Part 467
Drying off, Sarah pulled on her robe and headed out to get dressed. She looked back to see Nick hunched over her laptop with a frown on his face. Probably having trouble spelling the town thought Sarah with a laugh as she closed the door.
Emerging minutes later, she sat beside Nick. Putting her chin on his shoulder, she looked at the screen. "Did ya find anything?"
"Not a damn thing! What am I gonna do, Sarah? We didn’t celebrate her birthday last year because of everything that was going on. I can’t miss it this year."
"First off, you don’t need to panic. We’ll take care of it when we get there. There will be plenty of time when we get there. What do you want to do?"
"I don’t know…flowers, cake and dinner, with all of us."
"Okay. When we pull in, I’ll look through the phone book and find everything for you and set it up. Have you gotten her a gift yet?"
"Not yet. What should I get her?"
"Nick, you have to figure that out yourself. I can’t do it all for you. Now, I want you to listen to something but you have to keep an eye out for Howie. I don’t want him to hear it yet."
"Okay. I take it you’ve written another song for him."
"Yep," grinned Sarah as she picked up the guitar. "Alex and I have been playing with this melody and last night, the words came to me."
Nick sat so he could see out the window as Sarah played for him. He couldn’t help himself though. The words and the music drew him away from the window to watch her. The feelings Sarah had for Howie were so plain and he saw the emotions in her eyes.
When she finished, Nick said, "Howie’s gonna love that."
"Was it okay?" asked Sarah doubtfully.
"God, yes! It’s amazing how easily this comes to you. I can’t believe…" Nick stopped not wanting to bring up Sarah’s past. She had tried so hard to forget it. "When are you gonna sing it for him?"
Sarah knew what he’d wanted to say and was grateful that he had dropped it. "This show. I thought…."
Sarah was interrupted by Howie’s return. "Time to go, you two. I’ve got a car waiting for us."
"I thought we were eating at the hotel," asked Sarah as Howie sat beside her.
"We were but I found a place that looks really good. It’s called La Peep and they specialize in anything made with eggs. I figured you’ve been craving omelets lately, ‘Angel’, you can get one this morning."
"Let me go get Becca and GT. Sarah, it’s perfect."
"Thanks, Nicky. We’ll see you in a few."
As Nick left, Howie put his arms around her. "I’ve got our afternoon all planned. I found a really good place to look for baby stuff and a place to get you some more maternity clothes."
"I don’t need anything else."
"We’ve got all those appearances after the tour and there’s the concert for New York City. We’re gonna be wearing suits, ‘Angel’, and you’re gonna need something a little more fancy than what you've got. Besides, I want to do this."
Sarah leaned against him with her head on his shoulder. "I’m not gonna argue with you."
"Good girl," teased Howie. "Then, tonight, I thought we could check out a couple clubs but you, young lady, need to take a nap this afternoon."
"Yes, dear. Is it still snowing?"
"Uh huh. Wanna go play in it while we wait for Nick and Becca?"
"Yes!" answered Sarah excitedly.
Howie laughed, "Go get a coat and we’ll go."
Sarah hesitated. "Coat? Howie, when we left Orlando, it was August. I didn’t bring anything remotely warm enough."
"My tour jacket is in the closet."
"What about you?"
"Don’t worry about me. Go get it so we can go."
"Yes dear," answered Sarah as she got up.
Ready to go out, Howie took her hand and led her off the bus. Watching her eyes light up, Howie was on top of the world. It was the happiest he’d seen her since Jesse left and he was glad he’d brought her to Denver for some time off.
Sarah danced around, her head thrown back letting the snow hit her face. Tiny flakes caught in her hair but she didn’t mind. She loved the feel of the cold wet on her face. It brought back so many fond memories of Virginia and her brothers; playing in the snow, sleigh riding, and snowball fights.
Scooping up a handful of snow off a nearby car, Sarah made a snowball and threw it at Howie hitting him in the chest. She ducked behind a tree seeing him getting his own snowball together.
Howie quietly eased up to the tree and reached around. He grabbed her stuffing the snow down her shirt. He held on to her as she squirmed to get away from the cold.
"Gotcha!"
"Oh, that was MEAN!" laughed Sarah.
"Yep!"
Sarah ran her fingers through his hair. "I’m SOOOO glad we came early."
"Me too."
Leaning to her, his lips touched hers, like the snow, light and feathery. His lips parted and his tongue slipped out to trace her lips, begging for entrance. Giving in, her lips parted allowing him to enter. All the while they kissed, his hands roamed under her jacket and he was rewarded with the babies moving.
Pulling back, Howie looked into her eyes. "They’re awake?"
"You woke them with the snow."
"Need me to warm you up?"
"You just did with that kiss." Looking over his shoulder, Sarah spotted Nick and Becca getting off their bus. "It’s time to go, ‘D’."
The two couples and Garrett piled into the waiting car and Howie gave the driver the name of the restaurant. The ride was peaceful, both men glad to have the down time. Talk revolved around their plans for the time in Denver before the others arrived.