by Mary Smith
And that’s okay.
“Lily.”
She turned to the sound of her name as Zane, who was wearing a black wool trench coat closed tightly around him, strolled up to her.
“Hi.” He smiled.
“Hi.” She returned the smile.
“You have to be cold.”
“Actually, I’m good. I was just talking to my dad.” She slipped the phone back into her purse.
“Everything okay? We could have come together,” he said as they joined the line of other patrons shuffling into the cathedral.
Letting her guard down slightly, she said, “I like to look at the cathedral.”
“What?”
Nervously, she cleared her throat. “I like to stand outside and look at the cathedral.”
“Me too.” He nodded. “It was one of the first places I ever visited when I came to the city,” he confessed.
Staring at him for a few seconds, his dark hair laid perfectly as if he worked on it for hours, but she doubted he did. He had natural good looks. There are many that would probably pay good money for those looks yet it was no effort for him. He was a great guy and whomever he finally settled down with would be a very lucky lady.
“Have you ever been here before?” he questioned as they walked into the warmth of the building.
“Yes, a couple of years ago. You?” She removed her coat, laying it over her arm.
“No, I haven’t but always wanted to. It’s the highlight of the season.” He stared up at the magnificent ceilings and stained glass. “It is stunning.”
Lily followed his gaze. “Yes, it is.”
They managed to find a seat in the cramped pew as people continued to make their way to seats. Neither of them spoke. They just took in their surroundings. Lily’s eyes and brain tried to take in every bit of detail around her. Even though she couldn’t process it all.
When the lights dimmed, the crowd quieted, and Lily sat up straighter to see ahead. She wanted to see and hear every note. Zane had done the same and she smiled on the inside because it was nice to see someone as excited as her about this performance.
From the strike of the first note, the music consumed Lily. When the choir began, their angelic voices sent her into a trance. Several times, she teared up, and it caused goosebumps on her skin. She couldn’t carry a tune to save her life and thought people who had this talent were one of a kind.
When the concert ended, Lily almost collapsed in the pew. Someone would have thought she had been up there singing from the exhaustion she felt.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show like that,” Zane spoke first.
“Did you enjoy it?” She turned to look at him. His eyes were wide and still looking straight ahead.
“I loved every moment.” He faced her. “I’m actually speechless.”
His words made her beam. She was glad they both had the same experience. They remained seated, allowing some of the crowd to thin up before standing and making their way out into the winter air.
“Would you like to get something to eat?” Zane asked as he buttoned his coat.
“Um.” Lily stalled by slipping her hands into her gloves. She did want to spend time with Zane because they had a good time together and they were friends. “Sure. How about some sushi?”
“Sounds delicious. I’ll grab a cab.”
He nodded toward several of them lined up and waiting by the curb. Lily followed him and when he held the door open for her to get into the cab, she gave the address of her favorite sushi restaurant, and Zane furrowed his brow.
“It’s a hidden treasure. Trust me,” she said. “I know it’s on the other side of town, but it’s worth the drive.”
“I trust you.” He gave her a full, bright smile and her heart skipped a beat.
As the cab drove them toward their destination, they talked about the concert. She enjoyed hearing Zane go on and on about his favorite parts. It made her feel she wasn’t alone in her love for the concert.
When they made it to the restaurant, Lily didn’t realize how hungry she was until she walked in. The hostess told them a table would be ready shortly and they stood awkwardly with some other patrons while they waited.
“What did you do today?” Zane asked.
Without thinking, she almost told him the truth, but quickly, she stopped herself. “Not much. I mainly laid around. What about you?”
“Spencer and I went to the gym and then I spent too much time on YouTube until I got ready to come see you.”
“YouTube? What do you watch?” Suddenly her curiosity was piqued. She couldn’t imagine Zane just laying around watching silly cat videos.
“Old lectures of bioengineers.”
Lily giggled.
“You think I’m a nerd, huh?” His cheeks turned a slight pink and it wasn’t from the cool air coming from outside.
“No, no, absolutely not. I just had a vision of you watching kitty videos and that made me chuckle so when you said old lectures that’s totally you.”
“It’s me?” he questioned.
“Yes. You studying when you don’t need to be studying. I’m the same way.” She smiled.
“Huh?”
“I love reading case law,” she confessed, leaning into him. “For fun.”
Zane faked a gasp and his jaw dropped, making her laugh.
“Guess we’re both nerds.”
“We are.” She continued to smile. “Tell me about some of the lectures.”
“Really?” He seemed taken aback by her request.
“Yes. I love to hear about new things.” She nodded, letting him know she was serious. She wasn’t lying either because she did enjoy learning new things and Zane had taught her a lot already. He started telling her about the topic of one the lectures. Albeit, she didn’t understand everything he said, it was interesting.
When their names were called, the hostess escorted them to a small table in the middle of the room. The conversations around them were loud and they had to speak up when they continued theirs. Zane suggested they split a sampler platter.
“I can’t decide so I think that’s an outstanding idea.” Lily sipped her water as Zane gave the waitress their order.
“Tell me about some unique case law you’ve read that is mind-blowing,” he inquired.
Lily just began rambling about some of the newer ones she had read. She seemed unable to stop talking and before she knew it, their food had arrived. She hadn’t even realized she talked his ear off. However, he seemed engaged in her words. Their conversation easily moved to sushi. Apparently, Zane loved sushi and gave her extra bits of information regarding the technique of rolling sushi and how to pack it. Lily was highly impressed. She told him the story about the one time she tried to make it on her own and how it was a total failure. When the waitress dropped their check on the table, Lily quickly snatched it up before Zane could. He gave her a soft glare, but she didn’t respond to it as she handed the server her credit card.
Zane had summoned an Uber for them and while on the way home a comfortable silence fell between them. Lily realized she could see them being friends for a long time into the future. The feelings she thought she was having must have been her overthinking since she hadn’t been around a male in a long time.
When the Uber pulled up to the curb in front of her house, they both got out of the car. Zane walked her up to the door.
“Any big plans tomorrow?” he asked.
“No. Well, I’m baking cookies for some friends and family.” She needed to get them done tomorrow and mailed out.
“Okay. Great. Um…” He stood on the stoop close to her but said nothing.
“Goodnight,” Lily said before turning and going into her place.
Shutting the door, she wondered for a split second if he wanted to kiss her. She had thought for a brief second he was going to lean in and kiss her. Shaking her head, she remembered they were friends, and she would make sure it stayed that way.
Chapter Ten
Zane
Standing there with a to-go tray of two coffees, Zane’s stomach churned as he knocked on Lily’s front door. After all, it wasn’t quite noon yet so coffee seemed like a good choice.
They had spent so much time jumping from activity to activity, he thought a little downtime was in order. Hoping hot coffee and nowhere else to be would give them some time to get to know one another a little better. They had Christmas in common, but he’d like to know more about this young woman he was spending all this time with.
But the sudden knot in his stomach had him second-guessing his plan.
Maybe he should’ve called first rather than just showing up unannounced. What if she wasn’t home? Now it just felt kind of rude as if he was invading her space. What if she was still asleep? She didn’t seem like the sleeping till noon type, but what did he know?
And maybe he worried too much.
A beautiful smile lit up her face when she opened the door, and her eyes met his. “Zane? Hi! What are you doing here? We didn’t have plans this afternoon, did we?” She looked at her watch then back at Zane. A slight look of panic flashed across her face, and she was obviously trying to mask it with a grin. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel that she was holding.
“No.” Zane put a hand up in front of him, keeping the other one on the coffee cup carrier. “Sorry to worry you. No. Our plans aren’t until tonight. I just had been thinking that—” Suddenly, he had no idea what he really wanted out of today. It was as if he was on the spot and everything he wanted to say left his brain. “I brought coffee.”
“Zane? Do you want to come in?” Lily stepped aside and held the door open.
Luckily, he was able to get out a tongue-tied, “Yeah, sure.” When he stepped inside a scent of goodness reached his nose. “Are you baking?” he asked.
“I am. It’s that time of year, you know. Christmas cookies and all that. C’mon, you can be my taste tester.”
As she led him through the house and into the kitchen, the aroma of cookies filled the air.
Zane looked around the room and saw numerous mixing bowls lining the counter. Along with cookie cutters and scraps of discarded dough. A buzzer went off, making them both turn toward the sound.
“It smells wonderful in here.” Zane set the coffee cup holder down on an empty part of the counter.
“Take your coat off and make yourself comfortable. I need to grab these.” She ran to the stove, grabbed oven mitts, and turned off the timer.
He slid off his jacket and tossed it on the back of a chair. He watched Lily in the kitchen. She was obviously in her element.
It reminded him of when he was little, and his Aunt Alice would help him and Spencer make cut-out cookies to leave out for Santa.
“Do you need any help?
“Um.” She looked around. “I do have two more dozen to bake and then four dozen to decorate. Are you offering your assistance?”
“Yeah, sure. I stopped by to see if you wanted to go for a walk or go grab some lunch but baking cookies sounds like more fun.”
“Then it’s settled. If you want an apron, there’s some extras hanging over there.” She pointed to a few hooks on the wall that held two more aprons.
“I think I’m okay,” Zane said as he washed and dried his hands.
“The dough is next to the rolling pin and ready to be rolled out. You can use any of the cookie cutters you choose. If you can roll the dough to about one-third inch thickness…”
Zane must’ve given her a weird look when she said “one-third inch”. He didn’t mean to, but he’d never heard anyone use such exact terms when baking unless it was on one of those baking television shows that his aunt always watched.
“Sorry.” Lily chuckled. “It’s not like you need to grab a ruler or anything. Just don’t make them too thin. Try to keep them about this thick.” She held her fingers apart at what he assumed was about one-third inch.
“Got it.” He went with what his aunt taught him, rolling the dough out until he thought his aunt would approve. For once, his childhood lessons superseded his math and science skills.
“Oh, that’s perfect.” She looked over his shoulder and smiled. “You are a natural.”
He used the cookie cutters while she iced the freshly baked cookies.
“So, tell me a little about who Lily is.”
“Me? Oh, I’m boring. You don’t want to know about me.” She turned away from him, but he was sure she was blushing at his question. “Tell me about Zane.”
If she wanted to play it this way, then fine. “Okay, I’ll start. I’m not the athletic type and might look like I’m scrawny,” he flexed a non-existent muscle, “but I run 5k marathons any time I get the chance. I’m kind of a gym rat, but I’m not there to get buff, just to stay fit. I grew up with my cousin, Spencer, and we’re still close today. He’s actually my roommate.”
“Oh yeah?” Lily put another tray in the oven. “Your families must’ve been really close.”
He wasn’t interested in telling her that part of his life just yet. “Um, that’s a whole other story that I really don’t feel like getting into right now.”
“Oh, okay.” She looked up, meeting his glance as she closed the oven door. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. Let me see, what else can I tell you about myself? I like football and go to games anytime I get the chance, but I’m more like the ‘band-nerd’ rather than the ‘star-athlete’ if that makes any sense.”
“I get that. I always felt that way too. Never quite fit in with the popular crowd. I was never a party girl, too busy studying with my nose in books. That’s what happens when you want to go to law school.”
“Law school, huh? Nice,” Zane continued, not missing the way Lily was slowly opening up to him yet afraid to make a big deal out of it either. “My family is small, but we are very close.”
Lily, who was busy icing some cookies, didn’t even look up from her work. “Mine too. We are very close and when we get to spend time together, we make it count.”
Zane had finished his task of cutting out cookies. “Looks like I’m all done over here. Can you use some help decorating?” He quietly moved next to Lily.
“Sure.” Lily moved the containers of icing in between them.
Zane looked at some of the cookies she’d already decorated. “Wow, you are pretty good at this.”
“Oh, thanks.” Lily shrugged. “It’s nothing special.”
“Please. You’re decorating skills are amazing.”
Her face turned a light shade of pink. “If you say so. What is something you don’t tell a lot of people?”
That was a good question, and he had to think about that for a moment. “While everyone knows I like to read science books, what they don’t know is I really enjoy a good horror or fantasy novel.”
“Horror, huh?” she mumbled.
“Yeah. You a fan?”
She shook her head no.
“Scared?” Zane nudged her with his elbow.
“No, I don’t get scared,” she said with conviction. “I just don’t like it, that’s all.”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands in front of him.
Things were quiet for a few minutes until Lily spoke up again as she decorated the last few cookies. “I learned how to bake from my grandmother. My mom was never really a baker. She was really busy, so she would stop at the local bakery for desserts. When I was little, my grandmother would babysit me, and we’d bake cookies. It was our thing.”
Zane nodded. “Nice.”
“I don’t think my baking holds a candle to hers, but I think the cookies are okay.” She took a bite of one.
“Just okay?” He tasted a cookie too, not convinced that these cookies were only okay. “Holy crap these are delicious. I mean, they smelled wonderful while you were baking them, but they taste even better than they smelled. Do you take orders? Man, you should open a shop.”
That got a hearty laugh out of Lily, which finally made things s
eem less formal and more relaxed between them. They laughed over her being a baker/lawyer someday, imagining that shingle hanging outside her office. As they cleaned up the baking mess, they both were scrubbing the counter and came face to face.
“Hang on, you have a little bit of flour on your cheek.” Zane ran his thumb under her eye, brushing off the smudge of flour.
His hand lingered against her soft skin. Slowly, their laughter faded. They were standing inches from one another with their eyes locked and their bodies inches from touching.
His heart pounded, and his mouth went dry as he looked at her lips.
Faint Christmas carols played in the background, but it was hard to hear them over the loud beating of his heart.
Their eyes were still locked on one another.
“Lily,” he began. He was going to do it. It was the perfect time to tell her. They moved closer to one another, their lips only inches apart. “I—”
“Oh. My. God! What a day!” A female came in the door, slamming it behind her and tossing shopping bags on to the couch. “People out there are nu—”
Zane’s focus on Lily’s lips was broken as they both turned to look at the loud young woman.
“Harley?” Lily asked. She sounded surprised as if she wasn’t expecting the young woman to walk in on them.
Zane surely wasn’t.
“Oh, hey. Sorry. I didn’t know you had company.” The young woman looked mortified as she tried to back out of the room. “Just pretend I’m not here. Don’t let me interrupt you, just keep doing whatever it is you were doing.”
Lily bolted to the opposite side of the kitchen as Zane. “Don’t be silly. We were just making cookies.”
“Yeah, you were making something all right…”
“Harley!” Lily said in a scolding voice.
Before Lily could say anything else, the young woman, apparently named Harley, began to run upstairs but before she got to the top of the stairs, she yelled, “I told you so!”
Zane raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help himself when he asked, “Told you what?”