Page 60 of A Whim and a Prayer

Gabe cut loose with a husky chuckle. “Oh, yeah, poor Bren was in the doghouse on that one for sure.”

A frown puckered the bridge of Amy’s nose. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Hope said, giving a curt nod toward the incriminating picture before she took a sip of her lemonade. “A ‘payback’ vendetta just like this that my former fiance pulled on Bren to ruin him and our friendship.”

Amy’s eyes grew. “Oh my goodness, what happened? Pictures?”

“No, not pictures, but setting him up for the fall with spying on him and slipping him a Mickey Finn to make it look like he got drunk and smashed up a bar, landing him in jail.”

Gabe’s mouth went flat. “And almost ruining his chances to adopt Max and marry Hope.”

“Oh my goodness!” Amy pressed a hand to her mouth. “How did that all happen?”

Hope patted Amy’s arm. “That’s a story for another day, Amy, but right now?”—she slid a quick glance to the door—“we need to pray before Henry gets home.”

And so they did. Never was Amy more grateful for two godly friends like Hope and Gabe, treasuring the peace and calm their prayers and friendship provided, blessed assurance that, indeed, as Hope had prayed … “all things work together for good to them that love God.”

“I can’t thank you guys enough for your prayers and your friendship.” Drawing in a cleansing breath, she slowly exhaled it again, along with most of her anxiety. A smile trembled on her lips as she pressed a palm to her chest. “Goodness, I feel so much better now!”

“Good,” Gabe said, darting a glance at the sudden click of a key in the door. She quickly slid the photo back into the envelope with a wink. “And just in the nick of time, too.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Home, sweet home! In spite of the grueling 24 hours of flying time during his trans-Atlantic flight from Geneva to London to Boston, Henry had a bounce in his step, thrilled he could surprise Amy by getting home sooner than she expected. He took the stairs two at a time to the third-story flat he shared with her, the very thought putting a smile on his face and a hitch in his heart.

His pace quickened along with his pulse as he shed one arm of his black, double-breasted TWA uniform jacket on the way up, and then the other, switching his black pilot’s flight bag hand to hand. Slinging his jacket over his shoulder, he grinned at the thought of kissing his wife again after three grueling days apart, hoping the box of Swiss chocolates in his bag—her favorite—would show her just how much he’d missed her. His grin widened. Not to mention giving him the energy to prove it.

Juggling both coat and bag, he reached in his pocket for his keys, hardly able to believe he’d been married to the girl of his dreams for almost three months. He shook his head in awe as he searched first one pocket, then the other. And hardly able to believe one woman could absolutely obliterate his desire for any other. That had never happened before—not until Amy—and Henry knew that most of the credit went to God.

Although he sure took some for himself as well, he thought with a quirk of his lips, given the various stewardesses who made it clear on overnight flights that they welcomed his company. But, nope, temptation wasn’t even a factor since he’d met Amy, and he knew it. But unfortunately, given his prior reputation as a womanizing “hotshot,” she did not.

Yet.

He patted the breast pocket of his white dress shirt, realizing her distrust was fallout from both his prior Romeo ways and that of her dirtbag former fiance. Of course the overnight flights he was frequently assigned didn’t help, ramping up her anxiety every time he had to go out of town. A ridge rumpled his brow as he set his flight bag down, wondering where in the devil he put his keys. He searched his jacket, first one pocket, and then the other.

Bingo!

Jingling his keychain to get to the right one, he considered for one brief moment talking to Hope about this since she would understand, being married to a former womanizer like Henry used to be.

But … not tonight. His grin returned as he put the key in the lock, the thought of making love to his wife sending a flash of heat roaring through him as he jerked his tie free, ripping it off till it dangled loose and lopsided. Kind of like his grin at the moment, he was sure, as he picked up his bag and opened the door. “Amy, I’m ho—” He went cold, along with the heat in his body, at the sight of company in his kitchen, even if it was the sister he adored and the cousin he loved.

“Welcome home, Fly Boy.” Gabe rose to her feet and pushed in her chair. “You’re earlier than expected.”

Henry’s gaze landed on Amy, and the heat was back, pulsing through him over just how beautiful she was. “Well, Attila …” he said, emphasizing his pet name for Gabe as a kid with a lazy drawl while he flung his white officer-style hat onto the coat rack.

Absently raking his fingers through his hair, he strolled toward Amy with a slow grin, giving a nod her way. “When you have something like this waiting for you at home, believe me”—he seared Amy with heated eyes, his gaze never straying from hers as he pulled her into his arms—“you fly a whole lot faster.”

Not caring a whit that Hope and Gabe looked on, Henry’s mouth took Amy’s with a white-hot passion stoked by three long days without her in his bed.

Somebody coughed. “Uh, all-righty-then, that’s our cue.” Hope rose as well, scraping her chair back to the table.

Gabe grabbed both her and Hope’s glasses and took them to the sink with a chuckle. “This was fun tonight, Amy, but something tells me the fun is just beginning.”

“Don’t rush off on my account,” Henry teased as he came up for air, hooking Amy close to his side.

Hope laughed as she put on her coat. “Oh, I don’t mind,” she said with a wink, “I’ve got that waiting for me at home too.”

“Oh, sure—rub it in!” Gabe unlatched her coat from the coat rack while Hope gave Amy and her brother a quick hug. “Well, at least I have a new stash of Double Bubble waiting for me at home and a comatose husband in the morning. I’d say ‘have a good evening, but I think that’s a given. Bye, all.” Gabe opened the door and Hope followed.