White Lace and Promises (4 page)

“Why’d you do that?” Maggie whispered, having difficulty finding her voice. From the moment he had taken her outside, Maggie had known his intention had been to free her from the clutches of Steve’s cousin—not to kiss her. At least not like that. What had started out in fun had become serious.

“I’m not sure,” he answered honestly. A vague hesitancy showed in his eyes.

“Am I supposed to grade you?”

Glenn took another step backward, broadening the space between them. “Good grief, no; you’re merciless.”

Mentally, Maggie congratulated him for recovering faster than she. “Not always,” she murmured. At his blank look, she added, “I’m not always merciless.”

“That’s not the way I remember it. The last time I wanted to kiss you, I got a fist in the stomach.”

Maggie’s brow furrowed. She couldn’t remember Glenn even trying to kiss her, and she looked at him with surprise and doubt as she sifted through her memories. “I don’t remember that.”

“I’m not likely to forget it,” he stated, and arched one brow arrogantly. “As I recall, I was twelve and you were eleven. A couple of the guys at school had already kissed a girl and said it wasn’t half bad. There wasn’t anyone I wanted to kiss, but, for a girl, you weren’t too bad, so I offered you five of my best baseball cards if you’d let me kiss you.”

Maggie gave him a wicked grin as her memory returned. “That was the greatest insult of my life. I was saving my lips for the man I planned to marry. At the time, I think it was Billy Idol.”

“As I recall, you told me that,” he replied with a low chuckle. He tucked an arm around her waist, bringing her to his side. “Talking about our one and only date tonight made me remember how much I took you for granted all those years. You were great.”

“I know,” she said, with a complete lack of modesty.

A slow, roguish grin grew across his features. “But then there were times …”

“Don’t go philosophical on me, Glenn Lambert.” An unaccustomed, delicious heat was seeping into her bones. It was as if she’d been standing in a fierce winter storm and someone had invited her inside to sit by the cozy warmth of the fire.

“We’ve both done enough of that for one night,” Glenn quipped, looking toward the bright lights of the house.

Maggie didn’t want to go back inside. She felt warm and comfortable for the first time in what seemed like ages. If they returned to the house full of people, she’d be forced to paint on another plastic smile and listen to the likes of Steve’s cousin.

“Do you ever wonder about the old neighborhood?”

Grinning, Glenn looked down on her. “Occasionally.”

“Want to take a look?”

He glanced toward the house again, sensing her reluctance to return. The old Maggie
would have faced the world head-on. The change surprised him. “Won’t we be missed?”

“I doubt it.”

Glenn tucked Maggie’s hand in the crook of his arm. “For old times’ sake.”

“The rope swing in your backyard is still there.”

“You’re kidding!” He gave a laugh of disbelief.

“A whole new generation of kids are playing on that old swing.”

“What about the tree house?”

“That, unfortunately, was the victim of a bad windstorm several years back.”

His arm tightened around her waist, and the fragile scent of her perfume filled his senses. She was a woman now, and something strange and inexplicable was happening between them. Glenn wasn’t sure it was right to encourage it.

“How do you keep up with all this?” he asked, attempting to steer his thoughts from things he shouldn’t be thinking, like how soft and sweet and wonderfully warm she felt.

“Simple,” Maggie explained with a half-smile. “I visit often.” The happiest days of her life had been in that house in the old neighborhood. She couldn’t turn back the clock, but the outward symbols of that time lived on for her to visit as often as needed. “Come on,” she said brightly and took his hand. She was feeling both foolish and fanciful. “There probably won’t be another chance if we don’t go now.”

“You’ll freeze,” Glenn warned, running his hands down the lengths of her bare arms and up again to cup her shoulders.

“No,” she argued, not wanting anything to disturb the moment.

“I’ll collect your jacket and tell Steve what we’re up to,” Glenn countered.

“No,” she pleaded, her voice low and husky. “Don’t. I’ll be fine. Really.”

Glenn studied her for an instant before agreeing. Maggie was frightened. The realization stunned him. His bubbly, happy-go-lucky Maggie had been reduced to an unhappy, insecure waif. The urge to take her in his arms and protect her was nearly overwhelming.

“All right,” he agreed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to lend her his warmth. If she did get chilled, he could give her his own jacket.

With their arms around each other, they strolled down Ocean Avenue to the grade school, cut through the play yard, and came out on Marimar near Eastwood Drive.

“Everything seems the same,” Glenn commented. His smile was filled with contentment.

“It is.”

“How are your parents doing?” he inquired.

“They retired in Florida. I told them they ought to be more original than that, but it was something they really wanted. They can afford it, so why not? What about your folks?”

“They’re in South Carolina. Dad’s working for the same company. Both Eric and Dale are married and supplying them with a houseful of grandchildren.”

A chill shot through Maggie, and she shivered involuntarily. She was an aunt now, too, but the circumstances weren’t nearly as pleasant. Her brother, Denny, had also discovered that his inheritance wasn’t a hedge against unhappiness. Slowly shaking her head, Maggie spoke: “Do you realize how old that makes me feel? Dale married—I’d never have believed it. He was only ten when you moved.”

“He met his wife the first year of college. They fell in love, and against everyone’s advice decided not to wait to get married. They were both nineteen, and had two kids by the time Dale graduated.”

“And they’re fine now?”

“They’re going stronger than ever. The boys are in school, and Cherry has gone back to college for her degree.” There wasn’t any disguising the pride in his voice.

“What about Eric?”

“He married a flight attendant a couple of years ago. They have a baby girl.” His hand rested at the nape of her neck in a protective action. “What about your brother?”

“Denny was already married by the time you moved, wasn’t he? He and Lisa have two little girls.”

“Is he living in San Francisco?”

“Yes,” she supplied quickly, and hurried to change the subject. “The night’s lovely, isn’t it?”

Glenn ignored the comment. “Is Denny still working for the phone company?”

“No,” she returned starkly. “I can’t remember when I’ve seen so many stars.”

They were silent for a moment while Glenn digested the information. Something had happened between Denny and Maggie that she was obviously reluctant to discuss.

“Do you realize that there’s never been a divorce in either of our families?” she said softly with sudden insight. She knew what a rarity that was in this day and age. Nearly thirty
percent of their high school class were on their second marriages.

“I doubt that there ever will be a divorce. Mom and Dad believe strongly in working out problems instead of running from them, and that was ingrained in all three of us boys.”

“We’re in the minority, then. I don’t know how Janelle is going to adjust to Steve’s children. It must be difficult.”

“She loves him,” Glenn countered somewhat defensively.

“I realize that,” Maggie whispered, thinking out loud. “It’s just that I remember when Steve married Ginny. Janelle cried for days afterward and went about doing her best to forget him. Every one of us knew that Ginny and Steve were terribly mismatched and it would be only a matter of time before they split.”

“I wasn’t that sure they couldn’t make a go of it.”

Maggie bristled. “I was, and anyone with half a brain saw it. Ginny was pregnant before the wedding and no one except Steve was convinced the baby was his.”

“Steve was in a position to know.”

Maggie opened her mouth to argue, glanced up to see Glenn’s amused gaze, and pressed her lips tightly closed. “I don’t recall you being this argumentative,” she said after several moments.

“When it comes to the sanctity of marriage, I am.”

“For your sake, I hope you marry the right woman, then.”

The humor drained from his eyes and was replaced with such pain that Maggie’s breath caught in her throat. “Glenn, what did I say?” she asked, concern in her voice.

“Nothing,” he assured her with a half-smile that disguised none of his mental anguish. “I thought I had found her.”

“Oh, Glenn, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do? I make a great wailing wall.” From the pinched lines about his mouth and eyes, Maggie knew that the woman had been someone very special. Even when Maggie had known him best, Glenn had been a discriminating male. He had dated only a few times and, as far as she could remember, had never gone steady with one girl.

The muscles of his face tightened as he debated whether to tell Maggie about Angie. He hadn’t discussed her with anyone over the past couple of months, and the need to purge her from his life burned in him. Perhaps someday, he thought, but not now and not with Maggie, who had
enough problems of her own. “She married someone else. There’s nothing more to say.”

“You loved her very much, didn’t you?” Whoever she was, the woman was a fool. Glenn was the steady, solid type most women sought. When he loved, it would be forever and with an intensity few men were capable of revealing.

Glenn didn’t answer. Instead, he regarded her with his pain-filled eyes and asked, “What about you?”

“You mean why I never married?” She gave a shrug of indifference. “The right man never came along. I thought he might have once, but I was wrong. Dirk was more interested in spending my money than loving me.”

“I’m sorry.” His arm tightened around her as an unreasonable anger filled him over the faceless Dirk. He had hurt Maggie, and Glenn was intimately aware of how much one person could hurt another.

“Actually, I think I was lucky to discover it when I did. But thirty is looming around the corner and the biological clock is ticking like Big Ben. I’d like to get married, but I won’t lower my standards.”

“What kind of man are you looking for?”

He was so utterly blasé about it that Maggie’s composure slipped and she nearly dissolved into laughter. “You mean in case you happen to know someone who fits the bill?”

“I might.”

“Why not?” she asked with a soft giggle. “To start off, I’d like someone financially secure.”

He was so serious that Maggie bit into her bottom lip to hide the trembling laughter. “In addition to being on firm financial ground, he should be magnanimous.”

“With you, he’d have to be,” Glenn said in a laughter-tinged voice.

Maggie ignored the gibe. “He’d have to love me enough to overlook my faults—few as they are—be loyal, loving, and want children.”

She paused, expecting him to comment, but he nodded in agreement. “Go on,” he encouraged.

“But more than simply wanting children, he’d have to take responsibility for helping me raise them into worthwhile adults. I want a man who’s honest, but one who won’t shout the truth in my face if it’s going to hurt me. A special man to double my joys and divide my sorrows.
Someone who will love me when my hair is gray and my ankles are thick.” Realizing how serious she’d become, Maggie hesitated. “Know anyone like him?” Her words hung empty in the silence that followed.

“No,” Glenn eventually said, and shook his head for emphasis. Those were the very things he sought in a wife. “I can’t say that I do.”

“From my guess, Prince Charmings are few and far between these days.”

They didn’t speak again until they paused in front of the fifty-year-old house that had been Glenn’s childhood home. Little had been altered over the years, Glenn realized. The wide front porch and large dormers that jutted out from the roof looked exactly as they had in his mind. The house had been repainted, and decorative shutters were now added to the front windows, but the same warmth and love seemed to radiate from its doors.

Maggie followed Glenn’s gaze to the much-used basketball hoop positioned above the garage door. It was slightly crooked from years of slam dunks. By the look of things, the hoop was used as much now as it had been all those years ago.

“I suppose we should think of heading back. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” Maggie’s gaze fell from the house to the cracked sidewalk. It hit her suddenly that in a couple of days Glenn would be flying back to Charleston. He was here for the wedding and nothing more.

“Yes,” Glenn agreed in a low, gravelly voice. “Tomorrow will be a very long day.”

The vestibule was empty when Maggie entered the church forty minutes before the wedding. Out of breath and five minutes late, she paused to study the huge baskets of flowers that adorned the altar, and released an unconscious sigh at the beauty of the sight. This wedding was going to be special. Hurrying into the dressing room that was located to her right, Maggie knocked once and opened the door. The woman from The Wedding Shop was helping Janelle into her flowing lace gown. Mrs. Longmier was sitting in a chair, dabbing the corner of her eye with a tissue.