Acquiring Trouble

roof , and walk ed over to William with her hands on her hips. It was over, it was all over and everyone was okay! Relief flooded her as she realized the end was finally in sight.
    She felt Miles close the space between them as he wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “I love you,” he whispered before bringing his lips to hers. She forgot about Pam, the herd of elderly women, and the flock of law enforce rs . All she could think about was the feel of Miles’ s hard body against hers. The taste of his mouth on hers was much more interesting than what would happen to William Brady.
    “Hmm. I love you too,” Morgan whispered as she pulled away from him. His eyes were burning with a vibrancy that told her exactly what he was thinking.
    “Morgan! Oh, thank G od!” Pam screeched as she rushed toward her. The passenger door to the minivan opened and a very wide-eyed man got out. She recognized Pa m’s husband, Jeffery, from the c afé. The poor man looked like he was going to pass out.
    Pam hit her at full speed, p ushing Miles out of the way as she crushed Morgan in a fierce hug. “I had just picked up Jeffery when I heard some loud noise. I thought it was an explosion. I hurried downtown to see that man standing in the middle of the street with a gun!” Pam rushed on , hardly taking a breath. “And then he was firing the gun and I saw Miles covering you and I didn’t know what to do!” Pam started to sob, causing her perfectly done makeup to smear and run down her face. “I just fo und you and I wasn’t going to l ose you. I just floored it! Oh and then he actually hit the car! Did you see him bounce? He got some good air as my kids would say. And poor Jeffery, he hasn’t said a word since and now my minivan’s roof is caved in, although I had really been hoping for a new one for my birthday —y ou know, the ones with the built in DVD players and the storage space beneath the seat —b ut I don’t know if insurance will cover this. What do you think?”
    “ Pammy Cakes, I’ll buy you the top - of - the - line model with leather seats and all if you promise me that you’ll never run over another person. I don’t think I could take that again !” Average Jeffery exhaled and s ome color returned to his cheeks.
    “Oh, Jeffy ! I’m so sorry I scared you. I love you baby!” Pam ran into her husband’s arm and planted a huge kiss on him right there in the middle of Main Street. Morgan was willing to bet that was the least average thing Pam had ever done. Well, that and bouncing a guy off her minivan.
    Morgan smiled. At least she had expanded her sister’s horizons. And a sister who would send a guy sailing off her car was one she wanted to get to know better. Miles saw her smile and slipped his arm around her. Morgan snuggled her head against his chest and knew her life was never going to be the same again.
    “Oh! Morgan!” Pam broke from her kiss and introduced her very dazed husband to her. “Jeffery, this is my sister. She’ll be joining us tonight for dinner with the kids. Miles, you know where we live. See you at six. We have to go buy a new minivan!” Pam gave her a win k and dragged her husband away.
    “There’s something else I ’d rather do tonight, but I guess it can wait until afte r dinner,” Miles whispered as his lips tickled the soft skin behind her ear. “It’ll have to wait, though —i ncoming.”
    Morgan opened her eyes to see that the town had lost interest in William and was now heading straight for her. She tried to back up, but Miles held her in place with a wicked grin on his face. “Time to pay the piper, sweetheart.”
    Morgan was lost in a sea of white hair, brown uniforms, and enough people talking to make her head spin . People hugged her, asked questions, and decided if she was to be forgiven or not. Finally, Miss Lily thumped her broom against the paveme nt to get everyone’s attention.
    “I just have one question. Is there anything else you did that we need to know about?”
    “I was the one who painted the water tower, not Miles .”
    “You painted the water tower?” Miss Lily gasped.
    “I told you,” Mr. Wolfe said from the safety of the other side of the group.
    “I did. And I tipped the cows at Mr. Johnson’s farm, I broke your mai l box Miss Edna, and I stole gum from the market all to get my daddy’s attention. It was wrong and I apologize to all of you , ” Morgan said with great sincerity.
    “What about