An Accidental Kiss (Dearly Beloved) Read Online Free Page B

night?”
    “Justine’s on a sleepover but I don’t know what time she’ll be home tomorrow—don’t want her to come home to an empty house and worry,” she said, hurrying away.
    “Wait a minute.” Disgruntled, he grabbed a pair of pants and dragged them on so he could go after her. “Marcy!”
    She was in the living room, pulling on her clothes, and Frank watched her for a moment, amazed at the feelings coursing through him. He didn’t want her to leave. He was anxious about when he’d see her again. She smiled at him as she pulled on her jacket.
    “I’ll drive you home.”
    “Don’t be silly, my car’s right outside.” She kissed his cheek. “We’ll talk tomorrow, shall we?”
    He nodded, unable to resist pulling her to him for one last, lingering kiss, then groaning when he had to let her go. After she’d left, he stared at the front door as stunned as if a whirlwind had just blown through his house. His world had just turned upside-down and he’d loved every minute of it.
    ****
    May
    Over the next few months, Marcy wondered if she’d ever stop smiling. She couldn’t help it. Whenever she thought of Frank, her face would dissolve into a dopy grin with little or no warning. Try as she might, it was near impossible to hide the fact that she was blissfully happy, having amazing sex, and falling in love with the kind of man she’d given up on ever finding. With her rather dismal history, thinking about love scared Marcy a little. But things were going well with Frank, and tonight they were having dinner with her parents.
    “You know,” Herb Garret said ponderously, “when you have kids, Frank, they’re always your kids. Marcy may be forty-five, but she’s still my little girl. Always will be.”
    “I can understand that, sir,” Frank replied politely.
    “Mom, this meatloaf is delicious,” Marcy said, hoping to change the subject. “And everything looks lovely.” Kath had laid the table with a snowy white cloth and her best china. White candles flickered.
    “How long have you two been walking out?” Herb demanded, not to be put off
    Frank shot Marcy a smile. “It’s been three months.”
    “Three months,” Herb repeated thoughtfully. “Well now, that’s long enough for a man to know his intentions, I’d say.”
    “I agree,” Frank said. “And my intentions toward Marcy are serious, sir.”
    “Ooh!” Kath gave a little sigh of bliss from the end of the table.
    This was beyond awful, Marcy thought, two elderly parents desperately trying to marry off their middle-aged daughter. Frank probably wanted to throw down his napkin and run screaming into the night.
    Just as she thought things couldn’t get any worse, Justine piped up. “You could even have a baby, Mom.”
    Frank made a small choking sound as Marcy stared at her daughter in horror.
    “You could,” Justine assured her, apparently mistaking horror for disbelief. “I saw all about it on a show called Miracle Moms—a lady of sixty had a baby. The doctor just had to—”
    “Dessert anyone?” Kath interrupted smoothly. “Justine, come and help your grandma.”
    Why, Marcy thought as her mother and daughter exited the dining room, did her family have to be so embarrassing? It was as if they had a talent for it, which Justine had inherited.
    Under the table, Frank sought her hand and gave it a squeeze. Relief and gratitude poured through her at the gesture which she knew meant don’t worry, everything’s fine.
    Herb launched into one of his favorite topics of discussion—or rather lectures—Civil War battle strategies. Marcy looked at Frank as he nodded and engaged with her aging dad, and she felt a love so deep it almost took her breath away. And she realized she’d known it long before that moment but not allowed herself to admit it. She was in love with this smart, serious blue-eyed man, and her life would never be the same.
    Since Justine was staying with her grandparents for the weekend, Marcy went home with