It is.”

              “And just when did you decide that?”

              “Oh, I’ve known it for some time.”

              Bradley seemed to have recovered somewhat by that time. “Son,” he said. “I may as well call you that. Don’t even begin to try to understand women. At least not the ones from this family.

              “Dad!” Alley said, “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” she said to Justin.

              “He’s known you his whole life and you think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?”

              “You are I are going to get along just dandy,” Dad said.

              “I’ll have to make sure to keep you two apart.”

              “What did I tell you? Much of what she says won’t make any sense. I’m her dad and you’ll be her husband and she’s going to keep us apart.”

              “Why would Alley need to keep you two apart?” Alley’s mom said, coming to sit on the arm of Bradley’s chair.”

              “Because they seem to think that they think alike.”

              “Oh, that’s a good reason. Definitely keep them apart.”

              “Did you know that your daughter is planning on marrying this guy?”

              “My gris-gris worked.”

              “No, seriously, they’re planning on getting married.”

              “That’s wonderful,” her mom said. “He saved her life, you know.”

              “That’s not a good reason to get married,” Bradley persisted, becoming a little frustrated.

              Everyone, Bradley excepted, laughed. “You knew about this,” he accused his wife.

              “I most certainly did not.”

              “Apparently Alley is the only one who knew about it until just a few minutes ago.”

              “Did she ask you?” Bradley asked, curiosity overcoming frustration, watching his daughter with an accusing expression.

              “No, I asked her. She just knew about it,” he looked at her with obvious affection.

              “Don’t they make the cutest couple?”

              “I give up,” Bradley said.

              “You’ll like having Justin around,” Alley said, “it’ll offset some of the estrogen.”

              “I never complained,” he said.

              “He’ll get used to the idea,” Kylee told them. “Sometimes dads get a little freaked out when their little girls get engaged.”

              Alley tilted her head to the side and studied her dad. “You know, Dad, getting engaged doesn’t compare to everything else that happened today. A man tracked me down and pulled a knife on us. Then Justin had to shoot him. First of all, I didn’t know he carried. And second of all, I didn’t know he would be willing to kill someone for me. There are so many things I don’t know about him. But I do know that I love him and I want to be married to him. I’m just glad to see that he finally caught up.”

              Bradley sat up straight, rubbed his hand over his chin. “The more I think about it, you’re right. After all that, I think the least you can do is to marry him.”

              “Leave it to Bradley to make a joke,” Kylee said, but she leaned in to kiss her husband - tears in her eyes, and put her hand on his shoulder.             

              “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m sure there’s more to it than that. After all, he came all the way over here for you.”

              “It’s ok, Dad,” Alley said, entwining her fingers with Justin’s. “Guys aren’t supposed to understand everything.”

              “No, we don’t understand everything. I think that’s part of what makes you so intriguing.”

              “Just don’t you forget it,” Bradley said.

              Later that night after Dad had grilled shrimp outside and they had all enjoyed a peaceful dinner together, Alley and Justin were back on the sofa - alone again.

              “So...” Justin began.

              “So what?” Alley echoed, “you look content.”

              “How could I not be? I’m here with the girl I love, and she’s happy because she’s with her family.”

              “And?” she asked, rubbing her finger along his stubbled chin.

              “And... I think... she just might be with the guy she loves.”

              “That took a little long, didn’t it?”

              “I just wanted to make sure.”

              “Justin,” she said, sternly. “I’m sure.”

              “You left and I wasn’t sure you were coming back.”

              “I wasn’t.”

              He gave her a knowing look.

              “Not because I didn’t love you. But because I loved you.”

              “You were confused.”

              “No, I just couldn’t keep going like that.”

              “It was my work.”

              “I know that now. I didn’t know that then.”

              “Then you believe me?”

              “It might not hurt if you told me a little more.”

              “Well, I suppose since we’re going to be married, I could give you a general overview.”

              “Like the fact that you carry a concealed weapon,” she said, reaching to his waistband to put her hand on his gun.

              “Yeah,” he winced. “Sorry about that.”

              “I’ll let it slide since you saved my life.”

              “I wouldn’t have had to save your life if I hadn’t put it in danger.”

              “Justin, how did you put my life in danger?”

              “The man that I shot.”

              She nodded when he winced.

              “That man followed me here. He wanted to hurt me because I stopped him from killing that girl.”

              “Maybe so, but it wasn’t your fault.”

              “Maybe not, but I feel responsible for putting you in danger. I’m resigning from search and rescue.”