Storm Front (22 page)

“Michael, I will marry you if you promise to never call me your ‘soul mate.’ I hate that term. It’s so banal. Not even teenagers use it anymore. Just keep telling me that you love me.”

“Promised,” Mike said huskily. “Is it warm in here, or is it just me?”

Maddy slid into the tub and stretched herself out. “If you’re going to be my husband and claim privileges, you have to earn them. Get me my wine, please.” He did as requested and somehow managed not to spill any, although his hands shook. He was fascinated by the way her breasts seemed to float in the churning water, and he let his eyes wander to the pale thatch of hair between her thighs.

She smiled invitingly, lovingly. “Now take off your clothes and get in here.”

“It’ll be a tight fit.”

“I’m counting on it.”

* * *

Wally could just see the headlines. “Weatherman and the Gov caught canoodling in the Caribbean.” He wouldn’t care. In fact, he’d be proud to be caught canoodling with the lovely Lauren Landsman. But Lauren would. So that was why they were at her sister’s house a few miles away from Lansing. Their relationship had renewed and rekindled with astonishing speed. Soon it was like they’d never shut it down for several decades. Wally thanked the late Ellen for keeping them in touch. He sometimes thought she’d planned it this way all along. Maybe she was watching them now and was smiling. Wally wasn’t particularly religious, but he liked the thought.

The first time they made love, Lauren insisted on keeping the lights off, saying that she wasn’t ready for him to see her older body and compare it with the younger version. He told her he felt the same way. Fortunately, they both quickly got over that silly hang-up.

He reached across the bed and took her hand. “Will it be the Senate then?”

“Yep, and I’m going to kick everyone’s ass. I’m not going to let a silly law about term limits derail my political career just when it’s heating up. A couple of total nobodies are going to be running against me in the primary and the Senate incumbent is in his eighties and on the verge of being declared mentally incompetent. He even tried to block emergency federal aid to his own state. He’s going down. The Savior of Michigan is going to trample him.”

Wally laughed. The title had been pinned on her by one of the major newspapers and had stuck. She had gotten a reputation, well deserved, for working tirelessly to clear the storm area and to bring relief to the inhabitants. She would be unbeatable. As for himself, he’d gotten an Emmy for his wall-to-wall reporting. Now he was brought in by the major networks as a guest expert.

“Then I will have to go with you as your official Weather Wizard.”

She laughed and rolled next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Sounds like a plan, O Wizard. Do you think you could wave your magic wand one more time?”