Love Is in the Air (77 page)

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” Regina asked, her voice soft and distant.

Quinton looked up and found that the night was even more luminescent than before. As the town’s lights had been extinguished, nature’s beauty shone through. A half-moon glowed overhead, spreading a diffused light over the forest surrounding the town. How badly Quinton wished to hold this woman’s hand. The moment would be complete if he could feel her warmth right now. But after her reaction in the restaurant, Quinton did not even dream of doing something so daring. She was a married woman, after all.

“How long are you going to be in town?” Regina asked.

“Not long enough,” Quinton answered before he caught himself. Where had his mind gone?

The woman did not seem disturbed by this answer, though. “Long enough for…?”

Crossing his fingers, Quinton tried speaking the truth. “Long enough to get to know you better.”

He did not even need to look; he knew that her cheeks were flaming right now. Daring a glance, he found Regina looking right at him. For a moment, it appeared she was going to ask him something, but then she turned away and hurried forward. Cursing his libido, Quinton rushed to catch up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No offense taken,” Regina stated flatly.

Quinton tried so hard to read the woman, but could not. He knew that he had crossed some line, but he was not quite sure which one and exactly how far. Trying to regain some semblance of rapport, Quinton went back to the basics. “So you like gardening?”

The woman turned sharply back to him. “How did you know that?”

“Your shirt yesterday. It said ‘Gardeners do it in the dirt.’ “

Regina snorted lightly, then laughed at herself. “Oh, yeah.” They walked on a ways, but this time the pace was more relaxed. “I’m sorry that I was short. This is just… this is just a bit…”

“Awkward?”

“Exactly.”

Quinton did not push her on a full definition. He knew as well as she did how delightful yet frustrating this evening had become. At least he was comforted to know that she was equally unsettled. If he were nothing more than a dalliance, Regina would not be quite so tongue-tied. Remembering the vintage store, Quinton picked up the conversation. “Do you prefer roses or pansies?”

“For what?”

The man shrugged. “Anything.”

Surprisingly, Regina took a few moments to contemplate her reply. Quinton had thought this was just a simple request that might be answered in a single word, but he was wrong.

“That really depends. There are so many varieties of each, plus each lasts differently once off the stem.”

They walked on as Regina told him more about flowering plants than he had ever wanted to know, but Quinton did not stop her. He loved hearing her voice rise and fall. The woman became even more radiant as she expounded on a favorite subject. Her face became animated, and she even started using hand gestures to show him exactly how to aerate the ground before transplanting. How badly Quinton wanted to put his arm around her shoulder and walk side by side into the moonlight. Regina could talk about fertilizer and weeds until the sun rose, and he would be content.

“Oh my gosh. I have just been rambling on. I’m so sorry. I—”

Quinton took a risk and squeezed her hand as he shushed her. “I loved hearing you talk. Please, go on.”

Regina looked suspicious of his motives, but he noticed that the woman did not pull her hand away. Even though he was tempted to hold on, Quinton let her fingers drop away as they began walking again. “I believe you were up to good pruning techniques.”

A smile spread across the woman’s face. “So you
were
listening.”

“I’ve got a little bit of green thumb myself. Now go on. I’m dying from the suspense.”

At first her explanation was stuttered and had little flow, but once she began talking about pruning shears, Regina hit her stride again. Far too soon, they made the turn up her driveway. It was hard to believe they had already walked across town. Both fell silent as they approached the huge house. It was dark and foreboding. All the humor and comfort they had established evaporated under the glaring facade of Mr. and Mrs. Togglehorn’s home. It was a daunting physical reminder of the exact reality of their situation.

Once they got to the front door, Regina turned to Quinton. He had stayed back, not joining her on the front porch. Despite the house’s crushing presence, Quinton still feared that he might try something he would regret later. Regina’s lips were just too kissable right now.

The woman looked nervous. “Let me give you a ride to your motel.”

As much as Quinton wanted any excuse to prolong the night, he knew that some manner of decorum needed to be maintained. “No thanks. I’ll enjoy the walk.”

Sadly, it seemed to Quinton, Regina nodded. “Okay then… I really enjoyed myself. Thanks for the company.”

Now was the moment of truth. Saying good-bye was always awkward even on a normal date, but this was torture. How did he convey exactly how much he relished the evening without being too overbearing? There was no way he could physically relate those feelings. At least, not without the risk of getting shot by Wayne. The window of opportunity was vanishing as Regina fumbled for her keys.

Before Quinton could contemplate the sheer stupidity of his words, he asked, “We’re going out surveying tomorrow. Would you like to join us?”

The woman sounded flustered. “I’m not sure. I have a lot to do.”

“It’ll be out in the northern quadrant in grid 2-A. I just… The dogs got along so well together that I figured they could play, and well, you were so informative about gardening and all and seemed to enjoy nature so much…” Quinton was flailing, and they both knew it. “I could identify species for you and explain the local ecosystem…”

Oh my God
, he thought. Could he make this sound any less romantic? Quinton had done a better job of seduction when he was sixteen and luring girls to check out his hot rod. This was pathetic.

“I’ll see if I have the time,” she said as she opened her front door. Before going inside, Regina’s words were a little rushed, as if they were hard to say. “Maybe I’ll swing by after lunch.”

Their eyes met for the briefest second, and Quinton felt sure that she was actually going to do it. The moment of rapport was shattered by Fury barreling into Regina. The woman was thrown forward, and Quinton barely had time to catch her before she fell face first. Regina tried to get her feet under her, but succeeded in only slipping on the slick steps. Quinton tightened his arms around her. “I’ve got you.”

The woman stopped struggling and let him rise up the step. There they stood. Arms wrapped around one another. Even though the danger of her falling was well past, neither let go. Quinton wished she would just turn her cheek and lean into his chest. He would stroke her hair and kiss the top of her head. But none of that happened. Instead Fury began jumping up and down, putting muddy paw prints all over both of their clothes.

“Oh, Fury!” Regina scolded with tears in her eyes as she backed away from Quinton. He did not think that she was all that upset with the dog. Quinton did the gentlemanly thing and backed down the steps. For now, it was enough to know that she had welcomed his embrace.

* * *

Once they had said their final good-byes, Regina rushed into the house and peeked out the shade. She watched the handsome surveyor stroll back down her driveway. The moonlight outlined his broad shoulders, and his silver hairs glistened in the dim light. He seemed in no hurry to get back to his motel. How Regina wished she could be joining him. She was so enthralled with his departure that Regina did not even care that Fury was tracking mud all through the house. She could deal with the mess in the morning.

The telephone rang harsh and loud into the silence. Regina rushed to answer it before she could even think. Unfortunately, it was Wayne, and he sounded horribly drunk.

“Where in the hell have you been?” her husband screamed into the phone.

Regina tried to keep her voice even and neutral. “Natalie and I went out to dinner.”

“‘Til eleven o’clock at night? I was about to call the damn sheriff.”

Fighting off panic, Regina tried to scrounge up a reasonable excuse. “I decided to walk home. I didn’t realize how late it was.”

Luckily, Wayne was so drunk that he did not seem to catch how stupid all this sounded. He was too busy ragging on her for something else. “Where in the hell are the kids? Jesus, woman, have you completely lost your mind?”

“Michael’s at Jordan’s, and Meryl’s sleeping over at Sabrina’s.”

“What about school tomorrow? Do I need to be home every damn minute to keep an eye on things?”

Regina bit back a sarcastic retort. It would not do to rile Wayne up any more than he already was. “They have the day off tomorrow, and all of their homework is caught up.”

Earlier in the day, she had practically sat on Michael and moved the pencil across the paper herself, but those worksheets were done and ready to turn in on Monday.

Her husband went on railing about this or that, but Regina barely noticed. She had dragged the phone over to the window and was watching Quinton retreat into the distance. His image was just a small speck on the horizon, but she wanted to watch him until he disappeared altogether.

“Is there something wrong, Regina?” Wayne asked with not a hint of compassion in his voice.

“No, not at all.” But Regina could see why her husband was suspicious. This conversation was not going at all normally. Thinking quickly, she tried to dredge up her usual responses. Oh yes, she would normally be complaining about his absence and demanding that he come home for family time. Gulping, Regina tried to sound concerned. “When are you coming home, honey?” She had nearly choked on the endearment, but Wayne seemed to buy the act.

“How in the hell would I know? These pricks are jacking around the price and conditions. I can’t friggin’ leave until we get this shit hammered out.”

Now this was going to be hard to do
, Regina thought, but toughed it out. The only way to throw Wayne off was to act as normally as possible. “But, honey, the kids are off tomorrow. I thought we might do something together.”

“I know, I know. But damn it, Regina, I’ve got business. I don’t have your luxury of just slacking any time I want to. This is important.”

“Maybe we could drive up to Bend tomorrow and join you for dinner?”

“No!” Wayne nearly shouted, then calmed down. “No, I’m too busy with business. Just take the kids somewhere, and buy them gifts from me. I should be home by Sunday.”

Was that a bit of guilt that Regina heard in her husband’s voice? She had taken a risk with her last request, but now her question seemed truly inspired. It was Wayne making the decision to stay apart now, and if he were doing anything behind her back, he would be even more reluctant to press her about her activities. This was turning out far better than she could have even planned. She was now beginning to understand how Natalie did it.

Regina even experimented with a bit of loving tone for her next lie. “Well, we miss you, Wayne.”

“I miss you too, Regina. I’ll call tomorrow night.”

Sickly sweet, she answered before hanging up, “I’ll be waiting.”

Even the dog seemed to sense her falseness, but Wayne just mumbled his good-bye. With Quinton out of sight, Regina put the phone down and headed toward the bedroom. Ignoring the disaster that was once her angora rug, she did not even register that one of their handcrafted lamps had been knocked over. What did she care? Wayne had picked it out. Besides, Regina had much more important things to worry about. Like what she was going to wear tomorrow afternoon when she drove out to meet Quinton.

CHAPTER 8

Quinton could not wait to get out into the field. He was dressed and ready to roll before eight a.m. It was his turn to pound on his assistant’s motel door.

Ralph opened the door completely disheveled. “Go away.”

Quinton ignored his assistant and strode into Ralph’s room. Hurricane rushed in afterward and jumped right onto the younger man’s rumpled bed. “Looks like you had a late night.”

“Don’t remind me.” Ralph did not even make a fuss about the dog. “Could you get me some coffee from the office while I take a shower?”

“Be right back.”

Hurricane led the way to the motel’s office. The dog loved to go in there. The old biddy of a manager had taken a liking to Hurricane and would slip him some nibbles of croissant.

“Good morning,” Quinton said as he entered the office. The old woman only gave him a “humph,” but she did smile when she saw Hurricane. Quinton poured two cups of coffee, both black and both for Ralph. He needed his assistant sharp today. They had a lot of work to get done before this afternoon. If Regina did show up today, Quinton wanted to have plenty of free time to spend with her, and he certainly was not going to teach her how to calculate biomass. No, his appreciation for nature went deeper than mathematical equations. He just had not allowed his love to surface for a while.

Ralph was still in the shower when they got back to the room. If Quinton did not hurry the younger man along, they might never get out in the field. In a moment of sheer abandon, Quinton cracked open the bathroom door and allowed Hurricane to nose his way through. Quinton was quite satisfied to hear Ralph scream as the dog joined the younger man in the shower. Sitting back onto the bed, Quinton knew it would only be a few more minutes before his assistant was ready.

Right on schedule, Ralph burst out of the bathroom cursing and complaining, but at least the younger man was dressed and ready to hit the road. His assistant knocked back the two cups of coffee before they loaded the truck. They even had to drive through Dairy Delight on their way out of town and get Ralph a SuperDuper sized coffee. Even after all that caffeine, the younger man still looked worse for the wear.

To his surprise, Quinton was the first to start the conversation. “So did you at least have a good time last night?”

“I don’t know if you would call it a good time. Let’s just say it was different.”