Malcolm
It’s been a little over two weeks since Mandy and Sally enlightened Brian and me to the intrigue of Mandy’s and my first night. In hindsight, I wonder how we hadn’t put it all together. My only excuse is that I was too smitten with Mandy to even consider that she was the nice friend of Sally’s.
I was wrong when I’d worried that Brian was the same as he was years ago. He’s changed too. I’d say we’ve both grown up. Our time together on the team was as they say ‘the time of our life.’ While some people find it hard to move on from those kind of glory days, we both seem to have done it. While I went into teaching, Brian went into physical therapy. He still has some more school to finish—right now he’s a physical therapy assistant—but he’s working as he takes classes to become a physical therapist. Currently, he is working with a center that concentrates primarily on the elderly. He said all those hours spent in ice baths and enduring therapy piqued his interest in the field. He says he owes his ability to walk and rock Sally’s world—okay, he hasn’t totally changed—to the medical trainers and physical therapists who tended to him and his multiple injuries.
It’s a pay-it-forward kind of thing. Now, he wants to do for others what was done for him.
His commitment to his patients is what derailed the blind date. It’s why he and Sally never made it to the restaurant. One of the patients whom he sees regularly had an unexpected fall, injuring himself. When Brian got the call, he felt obligated to check on the elderly man.
Who would have suspected under our slick playboy exteriors there were grown men who could handle real responsibilities?
Now that we’ve all reconnected, Brian and mostly Sally, helped me to nearly accomplish a miracle. Okay, maybe it’s not a miracle. Those are miraculous feats like virgin births and turning water into wine. However, if you ask me, this is close.
I’m very close to accomplishing a never previously attempted feat of gigantic proportions. I’m taking Mandy with me for a weekend out of town. I understand her commitment to her son, but I think she deserves a weekend away, full of fun and pampering. Thankfully, I’m not the only one who feels that way.
The way I see it, Mandy shouldn’t always be the one who takes care of other people. There’s no way I could have made it work without Sally’s help. It’s rather hilarious how Sally ganged up with Mandy’s mother to help me pull this off.
The still yet to be seen part is Mandy’s reaction to it all: she doesn’t know what’s happening yet. She thinks we’re meeting Sally and Brian again for dinner. She’s right, but what she doesn’t know is that the dinner is in Tampa, as in Florida.
The Lightning are having a special pregame ceremony on Saturday night. It’s the anniversary of the season when we won the Stanley Cup. This ceremony, bringing back members of the championship team, is supposed to be good luck for the season ahead. It doesn’t hurt for PR purposes either. It isn’t my thing, but it gave me a reason to whisk her away.
I glance over to see Mandy looking around as we pull onto the street that leads to the airport. There really isn’t much else in this vicinity. She has to suspect something.
“Malcolm, where are we? I thought we were meeting Sally and Brian.”
“We are.”
I slow as we approach the short-term parking garage.
“At the airport? Why would we have dinner here?”
The gray skies overhead are the reason for her coat and gloves, but where we’re going, she’ll be able to show off her sexy body in sundresses and bathing suits.
“Well, you see, dinner isn’t for another few hours.”
“What?”
“But if you’re hungry, I think we have time to grab an appetizer and drink before we leave.”
Mandy is sitting straighter. Her neck is flexing in that way I’ve learned it does when she’s suddenly nervous or worried. I reach out and touch her thigh. “Don’t worry. It’s a surprise.”
Her lips purse as her head slowly shakes. “No. I don’t like surprises.”
“You’ll like this one...I hope.”
After the gate lifts to the parking garage and I take the little ticket, I continue driving around the circular lot, getting higher and higher until I find a parking space. The entire time I feel her stare on me. “Green three,” I say aloud.
Her head is now shaking vigorously back and forth. “No. I need to be home in the morning. My mom—”
I seize her petite hand, stilling her words. “Your mom knows. Sally helped. Your mom isn’t expecting you until Sunday evening. Sally packed your suitcase.”
“What? No.” Her voice grows louder. “This is ludicrous. You can’t kidnap me. I need to be home for Ja—my son.”
“And you will be, on Sunday before he goes to bed. I’m not kidnapping you. There’s no ransom note. And you can’t be kidnapped if I plan to return you on Sunday. I’m simply borrowing you.”
Mandy takes a deep breath with her eyes still too wide. “You could have asked.”
“I could have, but I think you would have told me no.”
“I would have. I’ve never, never in his whole life left my son for two days.”
“Then it’s time.”
“No! You don’t understand...”
I lean forward and stop her protest with a gentle touch of my palm to her cheek, pulling her moving lips my direction and swallowing her words with a kiss. When she finally seems to relax—if only a smidgen—her body melting my way, I speak, “I don’t. I don’t understand. Not because I don’t want to understand, but because you haven’t shared. Let me tell you what I do understand?”
“Malcolm.”
I touch a finger to her perfectly kissable lips. “Shh, please?”
She nods against my finger.
“Brian and I are part of a pregame ceremony tomorrow night in Tampa—”
“Tampa! No!” She gets the words out before I can touch her lips again with the tip of my finger.
“...in Tampa,” I go on. “Sally is coming with Brian. I wish I could say it was my idea to bring you, but it was her idea that we all go.” I continue talking before Mandy can protest more. “Sally made the arrangements with your parents. I know you haven’t introduced me to them, and I get it. I thought it would be a bit presumptuous of me to show up at their house, introduce myself, and explain that I wanted to borrow you for the weekend.”
A smile threatens Mandy’s scowl as the tips of her lips fight the urge to smile. “My dad might have hurt you.”
That makes me smile. “If I were your father, I’d probably do the same. So you see why it worked better this way. You’re here and I’m unharmed by a crazed, overprotective father.”
“I think my brother might be more of a threat.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She shakes her head. “So my mom knew about this?”
“Yes, she helped Sally with your packing and agreed to keep your son.”
Mandy reaches for her phone. Before she dials, I put my hand over hers and say, “You’re only allowed one call.”
“What? Am I under arrest?”
“One call, Ms. Wells. Okay, one call per day. Who will it be?”
“Will I see Sally?”
“Yes, they’re supposed to be here already.”
She laughs. “Which means they’re not.”
I nod my agreement.
“My mom.”
I release her hand with her phone.
I haven’t met her mom, but as the phone call ensues, I decide that I like her. Not only did she help with getting Mandy away for this weekend, but as soon as the call connects, her mother’s laughter rings out from the phone, filling the interior of my car. It’s nice to know that Mandy has so much support.
After the initial laughing, I can only hear Mandy’s side of the conversation. “...knew? Why didn’t you say anything? ...Yes, I know that’s how surprises work. You know I hate surprises... What about...?” Her eyes dart to me.
It admittedly hurts more and more that she won’t even say her son’s name in front of me, but I can’t change that. What I can do is hope that one day she’ll trust me more, and in the meantime, I can give her an unforgettable weekend.
Mandy’s still speaking. “I didn’t tell him goodbye. ...Okay. Tell him I love him. Tell him I’ll call tomorrow.” Her gaze darts back to me. No doubt she’s thinking about her one call restriction. “And it may be on Sally’s phone, so be sure to answer.”
I just shake my head. Damn, she’s a handful and I love it.
“Because...I’m not sure if you packed my charger. Oh, you did... You don’t know,” she says, “I mean, Malcolm could be a serial killer, and you packed my bag!”
Her tone is lighter than it’s been and it makes me smile.
“And you trust Sally? ...I hope I see you again on Sunday.... I love you too, Mom. Bye.”
After she disconnects, she stares down at her phone for a minute and then back to me. “I don’t know how you did it.”
“With help.” I reach for her hand. “You didn’t let me finish about what I understand.”
“Fine. What do you understand?”
“That you’ve rocked my world. I understand that you have a son and responsibilities.” I nod toward her phone. “And that you have a super support system. I don’t fully understand why I can’t know them. I mean, I do get it...but as I’ve said, I’ll take what I can get, what you’re willing to give. Right now, I’m getting your undivided attention for an entire weekend.”
“Minus phone calls,” she interjects.
“Minus one call per day. Today’s is done. Don’t make me take your phone away.”
Her pretty eyes narrow. “You wouldn’t dare.”
I lift my brows. “Something that you might want to understand about me: I love a challenge. And what you just said feels like a gauntlet being thrown down, a proverbial line in the sand—Florida sand in this case.”
“Fine.” Mandy takes a deep breath. “I won’t call, but I have to have my phone in case my mom or dad needs to call me.”
“Deal,” I say, extending my hand. After we shake, I watch as the front of her jacket rises and falls and imagine only a light top, sundress, or bathing suit. Hell, maybe warmer climates are better. “Now that we’re on the same page, are you ready for an adventure?”
Mandy leans forward and places her palm on my cheek. “Malcolm Peppernick, I want to be mad at you, but how can I be mad when you went to all this trouble to steal me away?”
“You can’t,” I agree.
“I’ve never been kidnapped before. Oh,” she says, her tone feigning duress. “Whatever is going to happen to me?”
I reach for her hand and kiss the soft skin of her palm. “I plan to return you Sunday night, perhaps a little sore and worn out, but only because all your wildest fantasies have been fulfilled.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve entertained fantasies.”
“Then it’s past time to start. Let’s get out of this car, go through security, and get something to eat. I doubt your fantasies include starvation.”
Her eyes widen. “It depends on the cause. A plane crash on a desert island—no. But...that first night when we almost forgot to eat our pizza—that was an acceptable reason for starvation.”
“Oh, but, beautiful, I didn’t forget to eat.”
Mandy shakes her head as pink fills her cheeks in an endearing way. As we get out of my car and I open the trunk, she says, “Hey, that’s my suitcase.”
“Because you’re going on a weekend getaway.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And we’re not flying over any deserted islands, so no worries.”
“Good to know.”