Page 37 of Love Story
But then the words died on their lips and they stopped singing. He swayed with her but the dance was no longer the point. John wanted to kiss her more than he wanted his next breath. Here in the living room. The two of them with the lights off and only a dim remaining sliver of daylight filling the air. Just one kiss.
He felt Elizabeth move still closer. The song played on around them, only now John could feel her soft breath. Just one kiss. His lips found hers and the moment lasted longer than he intended.
He caught his breath, but then he was kissing her again. Another time and another. The buzz made him feel like he was floating. Or maybe it was Elizabeth making him feel that way. He was tilting, swaying. Already he couldn’t think straight. If they didn’t stop...
“Elizabeth...” He took a step back. All he wanted was to be in her arms again. “You have to go.” A ribbon of fear worked its way through his desire. He needed to get her home. Needed to get a grip.
“Yes.” She sounded certain. It was time to go. But she came to him and this time she started the kiss. After a minute, John no longer knew the name of the song playing in the background. There was Elizabeth and only her. She took a moment to breathe and her eyes found his. “But... you’ve had too much to drink. You can’t drive.”
“I can’t?”
“No.” She kissed him again. “I’ll sleep on the couch. And you can take me in the morning.”
His lips were on hers once more. “You... you have to call Betsy.”
“Okay.”
He was swaying again, the drink still having its way with him. “Here.” With unsteady steps he led her to the couch.
They both sat down, and as if he was helpless against gravity, he lay down and stretched out. She did the same. “You have to go to your room.”
“Yes.” He meant to sit up again. He wanted to sit up. But he wanted to kiss her more. Kiss her here, lying beside her. They fit so well on the sofa, his body against hers. “I have to go.”
They kissed and after a minute she whispered, breathless. “Go, John.”
“Okay.” His lips moved over hers. “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
They were the last words he said for a long time. He kissed her and kissed her again and he could feel his hands finding their way to places they never should’ve gone. Ten minutes passed, then twenty and John felt like it was a dream. The most wonderful breathtaking dream.
The next thing John knew it was morning.
He and Elizabeth were lying tangled up beneath a blanket and she was asleep. She had never called Betsy and he had never stopped. Never gone to his room. And in that instant a realization hit him. One that would haunt him every day for the next year. For the rest of his life.
In a moment of weakness he had ruined everything.
12
Commotion broke out at the front entrance to the tent where Andi was still working. She was passing out water bottles when she heard people shouting and clapping. Happy voices, the type that were rare after a disaster.
Andi followed the sound up the aisle and at the same time she saw an older woman being escorted by a smiling Caleb into the temporary housing. The woman’s clothing was ripped and her hair was matted. She was shaking, her eyes wide and frightened.
“Patsy, you’re going to be just fine.” Caleb pointed toward the adjacent aisle of beds. “Your husband’s here. I’m sure of it!”
Her husband! Was this really her? Harry’s Patsy? Andi felt her heartbeat double as she watched. Setting the water bottles down, Andi turned and looked in Harry’s direction. He was curled on his side, napping. She had to get to him. She took the quickest route to Bed Eleven and watched as Caleb walked the woman closer.
His dark eyes met hers and he grinned. With his free hand he gave her a thumbs-up. “This is her!” He mouthed the words as he drew near.
Harry had become a favorite for both Andi and Caleb. Every day the two of them talked with Harry about Patsy and where she might be and how she must be missing him. Andi had prayed, but Caleb insisted the woman couldn’t be alive. It had been nearly two weeks since Harry was brought to the tent.
But now there was no doubt. Caleb and Patsy reached Bed Eleven and then it happened. The weary woman stopped short and began to cry. Hands over her face, she stood there in the middle of the temporary housing and wept.
Patsy had found Harry.
Andi gently nudged the older man’s shoulder. “Harry!” She spoke in a voice soft but urgent. “Harry, wake up!”
His eyes flew open and before he was fully awake, he kicked his legs to the floor and sat. “Did they find her? My Patsy?” They were always the first words out of his mouth after a spell of sleep.Did they find her?
“She’s here, Harry.” Andi pointed to the woman standing there. “That’s her, right?”
