Page 27 of Welcome to Gothic
Frantic parents and excited kids boiled out of the book room.
Roy pointed at his father and told Deputy Dave, “Arrest him!”
“He’s unconscious, son, but when he comes to, I’ll read him his rights. Will that do?” Deputy Dave asked.
A familiar arm slid around Wendy’s waist.
Familiar? Not really, not in this reality, but she didn’t care what century they were in, she turned and pressed her face into Vince’s chest.
He pulled her behind one of the Egyptian columns. He ran his hands down her arms, over her body. “You’re not hurt? No bullet, no injuries from that jump?” He dipped his head close to her ear. “Which was magnificent, by the way.”
“Thank you. I’m fine. Maybe some plaster from the ceiling hit me.” With trembling hands, she dusted his shoulders. “What about you? That jump! I’ve never seen someone leap into midair that fast!”
“I’ve never done it before, but I’ve never had that kind of incentive. You and Roy and those kids...” His voice shook as he remembered the threat they’d faced.
“You saved them.”
“We saved them. Tonight, when I saw you standing there, surrounded by happy children, I knew you. I knew you were valiant and strong, funny and loving. I knew I’d waited my whole life for you.” He laughed unsteadily. “I’m standing here virtually naked, declaring myself to a woman I just met. What about you? Do you think—”
“That you’re the man who made me believe in love at first sight? Someone I could stand beside and love forever?”
He brushed her hair back from her face, leaned close, closer...
Vince’s breath touched Wendy’s lips, his warmth enfolded and enticed. She closed her eyes, rose the millimeter to put her mouth on his and kissed the man she’d lost, and found, today. Their hands roamed, their lips roamed—
“Uncle Vince!”
Roy’s piping voice broke them apart. They looked into each other’s eyes, sighed in unison and turned to face him.
With awesome patience, Vince asked, “What do you want, Roy?”
Roy grinned. “You’ve been kissing,” he said in a singsong voice.
Vince kept his arm around Wendy. “Brilliant deduction, Roy, and if you’d go away, I will—”
Wendy poked him with her elbow. “It’s not going to work. I know these kids. Roy’s merely the advance battalion.”
They followed Roy out into the aftermath of the shooting.
Deputy Dave stood over Bill’s starting-to-stir body, giving his report to the sheriff; because Gothic was so isolated, it would take time for official law enforcement to arrive.
Ariel had herded the parents and class away from the crime scene.
Someone had placed chairs for the O’Hall sisters. They sat together while Minnie gestured furiously at the holes in the ceiling and Mabel patted her arm and murmured platitudes.
At the sight of Vince and Wendy, everyone froze, stared and grinned. Even Minnie.
“Guess we know what you’ve been doing,” Deputy Dave said, and went back to his report.
Wendy frowned. What was this all about? Okay, they’d kissed, but the way everyone was acting—
Roy planted himself in front of his uncle. “You should ask her on a date. To eat dinner.”
Annoyed, Vince said, “I know how to ask a woman on a date, Roy.”
“You can’t be doing it right.” Roy’s voice rose to reach the far corners of the shop. “You don’t even have a girlfriend!”
Ariel slipped close to Wendy and muttered, “Good to know, especially if you’re going at it this fast.”
