For Love of Emily Read online

  As she glanced up from her plan book, Silver noticed Emily frowning over the homework assignment she was finishing up then staring into space. The girl was wearing a defeated expression similar to the one she had so often worn at the beginning of the school year.

  Silver put her pencil down and closed the book. “Do you want to talk about something?”

  “No.” Emily fiddled with the drawstring of her purple sweat jacket.

  “That ‘no’ didn’t sound very sincere,” Silver said. “Come on. Out with it.”

  Emily hesitated then almost whispered. “When my dad gets back will you go home?”

  “Well, yes, sweetie. It wouldn’t look very good for me to be staying here when your dad gets back. People might get the wrong impression.”

  “Who cares about that?”

  “Well, I do, for one. And I think the school board would care.” Silver paused then continued, “A young, single teacher has to be very careful about appearances.” Funny how she hadn’t thought about that until Emily had brought it up.

  “But, you’re not doing anything wrong.”

  “I know, Em. But in this world, there are often small-minded people who try to make something ugly out of everything. Fayetteville may be a modern town, but it’s a southern town and people will talk.”

  “Well, that’s stupid!”

  “I agree. It is stupid, but that’s the way some people are, and we have to accept the way they are, because they won’t accept us.”

  “Does that mean you’ll have to go the minute that Dad gets back?” Emily asked, tears welling in her eyes.

  “No, sweetie. I think it’ll be all right for me to hang around until at least your dad is back on his feet.”

  Privately, Silver wasn’t so certain of the answer she had just given Emily. She had no idea what Thad would want to do once he was home. She had a nagging suspicion that he would send her away as soon as he arrived.

  “Good!” Emily smiled, looking very pleased with herself.

  “Is that all you were worried about?”

  “That and my dad.” Emily rummaged around in the mounds of covers that swathed her and produced a pencil she has apparently dropped. “That’s all. You can get back to work now.”

  Silver continued working on her plans, but after a few moments, Emily looked up from the spiral notebook she was writing answers in and asked, “Do you like my dad?”

  Chapter Eight

  Tiny hairs stood up on the back of Silver’s neck. She had no answer ready for that question. As she floundered for an answer, the house phone on the wall in the hallway rang.

  Saved by the bell, Silver thought gratefully. “I have to get the phone. Maybe it’ll be news about your dad. I’ll be back in a skinny minute.”

  Silver hurried out into the hall, grabbed the receiver, and paused a moment to catch her breath before she spoke.

  It was Thad. Even far away the man still had an uncanny effect on her. Her heart danced and did somersaults as she listened to him ask after Emily.

  “Where are you calling from?”

  “I’m at the hospital at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. They had to drop another guy off there, so they thought it best not to continue the flight till in the morning.

  “Colonel Harbeson tracked me down and left a message about Em’s chicken pox. Can she come to the phone?”

  Thad sounded in better shape than Silver would have expected, and she inwardly cheered. “She has been worried. I’ll get her. I’m sure talking to you will make her feel better.” She put down the phone and went to get Emily.

  “It’s your dad on the phone in the hall. Are you up to talk to h—”

  Emily was already out of the bed and scampering out the door before Silver had a chance to finish her sentence. She stayed on the bed and waited to give the child had some privacy while she spoke to her father.

  It was obvious that Emily was excited and relieved to hear from her dad when she returned to her bed. The five-minute telephone conversation had eased her discomfort more than several rounds of reassurance from Silver had. Emily looked relieved and ready to be left alone.

  “That was a big load off my mind,” Emily stated as she hurried back to Silver. “He sounded just like always.”

  That was the problem, Silver thought. The man still unsettled her as he always did. Even from hundreds of miles away.

  ****

  Thad placed the cell phone back on the tray and settled carefully back into his pillows. He still hurt, and it was difficult to get comfortable with his leg elevated. But the few minutes spent talking with his daughter had done much to ease his mind. Maybe now he would be able to relax and sleep.

  But sleep didn’t come easy. In spite of the release from the worry about Emily being with a near-stranger caring for her, in spite of the strong painkiller he had finally accepted against his better judgment, he lay excruciatingly awake. Not worrying, really. Just thinking.

  He was thinking about the woman who had been there for his daughter, the woman who had been there when he should have been. Yet, it wasn’t guilt he was feeling. It was admiration.

  Sylvia Burdette. She looked so frail and fragile with her porcelain complexion and silky, platinum blond hair. She appeared to be the kind of woman who needed protecting, but according to the colonel’s report, she had handled the situation well.

  As he finally drifted into drug-induced slumber he realized that if he had expected anything to go wrong while he was gone, he would never have called on the delicate Miss Burdette. But she had been able to carry it all on her slender and very attractive shoulders, and he was relieved that she’d been there.

  And he was just as happy that she would be there when he got home.

  ****

  Silver hadn’t known what to expect when Thad returned. She certainly expected neither a romantic encounter nor a wasted invalid, but she had not expected the Thad that came home.

  Major Thaddeus E. Thibodeaux, accustomed to always being in action, and always being in charge, didn’t react well to doctor-ordered bed rest. What Silver faced was an ill-tempered man, cross at being confined, barking and snapping when he wasn’t sending Silver to fetch things.

  Thad had finally settled down for a nap, and Silver had wrestled with the decision whether to take a nap, too, or to try to get something done. She finally compromised by putting the teapot on for a cup of instant and a load of laundry in while she waited for the water to boil.

  Fortified with the coffee, Silver spread yesterday’s paper out on the kitchen table in front of her. Somehow, the money crisis and the crime rate seemed to pale in the light of Silver’s problems. She sighed and turned to the comic section, hoping for a chuckle or two to lighten her load.

  Just as she was about to read, Silver heard a squawk on the toy walkie-talkie that Colonel Harbeson had provided when he brought the major home from the hospital. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now Silver couldn’t wait for the batteries to die so she could have silence.

  Silver pushed the transmit button and sighed. “Coming,” she told the machine. Then she switched it off and shoved herself out of the chair. She got halfway to the door, turned and drained her cup dry. No sense wasting it, she reasoned. And she needed the caffeine.

  The door was closed, so Silver knocked before she entered.

  “Come,” he called.

  Thad sat up against the padded headboard with his leg propped on a mound of pillows, surrounded by piles of crumpled yellow paper. Propped on his good knee was a legal pad, skinnier now from use, and Thad was furiously scribbling.

  “I told you to bring the laptop,” he snapped when Silver came in empty handed.

  “Well, maybe you can understand the snap, crackle, and pop over that walkie talkie thing, but I can’t,” Silver retorted testily. Now she would have to go all the way back down to get it. “Is there anything else you need?”

  “Just the laptop.”

  Silver turned and hurried down the stairs. Sh
e knew she’d have to go back up for something else, so she scanned the pile of paraphernalia that Thad had taken with him and was now dumped just inside the front door. She located the computer in its carrying case, hung the strap over her shoulder and trudged back up the stairs.

  Without looking up, Thad added another item for Silver to carry up. “I’ll need the card table from the garage. It’s propped up against the wall by the weight bench.”

  Silver set the laptop case heavily on the foot of the bed. She pivoted, resisting the urge to salute, and stomped down the stairs to locate the table.

  Of course, it was exactly where Thad said it would be. Silver gingerly eased it out of its spot behind a pile of folded moving boxes and dusted it off. It was old, but sturdy. Satisfied that the bulk of the garage gunk was off, she hoisted it up and positioned it under her arm.

  The table wasn’t heavy, but it was awkward to manage up the stairs. At the top, just as Silver breathed a sigh of relief, congratulating herself for making it, she caught the edge of the table top on the knob to the hall door. The table landed on Silver’s foot, and when she jerked her throbbing foot away, the table fell from her grasp and scudded to the floor, knocking her smartly on the shin.

  Silver cried out, blinking back frustrated tears. She didn’t know what to rub first, her foot or her shin. She settled on neither, picked the table up again, and hobbled the few remaining feet to Thad’s door.

  “Are you all right?” Thad asked perfunctorily as Silver pushed the table into the room.

  “Fine,” she replied tersely. “I’ll probably have a giant bruise, but I’ll live. Where do you want the table set up?”

  “I think over here will do.” Thad motioned to a spot right next to the bed.

  “Okay.” Silver breathed heavily, from her exertions or something else, she didn’t know. Whenever she stayed near him for any length of time her breathing would foil her attempts to stay calm. At least this time she had a reason for being short of breath. She forced herself to slow down and set the table up. “Are you going to be able to reach this from where you are?”

  “With a little shifting, I should make do,” was Thad’s curt reply. “You can hand me the laptop and go.”

  “Do you need me to take it out of the case?”

  He smiled, a bright ray of sunshine on an otherwise gloomy day. “I think I can manage it myself.”

  Silver hoisted the machine to the table top and Thad reached to steady it at the same time. “I’ll take it from here,” he said as Silver jerked her fingers away from his. She hated — no, loved — the way her skin tingled whenever they touched. She shook her hand to relieve the sensation. “Do you need anything else?”

  “Just hand me my phone and leave me alone.” He dismissed her by taking the phone and turning it on.

  Rather than watch him search for numbers, Silver stomped out. “What a royal bum!” she muttered as she made her way back to the first floor. “All that and not even a thank you. What do they teach those guys in Officer Candidate School? Some officer and gentleman he is! And to think I was having mushy feelings about him!”

  ****

  Thad heard the beginning of the muffled outburst that Miss Burdette had tried to conceal and smiled. He was being a jerk and he knew it. He just didn’t know how he was supposed to behave. He was not accustomed to being forced to stay at home in bed. He had been confined to quarters under doctor’s orders for less than twenty-four hours, and he was already going out of his skull. He regretted bellowing orders to Miss Burdette, but he had things to do.

  And the first and most important thing he had to do was to make amends for his obnoxious behavior. He was not a man of words, but action. He’d never be able to mouth a good apology. He hadn’t even been able to write the confounded accident report. But he could do something to make amends.

  ****

  The droning vacuum cleaner almost covered the sound of the doorbell. If the plug hadn’t pulled out as she moved a little too far for the cord to stretch and the vacuum hadn’t momentarily stopped, Silver might have missed it completely. As it was, she jerked the door open just in time to see the florist’s delivery man climb into his van and put the vehicle in gear.

  On the step sat a large tissue-wrapped florist’s box.

  “Wait!” Silver called. But with a friendly wave, the man eased his van out of the driveway. “This is all I need now,” she grumbled. “To have to try to track down who these flowers were really meant to go to.” Surely, they weren’t for a man as much of a man’s man as Thad.

  Silver stooped to pick up the flowers. There was a label with the correct address taped to the outside, but no return address and no name. She would have to open the box it to find out who they were for. She fumbled with the cardboard, and as she carefully folded back the green paper, she stumbled back through the door.

  They were gorgeous, she thought as she closed the door behind her. Silver admired the beautiful array of yellow roses, secretly wishing they were for her.

  Finally, she found the envelope perched on the little forked holder amid the greenery around the blooms and opened it.

  “What?” Silver almost dropped the box. Her name was written clearly on the card. With trembling fingers, she opened the flap. Her agitation let the paper slip from her hand as she bent down to retrieve it from the floor.

  Silver forced herself to take a deep breath. “Okay, calm down. Let’s just get inside and see what this is all about.” And stop talking to yourself like an idiot!

  Silver backed into the house and kicked the door shut. She sank into the easy chair closest to the door and decided what to look at first. The card or the flowers? She wanted to prolong the delicious feeling of suspense for a few more moments.

  “I can’t believe they’re for me,” Silver whispered as she peeled back the tissue paper that protected the long-stemmed, yellow roses that really were for her. She had never received anything so lovely.

  There was no special man in Silver’s life, so the giver of the beautiful flowers was still a mystery to her. She located the card that had slipped off the prongs and fallen among the stems. This time she managed to get a hold of it without dropping it.

  She read aloud, “Thank you.”

  The card was signed, Thad.

  Silver would have floated upstairs if it had been possible. Cradling the florist’s box to her chest as if it were a baby she hurried to thank him. At Thad’s door she paused a moment, trying to collect herself.

  He sat with his body angled away from her, typing away at the small keyboard, eyes trained on the monitor. Silver didn’t know whether to interrupt him or leave. She watched and waited for him to notice that she was standing there.

  After a moment, Thad paused in his work and turned around. “I thought I heard something.” He looked at Silver’s armload. “I see you got them.”

  “M-may I come in?” Silver stammered, suddenly shy. “They’re beautiful. But it wasn’t necessary.”

  “Yes, it was. I’ve demanded things from you that were above and beyond the call of duty,” he explained. “I’ve treated you with less courtesy than I would the lowest private.

  “Yes, I had to. To demonstrate to you how much you are appreciated, even if I am lousy at showing it.”

  “Well… You’re welcome then,” Silver managed to say. Was that the correct response in such a situation?

  Thad repositioned his leg on the pile of pillows so he could turn around fully and see Silver better. “Do you suppose I could see what I paid for? I had to trust that the guy would pick out something good.”

  Silver obliged, holding back the tissue as she stepped forward. Her foot caught in a loop of fringe on the edge of a throw rug, and Silver pitched head first onto the bed.

  “Oops,” she laughed to cover her embarrassment and tried to push herself upright. Why was she always so clumsy around him? A strong hand reached out and righted her, and tingling raced from his arm to Silver’s heart. She shook the hand free and pushed he
rself away, flustered by the sudden onslaught of erotic sensation.

  “Are you all right?” Thad asked for the second time that day.

  “Nothing hurt except my dignity,” Silver answered, still embarrassed. “Did I hurt you? Jar your leg or anything?”

  “No. I’m fine. How about giving me a look at those roses?”

  The close proximity to the man had distracted her. “Here.” She shoved the box across the bed toward him.

  “Wow.” Thad whistled. “They’re even nicer than I had anticipated.” He turned to Silver and took her small hand in his large, strong one. “Miss Burdette, I really do appreciate your help. I owe you more than I can possibly repay.”

  Whether his words or the delicious discomfort she felt with his fingers on hers caused it, Silver didn’t know, but she found herself speechless and blushing, locked in his gaze. At least this time she had a reason.

  Finally, she pulled herself free of his magnetic eyes.

  “I have to put these in water right away,” she said lamely and turned to leave. Silver pushed herself up from the bed and picked up the flower box. She left the room as quickly as decorum would allow.

  She’d hoped to slip quietly away until her embarrassment subsided, but no such luck.

  Emily called from her bedroom.

  Silver looked up from the vase of flowers and said, “What can I do for you?”

  “Lucy Evans called and invited me to her birthday party!”

  “Wow! That is a big deal.” Lucy Evans was the girl that everybody liked, the “it” girl in the seventh grade hierarchy at their middle school. “When is it?”

  “Next weekend. Do you think I’ll be well by then?” Emily must finally have noticed the flowers. “Where did those come from? Can I see?”

  Silver felt herself blushing. “They’re from your dad to thank me for helping out. Want to sniff?”