Page 20 of Candy Cane Dreams
"I know. And I had this irritating person in my real life who considered me her enemy for years, and I had this really compelling person that I met with at night and couldn't stop thinking about."
"Irritating?"
"You can't say that you didn't think the same about me. Worse even." There was laughter in his tone, and Nelly grinned to herself.
"You're right. You're absolutely right, as you usually are."
"Oh, I am? Can I get that recorded?"
"No. Absolutely not. And if anyone asks if I said it, I'll deny, deny, deny."
They laughed together.
"What are you thinking about Kate?" Nelly finally asked. Her friend seemed to be settling down in town okay, although she'd only been there a few days.
"I think she's going to be great. We can definitely use her. But I’m not sure about handing things off to her. Plus, do we really want to give it up?"
"Do you think we can do it with a family?"
They had been trying to start a family for a couple of months, and Nelly had a feeling that she was going to have some good news for Roland at Christmas.
"I don't particularly want to try to shuffle kids and sitters and make our lives even more difficult. Who would? But I can't deny that I love doing it, and I think you do too."
"I do. But you're right. It might be time to pass the torch. Although these will always be some of my fondest memories."
"Not too many people can say they wooed each other and didn't even know who the other one was."
They smiled, their fingers twined together and swinging freely between them, their steps slow and leisurely.
"With children, we probably can't be up late, walking around like this, because they're going to expect us to get up at the crack of dawn and be happy and cheerful."
"Well, I don't expect you to get up at the crack of dawn, but I do expect you to be happy and cheerful. You know how miserable it would be to be married to someone who wasn't?" Roland shivered as though talking about something truly terrible.
Although it would be terrible to be married to someone who couldn't greet the other with a smile and a kind word, who was miserable and complained all the time.
"Have I thanked you lately for being a generally positive, upbeat, kind person? And for being that way with me?" Nellyasked, lifting their joined hands together and placing a kiss on his knuckles.
Instead of allowing their hands to drop, he pulled them to his lips and kissed her knuckles as well. "I think you might have done that this morning, actually, but I don't mind hearing it again. And I'm pretty sure I told you that I felt like I was the most blessed man in the world, because being married to you these few months have been better than all of the months I spent single."
She tilted her head up and grinned at him.
"I suppose we can get all mushy now, or we could talk about whether or not Kate is the person we want to pass the torch to."
"I honestly don't know that we want to pass the torch to her completely, although she would be really great to add to our list of informants."
Nelly nodded. A lot of their informants had no idea they were informants, but Kate, with her position in the school, would have access to information that not too many people would. There would be some of it that she couldn't share, because of confidentiality laws, but there would be others that were observable and completely reportable.
"Has she found a place to stay yet?" Roland asked as they made it to his truck, and he opened her door for her. She appreciated the small gesture of courtesy. Even though she was perfectly capable of opening her own door, it was just the idea that he was showing deference to her, and a kindness that she appreciated.
"Thank you," she said as she got in. And then she said, "I don't think so."
He jerked his head as he closed her door and walked around his truck.
As he got in, he said, "Isn't there a small efficiency apartment above the candle shop?"
"I think so, but it has nothing. Like, literally it doesn't even have a stove."
"She might not be too picky at this point. She needs a place to stay. As long as she can sleep and have decent meals, I don't think she'd complain. But... maybe she's more high-maintenance than I know."
