The Swear Jar (45 page)

“I would say it’s going very well. 
We better go or we might hear something we don’t want to hear,” chuckled Ben.

They found Sean, Anne and John in
the living room working on a jigsaw puzzle.  The two families were engrossed in
the puzzle when a sheepish Duncan showed up five minutes later with a pillow
and Meara’s afghan.

“She remembered I said it was a
mistake to ask her to marry me.  She’s a lefty, but I forgot she throws
righty.”  Duncan exhaled, brandishing the pillow.  “Diana, under the
circumstances, would you help Meara with her pajamas?”

Diana glared.  “You’re lucky it was
only a pillow.  I wouldn’t have been so nice.  I’ll go face the monster.”

He rummaged through the hall
closet.  “Would you please put this on her night stand?  I want to know if she
has a nightmare.”

He handed an old baby monitor to
Diana.  It was her turn to look sheepish, especially after being so caustic
with him.

“We’ve been talking.  If it’s all
right with you, we’d like to sleep over.  I don’t want to leave her,” she said.

“Of course, Diana.  You’re all my
family.  There’s plenty of room, if Sean doesn’t mind crashing on the couch or
you don’t mind Anne in with you,” he replied.

“Couch is fine with me.  It looks
like we’ll be sharing, Dad.  I get the remote!” laughed Sean.

“I’ll sleep here in the living room
so I can hear Meara.  You can have the family room all to yourself, Sean.  I
better not have any movie charges on my cable bill next month.”  Duncan wagged
his finger.

“No need to be so crabby,” smirked
Sean, throwing his hands up.

Diana tucked Meara in for the
night.  Lisa and Andrew headed off to bed with John.  Sean crashed quietly on
the couch.  Diana and Ben got Anne settled and went to bed themselves. 
Sighing, Duncan spread out on the living room couch, placing the baby monitor
close to his head.  So far Meara was quiet.  He found it hard to sleep on the
lumpy couch.  He could hear her tossing and turning, so she wasn’t asleep
either.  He wanted to hold her and relax with her after such a stressful day. 
He smiled grimly.  It wasn’t going to be that easy.  It might be a long while
before they were together again.

“I know you’re listening to me,
wherever you are.  I still think you’re a big jerk, but I can’t sleep without
you.  I’m lonely.  I want you in bed with me, even if you start snoring.  Get
your ass in here before I change my mind,” she whispered.

He grabbed the baby monitor, pillow
and afghan.  He ran upstairs and flung the bedroom door open.  He closed and
locked it, just in case.  He realized she might not remember his family was
sleeping over.  Now her family was too.  She would have to forget the no
sleepover rule.  They needed to be together.  He hoped her faulty memory would
work in his favor for once.  He slid into bed behind her, gently pulling her
close.

He nuzzled her neck, kissing her. 
“Meara.”

“No funny stuff, mister,” she
replied, sleepily.  “I’m still upset.  And my feet are throbbing.”

She sighed, leaning back into his
chest.  She placed her bent index finger against her lips and fell asleep.  His
heart leaped to see her do this.  He settled the blanket around them and kissed
her dimple.  He quickly fell asleep.  During the night, she awoke to the sound
of tapping on the bedroom door.  She sat up, puzzled.  She listened to him
snoring beside her.  He was exhausted.  She hobbled painfully out of bed and
slowly made her way to the door.  She unlocked the door to find John standing
there.

“Can I sleep with you, Grammy Ems?”
asked a bleary-eyed John.

“Yes, John.  You can sleep with
us.  Just don’t wake up Grandpa, he’s very tired,” she whispered.

John climbed into bed between
them.  She smiled.  John had called her Grammy Ems.  She fell back to sleep. 
Early in the morning, Duncan heard Lisa calling for John.  Their bedroom door was
now open.  He sat up to find John between them.  He smiled.  She faced away
from him, still asleep.  John woke up.  He quickly shushed John, pointing to
her.  John nodded.

“Grammy Ems said it was okay to
sleep with you.  Is she going to get better?  The bump on her head looks bad,”
whispered John, concerned.

“She’ll be fine.  We should tell
your mother you’re in here,” he replied.

Lisa and Andrew came to the door. 
Lisa looked frazzled.  Duncan bounded out of bed.

“He’s here.  He was our chaperone. 
Meara’s still asleep.  She’s going to kill me.  I’d like to be buried in my
blue suit with my birthday tie, please.  We’ve broken the no sleepover rule,”
he whispered.

“Maybe she’ll forget,” Lisa said.

“Not a chance,” said Duncan. 
“John, let’s go.  Let Grammy Ems sleep.”

“Grammy Ems?” asked Andrew.

“She liked it, according to John. 
It gives me hope.  I’m going to milk it for all it’s worth.  It might just save
my life,” he chuckled, shutting their bedroom door.

Ben came out of the bathroom.  “Duncan,
what’s for breakfast?  I could stop by Lynn’s Café and get food for everyone.”

“Wait a minute and I’ll go with
you,” Andrew said.  “We’ll take Sean with us.”

“I’ll get the coffee and tea water
going,” said Duncan.  “Thanks, guys.”

Chapter Fifty

As Duncan headed downstairs, he
heard Anne and John in the family room, giggling over cartoons on television. 
Ben and Sean waited for Andrew in the foyer.  In the living room, Lisa and
Diana picked up the jigsaw puzzle from last night while chatting about kids’
after school activities.  Duncan got the coffee machine going as Ben, Andrew
and Sean left to get breakfast.  He heard their bedroom door open upstairs.  He
walked into the foyer and saw Meara making her way downstairs.  She made it to
the small landing and sat down.  She leaned against the wall, pain on her
face.  He sat next to her and held her hand.

“The stairs are too much for you
right now, sweetheart,” he said gently.  “We have to think of a better plan.”

“You’re right,” she replied,
leaning against his shoulder.  “But I’d love a cup of tea and I hate being an
invalid.”

“I know.”  He kissed her.

She kissed him back.  “What’s the
plan?”

“Your house is out.  Your family’s
house is out.  This house is all right if I keep running up and down the stairs
all day.”  He laughed.

“It wouldn’t be fair to you, but it
would be a start in making it up to me.”  She kissed him.

He cupped the side of her face as
he kissed her.  Their tongues met and she gave a small moan.  He was
encouraged.  He stroked her cheek.

“Let me make it up to you.  I’ll
carry you back upstairs.  We’ll lock the door,” he said hopefully.

Pulling back, she raised an eyebrow
at him.  “That’s your plan?”

“It’s only the first step in the
plan.  Honestly, I’ll keep repeating the steps that come after that over and
over again.”  He grinned seductively.

“How about you help me to the
kitchen and make me a cup of tea?  That’s a better plan.  For now,” she
blushed.

By the time he got her settled at
the kitchen table, Ben, Andrew and Sean were back.  They had several bags of
food with them.

Duncan raised an eyebrow.  “How
much food did you get?”

“We were putting together a
breakfast order.  We were stumped on what you and Meara would want.  Lynn
recognized me.  She asked about her favorite couple.  We told her Meara had an
accident.  She took our order and added sandwiches, chips and cookies for
lunch.  She refused to let us pay for it.  She told us to tell Meara to get
better soon.  And Duncan should take good care of her or Lynn would find him,”
said Ben.

“We’ll have to thank Lynn.  She’s
been so good to us.  And her food is delicious,” said Meara.  “I want to thank all
of you for being here.  It’s good to have family around in a crisis.  I’m so
lucky to be married to a good man and have such wonderful children.”

All movement in the kitchen
stopped.  Lisa gasped.  Diana tilted her head quizzically.  Duncan’s jaw
dropped in horror.  Sean was smiling impishly while Andrew sadly shook his
head.  Ben clapped a hand over his mouth.

“Meara, what are you saying?” asked
Duncan.

Her brow furrowed.  “Honey, I know
my memory is still a little fuzzy, but John calls me Grammy.  We’re married. 
Andrew, Sean and Diana are our children.  Anne and John are our grandchildren.”

Collapsing into a chair across from
her, he covered his eyes.  “Oh, no.  Oh, sweetheart.  Meara.”

Most of them were shocked at how
bad her memory was, but Sean laughed out loud.  Duncan shot him a dirty look. 
With tears in her eyes, Meara sighed audibly.  All eyes turned to her.

“And THAT will teach you to follow
the no sleepover rule or suffer the consequences.  You should see your faces,”
she giggled.  “How did you know, Sean?”

“Your eyes were dancing.  You have
a great sense of humor.  We’re staying over again tonight.  Cut Dad some
slack.  He shouldn’t start the New Year off cranky.  Don’t make him sleep on
the couch,” Sean begged.

“We could lend you John as a human
barrier again,” said Andrew, chuckling.

“As adorable as he is, no thank
you.  He kicks,” she laughed.  “I’ll think about what you said, Sean.”

As the others got breakfast ready,
Duncan beamed and hugged her tightly.  “You had me worried.  Point taken, Lady
Meara.  I should have Sean plead my case more often.  Who knew you and Sean
would click?  I should probably be worried about that too.”

“There are more important things to
worry about right now.  We have to talk about sleeping arrangements.  At least
when we were engaged, I was coming around on the issue.  Now that’s no longer
true, we need to think about propriety.  We’re back to square one,” she said,
her eyes darkening and her voice cold.

His face fell as his voice rose. 
“Square one?  I thought we were going to work it out?  Wherever we’re together
is home?  I thought you loved me?”

Everyone in the kitchen stopped for
a second time.  They were going to be caught in the crossfire.  There was no
way to avoid it.  They looked on anxiously as Duncan and Meara argued
passionately.

“I do, but sometimes, love isn’t
enough,” she whispered.  “What if we’re married and you have doubts?  I couldn’t
take it again if you doubt me.  It would kill me.  Maybe it’s best if we split
now before it gets too messy.  At least this time, I’m not stranding you at the
Shore house.  I can ask Diana to help me move my things.  I can ask Ben to
clean up my house today.”

He roared.  “NO!  ABSOLUTELY NOT. 
This engagement is not off even though you gave me back the ring.  You said
we’d work it out.  That’s EXACTLY what we’re going to do.  It’s already messy. 
You’re NOT moving your stuff anywhere.  We can’t be without each other.  You’re
mine and I’m yours.  We’re TOGETHER, that’s IT.  You’ve said two things, square
one and stranded.  I’m calling Mike to see if he’ll lend us the Shore house. 
We can stay there while you get better.  We can spend time together, back at
square one.  And it’s winter, so we might get stranded if it snows.  I’m NOT
letting you go.  Do you HEAR me?”

“Yes, Duncan,” she squeaked, her
face and ears crimson red.

“That’s better,” he said, panic
making his chest hurt.  “I have a phone call to make.  Sit right there until I
come back.”

She nodded meekly.  Sean and Andrew
exchanged looks, never having heard Duncan yell before.  Lisa and Ben were at a
loss as to what to say or do.  Diana stalked over to Meara.

“Are you going to let him speak to
you that way?  In front of the whole family?” demanded Diana.

“Yes, I am,” she said softly. 
“He’s finally realizing what he has to lose if we end it.  He has to fight for
us if he wants to stop doubting.”

The mood subdued, the families were
sitting down to breakfast when Duncan returned.  Everyone tiptoed around him,
avoiding eye contact.  Meara sat where he had left her.

He spoke brusquely.  “Mike says
Happy New Year to everyone.  He gave me a list of things we have to do to make
the Shore house usable in winter.”

“When will we be leaving?” she
asked quietly.

“Tomorrow morning.  It’s New Year’s
Eve.  We said we would spend it all together.  That’s what we’re going to do. 
We can make plans later.  And Meara?”  His voice softened slightly.

Seated around the table, everyone
froze.  They had no idea what he would say.  They had never seen him so angry. 
Meara held her head high.

“Yes, Duncan?” she asked.

Pulling up her chin, he kissed her
and placed her diamond heart necklace around her neck.  “I won’t accept this. 
You can’t give my heart back.  It’s yours, always.  The ring we’ll talk about
in private.  But everyone should know we’re still engaged.  Understood, Meara?”

She spoke haughtily.  “I’ll accept
the necklace.  You can say what you want about the engagement.  It’ll take a lot
of convincing for me to take back the ring.”

Diana flashed an evil grin.  Feisty
Meara was in there somewhere.  Sean backed up, knowing Duncan was going to
blow.  Andrew and Lisa took Anne and John out of the room.  Ben covered his
eyes.

“I made a MISTAKE.  A BIG one.  I
accept that.  I know you’re angry and upset with me.  I won’t beg you to
forgive me.  You need to decide if this is worth fighting for or if it’s over. 
I can’t go on like this.  You’re acting hot one minute and cold the next. 
Decide right NOW,” snapped Duncan.

As soon as the words were out of
his mouth, he dreaded hearing her answer.  He couldn’t bear the thought of
losing her.  She drove him crazy, but she made everything in his life perfect. 
His heart pounded.  He would never allow doubt to threaten them again.

“You’re worth fighting for.  Aren’t
we fighting right now?  Are you willing to fight for me?”

“Yes, I’ll FIGHT for you.  What
kind of stupid question is THAT?”  He threw his hands up, yelling.

“You were so cruel.  So cold.  You
didn’t follow me.  You let me go.  You promised you’d follow me if we were
fighting.”  Tears streaming down her face, she gulped for air.

He growled.  “STOP CRYING.  I
promised to follow you until you learned to fight.  You’ve learned to FIGHT
quite well.  YOU’RE the one who left the argument, not me.  Why did YOU leave?”

“You didn’t believe me.  I wanted
to stay.  I wanted to beg you to forgive me for something I hadn’t done.  I
wanted to tell you anything you wanted to hear to make you stop being so cold. 
I couldn’t lie to you, so I ran.  I had hoped you’d learn the truth.  I gave
you everything I had and you pushed me away like it was the easiest thing in
the world for you to do.  The thought of never being with you again made me
crazy.  By the time I got home, I had lost my mind and I’m not sure what
happened.  You know the rest,” said she calmly.

“I couldn’t understand why you left
without fighting back.  I’m glad you didn’t lie to me.  I don’t want you to
change or be someone you’re not.  At the time, I didn’t realize we were having
a relationship ending argument.  I was lashing out in fear, not thinking about
how it was hurting you.  I’m sorry.  I never want to be without you.  It would
kill me.  That’s why we’re still engaged.  From now on, I will not listen to
anyone but you.  You will not run from arguments, no matter how nasty it gets. 
And I will not accept your resignation.  UNDERSTOOD?”  His voice cracked.

“Yes, Duncan,” she sighed, pulling
him down to kiss him.  “Would I be a real pain in the neck if I asked for
breakfast in bed?”

She winked at him.  His face went
blank.  She giggled.  He sprang into action.

“Meara, get yourself up those
stairs.  Everyone, keep yourselves occupied.  Meara needs her rest and I’ll
tend to her.  We’ll see you later this afternoon for lunch.”

Their families stared in
disbelief.  They weren’t sure what had happened.  Andrew and Lisa brought Anne
and John back into the kitchen.  Meara hobbled to the stairs while Duncan
arranged food on a serving tray.  Their families sat around the kitchen table,
mystified.

“Dad?  Is everything all right
now?” asked Andrew.

“Everything is absolutely fantastic,
Andrew,” Duncan grinned.

Sean shook his head.  “Those two
are weird.  I’m glad they worked it out.  Do you think Meara has any homemade
cheesecake in the fridge?”

Everyone laughed.  They passed food
around the table, chatting away like one big happy family.  Anne sat
thoughtfully.  She was glad Duncan and Meara weren’t fighting anymore.  She
loved them both and didn’t want them to stop loving each other.  That would be
too big of a change.  Anne’s eyes widened.  She made a mental note to give
Uncle Hank’s letter to Meara when she got better.  Anne had the sign she had
been looking for all these years.

Duncan carried the tray of food and
passed Meara on the stairs.  Kissing her, he passed her as he went back to the
kitchen to grab cups of tea and coffee.  He passed her again.  He came back as
she reached the top of the stairs and swept her off her feet.  He carried her
to their bedroom.

“Please tell me you meant what I
think you meant?”  He whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

She giggled.  “Sir Duncan, how
romantic of you.  You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“Answer me.”  He sat her down on
the bed.

“I need an appointment with Dr.
Duncan,” she said.  “I require close examination.”

Groaning, he locked the door. 
“Food first.  Exam later.”

“What about the family?” she asked
innocently.

“The door is shut and locked.  They
don’t exist.  Besides, we’re engaged,” he said, kneeling and holding out her
ring.  “Please take it back.”

“Are you asking me to marry you?” 
She feigned shock.

“Yes, I’m asking you to marry me. 
For better or worse,” he replied.

“We’ve had a good share of better
and worse, but we’re together.  I love you, Duncan.”

“I love you, Meara.  Will you marry
me?”

“Yes.  Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”  He slipped the ring
onto her finger.

“No doubts?”

“If I have any, you’ll straighten
me out.”

“That’s true.  And we’ll always
enjoy making up.  Like now.”  She kissed him, pulling him onto the bed next to
her.  “The red outfit is in the closet.”

“Save it for the Shore house. 
We’ll have to pack a very special making up bag.  We’re going to have to wait
to eat.  I want you now, future Mrs. Phillips.”

“DUNCAN!” She giggled as he carefully
pulled her backwards on the bed.

“That giggle will be my undoing.”
He kissed her deeply as he undressed her.