Stalking her Dreams (A Coverton Mills Romance Book 1) Read online

  Tim smiled. “It sounds like a fairy tale, but since both of you tell the same tale I guess there’s something to it.”

  “There’s one thing, Tim.” When Tim looked directly at him, Alex continued, “With your blessing, I intend to ask your mother to marry me.”

  “I assume you want to ask her right away?”

  “Yes. Do you object?”

  “If it’s what my mother wants, and I’m sure she knows her own mind, you have my blessing, Alex,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to come between Mom and happiness.”

  “Thank you, Tim. You have my assurance I’ll do everything in my power to make her happy for the rest of my life.”

  “I appreciate your frankness.” Tim stood. “I’m going home now, but I’ll be back in the morning, hopefully before she wakes up. If you need me, my number is programmed in her phone as number one.”

  “Thanks.” Alex stood and held out his hand. “Most of all, thank you for trusting me with your mother. She’s precious to me and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I hope you’ll believe that soon.”

  “I’m beginning to believe it now.” Tim shook Alex’s hand. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  As soon as he heard Tim’s car start, Alex pulled out his cell phone and dialed Luke’s number.

  •♥ •

  “I wonder if that other man is going to stay the whole night. It’s getting late, and I got to go home. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I don’t want to go to work looking as if I’m going to fall on the computer in the morning. They’re beginning to think something is wrong with me.” Rachelle chuckled. “They don’t know how much is going to be right when I get to spend time with my Alex.”

  She tossed her cigarette stub out the window as she watched the lights in Heather’s house go out one by one.

  She cursed. “He is going to stay the night.”

  With a jerk, she turned on the ignition and the tires squealed as she roared from her parking place.

  CHAPTER 20

  Heather woke up at six o’clock and frowned. How did she get in the bed and why was she still dressed in the slacks and top she’d worn yesterday? And where was Alex? Did she dream he’d come?

  “Alex?” she shouted.

  She heard heavy feet run down the hall. He appeared in her door. “I’m here.”

  “Oh, thank goodness.” She held her hand out to him. “I thought I’d only dreamed you came.”

  He came to the bed and sat beside her. “You didn’t dream it, sweetheart. I’ve been here all night.” He took her hand then leaned down and kissed her. “How are you feeling this morning?”

  “I feel better. I needed to sleep.” She smiled at him. “Did you find the guest rooms?”

  “Tim told me they were upstairs, but I decided to sleep on the couch. I wanted to be close in case you needed me.” He leaned over and kissed her again. “Now, if you’re ready to get up, why don’t you take your shower or brush your teeth or do whatever it is you do in the morning? I’m going to the kitchen and make us some breakfast. I want to show my girl how good I am around a stove.”

  “Thanks for calling me your girl.”

  “Well, you are, aren’t you?”

  She nodded. “I can’t imagine you cooking.”

  He grinned. “There’s a lot about me you’ll learn as we go along.” He stood and dropped her hand. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a little while.”

  Heather took a shower, brushed her teeth, and put on clean clothes from the skin out. She applied makeup because she didn’t want Alex to think she was a slob in the morning. As she went down the hall the aromas from the kitchen tickled her nose. She realized she was hungry.

  Alex had made each of them a king-sized omelet. “Do you expect me to eat all that?”

  “Every bite of it.” He pulled a chair out for her at the dinette table.

  Tim arrived before they finished eating. He seemed pleased with the way his mother looked. “Alex must be taking good care of you,” he said, getting himself a cup of coffee.

  “Maybe too good. He made me an omelet as big as a platter and insisted I eat all of it.”

  “Good for him. I couldn’t get you to eat anything yesterday.”

  They chatted for a while, then Alex excused himself and went upstairs to shower and change.

  “What do you think of him, Tim?” Heather asked when they were alone.

  “He’s okay, Mom.” Tim smiled at her. “You know I still have a feeling you should slow down, but I can accept it if you don’t.”

  “I love him, Tim.”

  “I know. He told me last night he loves you, too. I think I believe him.”

  She smiled and took her son’s hand. “Thank you for trusting my judgment.”

  “I always have, Mom. You’ve never given me reason not to.”

  By nine o’clock, the phone began to ring. Several people had heard of Benjamin Stoner’s death. At ten, Tim left, saying he and Juanita would be back by three to go to the funeral home.

  It was two when Heather put the dishes in the dishwasher she and Alex had used for lunch. She then went to her room and changed into a navy dress. She put a scarf around her neck with mingled bright colors. Lovingly, she hooked the pearls her dad had given her mom for their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. Her own pearl earrings completed her outfit. She picked up her wide-brimmed navy hat and left her room.

  In the living room, she found Alex sitting on the sofa. He wore a navy suit and white shirt with French cuffs. His tie was navy and burgundy striped, and his Italian, black-tasseled loafers shined.

  “If I didn’t know you already, I’d certainly want to meet you.” She winked at him.

  He stood and took her hands in his. “And you, my dear, are beautiful as always.”

  “I’d kiss you, but it would mess up my makeup.” She smiled up at him.

  “We certainly can’t have that. Why don’t I kiss the top of your head and let that do until you don’t care if your makeup is spoiled?”

  “Why don’t we hold hands instead? At least I get to touch you that way.”

  “That works for me.” He led her to the sofa.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, then she broke it. “Daddy would have liked you, Alex.”

  “From the things Tim told me last night, I’m sure the feeling would have been mutual. He sounds as if he was a wonderful guy.”

  “He was. He loved his family more than anything, and always called us his three royal ladies. Mom was the queen. Frances and I were the princesses.”

  “You mentioned your sister before. Will she be here today?” She looked at him with a start. “I haven’t told you, have I? Frances is dead.”

  “I’m sorry, Heather. I didn’t know and I assumed—”

  “It’s okay, Alex. You had no way of knowing.” She smiled at him. “I’ll tell you all about my sister someday.”

  At three o’clock Tim arrived with his family. Juanita looked beautiful with her sleek, black hair in a French twist. The light blue dress made her dark eyes sparkle. Tim had on a dark gray suit with white shirt and gray and blue tie.

  “Ben insisted on coming. He said he wanted to say goodbye to Grandpa, too,” Juanita explained when the little boy came running in and went straight to Heather. “He also insisted on wearing the outfit with the fire truck on it. He said Grandpa would like it because he was a fireman.”

  “I bet Grandpa would like it,” Heather said. “And my boy looks spiffy in that outfit.” She looked at Juanita. “We’re not going to have anything sad or scary, and he has a right to say good-bye.”

  Ben looked at the man sitting beside his Grammy. “Who are you?” he demanded.

  “I’m Alex, and I bet you’re Ben.”

  “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “I hear you’re a very special young man.”

  “Grammy says I am.” He looked at her. “Did you tell him about me, Grammy?”

  “I sure did. You know I have to brag about my grandson
.”

  Tim introduced his wife to Alex.

  Ben said, “I’ve got a bear named Alex. When Grammy told me that was her friend’s name, I decided to use it.”

  Before Alex could answer, the doorbell rang again.

  “Tell Alex about your bear, honey. Grammy needs to answer that.” She sat Ben off her lap onto the sofa.

  Heather opened the door and shock registered on her face when she saw Luke Hargrove. He was dressed in a dark suit and tie, and his wife wore a lovely dark green maternity dress. “Why, hello,” Heather muttered.

  “Hello, Heather. Do you remember Brenda and me?” He indicated his wife. “And this is our son, Jacob.”

  “Of course, I remember you. Please come in. And hello to you, Jacob.”

  “We have something in the car for you,” Jacob said. “I helped.”

  “I’ll go get it.” Luke headed down the walk.

  “Come in, Brenda, and meet my son and his wife.” She turned to Jacob who was hanging on to his mother’s hand. “And you, young man. I want you to meet my grandson, Ben. He’s over there with your grandfather.”

  “That’s Poppa.” Jacob dropped his mother’s hand and ran to Alex.

  “Poppa is Jacob’s favorite person in the whole world,” Brenda said.

  “Aren’t grandparents something?” Juanita said. “Ben feels the same way about his Grammy.”

  “Yes,” Brenda patted her stomach. “I expect this next one to feel the same way about Poppa as Jacob does.”

  Juanita nodded. “Do you know what you’re having?”

  “Everyone wanted it to be a surprise, but I’m carrying it differently to Jacob. I think it might be a girl.”

  “We’re having a girl. We didn’t mean to find out, but the nurse let it slip when I was getting a sonogram and now everyone knows.”

  “Of course Mom is buying every little girl outfit she sees. She’s as excited as she was about Ben.”

  Alex stood. “You boys get acquainted and let Poppa get up for a minute.”

  “What’s acquainted?” Jacob asked.

  “He wants you to get to know me,” Ben explained.

  Everyone chuckled and Alex moved Heather gently toward the door. “Honey, Luke’s getting something the kids and I wanted you to have for your father’s funeral.”

  She smiled at him and looked out the door. “Oh!…how beautiful…I can’t believe this!…how in the world…oh, how beautiful …” She began to cry as she went out the door and knelt beside the huge basket of wild flowers. “Look there are lady slippers here…” She stood, and almost fell into Alex’s arms sobbing.

  “Honey, I didn’t mean for it to make you cry. I thought you’d like them.”

  “I love them, Alex. Can’t you tell these are happy tears? Daddy would be thrilled to see them. And who knows, maybe he does.” She clung to him. “Thank you.” She turned toward Luke and Brenda who were also brushing back tears. “They’re wonderful. Thank you so much.” She pulled away from Alex long enough to hug them both.

  Juanita was in Tim’s arms and they were both teary.

  The two children came outside and looked at them. “Why is everyone crying?” Ben demanded.

  “We’re all crying because we’re happy, honey,” his mother said.

  “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “You’re supposed to laugh when you’re happy.”

  “Grown-ups are silly,” Jacob offered.

  “Yes, we are Jacob.” Heather reached down and ran her fingers through his hair.

  “You do that like Poppa.”

  “Do I really?’

  He nodded as Ben said, “She does it to me all the time. I guess a Grammy acts the same as a Poppa.”

  “Let’s go play,” Jacob said and they headed back inside.

  “Aren’t little ones wonderful?” Heather looked up at Alex. “Are you telling me you want us to try to have one?”

  Everyone burst out laughing.

  Heather blushed and put her hand on Alex’s chest. “You crazy man, you!”

  When Luke could get his breath he said, “Dad, I don’t want a brother or sister younger than my kids. Do you Tim?”

  “No way.”

  “I hate to break up this discussion of future kids, but it’s three-thirty,” Juanita announced.

  “Then we should go.” Heather looked at all of them. “There’s only one thing I want to do and I don’t think Daddy would mind. I want to take some of these flowers and make an arrangement for myself.”

  Brenda nodded at Luke. To Heather she said, “There’s no need of that.”

  Before Heather could ask why, Luke came back around his SUV with a big vase of wild flowers. “We brought these for you.”

  “Oh, how beautiful…”

  “Please, darling. Don’t start crying again. You’ll make us all do the same thing.” Alex put his arms around her.

  “I can’t help it.” She sniffed and looked at the vase of flowers. “It has lady slippers, too. They’re so beautiful.”

  “That was one of Dad’s demands when he called, Heather. He said to get him lots of lady slippers for his lady. We got all we could find this morning.”

  “Oh, Alex.” Her eyes were full of tears when she looked up at him. “I love you,” she announced. She didn’t care who was listening.

  Alex must not have cared, either, because he said, “I love you, too.”

  “I’ll go put them on your table, Heather. If you don’t mind us staying here, we’ll keep the boys while you go to the service,” Brenda said.

  “You’re coming with us, aren’t you?” Tim asked before Heather could speak.

  “We didn’t come to interfere,” Luke said.

  “You’re not interfering. You’ve made my mother happy and that makes you an important part of this day. We want you to come.”

  “And you dressed to attend, I know you did,” Juanita added.

  “Well, we didn’t know what to do. Brenda said we’d get dressed, in case.”

  After a short discussion, they put Ben’s car seat into Luke’s SUV so the two children could ride together. Heather and Alex rode with Tim and Juanita.

  When they arrived at the funeral home, Luke carried the basket of flowers inside. The ones Heather had gathered earlier were sitting on the altar. Luke looked at Heather and she said, “I want you to put those on the casket.”

  He did, and she said, “There’s one thing.” She went to the basket and pulled out a lady slipper and placed it in the vase on the altar. “Now, it’s right.”

  CHAPTER 21

  The family didn’t march in as they often do at funerals. They were already seated when the guests arrived. Heather sat on the front pew between Alex and Tim. Juanita was beside her husband and Ben and Jacob sat next to her. Though Luke and Brenda had started to sit in the congregation, Heather insisted they sit with the family on the other side of the boys.

  There were some cousins and other distant relatives attending, but her father’s nurses, people who worked at the nursing home and friends she and her father had made there made up the bulk of the attendees.

  Tim stood and walked to the platform. His voice was steady and calm as he told everyone how Benjamin Stoner had planned his own funeral and even dictated what was to be done. He then talked about going to his great-grandparents’ home with his grandpa and how they’d walk in the fields and the woods and pick wildflowers to take back to the ladies of the family.

  He also talked about his grandfather taking him to the firehouse when he was a little boy and how his son was wearing his fire truck outfit in honor of grandpa. He explained how Ben would wear the outfit to visit Grandpa in the rest home and though his grandpa didn’t know him, he’d always recognize the little boy with the fire truck shirt. He then opened the floor for anyone else to talk.

  Several people spoke including the nurses who cared for him. They told what a wonderful man he’d been even after his mind slipped away. Then a feeble man leaning on a cane walked to the stage. He said he’d be
en a fireman when young Benjamin Stoner joined the team. Heather couldn’t help crying as he spoke of how Stoner always had to hurry home to his three royal ladies—his queen and his two princesses. He also told how Benjamin would often pick wild flowers to take to them. “Can’t afford the fancy ones from the flower shop, but my royal ladies get the best and these are God’s best. He dresses them royally,” he quoted her father.

  Heather leaned against Alex and he slipped his arm around her shoulder.

  All too soon, it was her turn.

  She took a deep breath and went forward.

  “When my sister Frances and I were in our teens, we wrote notes to each other at night to talk over our day. Daddy found one of our nightly notes and put it with his will. This was the note he wrote and attached to it. It says, ‘Heather, my little one, I want you to read this at my funeral. It shows how much I loved my queen and my princesses and how much they loved me. I know Frances can’t be there to read her part, but I’m sure you can do it for both of you. Thanks, little one. I love you. Daddy.’ As you can tell, Daddy always called me his little one.” Heather wiped her eyes and said, “I think I was about thirteen and Frances was sixteen when we wrote this note.” She unfolded the yellowed paper and began to read:

  ‘Heather, were you afraid when Daddy took us for the walk in the woods today?’

  ‘No. Were you?’

  ‘Not when Daddy told me to look up and see how the tree tops looked like a cathedral. He was right. It was beautiful.’

  ‘I like beautiful things best, Frances.’

  ‘You like me, Heather and I’m not beautiful.’

  ‘Yes, you are, Frances. You’re beautiful to me.’

  ‘You’re the beautiful one, Heather, but let’s talk about something else. Like when Daddy called for us to come look at the special wildflower he found.’

  ‘It was so pretty. Remember he picked it and said it was for his queen. He took it to Mama.’

  ‘Then he said he was going to find two more. One for you and one for me. It took us a long time to find that second one, Heather.’