“Oh stop! Stop, DJ! I can’t breathe!” Pauline blurted as she sat forward holding her sides, doubled over in laughter.
By that time Mary had dissolved into laughter just as much as Pauline as she pictured the scene.
Tobias guffawed along with the rest. Then, he stood from his seat and made a show of bowing. “You win, brother-in-law. I can’t top that.”
Dwight leaned forward in an exaggerated bow of gratitude and sat back down on the chair he had vacated, his dimpled grin set firmly in place. Doc, having taken out his handkerchief to wipe at the tears of glee in his eyes, called out a compliment to Dwight over the sounds of merriment in his parlor. Dwight inclined his head in acceptance.
“I would never have thought that driving a cab for a living was so entertaining,” Doc added with another chuckle.
“Oh, he used to come home and tell us crazy stories like this,” Olivia supplied in the midst of a giggle. “He has tons of them. We could be here all night and he wouldn’t run out of them, although some are funnier than others,” she added, as she sent her brother a teasing, sisterly grin.
Everyone began mentioning what their favorite parts were from the contest, however, during a lull in their musings, Pearl suddenly announced, “Well, I hate to leave such sparkling company,” she stifled a yawn and flicked her folding fan shut with a click. “But I fear that the travel and excitement of the day has finally taken its toll on me, so I bid you all goodnight. Come along, girls,” she then added as she stood and held out her hands to the twins.
The girls immediately began to squawk in resistance, wishing to stay up and join in the fun a bit longer, but a firm look from their mother silenced their objections and they dutifully climbed to their feet to obey. Olivia rose from her seat as well, and joined in as the twins offered goodnights to Doc and the others.
“Yes, I guess it’s that time,” Tobias commented as he stood again from his chair and held a hand out to a still giggling Pauline. “Come on, wife. Morning will be here before we know it.”
She agreed as they, together with the housekeeper, said their goodnights. Wanda Mae then headed for the kitchen to make sure it was secure for the night before leaving for her home next door.
In less than a minute, Doc, Mary, and Dwight were all that remained in the once jovial parlor.
Mary looked askance at Dwight as she made to stand, but he was on his feet and hurrying over to extend a hand and help her up.
“Thank you, Dwight…I’m fine.”
Doc eyed them both for several seconds, and then reached over to tap his pipe into an ashtray next to his chair before he rose, saying, “I’ll see you two in the morning. I have some paperwork to catch up on before I retire.” He then turned and ambled out of the room and across the foyer to his office.
Closing the pocket doors behind him with a last quick glance at the two still in the parlor, Mary could almost swear that she saw a twinkle in his eye before the doors rolled shut.
Then, she was alone with Dwight. They turned toward one another expectantly.
Suddenly, feeling extremely shy of him, she swallowed hard and unconsciously smoothed the material of her dress—still in the yellow day dress that she had worn to meet him at the train station.
“Well…” they both said at the same time, then chuckled together softly.
“Um…could you show me where to get a pillow and—”
“Yes, of course!” Mary interrupted as she began to move toward the door. “I have your things in my room. I’ll just go up and—”
“No need for you to trouble yourself,” Dwight interrupted as well. “I’ll come, too.”
He indicated that she should precede him, and they walked toward the stairs, with Mary exquisitely conscious of every step she took as he stayed directly behind her the entire way.
Once inside her room, Mary hurried over to the far side of the bed. Grabbing the second pillow, she turned quickly to pick up the stack of sheets and a quilt, which she’d prepared earlier, from the chair beneath one of the windows.
She nearly plowed right into Dwight.
“Oh!” she gasped as she looked up into his smiling face, the pillow making an effective buffer between them.
For a moment, they stood thus, both of them gripping the soft, down-filled pillow and gazing deeply into one another’s eyes.
She watched as the direction of Dwight’s view slowly lowered and she knew he was staring at her lips. Her heartbeat doubled instantly.
Was he going to kiss her? She had thought he would earlier when they were together right there in the room, but they’d been interrupted in the nick of time. Then, just as now, time seemed to be standing still… My, he’s handsome up close like this, she hazily mused. That wavy hair, so thick it seemed to call to her fingers to comb through
