Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (36 page)

Willy and Nate nodded
,
smiled
,
and ran off toward the house.

Vivianna smiled.
She knew Johnny was sending the boys away so that they wouldn
’
t see how many frogs and pollywogs were floating dead in the water.
The fish would eat the dead ones up soon enough,
and
then Nate and Willy could go on believing every one of their beloved little puddle pets had lived to thrive long and happy in the pond.

Johnny chuckled.
Smiling at Vivianna
,
he said,
“
Well, come on, Vivi
. L
et
’
s finish it up.
”

Vivianna giggled and followed as Johnny headed for the pond.

“
I
’
ll dump these out and help you with those,
”
he said.
Quickly he ran ahead of her a ways, dumping the bucketful of pollywogs into their new home.

Vivianna hurried.
She could feel her hand slipping—feel her hold on her slimy apron loosening.
She was nearly to the water
’
s edge when she tripped and began to stumble forward.

With a shriek
,
she tried to keep hold of her apron—tried to pull it up so that she wouldn
’
t land on her stomach and squish the tiny frogs she was carrying.
In an instant, however, she knew it would be impossible—that she must abandoned the safety of the frogs for her own.
She released her grip on her apron and squealed again as she saw the multitude of tiny frogs fly up in the air.

She fell forward
and
bumped into Johnny, knocking him into the pond.
Somehow he turned and caught her in his arms, keeping her from falling facefirst into the muddy pond water.

Vivianna gasped for breath as Johnny pushed her back to sit on her seat only a moment before tens upon tens of frogs rained down upon their heads.
Vivianna screamed as she felt their sticky feet on her face, her arms—felt them hopping around on her head.

Frantically, she helped Johnny brush them from her shoulders, out of her hair, and from her lap.
It was only when she had calmed herself enough to realize that it was only baby frogs hopping around on her person—not snakes or spiders or something far worse—that she looked to Johnny.

Clamping her hand over her mouth, she tried not to laugh
. Y
et the sight of Johnny covered head to toe in mud and baby frogs was too delightful!

“
Are you all right, Vivi?
”
he asked.
The concern on his face was genuine—and great.

“
Yes, of course!
”
Vivianna giggled.

“
Are ya certain?
”
he asked, standing and offering a hand to her.
She nodded
and
continued to giggle as he helped her to her feet.
Even the deep furrow on his handsome brow
,
even the way he grimaced slightly as he picked a small frog from her hair
,
even for all his serious demeanor
,
Vivianna could not stop her giggles.
He was too handsome
—t
oo entirely adorable with mud splattered all over his gorgeous face
,
two tiny frogs clinging to his hair
,
three on one shoulder.

“
Are you all right?
”
she asked at last.
She reached up and gently removed one of the frogs from his hair. Wrinkling her nose
,
she tossed it into the pond and then reached for another.

“
Me?
”
he asked
,
a bewildered look on his face.

“
For goodness sake, Johnny,
”
she giggled.
“
I near knocked you to
Mississippi
.
”
She smiled and brushed the frogs lingering on his shoulders.
“
And now you
’
re all muddy
,
and your pretty clean shirt is a mess.
”

Johnny seemed only then to realize he
’
d fallen too—that he too was covered in mud and frogs.
He brushed at the mud on his shirt and then glanced down to the pond.

“
I probably smashed half of what we saved,
”
he mumbled.
He ran a hand over the seat of his trousers and looked at it.
“
I don
’
t see any legs or nothin
’
though.
”
He brushed his other hand over his seat then—studied it for a moment.
“
No pollywog tails neither.
”

Vivianna clamped a muddy hand over her mouth.
She could feel the pe
a
ls of laughter beginning in her throat
,
and in a moment more, they broke the air.
“
Oh, Johnny!
”
she laughed.
“
Your face…you
’
re so serious!
”
And it was true!
He was still frowning
,
as if he were yet concerned over her.

Suddenly, his expression changed.
Almost at once his frown faded
,
and he smiled—laughed—began to laugh so hard he could hardly draw breath!
Vivianna was entirely undone
.
She folded her arms across her stomach as she bent over with laughing.

“
I swear, Johnny Tabor!
”
she gasped between breaths.
“
It seems somethin
’
or other is always…always…
”

“
Always…always messin
’
on me?
”
he gasped.

Vivianna nodded as her laughter increased!
She couldn
’
t breathe
,
and she could see that Johnny couldn
’
t either
.
He leaned forward
and
placed a hand on her shoulder as he hung his head in trying to cease the ripple
s
of laughter.

Vivianna pressed her hands to his chest in trying to keep from toppling over with the force of her gasping and giggles.
“
Pigeons and frogs,
”
she sighed as her laughter began to subside somewhat.
“
It seems they
’
re just too jealous of your handsome face to leave you well enough alone!
”

Again they each burst into laughter.

“
Maybe…maybe they just think my shirts are too pretty,
”
Johnny sighed, wiping the moisture from his eyes with the shoulder of his shirt—which was the only clean spot left on it.

Again they each burst into laughter.
Vivianna could not seem to rein in her giggling.
And Johnny certainly couldn
’
t cork his own hilarity.
He sat down hard on the muddy bank of the pond and roared.

“
J-Johnny!
”
Vivianna begged
,
sitting down beside him.
“
P-please!
I swear…I swear I
’
m gonna just bust somethin
’
if you don
’
t…if you don
’
t stop this!
”

“
Me?
”
he gasped.
“
I was…I was only tryin
’
to save pollywogs!
You
’
re the one who made it rain frogs!
”

“
What in tarnation is so funny?
”

It was Willy.
Vivianna managed to gasp and hold her breath long enough to see that Willy stood nearby, scowling at them like they had no sense at all.

“
I swear, Viv.
Every time I come to fetch you and Johnny
,
y
’
all are laughin
’
like nothin
’
I ever seen,
”
the boy scolded.

Johnny drew a deep breath and sighed.

“
And why
’
re ya all muddy?
”
Will asked.
“
Y
’
all get into more mischief than Nate and me.
”

Vivianna bit her lip.
It was the only way she could restrain the residual giggles still lurking in her throat.

“
We stumbled a bit,
”
Johnny explained.

Willy looked Vivianna up and down.
“
A bit?
”
He shook his head.
“
Anyhow, Mama sent me out to tell y
’
all thank you for helpin
’
me and Nate.
”
He shrugged.
“
I guess I
’
ll just run on back and tell her you
’
ll be awhile gettin
’
back to the house.
”
He shook his head once more.
“
Y
’
all are a mess.
”
He turned and trotted back toward the house.

Vivianna watched him go
,
smiling.
When Willy was well out of sight, she looked to Johnny.
His eyes were smoldering with some emotion she couldn
’
t quite discern.
Yet his smile was bright and cheerful.

Quickly, she leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.
“
Thank you,
”
she said
,
“
f
or helpin
’
the boys with their silly frogs and pollywogs.
”

His smoldering gaze caused her breath to catch—caused a warm shiver of delight to travel up her spine.

“
I-I should probably quit kissin
’
ya every time I wanna thank ya for somethin
’
,
”
she said.
She felt her cheeks pink with a bashful blush.
She
’
d spoken the words out loud, though she
’
d only intended to think them.

“
Why?
”
he asked.

Vivianna held her breath.
The manner in which his rather predatory gaze lingered on her and the mischievous grin on his enticing mouth caused her to tremble.
The manner in which he slowly leaned toward her—the way his gaze was suddenly transfixed to her
lips—
caused her mouth to begin to water.
She wanted him to kiss her—wanted him to kiss her the way he had earlier
,
beneath the honeysuckle vine.

“
My letter!
”
she gasped as the sudden realization Justin
’
s letter was still in her skirt pocket rushed into her mind.
Plunging her hand into her pocket
,
she removed the beloved pages.
They were damp but not soaking.
“
Oh, it
’
s ruined!
”

She heard Johnny sigh as he reached over and took the letter from her.
She watched as his brow puckered with curiosity.
“
It
’
ll survive…but I
’
m not too certain it will travel on to wherever you were plannin
’
on sendin
’
it.
”
She watched as Johnny unfolded the letter
,
his frown deepening as he studied it.

“
Oh…uh…I wasn
’
t plannin
’
on sendin
’
it
. I
t was written to me,
”
she said.