Fireworks Over Toccoa Read Online Free PDF

she?”
    “She’s a very nice lady, your mother,” said Paul again with a smile.
    “Well, in all fairness to your career ambitions and the future of my heart, Paul Woodward, you should know that I rarely agree with my mother’s penchants and predilections and in fact I—”
    Paul cut her off. “You have been known to make quite the effort to embrace most anything that runs contrary to her tastes and wishes.”
    “I see you two have been talking.”
    “Lily, I’m a simple guy,” he said more seriously, showing the earnestness that was the core of his plain nature. “I did okay in college, but I probably wouldn’t have gotten in without football. I understand my job, which is essentially sales, and I like it. I love the company, and I love Georgia, and that’s really all I want with my life, along with someone to share it with and…What I mean is…I’m not good at talking about my inner feelings, Lily.”
    “You’re doing just fine,” she said, looking over her shoulder at her parents watching her, then turning back to Paul.
    “What I mean is, taking a blow from the entire front lines of Alabama and Tech and NC State combined would be nothing compared to how hard it is not to kiss you, Lily Davis.”
    She took his hand and one could almost see the spark jump between them.
    “So kiss me.”
    “Kiss you?”
    “You could kiss me now, you know.” She leaned in closer to him.
    “Your parents are watching.”
    “You could still kiss me.”
    “That wouldn’t be respectful.”
    “So your concerns about what others think are greater than getting smacked around by a bunch of butt-slapping linemen, and greater than your feelings for me.” Lily smiled mischievously, but he was getting nervous.
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “Not to mention that kissing Walter Davis’ daughter in his own backyard could have decidedly deleterious effects on a young man’s career.”
    “Are you teasing me?”
    “I am kissing you is what I am doing.” She leaned in close to him, and he looked like he wasn’t sure what to do. As handsome and promising and strong as the former UGA offensive tackle was, he was also no match for this younger, brighter girl who was crazy about him. “You are not the only one with inner feelings here and if you are not going to put your lips on me, which is probably very smart considering where we are, then I am going to put mine on yours, which is probably rather reckless and impetuous, but it’s not going to get you fired and I simply can’t bear another moment without doing so, so…”
    And with that she kissed him. After a moment, she slowly pulled away. He looked into her eyes, and he kissed her back.
    “Oh, and yes, by the way,” said Lily. “Definitely yes.”
    “Yes to what?”
    “Yes, to the movies on Saturday night,” said Lily, looking as happy as can be.
    Walter Davis, her father, watching from a distance, did not look as happy.
    “Did I just see one of my employees kissing my daughter in my backyard?” Walter said.
    “I think you just saw your daughter kissing him,” replied Honey.
    Honey and Walter Davis, highballs of Havana Club rum and Coke in hand, watched Lily and Paul from a distance. Walter was very tall, with a muscular build, thick, full hair graying neatly at the temples, and a jaw so impossibly long and square that at times he seemed drawn by some animator giving form to a masculine ideal. Walter had the kind of rugged good looks that could best be described as dashing, and if he’d been so inclined he would have had a very good shot at success on the silver screen, most likely as the lead in some adventure serial where he was sent around the world in a cargo plane on dangerous assignments, writing in a journal about life and death and love in understated prose and wearing a lot of khaki. Though even in such success, he most likely would not have earned as much as he did as an executive.
    “I like this boy, Walter.”
    “Somehow I knew you would.”
    “You