Chapter Ten

"Oh, my God! I still find what this poor girl went through hard to believe!" Mrs. Parker exclaimed once more as she held Annie's hand.

"So do I." Matt Wheeler said, his impressive figure standing right in front of the girl. "But she managed to fool a hardened criminal into jail... With a little help from her friends." Turning to his children and the other BWG's, he smiled.

Returning from the lake, Trixie and the others had found the Parkers with Matt and Madeleine Wheeler. They had come straight over after Mr. Wheeler's call. They had been there for almost an hour and hadn't asked about the money once. All they cared about was Annie. Lewis Parker was a tall, well-built man in his early fifties. Only a shadow in his eyes betrayed the ordeal he'd been through. His wife, however, despite her obvious beauty, looked as if she was recovering from a long, tiresome illness.

"You were a very brave young girl, Annie." Lewis Parker said.

"What will happen to me now?" the girl asked, looking from one grown-up to another and then at Trixie and Jim. "You promised I wouldn't go into an orphanage!"

Before any of them could answer, Mr. Parker exclaimed:

"An orphanage? Don't be silly, child! I would never allow that to happen. Me and my wife have been thinking and we thought it would be very good for us to change scenery and leave New York. Too many painful memories there... Sleepyside looks delightful and we would love to live in a place like this. And we would be honored if you agreed to live with us. I think that's what Jason would like us to do."

No one dared break the silence after Mr. Parker's short speech. Everyone's eyes on Annie. The girl went pale, then smiled, then started to cry. "I would love too..." she muttered in between her tears.

"YES!" Bobby yelled "Now you can be a Bob-White too!" The others started laughing at his emotional response and the boy blushed. Trixie smiled as her brother hugged Annie. Another case was solved. Bobby's case. And everyone was happy. Everyone but Jim. Her smile faded as her eyes met his. Jim had been standing near the window since he had entered the room with Brian, a little while after the others, after tending to his bruises. She couldn't help wondering what was wrong with him. He'd been cheerful until... Trixie's heart skipped a beat and she remembered. Oh, no! She said to herself. It can't be that!

Jim saw Trixie stare at him. He'd been trying to pass unnoticed but he knew his gloomy mood would soon be noticed in a room filled with such happy people. He was really happy for Annie. He'd been hoping something like this would happen... Something like had happen to him so many years before. But his heart was aching. He'd thought he had prepared himself for Trixie's refusal...But now he knew he would never be prepared for it. Trixie wasn't going to be his. Not the way he wanted her to be. And so as he saw her moving across the room to meet him, he walked away, leaving the room without being noticed by any of the others.

Trixie found him in his room, on the balcony. She had been taught never to enter a room without knocking but she knew that if she did, he wouldn't answer her. Jim was like that when he wanted to be alone. But she wouldn't leave him alone, hurting for something that...

"Jim..." she softly called, touching his shoulder.

"Hi, Trixie," he said, without turning to her. "The party is downstairs... You should head over there."

"Oh, no, Jim. You won't get me out of here until you tell me what's wrong." Trixie pulled his arm, forcing him to look at her. And she felt a pain in her heart as she saw his tear streaked face. "Jimmy, no!" she whispered.

He wiped his face with the back of his hand and smiled sadly. "Look, Trix, everything will be ok in a while. I know it was your call and I won't hold it against you... But you have to give me time to get over it."

"Jim, I don't know what you're talking about!" she exclaimed. She knew she was lying but she had to know for sure.

"The ring... I noticed you weren't wearing it in the woods, when I grabbed your hand." Jim lowered his eyes and turned away again. "I don't want to commiserate or you to feel sorry for me, but I need time alone. Please, Trixie... All I don't need right now is you being tender to me."

"Are you sure?" she whispered, unable to stop the smile that spread across her lips. Jim's confused look grew even more so when she reached out and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. Jim's heart nearly stopped when he felt the soft scratching. Feeling his head spin, he grabbed her hand. The beautiful diamond sent sparkles of light all around them. Swallowing hard he stared into her eyes. "Trixie..."

She nervously giggled. "And you were the one always accusing me of jumping to conclusions. I took it off when we went into the woods. You do remember my tendency to lose stuff..."

He only nodded. Standing there, looking into her eyes, he didn't know what to do. He had gone from hopeful to hopeless and back in less than an hour and now he didn't know what to feel. And he suddenly realized that as he hadn't been ready to deal with her refusal, he was certainly no more prepared to deal with her acceptance.

"I love you, Jimmy. I always did... But I was so scared of losing what we had that I never stopped to think on what we could have..." Trixie's voice was trembling as she stood under his clear gaze. The words she had closed inside herself for such a long time were suddenly breaking their bonds and surfacing.

Reaching out, he softly touched her cheek and traced the lines of her face with his finger, as if trying to memorize them with his fingertips. Did she know what he felt like every time she called him Jimmy? That's what his mother used to call him and sometimes, when they were alone, Trixie called him that too. She had done so that night of the prom... And he'd kissed her. She seemed to guess what was on his mind and smiled.

"This isn't going to be like that night, I promise." She whispered.

"You promise? That was all my fault." He was finding hard to even speak. His voice was caught in his throat.

Surprised, she shook her head. "No, Jim, it wasn't. It was me who walked away. I was so scared... And it was my first kiss... And I wasn't ready for the way it made me feel. It was too strong! But it doesn't matter now, anyway. We're here now and... and I won't lose you again! I will never settle for anything besides the absolute best!" saying that, Trixie threw her arms around his neck and held him tight. With a gasp of surprise, Jim closed his arms around her and closed his eyes as he reveled in the feeling of having her in his arms finally. "I love you, baby, I love you so much!" he whispered as he planted soft, tender kisses in her ears, forehead, nose, cheeks. Trixie laughed, delighted and she wondered how could she ever have doubted their mutual feelings. And only then, when their eyes met, did she noticed she could finally do what she had been wanting to do for a long, long time. Holding his face in her hands, Trixie stood on tiptoes and kissed him, tenderly and softly at first, exploring the feeling. But years of yearning and wishing and wanting suddenly broke the dams in their hearts and their lips met again, hungry, needy, certain of finally belonging to one another.

They walked slowly through the lawn, under the afternoon sun, their eyes lost in each other's. Happiness was such an overwhelming feeling! People around them smiled at sight of the couple holding hands but they knew better than to interfere. This was a sight long overdue to those who knew them and they didn't want to break the moment.

Jim and Trixie had been talking for hours in his room. Doubts, jealousies, dreams, fears, hopes and secret thoughts had been shared and talked over. It hadn't been easy at first... They had been used to hide most of their feelings from each other. But then it was like they never had done so. They knew each other's limits and faults. And now, walking by his side, Trixie was certain Jim was the man of her life. "I love you, you know." She said, with that gorgeous smile, full of light.

He smiled back, his eyes shining as two emeralds. "I know." Catching her by surprise, he pulled her to him and made her spin in the air. When he finally put her down, Jim hugged her tight and burying his face in her hair, he breathed in deeply. "You do smell like a summer's day." He whispered in her ear.

"Hey, Bobby said that once, so many years ago! You remember that?"

A broad grin spread across his handsome face. "Yeah, how could I forget? You were dressing up and wearing perfume for Ben, trying to make your parents believe you were in love with him! If I remember correctly you were aiming to get that same ring you're wearing today! God, I was so jealous!"

She laughed out loud. "Guess it would have been easier to pretend I was in love with you!"

"Pretend?" Jim tickled her until she begged for mercy. "You are quite a handful, young lady. And something tells me you'll still be so, even after we're married."

Trixie's face grew serious. "Get married? Oh God, am I ready for that?"

Jim reached out and ran his hand through her sandy curls. "I don't think any of us is. When I asked you to marry me, I didn't mean right now. You have all the time in the world, as long as we're together. We'll have time to grow and know each other in deeper ways..." he hesitated "And clear our doubts."

Trixie shook her head and rushed to an explanation. No more misunderstandings, please! "Oh, Jim, I don't have any doubts. I want to be your wife." She smiled. "I'm just scared I won't be a good enough wife for you. I'm so... Oh, I don't know!"

"You're perfect. You're all I want! And you'll be the best wife in the world, because we're in love!" With that he kissed her soundly.

"But you'll still have to put up with my 'mysteries'!" A naughty grin lighted Trixie's eyes. "Even without the agency... You said it yourself I'll keep getting into trouble, no matter what I do."

"Thank God for that! Look at all the people you've helped every time you got in trouble. I am the living proof!" Jim's eyes narrowed and he looked to a point past Trixie's head. "But somehow... Something tells me that agency will happen one day!" he said.

"I don't know, Jim. I don't want to do it alone..."

"You'll never be alone. We'll all be with you. But I think you'll find a new official partner soon enough..."

Confused, Trixie followed Jim's eyes and saw Bobby and Annie standing at a distance. Suddenly, she realized what he meant, and smiled. "Do you think he'll...?"

Behind her, Jim put his arms around her waist and pulled her to him, resting his chin on top of her head. "Something tells me he will."

Trixie sighed. In the afternoon sun, all her friends and family seemed happy and peaceful. Honey and Brian, Mart and Di... Even Dan smiled and joked, playfully, no more the sullen young man he had once been. And now Bobby and Annie... A new generation of Bob-Whites. For the first time in two or three years, Trixie longed for tomorrow and a future filled with new dreams and expectations. Next to the man she had always loved.

"Jimmy," she said "life can really be perfectly perfect!"

THE END

A/N: Once again thanks so much you guys, I love you all. I'm so glad I was able to get enough reviews to post the next chapter the same day as the previous one. I will post the sequel in a few days so look out for it. Otherwise, check out my other story Mystery at Drake University.

Mylee you have reviewed every single chapter, your reviews gave good detail on what you liked about each chapter. You are the best reviewer ever. You read all my chapters, reviewed them, and also welcomed me to this community. Also thanks to Fidelis Dy Et Espoire A Noel Dy, JJsGirl2 who also gave me a lot of reviews. You guys are great too. Thanks ps9066 as well and freakout987, who gave me the last review I needed to post this chapter. I love you all.

-Claudia