TUESDAY TALES - PROMPT "TWIG" - "TWO OF HEARTS" continues...

Welcome! There is another installment of "Two of Hearts" this week. This will be the last one for this story. The story needs to remain a surprise and I don't want to give too much away. 

Scroll down for the link back to Tuesday Tales. Thank you for coming. 

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“Baby, baby, baby. Don’t cry. It’ll be okay. You have friends. You have support. The lawyer, the accountant, me. Honestly. Anything I can help you with. If you need me to walk Willie or help with taxes. I’m a finance guy, a numbers man. You have my number. Call or text me. Anytime. day or night.”

She stopped sobbing. Sniffling, she leaned back and made eye contact.

Stunned by his own words, Terry simply stared. He’d never called anyone but Clare “baby” before. His words shocked him.

“Do you mean that?”

He nodded, speech was out of the question.

She darted forward and kissed him, gently. Then stepped back. The look on her face told him what he suspected, that her action had surprised her, too. 

Her lips were soft and warm, even if only for a nano-second. He’d craved a kiss from Clare, and, though it wasn’t his wife, it lit his fire. Terry moved a foot away. Every warning bell in his head sounded.

“We should be careful,” he ventured, when he could string words together.

She nodded. “Oh, yes. Yes. Careful. You’re right. So right.” She licked her lips. Wrong! His gaze locked on her mouth, watching her. She bent down to pet the dogs, and took the twig Willie was chewing out of his mouth.  

“I’ve got to go,” he said. Time to leave while he still could.

She straightened and made eye contact. “But you meant what you said? About helping me?”

“Every word.”

She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and smiled. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He gave a nod, glanced at Queenie and made a clicking noise with his tongue. “Queenie. Say goodnight to Willie. Time to go home.”

They walked the few steps to her house, with at least a foot’s breathing room between them. Terry nodded. “Goodnight.”

“’Night,” she replied, tripping up the steps.

Terry headed home. His body temperature returned to normal. What was I thinking? What did I say? What did she do? This is a bad idea.

As much as he argued with himself on the way to his apartment, he knew it was no use. He couldn’t desert Jen. She needed someone –she needed him. And he’d be there for her. After all, Clare had made it clear that she didn’t need him, and he was a man who needed to be needed.  

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