The Schuyler House

by Cade Haddock Strong

  “When you talk like that, I am inclined to listen to you!” She chuckles and then thanks me profusely.

  We agree to discuss the financials further the following week, and I start to gather up my stuff and head out of her office when she places a soft hand on my shoulder.

  “Can I make you dinner to thank you for all your awesome work?” she asks.

  I remind her that she’s paying me to work at Hemlock and that she’s already had me to dinner once, but she won’t take no for an answer. So I suggest a compromise, “I will let you make me dinner if you let me buy the groceries and the wine.”

  “Okay, I suppose that’s reasonable.” She pouts. “What do you say we blow this popsicle stand?”

  We lock up at Hemlock and walk toward Alex’s loft, making a quick pit stop at Whole Foods on the way to pick up some wine and food for dinner. We decide to keep the menu simple: steak and salad. Once we get back to her place, I chop up vegetables for the salad while Alex fires up the grill and sets the table.

  It’s a chilly night, but I join Alex outside to keep her company while she grills the steaks. The sun is setting over the city, and I can see the last of the light bouncing off the Washington Monument in the distance.

  When dinner’s ready, I open the nice bottle of cabernet sauvignon we picked up at Whole Foods and pour us each a glass. Alex digs some candles out of a drawer, lights them and dims the kitchen lights before we finally sit down to eat.

  “Mmmmm…this steak is perfectly cooked, Alex,” I say after I swallow my first bite.

  “Thanks. It’s funny, in most couples the man is usually the grill master, but when Robert was alive, I always grilled while he made the side dishes. My dad is like Mr. Grill. I think he and my mom grill out at least five nights a week. Anyway, when I was growing up, he taught me the art!” she says with a laugh.

  “Well, lucky me. I wouldn’t even know how to turn a grill on. I don’t think my parents even owned one.”

  After dinner, we both do the dishes. I pour us each a little more wine before following Alex into the living room. She starts a fire in the fireplace and joins me on the sofa. As we chat, I do my best to stay focused on the conversation as I fight the urge to reach out and touch her. I can’t help it. Being around her feels incredible, and I desperately want something more. My vow to keep my feelings to myself is proving extremely difficult. I need to get the hell out of there before I do something that I regret.

  “It’s getting late. I should probably head home. Thank you for a wonderful evening,” I say reluctantly as I set my half-empty wineglass on the coffee table and stand up.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay and finish your wine?”

  “I’d love to, but I think I had a little too much of that delicious steak and my stomach is protesting.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. Between the two of us, I think we ate enough steak to feed a family of six.” She laughs.

  I carry my wineglass into the kitchen and set it in the sink while Alex pulls my coat out of the front hall closet. “What are you doing Sunday?” she asks as she hands me my coat.

  “Um, nothing much. Why, what do you have in mind?”

  “Well, I know it’s freezing outside right now, but there’s a warm front headed toward DC and it’s supposed to be unseasonably warm and sunny on Sunday. And, well, I was thinking about going for a mountain bike ride. Any interest in joining me?”

  “Yeah, definitely. I love mountain biking. Oh, but my mountain bike is in Vermont.”

  “I’ve got two—you can use one of mine. Robert bought me a sweet new bike the Christmas before he died, but I still have my old bike and it’s pretty good too. There’s a trail that I love in Virginia if you don’t mind a little bit of a drive?”

  “No, that sounds awesome. Count me in!”

  “Okay, cool. How about I swing by and pick you up around eight o’clock Sunday morning?”

  “Sounds good, but only if you let me pack lunch.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Alex pulls up in front of my apartment at promptly eight o’clock Sunday morning, and I can see that she’s got two bikes loaded in the back of her pickup truck.

  “Good morning! Gosh, you were right, it is a beautiful day. I can’t believe how warm it is,” I say as I climb up into the passenger seat.

  “Good morning to you too. Yeah, I’m pretty pumped to get out for a ride.”

  “So, where exactly are we headed?”

  “Well, the trail I mentioned on Friday night is located about halfway between DC and Charlottesville. The ride is really pretty, but it is a bit of a climb. Are up for that?”

  “Yeah, I think so. God knows running with you has whipped my sorry ass into shape.”

  “Good!” She laughs. “We haven’t gotten much snow so far this winter so I’m hoping that the trail will be pretty dry.”

  The drive to the trail takes about an hour and a half, but I don’t really mind. We drive through beautiful countryside, and it feels good to be out of the city for a change. It’s nearly sixty degrees by the time we park the truck near the trail. We jump out of the truck and start to organize our gear. Alex tinkers with her old bike to make sure that it’s adjusted properly for me. Eventually, we set off down a bumpy dirt road toward the bike trail.

  The trail itself is a single track that winds and climbs through a heavily forested area. I do the best I can to keep up with Alex while admiring her cute ass. Damn, she looks good in bike clothes, I think to myself on multiple occasions.

  After riding for nearly two hours, we stop at a small clearing near the top of a rolling hill so we can sit and have lunch in the sun. It’s an absolutely incredible day for February—the sky is clear and we can see for miles across the valley.

  I unpack a container of chicken salad I made along with some cheese and crackers plus two bottles of Gatorade and set everything out on the ground in front of us. We quickly devour the food, and I finish off my bottle of Gatorade before lying back on the grass and closing my eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sun.

  Alex lies down next to me and plants a quick kiss on my cheek. I look up at her in surprise, and she’s staring down at me with those beautiful green eyes. I smile up at her with a questioning look, and she leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. I put my hand behind her head, and she needs no further encouragement to deepen the kiss. My head is swimming as I feel her tongue tentatively seek out mine. When she finally pulls back, all I can do is stare up at her in disbelief.

  “Where did that come from? Not that I’m complaining,” I manage.

  She stares back at me for a moment before responding. “Oh, Mattie…I’ve got a serious thing for you.”

  “A thing?” I ask and swallow hard. My heart feels like it might jump out of my chest.

  “A crush. I have a major crush on you.”

  “You do? But I don’t understand. You’re…”

  “I dated a few women before I met Robert…” She trails off.

  “Oh,” is all I can manage. I feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.

  Alex leans down and gives me another quick kiss on the lips. “And to think that I have been fighting the urge to kiss you for weeks now.” I laugh after she pulls away.

  “You have?”

  “Yeah,” I admit with a smile. “I think I’ve had a thing for you since we bumped into each other at Kramer’s. I’ve been doing my best to try to contain my feelings, and it wasn’t easy, let me tell you,” I say with a laugh. “But I thought you were straight and I love spending time with you and I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship…”

  “Well, it just so happens that I started having feelings for you that day at Kramer’s too. I just wanted to take some time to get to know you better before I…um…pursued anything. I mean, of course I didn’t know for sure that the feelings were mutual but I, um, did detect a few signs…”

  I laugh at her nervous ramble. “And all this time I thought I was doing such a good job h
iding the fact that I was crazy attracted to you,” I say with a sly smile.

  She lets out a hearty laugh, gives me one last quick kiss and then stands up and reaches down to pull me to my feet. “We better head back to the truck. After all, it’s only February and it’ll get chilly once the sun starts to set.”

  The bike ride back to the parking lot is mostly either downhill or flat, and we get back to the truck in less than an hour. We load the bikes into the back of the truck and hit the road back to DC. It doesn’t take long before I doze off, and when I finally wake up, the sun has nearly set.

  I rub my eyes and look over at Alex. She smiles back at me, causing my breath to catch. How did I get so damn lucky? After all that happened in the last few months, it doesn’t seem possible that I found someone like Alex. I actually feel a little guilty for feeling so happy.

  It’s well after dark by the time we get back to DC. We discuss going out to grab a beer, but we’re both beat from the long ride and Alex has a meeting with a potential new client early the next morning up near Baltimore. She parks her truck outside my apartment and reaches up to cup my cheek and places a soft kiss on my lips.

  “See you at the office tomorrow afternoon?” she says when she pulls back.

  I’m still relishing the feel of her lips on mine as I nod and reluctantly climb out of her warm truck. She waves as she pulls away from the curb, and I practically skip up the walkway to my apartment.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Alex doesn’t get back to the office until late Monday morning after her meeting in Baltimore. I’m downright giddy when I run into her in the break room, and I give her a goofy grin.

  “Hey,” she says and treats me to a broad smile. Her green eyes twinkle.

  “Hey, how’d the meeting in Baltimore go?” I ask.

  “Fine. Actually, more than fine. I think we landed a big new client.”

  “Awesome.”

  “I had a really good time yesterday,” Alex says shyly.

  A big smile crosses my face. “Yeah, me too.”

  Just then Renee, the receptionist walks into the break room to fill her coffee mug. Alex gives her a quick hello and excuses herself to run to another client meeting.

  The rest of the day is crazy busy in the office, and I don’t see her again before I have to leave for the day. I have to skip out early because my neighbor Stella has invited me to a concert at the Kennedy Center and I need to change into something more respectable before I meet her. Last week I took Stella to a doctor’s appointment and changed some light bulbs in her apartment and she’s taking me to the concert to thank me.

  Stella has season tickets for the National Symphony Orchestra, and the ushers at the Kennedy Center all seem to know her by name. I note that the program for the evening includes Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.

  “It’s one of my favorites,” Stella whispers in my ear as we take our seats.

  I look over at Stella just as the music begins, and she has the biggest grin on her face. I’m not a classical music aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s nice to see Stella so happy. Both of her daughters live in California and don’t visit very often. I know she gets lonely.

  It’s still fairly early when I get home from the concert so I change into jeans and a T-shirt, pour myself a glass of wine and flip on the news. I plop down on the couch just as my phone vibrates to indicate that I have an incoming text. I reach for my phone and have a big grin on my face when I see that it’s from Alex.

  Sorry I barely got to see you today. How was the concert?

  Great, we had a really nice time, I respond before quickly typing another message. Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?

  Are you asking me out on a date?

  Yes, I am.

  She sends back a smiley face, and I take that as a yes.

  * * *

  The next night, I take Alex out to dinner at a small French place in Woodley Park. It’s a neighborhood place that’s been around forever. I’m pleased when the hostess leads us to a nice, cozy candlelit table in the front corner of the restaurant. We look over the menu and decide to be brave and order escargot to share for an appetizer. I order steak frites for my main dish, and Alex chooses the Scottish salmon. The waiter suggests a bottle of wine for us to split.

  Alex reaches across the table and curls our fingers together. “It’s nice to be on a real live date with you. I’m glad I finally came to my senses and kissed you,” Alex says softly.

  “Me too.”

  “This place is amazing. You sure know how to order up the romance,” she says teasingly.

  “I wanted our first official date to be special,” I say seriously.

  “Whenever I’m with you, it feels special.” She looks into my eyes.

  I feel like I might pass out. “Me too,” I say shakily.

  We continue to smile dumbly at each other until the waiter reappears with the bottle of wine we ordered. I let Alex taste the wine, and once she gives her approval, the waiter pours us each a glass before walking off to the next table. We linger over our entrees and order a cheese plate to share for desert.

  Alex offers to pay half the bill, but I insist on paying for dinner. “I asked you out, remember?” I say.

  We stop by the coat check on our way out, and the valet offers to hail us a taxi. Normally, I would prefer to walk, but it’s cold and windy outside so I reply, “Yes, please,” as we follow him out to the street. The valet blows his whistle and a taxi appears out of nowhere.

  “Where to?” the driver asks when we climb in the taxi.

  Alex and I look at each other. “1445 Church Street in Logan Circle,” she says quickly before turning back to me. “Would you like to come to my place for a nightcap?” she asks.

  “Twist my arm!” I say with a smile.

  She looks up at me and starts to say something, but before she gets the chance, her cell phone rings. She pulls her phone from her purse and glances at the caller ID and looks up at me apologetically. “It’s Karen. I’ve got to pick up. She and Doug have been having issues, and it’s unlike her to call this late.” Karen is Alex’s best friend. I met her and her boyfriend Doug at Alex’s dinner party back in January.

  I nod that I understand, and she answers the call. “Hey, Kar. Is everything all right? We’re just getting back from din…Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry.” She puts her hand over the phone and whispers to me. “She’s sobbing. She and Doug broke up. I’m afraid that nightcap is going to have to wait.”

  “Oh, poor thing!”

  She mouths “Sorry” before giving me a quick peck on the cheek and climbing out of the taxi. I give her hand a squeeze and mouth back “It’s okay” before directing the taxi driver to my apartment.

  My phone vibrates the second I walk in the door of my apartment. I dig my phone out of my pocket and see that it’s a text from Todd. Hey Mattie. I am headed down to NYC on Friday for a business meeting. Any chance you and Ellen can get together Saturday? Would love to see you both.

  I text him back right away. Works for me! Let me call Ellen and get back to you. Would love to see you too!

  I take off my coat and give Ellen a quick call to see if she’s free for dinner on Saturday. She is, so I text Todd back to confirm that the three of us are on for dinner on Saturday in New York.

  I brush my teeth, change into my pajamas and climb into bed with a book. Before I manage to read three sentences, my phone rings. It’s Alex, so I pick up. “Hey, you. How’s Karen?”

  “Oh God, she’s a total mess. She was so sure that Doug was the one. I don’t know though, they’ve only been together for a few months and I never felt the “vibe” between them, if you know what I mean? Anyway, I guess he accepted a job in Dallas without even consulting her, and, well…you can imagine that didn’t go over very well. I think she’ll be okay though, she’s a really tough cookie. I, on the other hand, am very sorry that our exceptionally wonderful date had to come to such an
abrupt end.”

  “Me too,” I whisper, smiling into the phone.

  “Can I make it up to you by cooking dinner for you on Friday night?” she asks hopefully.

  “Yeah, that would be wonderful.”

  “Okay, great. Night, Mattie.”

  “Night, Alex.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Alex swings by my desk on Friday afternoon and explains she has to run out to a jobsite and probably won’t make it back to the office before the end of the day. “We’re still on for dinner tonight, right?” she asks as she casually rests her hand on my shoulder.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

  “Cool, why don’t you come by my place around seven o’clock? Does that work?” she asks.

  I nod, and she turns to run off to her appointment.

  I arrive at Alex’s apartment a little after seven that evening, and she buzzes me up. Amazing aromas greet me as I step off the elevator on her floor. I knock softly on her door, and she answers wearing an apron and one oven mitt. I chuckle when I see that she has some sort of black liquid smeared on her cheek. She looks adorable.

  “Hi, sweetie,” she says and gives me a quick peck on the lips before closing the door behind me. “I am trying a new recipe, and I think it may be a little out of my league!”

  I laugh. “Trying to impress me, huh?” I reach over and wipe the black substance off her cheek with one of my fingers. “I guess that explains why part of dinner is stuck to your face,” I say with a smirk.

  “Oh, God. How embarrassing!” She laughs. “Come on in and pour yourself some wine. I’ve got to stir the concoction on the stove before it burns.”

  I do as directed and then join her next to the stove. “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Nah, I think I have it under control,” she says while she pours the black concoction over what looks like pasta and vegetables in a baking dish and then slides the whole thing into the oven. She sets the timer and then unties her apron and tosses it on the counter. “Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes. Whether it’s edible remains to be seen!”