Andi laughed. It was quiet but honest and bubbled out of her.
"Then come again." She slipped out of Hector's arms to lean close and press a kiss to the older woman's soft cheek.
"Please come again. Can she?" She asked, moving back into Hector's arms as if she had a right to, Paige thought as
her lips thinned. Andi wound her arms around Hector's shoulders and pressed a quick kiss to his lips as her body
settled against his. "Can she?" Another kiss. "For dinner?" And another. "Sometime soon?" There was simple joy in
the kisses. "Please?"
"Well, I know she likes my gumbo." Hector teased, kissing her and then just settling his nose against hers as they
stood in the sunlight. Turning his face just a tad toward a highly amused Mrs Johnson, "Consider yourself invited and
we'll tell you all about Africa." Well, maybe not ALL about Africa, but certainly the amusing and pretty parts.
Andi shut her eyes and her lips curved. Everything inside her seemed to settle and sit just right. Peaceful in Hector's
arms, breathing the air he exhaled, the world full of sunlight and his presence. This was her heaven and she had
expected to have to finish out this life before she found that. Even Mrs. Johnson's presence faded off into the
periphery.
Paige herself didn't actually register as more than cheerful sound, like wind chimes, as she said:
"That's a great idea. You should both come over to my house for dinner one night too. I'm sure the family would love
to get the chance to catch up with you, Hector."
"Well," Hector said, her words registering a bit more than they did with Andi. "Let me know the next time your parents
throw a barbecue. Could be fun. Usually get a game of touch football going with the guys." He grinned at Andi. "And
this time, I brought my own cheerleader."
That was not the response that Paige was looking for. At all. Which amused Mrs. Johnson.
"Well, I should go whip up another batch of cobbler." Mrs. Johnson said. "Would you like to help me, Paige?"
The answer, of course, was 'no'. She didn't want to go help Mrs. Johnson out at all. Paige was starting to realize that
this was going to be an actual fight instead of simply an easy shove. Whatever that freaky Amazon had done to
Hector he seemed attached. She must know a sex move that's pretty amazing and doesn't get you poked with one of
her bony hips, Paige thought with a mental sniff. Not that that really mattered. If it came down to it, Paige wasn't
exactly innocent herself, though she was by no means a slut. She had some physical tricks on her list that would melt
his mind. Hector had been the one she'd been thinking of while she'd perfected them after all.
"Why of course I'd love to." She told Mrs. Johnson with a bright smile. She didn't see it as a defeat or a retreat. Simply
a pause in her plans. She'd done that often enough before it didn't dent her confidence. She knew the old bitty didn't
think she was right for Hector and was trying to run interference but that hardly mattered. They were all too polite to
cause each other any real problems. And, if Hector was so fond of the old woman's cobbler, it never hurt to keep
practicing making it until she got it down pat. Once they were married she was looking forward to surprising him with it.
"I'll come over later." She told him. "We'll work out a good time for that barbeque and then I'll fix something up with
Dad. Mom'll be glad to have him out of the house." She joked and then she joined Mrs. Johnson, offering her arm to
the old woman as they climbed the stairs onto the porch.
Andi, vaguely aware they were leaving, realized in the back of her head it was rude to not say a proper goodbye. But
really, she was sure she'd be seeing them again...
"Mm." Her lips pressed together as she smiled, swaying into Hector. Who was the only one she'd heard clearly in the
first place. "If I'm on cheerleader duty I shall have to come up with some catchy ranty cheer that rhymes in all the
wrong places." Her lips parted as her smile grew. "Does that mean I need a very, very short skirt too?"
"Looking forward to it." Hector said automatically and politely to Paige as the two women moved away and a smile
spread up his face at Andi's suggestion. "Could do that. Might not let you out of the house then..." He said. "Which
would get us out of sampling some of Ben Carson's absolutely awful homemade barbecue sauce. It's that bad, even I
try to get out of eating it!"
He picked her up easily, her legs going around his waist. "So, what do you want to see next? Should we see who else
we can con food off?"
It was such a simple thing. But she'd never wrapped her legs around a man before Hector. Unless you counted
monkeying up her Da's back as a child and she wasn't counting that. Because it wasn't the same at all. Quite the
opposite in fact. Unless you counted the feeling of being safe.
She laughed quietly, just the slightest bit 'taller' than him now so she could lower her face to rest her forehead against
his, loose strands of hair that had escaped from the braid mingling with his darker hair.
"Well, I am your bodyguard, remember?" She teased, kissing the tip of his nose. "It is my job to protect you from all
kinds of unmentionables. I suppose bad sauce is included."
She smoothed fingers through his slightly damp hair, warm from the sun and grinned.
"Am I getting a culinary tour of the town then?" She asked, delighted. "Since you started with dessert are we now
going to meet someone for the main meal and than work our way back to soup and salad or is this a theme and we're
just going to hit up every dessert in town?" She was teasing. The feel of his arms around her, his hands on her, his
body against hers in such a simple and intimate way... it made her heart bubble. As if there was laughter in her veins.
They could go see more of his friends and neighbors or he could show her the 'main' street every town seemed to
have so she knew where the market was. And she would be perfectly happy with either. For the first time she felt as if
there truly was time to dawdle. Time for everything. But most importantly... time for them.
Paige and Mrs. Johnson watched shameless from the screen door. Mrs. Johnson because it tickled her something
wonderful and because she was enjoying the fact she got to be around when Paige saw how the deck was stacked.
And Paige, clear face darkening almost as fast as her eyes, watched as well. Starting to recognize in her heart that
the English woman was something more than simply a bump in the road. She was the enemy.
"You're in Louisiana." He said with a laugh. "Culinary tour is the only way to go, second to the music tour, but you
gotta go right down to New Orleans for that." His accent was growing just a tad thicker, more Louisiana than the
Louisiana-Texan drawl he usually had. Being around people who sounded nearly the same as him did that naturally.
"But we got the main course waiting back home, so we can skip that. Just stick to pies, cookies and cobblers."
Mrs Johnson sighed. "I am so glad he found someone." She said. "It’s been a long enough road for him, he needs a
passenger, don't you think?" Was she maybe pushing Paige a bit? Maybe pushing some buttons? Oh yes. But she
was retired, she was a widow, her children were all moved out and away, she needed something more than just her
flowers.
And it might also be a test from the 'gentle' widow. To see if the Englishwoman he had brought back with him was
strong enough.
"Mm." She purr/hummed it happily. Leaning down to kiss him slow. She could drown in his voice sometimes. All warm
liquid honey. Especially when he was concentrating on just her...
"More than Twinkies?" She teased, laughing softly against him. Having both seen them in the cupboard while making
'breakfast' for the children and having tasted it in a passing kiss earlier.
She wound her arms around his shoulders and lowered her face to lightly rub the tip of her nose against his, voice
going softer.
"Do you have other friends with specialty desserts in the area or were you just going to show me where the bakery is
so I can simply get hit with all that sugar all at once?"
Paige sniffed dismissively.
"She's too frail for him. And one good stiff breeze would blow her away. He needs a woman with backbone. Someone
that can take care of him and run his house when he's gone." She shook her head. Since she wasn't directly
mentioning herself as the only logical choice it wasn't considered petty to say things like that. "She's not even
healthy." She'd seen the almost invisible bags under those overlarge eyes and how pale and thin the skin was even
in sunlight. Not to mention the anorexic thing. "I'm just worried for him." She explained. "I care about him and I don't
want to see him get hurt." There. Her last line had put her in the running in the widow's mind if there had ever been a
doubt. Mrs. Johnson wanted to choose sides in this, she was more than welcome to. Paige just wanted her to know
that this was one southern peach that wasn't backing down simply because her man was ignoring the fact that
everyone in the neighborhood could see him standing in the widow's front yard with a foreign woman wrapped around
him.
"Of course." Mrs Johnson agreed. "That wouldn't do for him at all. We also wouldn't want someone who simpers over
his every last word, that would get trying after a while I would think. Men don't often know what's good for them but
sometimes they do. And they just hold on for dear life." She shrugged. "I did convince two men I was what was good
for them. The other, well, he convinced me."
"Well," Hector said. "If you really want to improve on the Twinkies, there's apple pie around here somewhere. Bound
to be some cookies, but we do have a bakery. Hop, skip and two blocks away."
Andi laughed softly again. Lowering her face to brush her lips lightly against his. "Bakery?" She suggested since he
hadn't named any names so it didn't seem there was anyone else he needed to see right away. She liked the way
bakeries smelled. Of course, she'd have to get down. Not that she minded walking. She liked walking. Her legs, so
used to it, had gotten lazy feeling in the past few days of nothing but pleasant sleep. But - as sexual as it sounded -
she also loved the way he felt between her legs. The warmth of him and the rough fabric of his clothes against her
skin. It felt - right. Necessary.
Addictive.
She knew what was going to happen between them eventually. Found - all kinds of thoughts and feelings tangled up
in that certainty. Strangely enough, fear, which she'd always thought would be prominent, wasn't even a whisper.
Holding her the way he was, here, in the middle of a walkway in a neighbor's front yard, she knew he realized what he
was doing. Showing anyone that needed to see that she was his and they were bound together. She was doing the
same thing. And that was right too.
She slipped long fingers into his dark hair. Making no move to untangle herself as she looked down into his eyes.
Utter completeness and peace in her own eyes. The way she loved him was alive there too.
"My handsome man." She whispered it with a soft smile. "I do love you, you know."
"Men just think they know what's right for them." Paige agreed. Scowling as she continued to watch. All these years
and he'd never once looked past the fact he thought she was a child. And now this. That was that. She was tired of
waiting for him to come around on his own. "Sometimes you just gotta hit 'em with a two by four to get their attention."
She added. Just a matter of selecting the right two by four...
"Oh yes." Mrs Johnson said. "A brain damaged man is so much easier to handle, if annoying in his helplessness. But
some men have been God gifted with thick skulls." Thankfully Hector was one of them, or he would have taken Paige
up on what she was constantly flaunting in his face since she was in high school. "But it's so nice he's come back
home for vacation. He looks a bit ragged around the edges, he needs peace and home cooking." As much as she
wanted some 'excitement' in her life, she didn't want to disrupt Hector's to the point of distraction. Her first husband
was in the Army, stormed the beaches of Normandy. She knew what the military asked in return for the privilege of
serving.
"You know I can make a case for you not weighing as much as some of my gear, right?" Hector asked with a chuckle.
"Especially since you might become the most popular import these parts have seen in a while...might really not want
to let you out of my sight. Don't mind, do you?"
"Well, he came to the right town for the home cooking." Paige stated, turning away from the screen. She'd seen
enough. Enough to harden her resolve and make her decide it was this time or never for him. She doubted the
anorexic could cook anyway. Luckily Paige knew she could. Better than her Mom or Dad easily. The way to a man's
heart was through his stomach. Or lower.
Andi chuckled against him. Intentionally shifting her legs to shift closer. She was his. She could handle people asking
her to 'say that again' simply because they thought her accent was funny. She couldn't see any man looking at her as
anything more than an oddity considering the fact she was so obviously wound around Hector.
She lowered her head to rest it against his, arms winding around him.
"Promise?" She asked softly.
"Promise." Hector said, adjusting his own hold as she shifted closer. "Even been told I have eyes in the back of my
skull, so you are so out of luck." He added with a chuckle. That, and in boot camp, he had learned how to take power
naps with his eyes open. Quite a trick, actually.
Mrs Johnson watched as Paige moved away from the screen door. "Guess you caught on that they're leaving." She
said with a shake of her head. She really hoped, for the English doctor's sake, that Andi was stronger than she
looked. For Hector's sake too. Poor boy.
"So, let's go check out the bakery. Grocery store is on the way, you can show me your idea of staples." Hector said
with a chuckle.
Paige smiled.
"Not like I have to watch them or they'll disappear." She pointed out. "I know where he lives." Right across from her.
And by the end of this visit, he'd be living much closer. She was determined on that point.
"That explains why you sleep on your stomach." Andi teased. At least when he wasn't sleeping next to her he did. And
sometimes, lately, with her trying to fit herself entirely under him, he probably almost still did.