Page 76 of Landing Love

Reluctantly, he sat up and got out of bed. “But there’s no time like the present. Let’s go buy a house.” Their future awaited them, and he wasn’t going to waste another minute.

29

Ann sighed contentedly as she walked along Main Street toward the O’Donnells’ with Bill pushing Junior in his pram. It was hard to believe it had only been a week since Bill came home from the hospital. They put in an offer on the Millington House and had it accepted. Ann visited the burnt remains of her home to see if anything at all survived. Nothing was left but ashes and the chimney. She said her silent goodbyes and asked their realtor to sell the lot.

In the meantime, she and Bill could hardly keep their hands off each other. Every time they were alone, it seemed, she wound up naked in bed. Not that she minded. As impossible as it seemed, her pleasure with him grew each time.

Something fundamental had shifted for her with Bill’s return, and she felt joy more often than grief in his company. The pain that had seeped into every part of her over the last year finally seemed to be abating. She had moments of feeling like her old self. No, a new self—someone that had been through the darkness and found the light. The innocence of youth and first love were gone, replaced by deep knowledge of her own strength and resilience in the face of loss and grief.

“Ooh, I love those peonies,” she said, standing in the O’Donnells’ flower shop, looking at the selections and letting her eye rest on the big blousy blooms.

“Then I’ll wrap them right up for you, my dear,” said Finn, beaming at them.

“I still don’t know what he has up his sleeve,” she told Finn. “All he said was he had a surprise for me.”

“Always up to something, Bill is. My boy is many things, but idle is not one of them.”

“No, he certainly isn’t.”

On doctor’s orders, Bill hadn’t returned to work yet, so instead, he spent the week lining up contractors to do work on the Millington house as soon as the sale went through. He estimated the work would only take a month, as he’d promised to pay extra to expedite it. Ann thought this was a bit of an extravagance, but Bill swore they could afford it. He’d promised her they would get out of the apartment as quickly as possible, and he intended to deliver.

“You all know I’m standing right here,” Bill said, picking up Junior, who had started to fuss, from his baby carriage.

“It does my heart good to see you so happy, son, not to mention healthy again. You gave us a good scare.”

“Yes, I apologize for that. Quite an inconvenience. Made me cough and splutter like a broken airplane engine. All fixed up now, though. I’ll be going back to work next week.”

Finn shook his head at his son, smiling. “Can’t keep a good man down, as they say. Shannon said you two were coming up for lunch?”

“Indeed,” said Bill.

His father put a “Closed for lunch” sign on the door and followed them upstairs.

Shannon was busy in the kitchen when they came in. “Can I help?” Ann asked, seeing pots and pans sizzling on the stove.

“Would you mind giving the carrots a stir?”

Ann followed Shannon’s lead, assisting as needed while Bill sat with his father and Junior in the dining room. She cast the occasional glance their way and smiled at the sight of three generations of his family sitting together.

“How are you holding up, Ann?” Shannon asked. “I know it’s been a difficult month.”

It had, though it was hard to believe she lost her home only one month ago. Given all that had transpired, she had no right to be so happy. But she was. “I’m doing quite well, Shannon. Thank you for asking. Bill’s cough is almost gone, and we’ve arranged for the sale of the lot where my house was. And things are going smoothly with the purchase of the Millington house. We should sign the papers next week.”

“I’m so glad you two will be moving there. So close by! We can visit each other any time. And I know it will be beautiful once Bill is done with it. I always did like that house. Lovely façade.”

Shannon started moving dishes of food to the table. It was funny how comfortable Ann felt in her mother-in-law’s present. She was nothing like her own mother, but somehow the motherly love they both offered had the same soothing, strengthening affect. No one could replace Mama, but with Shannon, Ann felt less alone in the world.

“Thank you again for all those casseroles. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Ann carried the carrots out to the table.

“Don’t even think of it, dear. Can’t have my daughter-in-law wasting away on my watch.”

“Mmm. Roast chicken.” Bill rubbed his hands together, hungry as always. “Smells delicious.”

“Make sure you leave some for the rest of us,” Shannon said as the family all sat around the table. “You and your hollow leg.”

“Have to keep up my strength. I have a family to support, after all,” Bill said with a wink.

He reached beneath the table and put a hand on Ann’s knee, making her cheeks go up in flames.