Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (13 page)

He'd looked uncomfortable, but then admitted to
reading--a lot. Lots of romance novels. He said it was the only way he knew to
get the information he needed. Once he had started dating, which had been after
he was twenty-one years old, he'd put the things he'd read about into practice
and discovered that, for the most part, his dates were responsive.

"But being with you, Maggie, your passion,
your love, that has taught me more than any book ever could," he'd said.

The night of the snowstorm she was pretty sure he
used every move he'd ever read about. They didn't fall asleep for good until
around five in the morning. They woke up a few hours later, freezing. The heat
had gone out, along with the lights.

Stumbling around getting dressed, they layered
shirts and sweaters with warm pants. Maggie ended up wearing one of his
tightly-knit cabled sweaters that came down to her knees. They called around
and discovered that part of the town was without electricity. The Grainger
family was gathering at Holly and Jason's house. It had been specially designed
by Jason to withstand any weather, and had redundant heat and electrical
sources.

Eric packed a bag, put his guitar in its case, and
then they went outside to find the car covered in snow. It took an hour to
shovel the driveway and sweep the snow off the Lincoln. Maggie was thrilled to
hear it roar to life when he turned the key. They drove to her apartment so she
could pack some clothes. She grabbed any food that might perish and they added
it to the food from Eric's place.

It took another hour just to get across town to
the house on the cliff. When Eric parked, he turned off the key and stared at
it. "It's huge. And incredible."

"It was his dream, his and Holly's. Even
though they don't live here full time, they wanted to go ahead and build it
right after they got married. It's a perfect house. Has everything. There will
be plenty of space for everyone."

They unloaded the car and went up the steps,
crossed the porch, and rang the front door bell. Holly flung open the door,
yelling over her shoulder, "It's Maggie and Eric." Then she faced
them and waved them in. "Come on in out of that freezing cold. We've got a
lovely fire in the big room, plus the heat is on, so you'll warm up fast. What
have you got there? Food? Great. And you brought your guitar? Awesome."

They followed her down a hall and into a large
kitchen with copper-faced appliances and a huge refrigerator with a separate
freezer beside it. Maggie could smell something delicious cooking in one of the
three ovens.

"What am I smelling?"

"I have a ham in one oven, but I bet you're picking
up on my double-chocolate brownies. They'll be done in a few minutes. I
promised Dad and Cody brownies for when they get back."

They left the kitchen and continued to follow her
through the house and up some stairs to a bedroom. "Here you go. You guys
can stay in here. I call it the green room. Jason calls it the southwestern
corner bedroom. It has a bathroom attached," Holly said as she led them
in.

Maggie was surprised to see a queen-sized bed,
with four wood posters, and a heavy brocade canopy that matched the cover on
the bed. Green velvet curtains hung at the window, and there was a
gold-colored sofa and chair in the space in front of a large dresser.

"It's wonderful, Holly, but are you sure you
won't need it for the others? We don't need this much space."

"You're getting it anyway. Eric is new to the
family so of course he would get one of the nicer rooms. But truthfully, all
the rooms up here are pretty darn nice. Eventually we hope to have lots of kids
filling them up--one way or another," she said with a bright smile.

"It will be terrific," Maggie said and
gave her arm a squeeze.

Eric was looking around the room and appeared to
be a bit stunned. "All I can say is, wow. This is beautiful."

"Thanks! Unpack or do what you want. Everyone
is in the big room right now I think. Dad and Cody went out with Sheriff Jones
to check on some elderly and disabled people in town."

"What about Nicky and his friends?"
Maggie asked.

"They're fine. They're in the part of town
that has power. They have plenty of food and their social worker will be
checking on them. She told us not to worry. I'll meet you downstairs."

They watched Holly leave and then looked at each
other. Maggie opened up her suitcase and tossed her clothes into the dresser.

"Who is Nicky?" Eric asked, as he too
began to unpack.

"He's a really sweet guy with Down's Syndrome.
Holly befriended him a long time ago, and worked hard to get the town council
to provide jobs for the developmentally challenged. They have a house where
they live pretty much on their own, with some assistance. You'll see Nicky in
the park. That's where he works, keeping it picked up, although not during
winter. I'm not sure what they do during the snow season."

"That is a really worthwhile thing for her to
have done."

"Yeah, Holly is pretty cool. She can charm
anyone into doing pretty much anything. She owns her own personnel agency in
the city, and the story goes that she has never yet matched a job with the
wrong person. She just...knows people. It's one reason why I'm going to take
the tests she suggested, after the first of the new year."

"Maybe I should take those tests as
well," Eric mused.

Maggie laughed. "Eric, my love, you know
where you belong. Working on something to do with computers. It's what your
brain is wired for."

"Maybe...or maybe I want to branch out...try
something new." He looked at her, and then his lips quirked in a crooked
smile. "Or maybe not. It is my first love."

"I thought I was your first love!"

"Well, darling, I met computers before I met
you. What can I say? But I promise that you will always be first in my heart.
No computer could compare to you."

"You are a smart man. Come here." He
walked over and stood in front of her. She slipped her arms around his waist.
"You will always be first in my heart, too. I promise." She tipped
her face up to his and kissed him slowly, letting the desire flare up between
them."

"Maggie, let's--"

"Eric, Maggie, come down for brownies,"
Holly shouted up the stairs to them.

"Uh, I know what I just promised, but
brownies!" Maggie tugged him toward the door. "Hurry or they'll be
all gone."

He growled at her, but let her bring him to the
door. "Here's my promise--we will finish this later."

She shivered with anticipation.

* * * *

Eric was amazed by the 'big room' as everyone
called it. There was a two-story wall of glass that looked out at the ocean. A
large stone fireplace sat in the middle of the wall opposite the glass. The
room was filled with carpets, sofas, armchairs, facing either to the ocean or
the fireplace. It was like two huge rooms in one. A puzzle was being spread out
on a table off to the side by Anna and Julia. The TV was tucked away in a quiet
corner where Betsy was checking the news. Joshua was playing with cars on a
track laid out on a section of wood floor. Jennifer was bouncing in a rolling
baby chair that appeared to be made for bouncing. She was drooling and happy,
watching Joshua and the cars. Maggie had dashed off to the kitchen for the
brownies.

Jason and Sam came into the room, taking off their
jackets. "We had to get some wood in the bin by the house. I hadn't had a
chance to move it since it was delivered. I have a place for it right outside
the door into here," Jason said as he warmed his hands at the fire.

"Do you need any more help?" Eric asked.

"Not right now. Later on, we'll go out and
fill up the bin. But thanks."

"This house is incredible."

Jason gave him a big smile. "We like it. I
dreamed about the house when I was getting to know Holly. Then she dreamed
about it. We decided that fate was telling us something and we'd better pay
attention. My grandmother, Gloria, thinks we're nuts to have such a big place.
She wasn't at the Thanksgiving dinner but she'll be there for Christmas, so you
can meet her then."

Eric heard noise coming from down the hall, and
then Cody and Frank came into the room.

"Hey everybody," Cody said. Frank waved
and went across the room to sit with Betsy.

"How was it out there?" Sam asked.

"The Sheriff has set up a shelter with the
Red Cross at the high school, which has power. I thought Maelynne was going to
have to go there, but we got her generator working. She hasn't got any guests
this week at her hotel, thank goodness. People are doing okay. Hopefully, this
won't last too long."

Maggie came in with a plate full of brownies.

"Give me those," Cody said, holding out
his hand.

"No way, just take one," she replied.

"I'm taking more than one."

"Whatever. Use a napkin!"

After Maggie had passed the brownies around, she
sat next to Eric on one of the sofas. "See, I saved you one," she
said with a grin.

He thought she looked like a particularly fetching
elf today, in her leggings and his long sweater. Her violet eyes were shining
with humor, and her wayward curls looked adorable to him. He leaned over and
gave her a kiss, which she immediately pulled back from.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked.

"Kissing you."

"Well, why?"

"Because I love you."

He watched as her face went all soft. "Oh.
That's okay then. Eat your brownie."

He munched on the decadent tasting brownie and was
about to ask for another, when Cody and Sam came up to them.

"It's time. We need to know. Do you play
cards?"

Eric frowned. "I've been known to, yes."

"See I told you he did," Cody said to
Sam.

"Yes, but do you play poker?"

"I have, yes. But I don't think you guys want
me to play with you."

"Sure we do. Plus, Maggie is killer at poker.
You should play against her."

Eric looked at her feeling very surprised. She was
good at poker? Would he ever know her completely? "Guys, I have an
advantage. My brain is kind of like a computer when it comes to cards. I'll
always win. I will never lose any money."

"I find that hard to believe," Sam said.

"Not always," Cody said.

"Well now you have to prove it," Maggie
said.

He sighed. He guessed he did have to prove it.
Might as well get it over with. "Okay, let's do it then. Who else is
playing?"

"Holly and Jason. They've got a special
card-playing table, covered in green felt. Ah, there it is."

They all watched as the table was set up, and
surrounded by chairs. Holly announced to the room that the Keurig was available
in the kitchen with a variety of coffee, teas and hot chocolate, so anyone
could fix whatever they wanted, but that she would be playing poker until
lunchtime. There was general laughter at that, and then they settled down to
play cards.

As Eric had predicted, he won the first four games
handily. There was joking and chit chat as they played, but he also knew they
were taking his measure. He had decided right from the start that he would play
as he always had, not going easy on them. That would just seem like a lie.

In the fifth game, he had a great hand. He knew
what cards had been dealt already and he was positive he was again going to
win. He glanced at Maggie in disbelief as she raised him, and then raised
again. It made no sense! She couldn't have a hand to beat him. He stared into
her eyes, and looked into that innocent face and began to doubt. She was not
stupid and they had said she was good at cards. Could she be trying to bluff?
Him? Ha. He'd show her. He saw the bet and raised--a lot. Her eyebrows flew up
in shock.

The others had all folded by now. He watched as
she looked at her cards one more time, and then looked back at him resolutely.
She tossed out chips onto the pile and then raised him again. Dead silence had
spread throughout the room as the rest of the group had come over to watch the
hand being played. Why would she do this? Unless...unless he'd miscounted. But
he never miscounted. Still, it was a new environment, new people he was still
getting to know, maybe it was possible. She would never bet so much without a
great hand to back it up. He must be wrong. He folded.

She gathered up the money in front of her, looked
him squarely in the eyes and said, "Sucker."

Everyone howled. She showed him her cards and she
had had nothing! He was shocked. He'd never lost a game of poker. He stood up,
and everyone got quiet, watching him. He slid his chair back and walked around
the table until he was standing by her. Maggie stood up and faced him. Then he
reached out and hugged her and burst out laughing.

"You're wonderful!" he finally said.
"I've met my match."

"You scared the daylights out of me stalking
over here like that. I thought you were mad."

"I'm impressed. You've got guts."

"I keep telling people that."

The others agreed that even though Maggie had
bluffed him once, it was a bit unfair the way he automatically knew what cards
had been played. He left Maggie at the poker table and went to sit with Ann and
Julia who were working the 3,000 piece puzzle.

"Welcome to the puzzle-makers table,"
Anna said with a smile.

"Thanks. I never really played with jigsaw
puzzles growing up."

"Everyone approaches it differently. Some
people like to go after all the edge pieces right away. Others will group like
pieces together first," Julia said. "Anna and I combine the two
methods."

"Do they often play cards?" he asked,
looking for edge pieces.

"Most of the time at gatherings someone will
bring out the cards. We've had to insist that at formal occasions and big
holidays they won't spend the entire time playing. With this power outage
bringing us all here, however, I imagine they'll be playing a lot," Julia
replied.