The Swear Jar (33 page)

“Show me where I can stick my stuff
in your drawers.  That sounded dirty.  Or is my mind in the gutter?”

“Your mind’s in the gutter.”

“It’s the towel you’re wearing. 
It’s not leaving much to the imagination.”

“I think you need a cold shower.”

“I think you’re right.”

They stood at the foot of her bed. 
He scooped up his clothes and put them into her dresser.  She was pointing to
the Skeeball teddy bear by the pillows.

“You brought him?”  Her voice
trembled.

“Yes, he’s ours,” he said softly.

She had tears in her eyes.  He
kissed away her tears.  They smiled at each other.

“I should go take a shower.”  He
kissed her dimple.

“Help yourself to towels.  I set
out a few for you.”

“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Duncan showered and dressed
quickly.  He put on sweatpants, a t-shirt and sneakers.  He combed his hair and
brushed his teeth.  He happily spread his things out on Meara’s bathroom sink. 
He could get used to sharing space with her.  She needed to pack an overnight
bag for his house.  He wondered what she would say if he asked her to move in
with him.  Raising an eyebrow, he wondered if he could move in with her.  She
would probably say he was delusional.  He walked down the hallway, catching her
sticking her nose in the vase of flowers.

“Are they better than Russell’s
roses?” he asked mischievously.

“Yes, they are.  Wait a minute. 
Did you have something to do with Russell’s roses?”  She whirled in his
direction, hands on hips and nose scrunched.

“Maybe.  He got it wrong, didn’t
he?”  He suppressed a grin.

“You told someone to tell Russell
roses, didn’t you?  You bad, bad boy.”  She wagged a finger at him.

“I thought you didn’t like bad
boys,” he said.

“You’re changing the subject.  You
told someone to tell Russell roses, didn’t you?”

“Guilty.”

“Someone told you I was getting
flowers from other guys.  So you submarined Russell too?”

“Guilty.”

“Who’s the mole at the library?”
she asked indignantly.

“Can I plead the Fifth on that?”

“I’ll let you get away with it
since it’s worked in our favor so far.  You’re a sneaky man, Sir Duncan.  Did
you know I gave away the roses after the meeting?”

“I saw some ladies leaving with
flowers.  I was wondering what happened.  I also noticed Sherrie left with the
other flowers.”

“Yes.  I’m partial to flowers from
a certain someone.”  She stuffed her nose into the flowers again.

“Good.”  He had a huge grin on his
face.

She poured a cup of coffee for him
while he poured a cup of tea for her.  They munched on the sandwiches he had
made the previous night.  They chatted comfortably at the kitchen counter.  She
explained why she joined the gym.

“Diana and Ben will close the pool
soon.  This gym has an indoor pool.  It’s family-oriented, rather than a meat
market like some other gyms.  They have yoga classes and racquetball.  The
people are nice.  I hope you’ll like it.”

“I’ve been thinking of joining a
gym.  I should get some exercise.  I used to play racquetball years ago.  Maybe
I’ll join too.  Ready to go?”

They cleaned up and headed for the
door.  Standing in front of the Jeep, she handed him the keys.

“We have an audience.  Anne’s on
the back porch.”  He tilted his head.

“I thought she might be looking for
us.  Anne!  Come over here!”  She waved.

Anne ran, looking like she was
going to bust.  “Good morning!  Mom said I shouldn’t bother you.”

Meara’s cheeks turned pink.  “Duncan
will be here all weekend.  It’s important you knock and wait for us to answer.”

“I understand.  I won’t bother
you.  I promise.”

Duncan held up his hands.  “You’re
never bothering us, Anne.  Sometimes, adults need time to be together.  What
are you doing this afternoon?  Aunt Meara and I are going to the gym, then
we’re getting something to eat, but this afternoon is open.”

Her face beaming, Meara squeezed
his arm.  Smiling, Anne danced for joy.  He had made their day.

“We’re keeping the pool open until
next weekend.  It’s really warm today.  Can we go swimming?”

“Done.  When we get back, we’re
going swimming.” He shook Anne’s hand.

“I’m going to tell Mom.  I’ll see
you soon, Duncan!”  Anne ran off.

Meara sighed.  “Thank you, Duncan. 
Notice she didn’t say goodbye to me.”

“I know how much you mean to each
other.  I can share you with your family.”

She kissed him.  “I love you.”

He kissed her back.  “I love you
too.  Let’s go check out the gym.”

“Remind me to buckle up.  The first
time you drove, you hit every pothole on purpose.”

“The night of the painting?  You
made me nervous for two reasons.  You were hurt and you were cute.”

“I made you nervous?  Do I still
make you nervous?”  She touched his cheek.

“Not really.  If I start to feel
nervous, I’ll pull over and drag you into the backseat and relieve my tension. 
Sound like a deal to you?”

“Maybe I should drive.”

“Nope, I’ve got the keys.  Unless
you want to wrestle me for them?”  He grinned wickedly.

“Why do I feel like my boyfriend is
insane?”

“Because you drive me crazy.”  He
laughed, slapping her on the butt.  “Get in!”

True to his word, they spent their
day like he said they would.  Their first stop was the gym.  In the workroom,
the guys greeted Meara cheerfully and sized up Duncan critically.  She led him
through her routine.  She used the recumbent bicycle, the treadmill, and a few
weight-lifting machines.  Impressed, he tried to keep up.  He noticed the guys
who vied for her attention were younger than him.  He also saw was she wasn’t
interested in them.  She only had eyes for him.

The guys were disappointed when she
took his hand to continue the tour.  She showed him the racquetball courts and
yoga room.  When she showed him the indoor pool, she was drooling.  She really
did love swimming.  Before they left, he joined as a member.  He was going to
keep an eye on the gym guys.  As they drove to Lynn’s Café, she chatted about
how they could go to the gym before work and on weekends.  He chuckled, hoping
he would survive today’s gym visit.

Arriving at the café, they were
greeted heartily by Lynn, the owner.  She showed them to their favorite booth
at the back of the café.  Lynn appreciated their desire to keep out of the
public eye.

She also liked to tease them. 
“Where have you been?  It’s been lonely in here without a visit.  Don’t they
give you lunchtime at the library?”

“We’ve been away, Lynn,” Duncan
stated simply.  “But we’re back and starving.  We had a workout at the gym.”

Lynn handed them menus.  “Do you
even need a menu?  Or do you want the usual?”

Duncan and Meara looked at each
other and laughed.

“The usual,” Meara said.  “Are we
that predictable?”

“No, you’re just used to the best
food in town.  Or anywhere for that matter,” Lynn chuckled.  “I’ll be right
back with your food.”

Duncan’s stomach rumbled as Lynn
placed a plate in front of him.  Meara and Lynn couldn’t help laughing.  He
rolled his eyes.  Meara held his hand.  Lynn shook her head, leaving them
alone.

“Remind me to pack a snack for you
in my purse.”  She touched his cheek.  “Thank you for a lovely day.”

“It’s not over yet.  We promised to
spend time with Anne.  We’ll have to stop at my house.  I forgot to pack my
swimsuit.”

“I forgot how good Lynn’s
sandwiches are,” she murmured.

He smiled.  “Thank you for bringing
my favorite sandwich to me yesterday.  I knew you weren’t so mad at me when I
saw it.”

“I was nervous you were going to
break it off with me.”

“Not a chance.”  He took her hand. 
“I’m not letting that dimple out of my sight.”

She giggled.  He looked around. 
They were alone.  He slipped into her side of the booth.  He took her face into
his hands and kissed her dimple.  He ran his hands along the side of her neck.

“Duncan,” she whispered.

“I mean it,” he whispered back.

With a big smile on her face, Lynn
appeared at their booth.  “Do I have to break you up like teenagers?  You, back
over here.  You, stop giggling.  Here’s your check.  The next time you two come
in, I’m seating you up the front.  No more dark corners.  Too much mischief. 
It was great seeing you both.  Come back soon.”

Duncan slid guiltily back into his
side of the booth.  Meara covered her red face with her hands.  They laughed
and held hands.  A few minutes later, they got up from the booth holding
hands.  They waved goodbye to Lynn.  Lynn winked and handed them a paper bag
with two giant-sized chocolate chip cookies in it.

As he pulled into his driveway,
Duncan was looking forward to their afternoon.  He fondly remembered the Shore
house pool.  As they walked to the front door, Meara seemed a little
distracted.  He wondered what was wrong.  He needed to talk to her.

“Do you mind coming in?” asked
Duncan, opening the door, letting her in first.

“No, I feel bad I left you at the
Shore house and you had to rent a car.”

“You offered to bring me back.  I
decided to stay.  It’s my fault I had to rent a car.”

“Will you bring your car back to my
house?”

“Do you want me to bring my car?”

“No and yes.  No, I like being with
you.  Yes, I want you to be comfortable in case you want to get away from me.” 
She nervously flashed a crooked smile.

He led her to the family room couch
and pulled her down to sit next to him.  “Then I won’t bring my car because I
like being with you too.  I don’t want to get away from you.  In fact, I want
to speak with you about something.”

Panicked, her face fell.  “About
what?”

“Shhh.  Don’t look like that.  It’s
a good thing, I hope.  Let’s discuss something I feel is important.  I’ll
explain how I feel and if I explain it wrong, we can fix it right here and
now.  All right?”

“All right.”

“I’ll start with this.  I love
you.  No ifs, ands, buts or howevers.”

“I love you too.”

“See?  We’re doing great.  Now, we
love each other and we want to be together.”

“Yes, I agree with that.”

“We’ve said we should go slowly,
but sometimes we’re speeding up,” Duncan said.

Eyebrows furrowed, Meara’s stomach
fluttered nervously.  “Yes.  I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

“Bear with me.  I’m not interested
in being a part-time boyfriend.”

“What’s a part-time boyfriend?” she
asked, confused.

“A boyfriend you occasionally see
during the week, but mostly see on the weekends for dates and having sex.  Then
you go home to separate houses.  A casual arrangement.”

Blushing, she squirmed.  “I’m not
interested in being a part-time girlfriend.  You mean more to me than that.  I
want us to have a relationship.  A partnership.”

“Good.  So do I.  So far, so good. 
Now the next part.  How do we have more than a casual arrangement?”

Her neck flushed red.  “I didn’t
think what we had now was a casual arrangement.”

“We don’t, but I don’t want it to
turn into one.  I have things at your house.  You need to bring things here. 
We can start with weekends and time together during the week.  We’ll figure out
what’s best for our relationship.”

“Are you asking me to move in with
you?”  Her ears were deep purple.

“Yes.  I’m asking you to move in
with me.  Or I could move in with you.  Maybe not all at once, but eventually
when we’re ready.”

She was shaking.  “Wow.  Give me a
minute to think.”

Sitting back on the couch, he never
took his eyes off her.  He got ready to grab her if she tried to leave.  She
took several breaths while looking at the floor.  She was deep in thought.

She spoke softly.  “That’s a big
step, Duncan.  I know it’s the right step.  I feel it in my heart.  I’ll be
truthful and tell you it frightens me, but only because I want to get it
right.  I need some time to ease into it.  Nothing about our relationship is
casual.  I never want you to think it is.  Yes, I’ll bring things over here.”

“Good,” he said, hugging and kissing
her.

She looked into his eyes.  “This is
something we both want.  You’ve made your feelings clear to me.  It makes me
feel loved and wanted.  You’ve shown me how important I am to you.”

She snuggled into his arms.  He
smiled.  He squeezed her close.

“I’m glad I made my point without
messing it up.  I’m also glad I didn’t have to chase you down.”

“You didn’t mess up the first time,
I did.  I’m sorry.”

“We both did.  No more sorry. 
We’re past that.”

“You said no buts.  There’s
something you haven’t thought of in this plan.”

“Keys?  I’ll get one made for you. 
Since you’re renting, you’ll have to confer with Diana and Ben first.  I
understand.”

“No.  That’s not what I meant. 
Doesn’t your family think we’re friends?”

“I didn’t think of that.  We are
friends.”

She giggled.  “Yes.  You haven’t
spoken to them lately, have you?”

“No, I’ve been too busy nibbling my
girlfriend.”  He nuzzled her neck.

“Duncan.  Be serious.  What will
they think?”

“Andrew wants me to be happy.  Lisa
will test us a little.  Sean will be the big problem.  He’s always the big
problem.  But.  There’s the but.  But whatever they think, it’s not going to
change how I feel about you or the fact you’re in my life.”

“Will they understand I don’t want
to replace Brenda?”

“We’ll show them.  You’ve supported
my feelings for Brenda.  But.  There’s another but.  There will always be a
place in my heart for Brenda, but for the first time I know she was not my soul
mate.  You are.”

Her eyes filled with tears.  “I
feel the same way about you.  I know how love is supposed to be because of
you.  Hank can have a little dusty corner.  The rest of my heart is yours.”

He grimaced.  “Is he even worth
that?  You’re a good woman to give him that much.  That’s why I love you.”

She frowned.  “What if your family
doesn’t accept us?  I don’t want to cause trouble between you and your sons.  I
know how much you love them.”

“They’ll have to deal with their
own issues.  I won’t give you up.  End of story.  And don’t get any ideas in
your head about removing yourself from the picture.  You’re staying put even if
I have to tie you down.”

“That will make a lovely holiday
card.  I won’t give you up either.  If your sons can’t accept me, I won’t go. 
We’ll face it together.  Unless you want me to leave.”