Forget Me Not, Books I, II and III

Someone to Watch Over Me

Teddi jumped and thumped along with Calvin to the rhythm of her favorite Glen Miller tune. She noticed that most of the people who normally gave her and Calvin odd looks and sneers were paying them no mind tonight. It was probably because the whole town, the old and the young, the rich and the poor gathered for this event and seemed to put all of their pettiness aside for one day. It was why the Brookhurst Jamboree was her favorite day of the year. Even her grandparents, who were sitting at the new reverend's table with Mrs. Chatfield and a few of the older residents, seemed to be enjoying the evening without care.

Next, Ella Fitzgerald's voice singing Someone to Watch Over Me filled the warm night. Calvin pulled Teddi close, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I love dancing with you."

"Mmm." They slowly moved to the music, emotions swirling light and free into the night sky. Teddi remembered the safety she'd felt in his arms all those years ago. It hadn't changed. She'd known even then that she was supposed to be close to him. When they were apart she ached, surprising for a pair who was slated to hate one another since at the families' ill-fated rendezvous.

The song began to die down and another bopping tune took over. Teddi, however, was no longer in the mood to jump and jive on the dance floor. So, she grabbed Calvin's hand and lead him away.

"What? Don't you want to dance any more?" he called bemusedly over the music.

Teddi chose not to answer and continued to lead him off into the dark corners of the green field. She reached a row of bushes and trees and moved past them.

"Remember this spot?"

Calvin's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Miss Donovan, you scandalous woman. I can't believe you would drag me back here to, what was it you had in mind?"

"Come on, if it wasn't scandalous when we were kids then why does it have to be now?"

"We were passing notes from your sister, Teddi."

Teddi shrugged a shoulder. "Was that all you wanted to do?"

"God, do you know how scared out of my mind I was of you back then?"

"You were not."

"Was too. You were this beautiful spitfire of a girl who I thought hated me then all of a sudden needed my help. I didn't know which way was up or down when it came to you, but I did know how much I loved being near you."

"Calvin?" Teddi stepped closer to him, placing her hands on either side of his chest.

"Yeah?"

"You're talking too much."

"Oh, am I?" Calvin whispered, grazing his lips back and forth across hers.

Teddi opened her mouth and Calvin wasted no time in reacquainting their tongues in a mutually sweet dance.

They pulled apart and Calvin's mouth attached itself to the column of her throat. Addicted to the taste of her skin, he began suckling her neck. "God, that feels good," Teddi moaned, wondering if in the back of her mind anyone at the jamboree could hear her. At that point, she didn't care. All she cared about was the way Calvin was making her feel at that very moment. His hands ran up and down her back, hers caressed his shoulders and neck.

They had yet to make love. Teddi had always assumed she would wait until marriage. Calvin respected her and never pushed the issue. But she could always see it in his eyes. Especially, on those nights when she would stay later than she planned after getting carried away on the sofa or on those few warm evenings atop the soft grass of his garden. "I love you so much, Calvin."