Somewhere in His Arms (30 page)

             
But the thought of Lucy lightened his spirits and he hoped his present would go over well. He’d set the package down on the doorstep and opened the door. An unearthly silence had greeted him, so he had called out Lucy’s name. When she didn’t answer right away, panic set in and for a frightening moment, he’d thought the worst. So like the damn fool that he was, he’d whipped out the gun. He’d meant to secure the house, not send his wife to her grave.

             
Panicking, Alec set the gun down on the console table and bent down.
“My God, Lucy!”
he muttered guiltily. “Are you all right?”

             
She winced as his gentle fingers probed the bump emerging from her skull.               “Ouch!” she grimaced. Lucy opened one eye and peered at her husband. “Do I
look
all right?”

             
Alec cradled her face in his hands. “Why didn’t you
answer
when I called you?” he demanded, more angry with himself than with her. “You scared the hell out of me!”

             
“I scared
you…?”
she said, reaching up and wincing when she found the knot. “I was taking a nap, where did you
think
I was? Climbing the Matterhorn?”

             
“I-I thought---” he couldn’t finish. “Here, love let me help you up.” Alec reached down and pulled his wife to a standing position. “Hurt much?” he asked again, feeling ashamed and slightly foolish at having overreacted.

             
“What do you t---ouch!” she cried out and allowed him to escort her to the sofa. “Where’d you get that
thing
anyway?”

             
He rushed to get some ice into a plastic bag and wrapped it in a towel. He pressed it gently against the bump. Lucy gasped and winced. “Sorry love,” he winced along with her. “I overreacted.”

             
“You certainly did!” she scolded and leaned back into the cushions. “You didn’t answer my question. Where’d you get the gun?”

             
“Rudy gave it to me,” he said uneasily and went to fetch the thing. He came back and placed it on her lap. “He thought it might be useful.”

             
Lucy’s mouth pursed in a
moue
of disdain and wondered if Rudy had finally fallen off his trolley. She never liked guns. One of Viv’s boyfriends had been an avid gun collector and hunter. He had been quite harmless up until the time he shot Lucy in the foot during one of his little “demonstrations.” They had casually driven her to the hospital, all the while reminding her of what to the say if anyone asked her how she’d gotten hold of a gun. She’d been all of eleven, and in the end her poor foot had required thirty stitches. Lucy picked it up by the grip and held it away from her as if it carried a particularly nasty strain of bubonic plague. “Are you licensed to carry this…this…
thing?”

             
Alec suppressed a smile and took the piece from her and placed it back into his ankle holster. “I’m licensed,” he said, with a knowing smirk playing about his splendid lips. “I’m more than capable of protecting you, wife,” he added, echoing his wife’s words from that horrible fight.

             
A delicate brow arched in disbelief.
“Really?
Who says?”

             
He pointed to his chest and gave her a sly wink.
“I
do!”

             
Something in his eyes suggested he was
more
than capable but for now Lucy was in no mood to find out. “Did you bring lunch?” she asked instead. “I’m starving!”

             
“As a matter of fact wife, I did bring a little something to nibble on.” Her husband left to fetch the bags from the truck. He came back and handed her a Styrofoam bowl of lobster bisque and a prosciutto and Fontina cheese Panini.

             
Lucy closed her eyes in delight at the creamy concoction. She took a small bite of the Panini and found it to be just as sinfully delicious. “Yum!” she exclaimed. “Where did you
get
these?”

             
He sat beside her on the sofa and rummaged around in the sack for his own lunch.  Alec pried open the plastic lid and took a spoonful of his New England clam chowder. Savoring the new experience, he took another spoonful before answering. “There’s a small café just off the highway. I had to pay them extra just for the privilege of having them pack it up for you.” He took a bite out of his buttery popover. “Like?” he said after a swallow.

             
She nodded. “Anything to drink?”

             
Alec produced two glass bottles of sweet tea and two straws.

             
They ate in companionable silence and Lucy couldn’t help but notice the boxes he’d carried in earlier and set beside one of the chairs. “What are those?”

             
“What?”

             
“Those,” she said, with a nod of her head. “Those boxes.”

             
“Eat your soup, wife,” he said, smiling. “It’s a surprise.”

             
“For me?”

             
“Maybe.”

             
Lucy rolled her eyes at her husband and gestured toward his popover. “Can I have a taste?”

             
He broke off a piece and handed it to her. “Oh! That’s good.”

             
“Let me try some of that sandwich.”

             
Lucy broke off a piece and shoved it gently into his mouth She laughed as some of the gooey cheese strung itself across his chin. “Careful!” she chided and swiped the cheese off with her napkin. “You’re very messy!”

             
Alec grinned at his wife, pressing his lips against her fingers. He watched as her eyes widened slightly and he was suddenly overcome with a desire to fling her over his shoulder and carry her off to bed. He squelched the lustful urge, telling himself that there would be time for that soon enough. “Finish your lunch, Mrs. Barrington and I’ll let you see what I’ve brought.”

             
“Mrs. Barrington, huh?”

             
“Oh yes,” he agreed, sipping his soup. “It’s got a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

             
Lucy mulled this over and decided it
did
have a pleasant connotation to it. “Yes,” she sighed at last, reaching up to caress his face. “Mrs. Barrington sounds about right.”

             
Their eyes met and held, and Lucy was convinced there was nothing more perfect in the world than being Alec’s wife.

Chapter Nineteen

After lunch, Alec cleaned up and steered his wife into her bedroom. He bade
her sit while he gathered the large boxes he’d stowed in the living room. Lucy straightened her robe about her and wondered what grand secret her husband had up his sleeve. He’d gotten her the overnights and a large assortment of various brands and sizes. When she’d asked him how he’d known, he merely gave her a sly wink and handed her the box of chocolates he’d brought. It seemed Alec was trying his damnedest to win husband of the year.

             
Not that his wife was complaining, but she didn’t want him to think he had to go to all this trouble just to please her. She’d have to make it up to him…somehow. “Alec?” Lucy called when he didn’t return right away. “Do you need some help?”

             
“What?” he answered and came in carrying the larger of the two boxes. “No, love,” he grunted and set the box down none too gently. He looked around and decided the nightstand would do. He removed the lamp and books and slid the heavy piece across the carpet so that it stood in front of Lucy. “How’s that?”

             
“Um…fine,” she answered, slightly puzzled. “Alec, what are you---”

             
Her husband held up a finger to silence her and bent down. He proceeded to pull out a box cutter and slice through the tape and cardboard. Slowly but surely, there emerged something that resembled a computer monitor. When he freed it of the packaging, he pulled out her present: a twenty-inch flat screen television set with built-in DVD player.

             
Alec grinned up at her. “This way you can watch all the TV you want without leaving the comfort of bed.” He handed her the smaller box. “Open it, love.”

             
Lucy sat gob smacked at her husband’s generosity. This was the nicest thing anyone had
ever
done for her. Not even Dean’s engagement present of a weekend at a bed and breakfast in Napa Valley or Rudy’s nursing school graduation present of pearl and diamond earrings could compare to this simple and thoughtful gift. She was overcome with emotion and began to cry.

             
Her husband was alarmed and went to her. He hadn’t meant to upset her. “God, love!” he sputtered, clumsily reaching for a tissue “I-If you don’t like it, I can send it back!”

             
Lucy blew her nose and was surprised to see no blood. She smiled at him, loving him more in this moment than she had on their wedding night. Her hand gently stroked his cheek. “I love it!”

             
“If you love it, then why are you crying?” he asked hoarsely, nearly weeping himself.

             
“I’m crying because
I’m
happy,” she said, and pressed her lips against his cheek. “Remember?”

             
Alec’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion, then it dawned on him. “Oh!” he smiled in relief. “Then I’d hate to see you when you’re sad, love.” She laughed at the tender reminder and fingered the plainly wrapped box in her lap. He took another tissue and swiped at her eyes gently. “Open the other one,” he urged.

             
Sniffing loudly, she tore the brown paper off and opened it. Inside were several box sets of
I Love Lucy
and
Mister Ed.
“How did you know?”

             
“They didn’t have the complete boxed set, so I ordered what they had,” Alec reached in and lifted out a pink box. “I thought it would be appropriate… since,” he pressed his lips softly against her scarred brow, “I… love… Lucy.”

             
Lucy choked back a sob and kissed him shyly on the mouth. “And… I love…Alec,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

             
“Don’t cry love,” he said, gulping back his own tears and hugging her tightly to him. “I hate it when you cry.”

             
“I’m just… happy.”

             
“Well,” Alec set the box on the floor and took her in his arms, “in
that
case, cry away, wife. Maybe I’ll cry too, since
I’m
so bloody happy!”

             
After a while, he stretched out on the bed beside her and they lay wrapped in each other’s arms. Alec kissed her hair and closed his eyes, thinking if he were to die this very moment, he’d die a
very
happy man.

              After a light supper of deli-baked mac and cheese, they retired to Lucy’s room to try out her new TV. Alec had changed the sheets for her after a minor “accident” and told her not to worry about it when she hid her face in embarrassment
.

             
He finished making the bed, and Lucy sat back against the pillows watching her handsome husband fumble with the remote. She giggled at the face he made when he tried to set the channels, and the TV began to switch rapidly from one channel to the next as if possessed. “Here, husband,” she grinned, reaching for the remote and putting him out of his misery, “allow me.”

             
Alec swore and handed the device to his wife. “I remember when all you had to do was plug the damn thing in.” He watched as her slender fingers deftly punched in the codes and soon they were watching an episode of
The Bachelor.
“People don’t actually
watch
this rubbish, do they?” he asked in disbelief as he watched desperate women fling themselves at the blighter.

             
“I’m afraid so,” Lucy told her husband gravely. “They’ll trample each other to death just for a rose.”