“Opportunity knocking,” he murmured.
“Tell opportunity it’s not polite to come in without an invitation.”
He chuckled. “Tell invitation not to speak so eloquently.”
She laughed. Listening to the music of her laughter and watching the play of moonlight over her face and hair, he knew that he couldn’t continue the heartless game he was playing. At least not tonight. For this one night only, he was going to forget the past and enjoy the moment.
As Maxine steered her rackety old car into the lot in front of Jimmy’s, Tanner laid down the shield and took off his armor.
“Truce, Mandy.” He spoke softly, for her ears only. “Let’s call the battle off.”
“I’m not sure I can trust you.”
“You can. I promise.”
“For how long?”
“One night only. Tonight.”
He’d always known that good boys got rewards, and her smile was proof.
“Agreed.”
They followed Maxine and Wilford into Jimmy’s to have hot chocolate and talk of ordinary things— football and politics and Christmas and Hong Kong. They discussed world peace and small-town morality. They reminisced over their days at Greenville High, and Tanner even told Wilford of the time he and Claude and Amanda had stolen their biggest rival’s mascot, a billy goat, and smuggled it into the principal’s office. The goat had created such havoc that school had been canceled. Wilford, who was from Chicago, observed that that wasn’t much reason to dismiss school. Maxine explained that he didn’t know the goat, and Tanner assured him that Southerners were unique. It didn’t take much to excite them.
He was thinking mostly of himself when he’d made the remark. He’d been in the finest restaurants in New York, Madrid, Paris, and Hong Kong. But right now, sitting in Jimmy’s watching Amanda, he couldn’t remember when he’d been more excited. He felt as if he’d just carried the ball fifty yards and crossed the goal line.
It was late when they returned to the church to pick up their cars. As Tanner watched Amanda drive off into the night he vowed that the next day would be different. He wouldn’t allow his feelings to get in the way. He’d finish what he’d set out to do.
o0o
Tanner woke up quickly, alert, cheerful, his body like a well-oiled machine, fine-tuned and ready to go. The smell of gingerbread and the sound of his mother’s singing drifted up the stairs to him. He could hear his father’s big boom of laughter, the banging of the front door, and the happy chatter of young voices—some of the Donovan grandchildren coming in to breakfast. For a moment he lay on the feather mattress in the big four-poster bed and listened to the sounds of home. Then he dressed and hurried down to join his family.
Anna Donovan was in the kitchen, her neat salt-and-pepper hair pulled into a French twist, and her still-slim figure encased in a ruffled apron. Tanner kissed her on the cheek, lifted her off her feet, and waltzed her around the kitchen.
When he set her back down, she was flushed with pleasure. “Land sakes! A body can’t do a speck of work when you’re home, Tanner. Always carrying on. You’re just like your father.” Her wide smile and the twinkle in her blue eyes betrayed her bluff. Besides that, Tanner knew that she adored all the Donovan men, especially Matthew, his father.
He reached over her shoulder and took a huge piece of hot gingerbread off the stove. Taking a big bite, he rolled his eyes heavenward. “I’d kill for your gingerbread.”
Anna suppressed her smile. “That’s downright sacrilegious. Don’t let your brother Paul hear you talking like that.”
“When are they arriving?”
“Not till Thursday. He has candlelight services on Wednesday night.”
Tanner ate the last of his gingerbread and straddled a kitchen chair. “Mom, you’re the wisest woman I know.”
Hands on her hips, she turned around to face him. “The last time you said that to me, you had just set the barn on fire.”
Tanner laughed. “I was only ten, and it was an accident.”
“A body can’t be too careful with you around. What is it this time?”
“If you wanted to be swept off your feet, how would you like it to be done?”
She gave him a keen look. “Did you have somebody particular in mind?”
“Just asking.”
“Well, a mother can always hope. Look at Paul. He and Martie are so happy—with the twins and her expecting again. And Theo and Charles and Glover, all with wives and children, are just as contented as pigs in the sunshine.”
Tanner chuckled. “I don’t want to be a pig in the sunshine. I want to know Pop’s courting secrets.”