MIND READER (41 page)
Authors: Vicki Hinze
“I was teasing, okay?”
He grabbed her arm and swung her around. “Come on, now.
Let’s
settle this,” he said. “What’s it going to take?”
Satisfied, she poked him in the chest. “We’re getting married.” Caron snorted. “Somebody’s got to keep you
straight. You do have a knack for rationalizing decep
tions, Parker. Stealing books and breaking into evidence
rooms.” She grunted her disapproval. “I’m the only
woman I know who can make you toe the line. Besides,
your mother’s been great, letting me borrow her clothes and
everything. The least I can do is to give her the grandchil
dren
you‘ve
neglected to give her.”
“Another haranguing woman, nagging me for babies.
Just what I need.” He scowled. “How many?”
“Two, I think—after we’ve practiced for a while. We’ve
mastered kissing, but we still have a long way to go.”
His eyes softened to that warm and wonderful dove gray.
Melting inside, Caron plucked a dead leaf from his sleeve.
“And we’ll work together, too. No, don’t bother glaring at me. It won’t
change my mind. We
will
work together, Parker. But only
when I image… probably.”
“That’s probably okay.” The scowl he clung tenaciously to faded.
“No other women. Not ever.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I love
you,
Caron, though at the moment I have to say I’m wondering why.”
“You love me.”
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“That’s all I’ve been waiting to hear.”
He dipped his head toward hers. “Not true, and you know it.
You’ve been waiting
for convincing.”
“I have. Trust is a fragile thing, Parker.” She lifted her
face for his kiss. “But I trust you.”
Ina called out from the back door. “Parker, Caron, you
children come on in now, you hear? These eggs is getting
cold and tough as shoe leather. I ain’t being blamed for no leathery eggs this morning, and I ain’t redoing ‘em. I got a
Christmas dinner to get on the stove.”
“She recovers fast,” Parker muttered under his breath.
“She’s got a thing for Fred.” Caron fingered Parker’s lapel. “Where’s Fred spending Christmas?”
“Oh, no. No matchmaking, Caron, and I mean it.”
“Honey.” Caron wrapped her arm around Parker’s waist and slunk against him. “I want everyone happy today.”
Ina ducked out again. “Seeing’s how you’re the one what
knocked it down, you’d best get this door fixed before
dark, Parker Simms. Dang thing wasn’t even locked. Didn’t
Charley teach you nothing about turning knobs, boy?”
“All right, Ina.” Parker laughed. “Just let me kiss my fiancee one more time. It’s Christmas, you know.”
“Fiancée?” Ina stuck her head back through the door
way. “Well, I’ll be switched. If that don’t make me as
happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.” She cupped her hands
to her mouth and shouted over the fence. “Did you hear that, Lily Mae? The smoochers are getting married!”
“She heard,” Parker told her. “Everyone in a five-block
radius heard.”
“How happy is a dead pig in the sunshine, do you think?” Caron wag
gled her brows at him.
Ina stopped, then waved the dishtowel in their direction. “I’m old, not senile, and I ain’t deaf, either. I know good and well what day it is. It’s Christmas.”
“I’ll call Fred,” Parker whispered. “He’ll mellow her.”
“You’re a soft touch, Simms.”
“Yeah, I have my moments.” Parker rubbed her nose
with his. “Merry Christmas, honey.”
It would be merry. Together, they’d moved beyond the shadows of the past and turned toward a future filled with promise. Sometimes life is just good—leathery eggs and all.
Caron smiled. “Merry
Christmas, Parker.”
About Vicki Hinze
Vicki is the award-winning author of 27 novels, four nonfiction books and hundreds of articles, published in as many as sixty-three countries.
She is recognized by Who’s Who in the World as an author and as an educator.
For more information, please visit her at:
Website:
www.vickihinze.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/vicki.hinze.author
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/vickihinze
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