Laughing Fate (45 page)

The girl had turned and grinned at Grace and declared, “Okay, now I’m ready.” They had walked home with her three dogs chasing ahead of them, barking at seagulls and playing chase. Grace had ordered Puck to shower and then she had fixed breakfast for both of them. They had talked about their lives, Puck had mentioned her young man quite a few times, and later they played cards while the storm raged outside. Grace worried now that maybe she had been selfish in keeping Puck here. She got so lonely sometimes that she had been grateful to have someone to talk to. She should have known that someone would notice Puck was missing in a storm.

“Potter, this is Grace. We met while she was walking her dogs on the beach.”

“
Hi, ma’am.”

“
It’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry if I caused any trouble by insisting Puck stay, we were having a poker tournament.”

“
I would have won it too, you old bat, if you hadn’t cheated every single hand!”

Grace waved a wrinkled hand dismissively, “That is neither here nor there.” Grace sank down in a comfortable looking chair and sighed with pleasure. “When you get as old as this old bat, there is nothing better than a comfortable chair and a kitchen full of young love.”

Puck glanced at Potter and blushed, “We aren’t in love.”

Potter frowned at Puck and replied, “Actually we are, it’s just that some of us are too stubborn to call it that.”

“Have you forgotten that I broke up with you, you stupid man!”

“
No I haven’t forgotten! Who could forget something so stupid?!”

“
I am NOT stupid! I just don’t love you!”

“
Bull. You wouldn’t have hugged me the way you did if you didn’t still love me.”

“
You hugged me! Not the other way around!” Puck plopped down on the stool and crossed her arms over her chest. “I do not love you,” she said sulkily.

“
Ahem. Excuse me dearies, but are you quite finished? Potter, here are some clean clothes. Why don’t you put them on? Puck- I think we need a talk.”

Potter thanked her for the clothes and walked towards the bathroom to change. He knew it in his heart that Puck was in love with him. He just had to figure out a way to get her to admit to it.

****

Puck stared warily at Grace. She was a kind old lady who possessed a quiet sort of wisdom…or not so quiet as the case may be.

“If there is one thing I’ve learned in all my years it’s that guys are stupid.”

Puck smiled and nodded her head. Yup, this lady sure was smart!

“They say the wrong things, they don’t have a clue half the time, and they can’t balance a check book. And don’t even get me started about Monday Night Football. You however, dearie, are stupider than any man I have ever met!”

Puck’s head shot up in surprise and she stared at Grace. Did she just call her stupid?

“You have a good man there who loves you.”

“
I know,” she said softly. “I’ve always known he’s a good man. Well almost always. That’s why we can’t be together. I’m not good enough for him.”

“
Poppy cock! I don’t believe that for a second! Let me tell you about love. True love grows slowly over time, it adapts and changes through out your lives so that it is a constant companion through out your life. It makes two people stronger, better versions of themselves. It is a powerful emotion that can create miracles and overcome adversities. If your man loves you- which we both know he does- and if you love him, then nothing can get in the way of that love.”

Grace walked over to her furnace and grabbed a framed photo from the mantle. “Do you see this man? He’s my Georgie, and I loved him almost my entire life. Commitment to one man isn’t always easy. It takes work to keep the love alive, and faith in your partner. He was the best man I have ever met, always so gentle and kind. I knew for sure that I loved him when I was thirteen.”

Puck looked at the smiling man in the photo. He was handsome, with slicked back black hair and a mustache that accented his smiling mouth. He was dressed in a suit and a hat sat at a cocky angle on his head.

“
He’s a handsome devil,” Puck said handing back the photo. She really didn’t see what any of this had to do with her. Potter wanted marriage and she didn’t know if she could give that to him.

“
Yeah, that’s what his first wife- my sister thought.”

“
What?!”

Grace’s eyes twinkled as she caressed the picture. “Those were quite some exciting times, let me tell you. World War II was just ending, and Georgie had just returned from war. He was twenty four years old and I was just 13. I had never met a man so dashing and so kind before, I had an instant crush on him. Unfortunately so did my older sister, who was then eighteen. They married and had a kid and were married for five years. Now I bet you would have given up wouldn’t you? You would have forced yourself to stop loving the man, and sentenced yourself to a lifetime of misery.”

“Well he was married to your sister! Besides you were just thirteen, what could you have known about love?”

“
Fiddle faddle,” Grace said waving her hand dismissively. “They didn’t really love each other, not the way I loved him. There is no right age, just right people. For most the teen years are kind of a trial period. The feelings are intense and feel true, but lacks the depth and maturity to really last. But for some, as it was for me, age had nothing to do with it.  If the people are right I think that love is ageless.”

Grace smiled beautifully, her love shining through as she replaced the picture on her mantle. “Those were hard times back then. My sister left Georgie and her baby girl for some French man who spouted bad poetry about. Well, someone had to comfort Georgie during his time of loss, and who better than the woman who had loved him all her life? It took ten years for my beloved Georgie to get it in his thick skull that we were made for each other.  We were married when I turned twenty-eight and he was thirty-nine. We had thirty great years full of love and happiness before he passed away. Not for one second did I ever doubt that we would get our happily ever after. We were meant for each other, no matter what he may have thought or any obstacles he may have foreseen. Our love was strong enough to handle it all.”

“That’s really something, Grace, but I don’t think you understand about Potter and me. I can’t make him happy. I’m just not good enough for him! I have so many issues that my issues have issues!”

“
Do you love him?”

“
I don’t see how that matters!”

“
If you love him then you will want what’s best for him.”

“
Exactly! And I am NOT what is best for him! I don’t believe in love or happily ever afters! All good things eventually end…besides, there is no way that he would want to be with someone who had murdered her best friend.”

“
Why don’t you let him answer that, hmmm? He’s been eavesdropping for the past five minutes.”

Potter came out looking sheepish. He smiled hesitantly at Puck and said, “I know all about your past, Puck. You told me it all when you were drunk. I could never think less of you for what you’ve been through. I love you- every single little bit of you. And there is no one that I would want besides you.”

“I don’t understand why you would want to be with me for the rest of your life. There are so many other women out there that are better than me. Women who don’t threaten to kill their thoughts or get fired for yelling at old women. Why did you make me think of a future with you? It wasn’t fair! Not when I can’t have it! Not when I-

Potter hauled her into his arms, his heart wrenching at the pain in her voice. He had missed Puck so much. He had been living in hell since Puck had dumped him. He’d kept switching from being angry to being hurt. He had holed up in his house nursing his wounds.  Potter hadn’t known what to do. He had wanted to rush out to the diner and rescue her, once he had heard how she was doing, but he’d forced himself to just stay home.

Then he had gotten the phone call from Perri. When he thought he had lost Puck for good it had torn away any doubts in his mind. He loved Puck and would continue to love her for the rest of his life. He just had to convince her that he was the right one for her.

Now she was in his arms saying something about not being good enough for him. He cradled her body close to his, offering his strength and comfort to her. She was an idiot. Didn’t she know by now that he didn’t want anyone else but her? He stared down at her pretty little head buried in his shoulder and squeezed her tight. He wished he could take away all of that pain and insecurity. He had to think of something really smart to say that would make her feel better.

“
Puck, you’re stupid.” Okay, not so smart. She jerked her head out of his shoulder and glared up at him. Potter sighed and stroked her hair- he loved everything about this woman…why couldn’t she see that?

“
If you need more time then just say so. My feelings for you won’t change, so take as long as you like. Just don’t take yourself away from me. I love you and that won’t change no matter how many years go by. When I marry you I want it to be the happiest day of your life. I don’t want you to have any doubts about our future. I want you to know with out a doubt that we belong together and that nothing will ever come between us.”

“
Potter…I-

“
All I want to hear from your pretty little mouth is that you still love me and that you’ll stay by my side. That’s it. Nothing more about how I’d be better off with another woman. We can go as slow as you like, heck I’ll even stop kissing you if that’s what you want. I won’t like it, but I’ll do it.”

“
Potter I love you but if you stop kissing me, I’ll have to kill you.”

Potter grinned down at his lady love, who was smiling up at him with twinkling eyes. “One of these days you are going to tell me just why you don’t think you can have a happy future with me. But right now I just want you to smile. I’ve missed your smile so much.”

Puck smiled a shaky little smile. Her entire being was in tumult and yet she felt so happy. A glimmer of hope was shining in the center of her being. She could think about the future a different day. Right now she just wanted her man to kiss her. She pulled his head down and kissed him softly on the lips.

“
Thank you, Potter. I’m sorry I worried you, I really am! I won’t do that to you again, I promise. I just felt so alone and the more people tried to talk to me about it the more alone I felt. I just wanted to be in your arms that whole time.”

“
Darlin, all you had to do was look at me and I would have had you in my arms so fast. Now smile, that’s a command little missy. We have to call Perri and let her know you’re okay,” Potter turned to Grace and smiled. “Thank you so much for rescuing Puck for me.”

“
Oh it was no problem, I’m glad that I found you both,” Grace pointed one finger at Puck. “Don’t forget what I said- love is powerful, more powerful than you can imagine. Don’t ever give up your belief in happily ever afters.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Puck said from Potter’s side. She felt the beginnings of hope and happiness swirling around inside of her. Inside her inner fortress a tiny crowd of peasants were cheering. Maybe, just maybe she did believe in love. Potter certainly had said some sweet things to her. 

“
Lets go home, Puck. I still have to call off the search party.”

“
Okay. I’ll see you later Grace. It was nice playing poker with you even if you do cheat.”

“
Get along, you two. Come back anytime.”

Potter kept his arm around Puck as they walked out of the cottage. They weren’t ten feet from the magical little house when Potter began to lay into Puck for risking her life this morning.

Puck rolled her eyes and let  his strong voice wash over her senses feeding that tiny spark of hope. Puck snuggled against his side and allowed him to walk her towards their cars. Inside her head her drill sergeant nodded once in satisfaction and grabbed her inner sex goddess with one strong hand. He dipped her over his arm in the famous romantic move that has graced screenplays for centuries and kissed her. Puck raised an eyebrow at that and wondered if it was normal to have that going on inside her brain. She didn’t think so, but then again…what was so great about normal?

“
Dear Mom and Dad- Things are better with Potter now. We’ve been seeing this marriage councilor, even though we aren’t married. She helps a lot because she yells at Potter for being so domineering and stupi
dJ
. I’m also seeing this shrink (let me tell you it’s not cheap being crazy) about some stuff that happened in my past. I think it’s helping me a lot.  I’m starting to envision a future with Potter in it…I even think that we might be together for a very long time.

Perri is doing fine. She’s pregnant (did I forget to mention that?) She was seeing the father of the baby, but he turned into a flake, big surprise! He was lying when he said he wanted to be a father to the baby and the jerk broke my hand with his cheek! Hehehe anyways…She’s now dating Tony! Can you believe it? I couldn’t at first, but he really loves her.