Free Waking Up to Love by Evan Purcell Page A

coloring wasn’t 100 percent yet, and she was still too skinny, but she didn’t move with the same creakiness that she had when she’d first woken up.
    “You do look lovely,” Ramona offered.
    “Thanks, dear. Now please kiss your husband before I think ill of you.”
    Ramona and Scott exchanged glances. They didn’t have a choice. Ramona waited for Scott to make the first move, and when he didn’t, she wrapped her arms around him and planted her lips on his.
    Right away, she felt a jolt of contact, as his soft lips brushed lightly against hers. Then her lips parted, and his tongue slid into her mouth, tasting her for the first time. She certainly hadn’t expected that.
    It was too late to turn back now, so she returned the favor. Her tongue guided his, feeling its warmth and taking control. She was kissing on her own terms. She grabbed the back of his neck and guided his head to the left. She wrapped her other arm around his trim waist.
    That was way too good to be a kiss of friendship.
    She pulled away. And when she did, she saw him staring at her, speechless and almost out of breath.
    “See?” Debra said. “That wasn’t too hard, now, was it?”
    “No, ma’am,” Scott answered his mom, but he was still staring at Ramona.
    “It certainly didn’t look that way,” Debra said. “In fact, I’m surprised you’ve already been married for three months, considering how you kiss like newlyweds.”
    Feeling bold after that moment of sudden passion, Ramona wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “We’re just deeply in love, that’s all,” she said.
    Scott accidentally knocked one of the grocery bags onto the floor. A single orange rolled around the linoleum in a wide circle. After all that hemming and hawing from the other day, he’d actually bought something nutritious.
    “Of course,” Debra said. “Listen, why don’t you two go out to the garden and spend some time together?”
    Ramona gulped. She felt emboldened, but not
that
emboldened. A quick kiss was one thing—especially since they were put on the spot like that—but Debra wanted them to have some serious alone time together, and Ramona didn’t feel ready for that yet.
    Judging by Scott’s expression, he felt the same way.
    “But …” Ramona said.
    “But we should help you put everything away,” Scott added. Good save!
    Debra placed her hands on his chest and pushed him toward the door. “Nonsense,” she said. “I can get Rob to do that for me. He didn’t work today, remember?”
    “Right.”
    Now they didn’t have an excuse. None at all.
    Ramona and Scott exchanged another look, this one of surrender. They took each other’s hands and walked outside.
    Because Ramona wasn’t entirely made of stone, she got shivers from the gentle pressure that Scott placed on her hand. His hand was so much bigger than hers. Rougher, too. He held her, firm but not too firm. From this simple bit of contact, she knew his strength.
    They entered the garden.
    Since Debra had her accident, their three-acre plot of land had turned wild and overgrown. It needed Debra’s near-constant groundskeeping, and without her, grass sprouted up through cracks in stone and weeds mingled with the flowers. Surely, Scott could’ve maintained it while Debra was sick, but somehow he didn’t.
    “It’s changed a lot,” Ramona said. “The garden, I mean.”
    Scott nodded, but didn’t answer.
    “We should probably spruce it up before the party,” she continued.
    “I’m sure Rob can help you with that,” Scott said. “I keep encouraging him to go outside more.”
    Ramona wanted to ask him why he wouldn’t fix up the yard. He was a park ranger, after all; out of everyone in the McInney family, he was by far the most qualified. But she didn’t want to offend him, so they walked together in silence.
    Eventually, Ramona realized that Scott was taking her directly toward his old treehouse, a small wooden structure built in one of the highest trees in the yard. Even