Page 104 of A Whim and a Prayer

He turned the ring around. “But … if you wear it on your left hand with the heart pointing outward toward your fingertips like this, it means you’re married.” He feigned a wild shudder that coaxed a giggle from her throat as his mouth took a twist. “Which—as we both know all too well—is not something you would want, so we switch to the right hand.”

She laughed as he picked up her right hand, holding the ring against it. “If you wear the ring on the right hand, heart pointing toward the fingertips”—he placed the ring in that position—“it means you’re single and open to love.” He wrinkled his nose, which made her laugh again. “Most assuredly something I wouldn’t want, so that won’t work either.”

“What will work, then?” she asked softly, the tenderness in her gaze putting a lump in his throat.

“This.” Releasing a quiet sigh, he gently nudged the ring on her right hand with the heart pointing to her wrist. His eyes met hers over the ring, the connection as strong as anything he’d ever known. “Which means, Winifred Dennehy, we are in a friendship, ‘a relationship where love is present.’ And we are, Pooh,” he said quietly, “a friendship that will last forever.”

“Oh, Beck!” She launched back into his arms with a sob and he held her like that for a long while before she finally sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. “This is the best Christmas present you could have ever given me!”

“Ditto, kiddo,” he said with a kiss to her nose. He glanced at his watch in the moonlight and started to rise, air hissing through his tight smile. “If we don’t want Abby to think I proposed, we better get back in there pronto.”

“Wait!” She tugged him back down, the chew of her teeth on the edge of her smile telling him she was nervous about what she wanted to say.

“What? Spit it out, kiddo.”

A knot ducked in her throat as her gaze rose to meet his. “I hear you’re dating someone you like. Cari Lee Barton, is it?”

Beck groaned as he fell back against the swing. “For crying out loud, Dennehy, I told Abby not to say anything.”

“And she didn’t want to, I swear, Beck, but you know how pushy I can be …”

His mouth slid sideways. “No, tell me please, because I’d almost forgotten.” He shook his head as a chuckle rumbled from his mouth. “You’re queen of pushy, Dennehy.”

“No, that’s my mother,” she said with a squirm of lips, “but I am her daughter after all …”

“Yes, you are.” He huffed out a noisy blast of air. “Yes, Cari Lee and I were dating—”

“Were?” She sat straight up, the smile dissolving on her face. “What do you mean ‘were’?”

“I mean I told her I didn’t know for sure if we’d continue till after Christmas because you know”—he waved a finger between them—“I wasn’t sure where we would be, but now that we’re only friends—”

“Best friends,” she corrected with a jerk of her chin.

“Best friends,” he repeated with a half-smile. “I guess I’ll see her again because I will admit—she is a lot of fun.”

“Good!” Smile a tad too stiff, she jumped up, pausing to admire her ring with a touch of melancholy before quickly grabbing his hand with a wink. “I’m happy for you, Beck,” she said as she pulled him to the door with chin high.

But somehow—to him—she didn’t seem happy at all.

Chapter Seventy-One

“Whew! I have to say this has been one of the best Christmas vacations I’ve had in a long time.” Winnie literally dropped into her chair at the Oceanview Ballroom after dancing with Teddy, fanning her face with a napkin. “After six fast ones in a row, I’m so beat, I think I could sleep standing up.”

Having just returned from a dance with Bella, Beck held out his hand to Winnie with a jag of his brow, giving a nod toward the bandstand. “Good. You can sleep while we dance to this one, Dennehy—it’s a slow one, kiddo, so I’ll do all the work.”

Her exaggerated groan was pure drama as she flung her head back and closed her eyes in a grimace because truth be told, there was nothing she’d rather do right now than slow dance with Beck. Ever since her trauma at the fraternity, Beck’s arms were the only arms she felt safe in these days, other than Teddy’s and Will’s. “Come on, Campbell,” she teased, “I’m so tired, I feel I could sleep forever.”

“Perfect. You can sleep ‘Till the End of Time,’ which fortunately for you, is the name of this song and my favorite by Perry Como, so on your feet, Dennehy.” Grabbing her hand, he literally hauled her to the middle of the dance floor in front of the band while she groaned all the way.

Slipping his right hand to her waist, he commandeered hers with his left, clasping it shoulder high with a pretend scowl. “Stop complaining, kid, and put your arm around me. Then at least one of us can enjoy my favorite song.” He pulled back to give her the stink-eye. “And if you’d rather sleep, you little brat, just put your head on my chest and I’ll wake you when it’s over.”

That did it, unleashing a spate of giggles she’d been holding back, Beck’s teases always making her smile. But then everything he did lately seemed to make her smile, she thought as she laid her head on his chest with a wide grin.

Including Cari Lee Barton?

Her smile went stiff as they gently swayed to the music.

“So, you having a good time, Pooh?”