“Consider it done,” Peanut said.

“What can I do to help?” Ruby asked.

“I want flowers. Can you organize that for me? Some small arrangements to sit on a few of the tables we’ll push against the walls, and a showy arrangement or two. You have better taste than I do, and just have the bills sent to me.”

“I would be honored,” Ruby said.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Peanut asked.

“Not that I can think of right now,” Lovey said.

“As long as you don’t ask me to cook anything, we’re safe,” Peanut said.

They laughed, but when the cuckoo clock in the kitchen began chiming the hour, Lovey stood.

“It’s ten o’clock. Time for all working people to be in bed. Thank you for being here for me.”

“Always,” Ruby said, and then walked her out. “Sleep well, my friend.”

Lovey just shook her head. “I’m so wound up, I don’t know if I’ll get a wink of sleep tonight.”

But after the quiet drive through Blessings on her way home, as soon as Lovey walked in the door and closed it behind her, the adrenaline crash hit. It was all she could do to get cleaned up and in bed. She set the alarm and then closed her eyes and dreamed the dream…the one that made the baby conceived in love.

* * *

The bedroom was in shadows. The television was off.

Melissa was waiting for him.

She heard the shower go off and closed her eyes, imagining his body covered in glistening droplets, seeing them drop from the ends of his hair, from his dark lashes, then tracking down his spine to the long, strong length of his legs.

She shivered.

He turned her on with his laugh and his loving heart.

The body was just icing on the cake.

A few moments later, the door opened and he was standing on the threshold. The lights behind him illuminated the dark beauty of the silhouette, and then they went out, leaving him bathed in the pale-blue glow of the night-light.

“I waited for you,” Melissa said.

He paused. “You just climbed a small mountain on your belly.”

“I can handle one more mountain if I start at the top and go down.”

Sully threw back the covers and eased onto the mattress. The shape of him crawling toward her on his hands and knees made her ache, and she waited. Then he was over her, hovering. She closed her eyes and felt his mouth on her lips, soft at first, and then harder, more insistent.

One kiss became a thousand, became a pain, became a fire, and then he slid his hands behind her back and rolled, taking her with him.

Like the phoenix rising out of the fire, she went up on her knees, then eased down until he filled her. His hands spanned the width of her waist, then slid down to the sides of her hips and started rocking her against him until the ride turned wild, became an all-engulfing fire, and it burned and burned until the flames went out.