Cherishing Mrs. Right Read online

  too many.”

  Cody shook his head. “I can’t imagine why they

  don’t see what I do, but then again, I’m sort of glad

  they didn’t, otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting across

  from me right now.” He reached out and lightly

  touched her hand. He left it in place. He liked the

  way her skin felt under his.

  Darla glanced down at their hands. Just like some

  teenager she slipped her foot out of her flip-flop and

  stretched her foot out and slowly ran her foot up and

  down his calf. She watched as his eyes widened and

  a small sexy smile formed on his mouth.

  He repositioned himself in his chair and cleared

  his throat. He squeezed her fingers, letting her know

  that what she was doing pleased him.

  “Maybe we should finish our meal before we

  have dessert?” she said, searching his face for

  approval.

  He finally found his voice. He’d never been at a

  loss for words before. She really had him all

  confused.

  “This is crazy. We hardly know each other, yet I

  feel I’ve known you for a lifetime.”

  Darla nodded. “Me too.”

  Just then the server walked by, and Darla reached

  out and gently tagged her as she passed. “Can we

  have our bill, please?”

  Cody noticed her smile. He read it like it was a

  long novel. He knew exactly what was on her mind.

  It was on his as well.

  As they waited for the server to return with their

  bill, they held hands, and while Cody ran his fingers

  up and down her hand and wrist, she ran her foot up

  and down his calf and even up a little higher. He

  tossed his head back for a second, dreaming of what

  it was going to be like. He hoped he wouldn’t be

  disappointed.

  Chapter Eight

  

  They could hardly keep their hands off one

  another. Cody was concentrating on driving, and

  Darla was concentrating on distracting him. When

  they finally pulled into the hotel, Cody had to sit a

  moment and get his composure before going in and

  getting the key.

  “Girl, you got me all heated up,” he said,

  reaching over and kissing her.

  She pulled him back to her and kissed him

  passionately. “Hurry up and get those keys,” she said

  through clenched teeth.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The two were in a lip-lock that even a pry bar

  couldn’t separate. Darla’s back was up against the

  door, and she held on to Cody’s neck and he began to

  feel her long nails lightly dig into his skin. Cody

  opened one eye and tried to put the key in the

  keyhole without breaking the kiss. She pulled him

  tightly, making him miss his mark. Finally, he was

  able to place the key into the keyhole and with a

  couple of jiggles, the door opened. He pushed the

  door open wider with his boot. He walked her inside

  backward and took his boot and slammed the door

  shut. He kept walking her backward; lips locked and

  gently laid her down on the bed. She scooted to the

  middle and held out her arms for him. He lowered

  himself on top of her and began caressing her and

  kissing her neck. Things were getting hot, and her

  heavy breathing and moaning were turning him on

  badly. Just as he was about to make the next move,

  loud bells began going off in the room. Bells as in a

  fire alarm!

  Cody looked up at the mechanism that was

  making all the noise. “I think that is a fire alarm, and

  we need to exit the room.” He pushed himself off of

  her and stood straight up. “Yep, that’s exactly what

  that is.” He reached for her hand and pulled her up

  off the bed. “Let’s go, grab your purse.”

  The two headed out the door where they saw

  others gathering across the parking lot. They walked

  toward the large group. Just as they settled amongst

  the other guests, Cody got a whiff of smoke.

  “I think it’s a real fire!”

  Soon fire trucks blazing their sirens and lights

  entered the parking lot. Hoses came out and they all

  watched on as one of the rooms was doused with

  water.

  He pulled Darla close to him and hugged her. “I

  sort of feel like a fire that just got put out, too.” He

  glanced over at her.

  She frowned. “I wonder if the stars are telling us

  to wait?”

  “The stars? Are you joking? You don’t really

  believe in that crap, do you?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I believe in the

  stars, fate, and all of that gibberish,” she said walking

  off.

  “Now, don’t get yourself all worked up about me

  not believing in all that hippy stuff. I get it. I do. You

  are one of those types that believe things happen for

  a reason. I just happen to believe that stuff just

  happens.”

  Darla pulled herself from his embrace. “One of

  those ‘types’? Dude, you better take that back, or it’s

  gonna be a long drive to D.C.”

  Cody laughed. “You know what I mean. Don’t be

  so darn serious about stuff.”

  Darla lowered her head. She counted the pebbles

  that were near her feet, and then when she was done

  with that she counted how many different colors of

  pebbles. She didn’t want to face Cody.

  Cody reached over and lifted her chin. “You’re

  not mad at me, are you?”

  Darla nodded. “A little.”

  Cody looked away. He watched as a fireman

  rolled up the large hose. It was really fascinating. He

  looked back at Darla.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m very methodical, and

  I don’t believe in a lot of that spiritual stuff. I do

  believe in God, though.”

  “Well, if you’re going to be with me, you’ll have

  to learn to be a bit more accepting of my ways. I burn

  incense, have a Buddha I pray to, and I chant.”

  Cody’s eyes widened. “You chant?”

  Darla nodded.

  “Do you put spells on people, too?” he laughed

  out loud.

  “That’s it. You’re making fun of me again. I will

  not tolerate your verbal or mental abuse,” she

  snapped.

  “Verbal or mental abuse? Please. This cowboy is

  just trying to wrap his head around all this new

  stuff.”

  “You mean this narrow-minded cowboy, don’t

  you?” she spewed.

  “Now wait a minute! Now who’s being hateful?”

  “I can see that we don’t have anything in

  common except maybe some heavy breathing. Don’t

  worry. I won’t indulge you anymore in my lifestyle.”

  Darla walked off. She didn’t know where she was

  going, but she wanted to be as far away from Cody

  as she could possibly get. About five minutes into

  walking she realized her suitcase was in his truck.

  She turned around to walk back and there Cody was,

  just a few feet away.

  “Were
you following me?” she asked.

  “Not really. I was trying to see how long it would

  take for you to figure out that walking was a dumb

  idea.”

  Darla put her face in her hands and sobbed.

  “Why are you so mean? What happened to my

  friendly, loving Cody?”

  Cody walked up to her and put his arms around

  her. She put her arms down to her side and became

  stiff like a board.

  “I just want things to go back to where they

  were,” she said between tears.

  Cody kissed the top of her head. “Yeah. I’m

  sorry. I guess I went too far with my logical take on

  things. I really didn’t mean any harm. I just thought

  it was fair to let you know where I stand with all of

  that. It doesn’t mean I want to change you. You can

  pray to Buddha, and I’ll pray to God.”

  Darla pushed herself back from his embrace and

  stared at him for a long time. “We might be too

  different to make things work as anything but

  friends. Let’s just take things slow. We’ll go see

  Bryan, and maybe I’ll stay in D.C. for a while.”

  Cody was taken aback by her new revelation. “So

  just like that? When things don’t go your way, you

  pull away?”

  “I just don’t like the karma,” she said looking

  back at him.

  Cody shook his head.

  “Can’t we just be friends?” she asked.

  “Sure. Not a problem,” he said looking back at

  the fire trucks. “Looks like they’re about finished.

  Let me go find out what the situation is. Most likely

  we’ll have to go to another hotel.”

  Darla watched as Cody headed toward the office.

  He wasn’t gone long. Just long enough for her to

  meet some cool folks that were headed to Disney

  World. She was chatting with them when Cody

  walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

  Darla turned around and smiled. “Well?”

  “Just like I thought. We have to find another

  place. The manager gave me a list of hotels nearby.

  I’ll go to the truck and call a couple. Come when

  you’re done with your conversation.” Cody nodded

  to the group and walked away.

  * * *

  The truck cab had not experienced this much

  silence since they started their trip. No music, no

  talking, and definitely no display of affection

  between Cody and Darla.

  Cody couldn’t wait to just take a shower and fall

  into bed. Too much had happened and it was

  mentally draining. He helped Darla get her suitcase

  out of the truck and wheeled it to the door. He

  popped open the door and motioned for her to go in.

  Darla whirled around and saw Cody as he was

  closing the door.

  “Wait! What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’ll see you in the morning. I’m staying in the

  room next door.”

  Her jaw dropped slightly and then she closed her

  mouth. She backed up a few steps and then she

  reached out and took the door and slammed it shut.

  Darla couldn’t see Cody on the other side, but he

  was smiling.

  “Our first spat,” he mused.

  Cody plopped down on the bed and bounced a

  few times. He nodded. It would be a comfortable

  sleep. No turmoil of having Darla nearby and the

  draining details of the day would have him in a deep

  slumber in no time. He clicked on the remote to the

  television and listened to some local news. Soon his

  eyes were closed, and he was snoring lightly. He was

  dreaming of Tracker chasing a rabbit, and he was just

  about to call him off of the scared little thing when

  the phone on the bedside table rang abruptly, waking

  him.

  Groggily he reached for the phone and tried to

  utter an audible hello.

  “Cody? It’s me. I can’t sleep,” she said.

  Cody bolted straight up in bed. “Darla? Is that

  you?”

  Cody pressed the receiver tight against his ear.

  He was trying to clear his head so he could

  understand everything that was being said. He ran his

  hand through his hair and then turned to glance at the

  clock radio that was sitting near the bed. He squinted

  trying to make out the time.

  “It’s midnight,” he said.

  “I know. I can’t sleep. I don’t want to fight with

  you. Please come over.”

  Cody let out a long sigh. “I don’t think that’s a

  good idea, right now, Darla. It’s midnight, and I

  think it’s better if we have some space between us.”

  “Why does it feel like there will be no returning

  from this?”

  Cody breathed through his nose and Darla heard

  it. It was better than him slamming the phone down

  so she’d take it as a sign that he was at least thinking

  about it.

  “I didn’t say we can’t recover from what

  happened today, but clearly, we are on different

  paths.”

  “I don’t think our paths are so different. We may

  come to the conclusion a different way, but I think

  we have some common interests,” she whispered.

  “Listen, Darla. It’s late. I don’t really want to

  rehash things tonight. Let’s try to just sleep on it and

  we can talk about it in the morning.”

  “Does this mean you’re not coming over?”

  Cody let out a weak laugh. “Yes. That is exactly

  what it means. Sweet dreams.”

  Cody gently set the receiver down into the cradle.

  A small smirk formed in the corner of his mouth. He

  shook his head thinking of the conversation he’d just

  had with Darla. He scooted down the bed resting his

  head back on the pillow and soon he was sound

  asleep dreaming of dogs and rabbits.

  Chapter Nine

  

  Over coffee, the two discussed their travel plans.

  The way Cody calculated it, they’d arrive in D.C. the

  following day. He knew it would be awkward now

  that they had their first falling out. He wasn’t sure if

  they would recover from it, or if he even wanted to.

  He had feelings for her but wasn’t sure if they were

  real enough to fix things between them. Oh sure, she

  was pretty, and youthful, witty, and he loved her

  quirkiness. But was that enough?

  “What are you thinking?” she blurted.

  “Just wondering how Tracker is doing. I had a

  dream about him and a young jackrabbit,” Cody said.

  He took a sip of his coffee and set the cup down.

  Her eyes widened. “He didn’t catch it did he?”

  “He sure did,” Cody said.

  Darla shook her head and made a face.

  “He didn’t kill it if that’s what you’re worried

  about. Remember it was just a dream,” Cody said,

  trying not to laugh.

  Darla stabbed a piece of cantaloupe with her fork

  and put it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, and a

  little juice from the melon dripped down her chin.

  Darla quickly dabbed the moisture with her napkin.


  Cody could tell she was thinking of something to

  say to him. He decided he would beat her to the

  punch. “About yesterday,” he started.

  Darla focused her attention on him. All eyes were

  on him, and he could feel it.

  “Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the hours

  of traveling. Who really knows? But things were

  said, and now we are here.”

  Darla nodded. “Yep.”

  “So let’s walk it back—if we can, and let’s start

  today anew.”

  “I’d like that, Cody. I’m sorry if I jumped to

  conclusions about you.”

  Cody reached out and touched her hand. “Okay.

  From this moment on we’re starting fresh. But so

  that we won’t be blindsided about stuff, maybe we

  should do a little more talking and less smooching.”

  Darla smiled. “Sounds good. There’s a lot about

  me you don’t know and vice versa.”

  “I think we got the physical attraction part

  down,” he grinned.

  She squeezed his hand. “Deal. Let’s talk and get

  to know one another.”

  “We have another long day ahead of us. Let’s

  finish up and hit the road,” Cody said.

  He started to withdraw his hand, and she quickly

  clenched it, holding him steady.

  “Cody, I just wanted to say that you are special to

  me in so many ways. I know you don’t believe in

  fate or karma, but I do, and I believe with all of my

  heart that we were drawn to each other for a reason.

  A reason we may never be able to explain, but

  nevertheless a reason.”

  Cody squeezed her hand. “I do believe in fate,

  but it hasn’t always been positive for me. I hope you

  understand. I’m a very complex individual. I’ve seen

  and done a lot of crazy shit. I don’t know if you’re

  designed to handle me.”

  “Well, see that’s just it. I am. I know I am. I’m

  the one that fits perfectly with you—just like a glove.

  It will be my soft approach on life that will help you

  see that it doesn’t always have to be so black and

  white, cut and dry. Know what I mean?”