Page 59 of Prime Time

“It was conditioned reflex, Andy. I didn’t trust women after what Jerri did. I didn’t like women any more. I’d use them, yes, but not like them. Can you imagine the kick in the gut it was for me to realize I loved you? Gracie was all too eager to point out my stupidity.”

“I wonder who Jerry and Gracie are?” asked one of the airmen.

“Shhh,” said one of the blue-haired ladies.

“Is Jerry a guy or a girl?” whispered the other airman to his friend.

“I’m not sure I want to know. He said he didn’t like women anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Andy asked tremulously.

“That you wouldn’t have left the tapes with me if you’d ever intended to harm my father. That you didn’t lie to me about wanting a simple story about his life just before his death. That it was Les I should be angry with and not you.”

“Les?” the mother asked. “I thought his name was Jerry.”

“Shhh,” said the father.

“I quit my job today, Lyon.”

He reached out and took her hand. His thumb massaged the palm. “Why?”

“I could never be objective about the story after I met you. My heart wasn’t in it, and Les knew it. I tried to deny it, but he was right.” She sighed. “You and your father came to mean more to me than any story.”

“Since you quit, what were you going to do?”

She shrugged. “I thought I’d go to Mexico somewhere and lie on the beach until I’d sorted it all out.”

“I like Mexico and the beach,” he said quietly. He kissed the palm of her hand then lay it against his cheek.

“You do?” she asked in a thin voice.

“Perfect place for a honeymoon.”

“I see the moon,” the little girl chimed.

“Honeymoon?” Andy parroted.

“And the moon sees me.”

“Will you marry me, Andy?”

“Marry you?”

“Can’t you hear the man, young woman? He’s asked you to marry him. Now answer him so we can all get off this boat.”

Andy stared at the elderly lady who had issued the order. Then she surveyed all the eager faces that were staring at her and Lyon. She looked into his expectant face and smiled. “Yes.”

“You are a beast,” she murmured against the warm skin of his shoulder. “I’m almost afraid to go out in public with you.”

“Why is that?” He stretched beside her, his long legs tangling with hers.

“Every time we’re in public, you embarrass me. First in Gabe’s when you told me to take a certain part of my anatomy back to Nashville and—”

“A delectable part of your anatomy, I might add,” he said, patting the smooth curve of her hips.

“Then that night on the river in front of all those—”

“Drunkards.”

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