Welcome! There is another installment of "Two of Hearts" this week. This will be the last one for this story. The story needs to remain a surprise and I don't want to give too much away.
Scroll down for the link back to Tuesday Tales. Thank you for coming.
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“Baby, baby, baby. Don’t cry. It’ll be okay. You have
friends. You have support. The lawyer, the accountant, me. Honestly. Anything I
can help you with. If you need me to walk Willie or help with taxes. I’m a
finance guy, a numbers man. You have my number. Call or text me. Anytime. day
or night.”
She stopped sobbing. Sniffling, she leaned back
and made eye contact.
Stunned by his own words, Terry simply stared.
He’d never called anyone but Clare “baby” before. His words shocked him.
“Do you mean that?”
He nodded, speech was out of the question.
She darted forward and kissed him, gently. Then
stepped back. The look on her face told him what he suspected, that her action had
surprised her, too.
Her lips were soft and warm, even if only for a
nano-second. He’d craved a kiss from Clare, and, though it wasn’t his wife, it
lit his fire. Terry moved a foot away. Every warning bell in his head sounded.
“We should be careful,” he ventured, when he could
string words together.
She nodded. “Oh, yes. Yes. Careful. You’re right.
So right.” She licked her lips. Wrong! His gaze locked on her mouth, watching
her. She bent down to pet the dogs, and took the twig Willie was chewing out of
his mouth.
“I’ve got to go,” he said. Time to leave while he
still could.
She straightened and made eye contact. “But you
meant what you said? About helping me?”
“Every word.”
She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and
smiled. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He gave a nod, glanced at Queenie and made a
clicking noise with his tongue. “Queenie. Say goodnight to Willie. Time to go
home.”
They walked the few steps to her house, with at
least a foot’s breathing room between them. Terry nodded. “Goodnight.”
“’Night,” she replied, tripping up the steps.
Terry headed home. His body temperature returned
to normal. What was I thinking? What did
I say? What did she do? This is a bad idea.
As much as he argued with himself on the way to
his apartment, he knew it was no use. He couldn’t desert Jen. She needed
someone –she needed him. And he’d be there for her. After all, Clare had made
it clear that she didn’t need him, and he was a man who needed to be
needed.
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Now I really need to know what happens next!
ReplyDeleteYou have created a brilliant interaction between them. It is fraught with bouncing energy and deep emotional states.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm on the edge of my seat...you big tease! You wheel us in and now we have to wait! Great scene!
ReplyDeleteOMG! Wow! No, you can't stop now!
ReplyDelete