“Plans for the Day”

“Dwayne, I can’t spend the whole day with you,” Abby told him, as she walked along side him on the grounds of the inn. “I have a job, you know, responsibilities.” She just kept thinking of poor Colin being carried away on that stretcher and loaded into the back of the ambulance. She still had no idea what had happened, but was sure it was somehow her fault. She needed to somehow ditch Dwayne and get over to the Coffs hospital to check on how he was doing.

“C’mon, darlin’,” Dwayne drawled, grinning at her, as he gave her hand a little squeeze, “no need for you to continue workin’ now that I’m here. No bride of mine needs to break her back workin’ for someone else. No ma’am, you ain’t got no responsibilities today other than to spend time with me.”

“Dwayne, seriously, Cal and Colleen count on me down at the paper. While they’re away on vacation, I need to be there putting the paper out for them. I can’t just close up shop there anytime I want.”

“Call that little gal you work with, What’s-her-name... Lenny, Laurie, Letty... whatever the hell her name is... to cover for you. Sure she won’t mind, probably be happy to do it.”

“First off, her name is Libby, and secondly, she has something to do today,” Abby sighed, frustrated by Dwayne’s pushiness. “Seriously, I need to get to work, Dwayne. Now, you may walk me there if you like, but then you gotta let me have some time alone to get the paper out.”

“Okay, okay... if you insist darlin’,” he reluctantly agreed, “Actually, I have some business for you there, anyhow.” He handed her a small brown envelope, motioned for her to open it.

“What’s this?” she asked, as she pulled out a picture of the two of them taken when they were first married, along with a hand-written note.

“It’s our weddin’ announcement, darlin’,” he grinned. “Now that you’ve agreed to be my wife again, I’d like us to renew our vows. This here let’s the whole town know that you and I are together again – lovin’ husband and wife, forever.”

Abby tried not to make a gagging noise when she heard what Dwayne said to her. She managed a weak smile, instead, and replied, “Um... of course, Dwayne. Um... yeah, that’d be great. I’ll get it in tonight’s edition of the Times.”

“This where you work, then?” Dwayne asked, as they stopped in front of Cal and Colleen’s place. “Not much to look at, is it?” he commented.

“Yes, well, it suits just fine, I assure you,” she told him, fidgeting nervously. “I’ll... um... see you later, then, after work.”

“You can count on it, darlin’,” Dwayne told her, then leaned in and kissed her passionately on the lips, leaving Abby a bit breathless. “You can count on it.”

He smiled broadly, and gave her a wink, then turned and walked slowly back down the road towards the inn.

Abby watched as he left, a bit shaken from the kiss, “Wow!” she said out loud, after he’d gone, the corners of her lips curved up slightly to form a smile as she headed into the office, all thoughts of Colin temporarily slipped from her mind.

TBC...