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“Well, when this ends poorly – and it will – I just want it known that I warned you.”
“It is so noted,” Vera said, turning back to her plate. Her barbecue was getting cold while they bickered about this. “Besides, I haven’t made a decision yet. I have plenty of time considering he hasn’t even asked me out yet. So right now we’re arguing about nothing.”
“You don’t have as long as you think,” Dotty said with unmasked glee in her voice. “Bert is heading his way.”
Chapter 3
Bert wasn’t stupid. There was no way he was going to approach Vera while she was surrounded by her girlfriends. It felt like high school all over again. He’d wait until he could catch her alone. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t cruise by and compliment her tasty, sweet pudding again. Okay, that time he did mean it the way it sounded. If it made her blush a second time, even better. The rosy color flattered her ivory skin. After finishing his dessert, he delivered his message, and then continued on before Francine’s death stare rendered him impotent.
Later that evening as dusk rolled in and the picnic ended, the crowd in the park scattered. Some found spots on the lawn to wait for the fireworks show. Kids ran around with sparklers and glow sticks, squealing and attempting to set each other on fire. The fireworks team headed by the mayor, started off to the courthouse to setup on the roof. Others busied themselves cleaning up the food, breaking down tables, and hauling out trash. Vera, of course, was in the center of the cleanup action.
Just then she walked past him carrying a bag of trash, and he knew it was his time to step in. “May I carry that for you?” he asked.
Vera paused, and then held the bag out to him. “That’s very sweet of you to offer, Bert.”
“Not a problem at all. Would you care to take a stroll around the park with me after I toss this out?”
She looked around, noting the people busily cleaning up the mess. “I don’t know, Bert. I hate to leave when there’s so much work still to be done.”
“You work your cute little rear end off every year, and always have. This year, let other people handle it and take a walk with me. We’ll be back in time for fireworks, I promise.” Bert reached out his hand to her.
Vera looked at it for a moment before reaching out and accepting it. Her skin was soft in his as they walked together toward the dumpster, then onto the path that winded through the park. It was getting darker by the minute, but the lights were starting to turn on overhead to illuminate the ground. Fireflies danced in the bushes, blinking as they tried to attract a female. So far, Bert seemed to be doing well on his own quest to attract Vera. He just hoped it was the right thing to do for them both.
“It’s nice to spend some time with you tonight, Vera. I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while, but I never knew when the time was right. This has been a... difficult year to say the least. I haven’t quite known how to handle everything that’s happened.”
“I understand. I’m glad you came to see me today, though.”
Bert smiled. He’d chosen the right time and things were going well so far. This was how things were supposed to progress, or at least, the way he remembered it to be when he was younger. Because of the auction, things with Estelle had been rushed, and had ended before they really even had a chance to know one another. He wanted things to be different with Vera. He didn’t want to screw this up.
“I just...” Bert struggled to find the words to express his only real concern. Their relationship looking bad after Estelle’s death was only one small factor in his hesitation. “I don’t want to hurt you, Vera.”
Her blue eyes widened in surprise. “Hurt me?”
“Yes. I mean, you know that I practically killed Estelle, don’t you? I’m sure the whole town knows what happened that night.”
Stopping in the glow of a streetlamp, Vera turned to look at him. “Bert, you did not kill Estelle. She simply took on more excitement than she could handle. It isn’t your fault. It isn’t anyone’s fault. It was just her time to go.”
It was nice of her to say that, but Bert still had his doubts. He’d lost a lot of sleep since Valentine’s Day weekend trying to make heads or tails of what had happened. All h
e knew was that he’d pleasured Estelle to the best of his abilities and woke up next to her cold, stiff body. It was hard not to think he had something to do with it. “Well, whether or not I’m responsible doesn’t change the outcome,” he argued. “She ended up dead because she won me at the auction and I gave her what she asked for. I don’t want to same to happen to you, Vera.”
Vera clutched his hand in hers and drew it up to press against her bosom. “The same thing isn’t going to happen to me. I’m not in the slightest bit worried about you hurting me. I’m more concerned about how rusty I am with all this. Bert... I’m not nineteen anymore. It’s been a long time since I’ve dated someone. I’m not really sure how to anymore. I want us to take this slowly so we can feel our way through this together. That means I’m not putting out any time soon,” she added with a smile. “So just relax and enjoy this for what it is.”
Bert nodded and took a step closer. “I can do that. Whatever you want, Vera, just ask me. I’m all yours.”
Chapter 4
Vera looked up into Bert’s big brown eyes and felt a flutter in her stomach like she was a teenager again. At her age, she thought that the time for butterflies and tingling toes was long behind her, but she was wrong. “All I want is you, Bert. I have for a while, I just kept talking myself out of it.”
“Well, don’t. You deserve to be happy. So do I. We’ve worked hard our whole lives, raised families, lost our spouses. These are called our golden years for a reason. We should take advantage of them and find the joy in every moment. I’d like to try doing that with you. What do you say we start with dinner tomorrow night?”
Vera grinned. “That sounds perfect.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up at six.”
She had a date. Vera Reynolds had a date! She almost couldn’t believe it. The joy nearly lifted her up off the ground like she was walking on air. Giddy didn’t even touch how she was feeling. She hadn’t felt like this since Herman asked her out. The night air was electrically charged with the potential of the future. She could almost feel it dancing across her bare arms, making her skin prickle with goose bumps.
“Vera?” Bert asked, looking very serious all of a sudden. His dark eyes focused on her with an intensity she’d never seen from him before. In a quick moment, the good-natured, flirty Bert had vanished and the man that desired her more than anything else was left in his place.
