Claude had always been their guardian angel, transporting Amanda back and forth to Alabama to visit Tanner, watching over their romance with friendly benevolence, giving them moral support. Exactly when that relationship had changed, she didn’t know. The change had been subtle and completely unexpected.
She smoothed the card. There could be no going back. Claude would never be their guardian angel again.
“Mandy?”
Tanner was standing in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him come in.
“I couldn’t sleep.” She made no attempt to cover the card. From the time they’d made their commitment, she knew there could never be anything except honesty between them.
“Neither could I.” He came to her and put his hand on her shoulder. The signature on the card seemed to leap out at him.
She watched as he picked it up. He stood motionless, saying nothing. His hand tightened on her shoulder. The silence echoed with all the things they might have said. Finally he placed the card carefully back on the dressing table, signature up. His fingers bit into her flesh, but still he remained silent.
She spoke first. “At the time it didn’t seem necessary to tell you.”
“The card said love.”
“I know.” She reached up and squeezed his hand. “I don’t know what that means. This is the first time I’ve heard from Claude since the divorce.”
“He wants you back. Any man in his right mind would.”
She stood up and came into his arms. Pressing her cheek against his chest, she could hear the steady thrum of his heartbeat. Somehow it was reassuring to her. She’d always felt protected in Tanner’s arms.
“Let’s not make mountains, Tanner.”
“If I take you back to Fulton, I’ll be delivering you to him.”
She reached up and cupped his face. “Tanner Donovan, do you doubt my love for you?”
“No.”
“Do you doubt your love for me?”
“Never.” His grin was apologetic.
“Then nothing can come between us. Ever. We’ll face this together.”
He laughed exultantly as he picked her up and carried her to the bed. “Sometimes I get the blues, Amanda. The blues can make a man crazy.”
With the mattress pressing against her back and Tanner pressing against her thighs, she smiled. “I know a cure.”
He swept aside her robe. “That’s the best offer I’ve had today.”
Amanda began curing his blues.
o0o
They left for Missouri at six o’clock the next morning. Both of them were groggy from lack of sleep but determined to be cheerful.
Tanner dragged out his repertoire of old football jokes and regaled Amanda all the way to Memphis. She laughed at the first twenty or so, but finally she could stand it no more.
“Tanner, if you tell me another football story, I’m going to turn blue in the face and faint and bash my head on the door handle and bleed all over the car, and we’ll never get to Fulton—let alone to the altar.”
He chuckled. “You laughed.”
“That was hysteria, not laughter.” She leaned her weary head against the back of the seat. “I may break out in hives. Why did we decide to drive instead of fly?”
“I think it was your idea.”
“No. I believe it was yours.”
“Are we quarreling again, Amanda?”
“Yes. If I weren’t so tired, I’d come over there and make up.”
“On the interstate?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “What can I say? I’m a wicked woman.”
She gave him a tired smile, closed her eyes, and fell fast asleep. She slept all the way to Little Rock. Then Tanner let her drive.
o0o
They decided to spend the night at Cape Girardeau. They were both anxious and out of sorts.
“What if Claude is hostile when he sees us?” Amanda asked over the dinner table.
“Claude has never been hostile. That’s not his nature.”
“Are you defending him?”
“He was my best friend.”
“He was my husband.”
They glared at each other over their tough pork chops.
“If I discover Claude ever laid a hand on you, I’ll—”
“He never touched me. As a matter of fact, he was very good to me.”
“Amanda, you’re being totally irrational.”
“You’re just mad because I nearly wrecked the car.”
“That was my fault. I never should have let you drive. You were too tired.”
Big fat tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Tanner, I don’t want to lose you. This trip is making me crazy. Let’s turn around and go home.”
He came around the table so fast, the dishes rattled. “I can’t stand to see you cry.” He pressed his cheek to hers, then quickly took care of the bill and escorted her to their room.