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“They’d be all over you if you went in there, huh? All nekkid and probably ready to do anything you want them to.” She whipped the deadhead into the bucket with enough force to make it bounce out.
He caught it in midair and dropped it in the bucket and then grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her close. “Yes, but the only one I want nekkid and ready to do anything I want is a sexy little belly dancer.” She inhaled as she looked up at him and he saw her honey-brown eyes dilate a little before he kissed her right there in the rose garden.
She moaned softly and struggled to get loose from him. He refused to let her go and after a few seconds she wrapped her arms around his neck, crawled into his lap, kissing him with such fervency she shook in his arms. He tasted her sweet mouth, stroking her tongue with his and tugging at her lips with his teeth, teasing a blush into her cheeks.
Footsteps suddenly approached. “Maizy, I think I’m about done in the next—oh my!” Spencer groaned as he released her lips and they turned to see an older woman dressed in work clothes with a floppy hat on her head. She put her hand to her cheek and stammered. “Sorry to interrupt. Goodness gracious.”
“Mom, stop!” Maizy called out as the woman backtracked her steps. Maizy turned to him and he helped her stand. “I’ll be right back, Spencer. Mom!” She caught her mom as she rounded the corner and directed her back to where they’d been embracing. She smiled at him as she said, “Mom, I’d like to introduce you to Spencer Ketchum. Spencer this is my mother, Amelia Owen.”
He stood and swiped his hand on his jeans and held it out to her. “Mrs. Owen, it’s nice to meet you.”
The woman held her hat on her head and looked up, up, up at him, squinted, and then smiled at him as she shook hands with him. “My, but you’re a tall one, aren’t you, Mr. Ketchum? I think Maizy may have mentioned you to me. I’m sorry I interrupted earlier. I didn’t realize…”
“That’s okay. I surprised Maizy, too, showing up to help her work.”
Mrs. Owen turned to look at her daughter and he caught the silent exchange between them, ending with Maizy making big eyes at her as if to say, “I’ll explain later.”
Spencer could plainly see the resemblance between mother and daughter. Maizy had inherited her curls from her mother, judging by the white ringlets peeking out from her hat. Maizy had also inherited her petite stature from her mother, as well as the shape of her eyes, although Mrs. Owen’s were bright blue. She’d also inherited her mother’s smile.
“Mom, why don’t you work with us? Once this bed is finished we’ll be done for the day.”
Maizy’s mother glanced at him and smiled. “If that’s all right with Spencer, I’d like it just fine. That’ll give me a chance to get to know the man who’s been kissing my daughter.”
Spencer chuckled when Maizy rolled her eyes and looked heavenward. “Mom.”
Spencer smiled at Mrs. Owen and placed his bucket between them. She stepped from bush to bush, snipping the spent blooms she could reach, and Spencer followed behind her, cleaning out the undersides of the bushes so she didn’t have to kneel. While they did this, she proceeded to politely grill him about his livelihood, his friends, his prospects, and his intentions. Spencer thought she was cute, sort of like General Patton meets Betty White.
“Mom,” Maizy said as they gathered up their tools and prepared to leave. “I’m having supper with Spencer this evening, so I won’t be over later. That all right?”
“Of course. Would Spencer maybe like to—”
“Mom, normally I’d say yes, but he and I need to spend some time alone. And I think you need to know something else…” Maizy glanced at him and crossed her arms over her chest, looking resolute.
“Yes, dear?”
“Spencer has two very close friends. Actually, they’re more like brothers. They’re—”
“Oh, you mean the bears? Cody and…Heath? That’s his name, right? Like that nice young actor who died? He was so good in that one movie—”
Maizy blinked twice. “What? Mom? You know about Cody and Heath?”
