Moonstone Beach

by Linda Seed

  Chapter Six

  Kate got off the phone with Zach and sighed. She was sitting in her pajamas, cross-legged on her sofa with a glass of wine (not white zinfandel) on the table beside her. She and Zach had decided that dating wasn’t right for them—they’d never make a good couple—but once he’d started talking to her about his ex-wife, Sherry, he’d found it difficult to stop. He’d been calling her almost nightly to talk about his heartbreak, and to ask for Kate’s advice.

  She really did feel bad for the guy. It seemed that his problems with Sherry came down to issues with communication, priorities, and timing. She wanted children. He wanted them, but not yet. He wanted to build his career and put together a nest egg for the family they’d eventually have. She wanted him to spend less time working and more time at home. She wanted to go back to school and get the college degree she’d missed out on the first time around. He thought the reason she wanted it was because she didn’t trust him to provide for her. He used his looks to advantage in his work, flirting with female clients to get a listing or make a sale. And Sherry was a jealous woman who didn’t appreciate that particular strategy.

  To Kate, it seemed like the problems were not insurmountable, especially knowing how much Zach wanted to win Sherry back. If they would only take some time to talk about things. To be together without distractions and discuss what they both wanted out of the relationship.

  Suddenly, Kate had an idea—a crazy matchmaking idea. In general, she didn’t believe in people getting involved in other people’s love lives. But on the other hand, she also didn’t want to be Zach’s over-the-phone therapy buddy for the rest of her life. She felt bad for him and she wanted to help him, but his calls were seriously cutting into time she could have spent eating Ben & Jerry’s and watching Netflix.

  Inspired, she went out the front door, made a right, hurried down the stairs, and pounded on Gen’s door.

  “What? I’m coming! Hold on!” Gen called from inside the apartment.

  When the door opened, Gen looked at her with squinty eyes.

  “What’s going on? Is the house on fire?”

  Kate pushed her way into the tiny kitchenette, then on into the bedroom-slash-sitting room. Right now, it was set up as a bedroom, with the pull-out sofa made up into a queen-size bed with springs and bars that poked the crap out of your back whenever you slept on it. For some reason, Gen didn’t seem to mind the arrangement.

  “I just need your opinion on something,” Kate said, plopping onto the bed.

  “Okay, shoot.”

  Gen looked bleary-eyed. Maybe she’d been sleeping. Already? Kate glanced at the clock on the mantel and was surprised to find that it was past eleven o’clock.

  “I have to get Zach back together with his ex.”

  “Tonight?”

  “No, but soon. The sooner the better.”

  “And you need my opinion on that?” Gen wandered into the kitchen, got a glass of water, and brought it into the bedroom.

  “Not exactly. I need your opinion on how I’m going to do it.”

  “Oh. Okay. Just let me … ” She rubbed at her face vigorously, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes wide. A waking-up ritual. “All right. Ready.” She plopped down on the bed next to Kate.

  “What if I set up a romantic evening for them?” She held up her hands to forestall the objection she thought was coming. “Just wait. Listen. What if I had him invite her to my place for an evening? I won’t be there, of course. Obviously. But we could set up dinner on the deck at sunset, with music and some great food. Candlelight. Nice table linens. The whole deal. They can even stay the night. I’ll set up the bedroom with rose petals and champagne and … and … okay, I really don’t want to think about them having sex in my bed, but I have to get him to stop these hours-long phone conversations where he tells me how miserable he is. So? What do you think?”

  Gen scrunched up her nose in thought. “Whose house will she think it is?”

  “Oh, good question.”

  They both thought about that.

  “He could say he’s selling it.”

  “Oh! He could say he’s renting it!” Kate waved her hands excitedly. “That’s plausible, right? There are a ton of vacation rentals around here.”

  Gen shook her head. “How’s he going to explain all of your stuff? Unless you want to move out everything but the furniture for a weekend.”

  “Oh. Jeez. No, that won’t work.” Kate’s eyebrows shot up. “He could say he’s housesitting.”

  Gen nodded. “Yeah, maybe. That could work. Would she agree to it? I mean, she’s his ex for a reason, right?”

  “Yeah, but from what he says, the whole ‘ex’ thing isn’t a hundred percent. They talk. They’re friendly. He could probably make it happen.”

  “Huh.”

  “Yeah.”

  They sat together on the bed, Gen sipping her water, Kate splayed out across a pile of pillows. “Jeez,” Kate said. “This bed is like torture. You’re being tortured. Why do you sleep on this thing?”

  Gen looked at her wryly. “In case you haven’t noticed, this apartment is about the size of a broom closet. There’s no room for both a sofa and a bed.”

  “Well, there’s that. But at least you have a great landlady.”

  “I don’t know.” Zach sounded skeptical over the phone as Kate laid out her plan for him. “We’re divorced. She divorced me. Now I’m supposed to ask her for a date?”

  “Not just a date!” Kate, standing behind the counter at Swept Away, considered the best way to make her case. “It’s … it’s a grand gesture! You haven’t seen my place, but it’s got the best view in Cambria, I swear to you. Breaking waves. Barking sea lions. Gulls soaring overhead. I’ve even got deer on the lawn. Sometimes. I can’t promise the deer, they kind of come and go at will.”

  “And so this would be dinner, and … ”

  Clearly, she was going to have to give him the vision from her own imagination, since he had none of his own. “Dinner at sunset, overlooking the ocean. With candlelight, wine, soft music. Rose petals in the bedroom, chilled champagne, more candlelight. And, you know, you’re going to have to take it from there, because I’m not describing the rest.”

  “And where will you be?”

  “Somewhere else, obviously.” She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m supposed to make dinner for her? I don’t cook.”

  “I’ll cook!” Kate didn’t cook either, but he didn’t have to know that. She could work that part out later. “But, listen. If you really want her back, you’re going to have to decide up front what you’re willing to give her.”

  “Give her? You mean, like a gift?”

  “I mean, like the things she wanted out of the relationship that you said no to. The stuff that broke you up in the first place. What does she really want that you’re willing to give her to make this work?”

  He was silent.

  “What about kids? She wants kids, right? And you said you wanted to wait. Well, what are you waiting for? Tell her you’re willing to start trying. Is that something you’d do to get her back?”

  “Yeah. We could do that,” he said, his voice a little more confident now.

  Kate had two customers browsing through the store—middle-aged tourists, the guy in cargo shorts and a Cambria baseball cap, and the woman in a flowing sundress and sandals. Kate knew she needed to help them—needed to get back to work—but she felt like Knute Rockne giving an inspirational speech at halftime. She couldn’t stop now, before the deal was sealed.

  “That’s great, Zach. Tell her you’re willing to start a family now, and … and tell her you’ll work shorter hours and spend more time with her.”

  “Well, now, I don’t know … ”

  “Okay, if not that, then tell her she can go to college.”

  Silence.

  “Oh, come on, Zach. She doesn’t want to go as some kind of plan B, because she doesn’t trust you as a provider. She wants to go because … because she’
s stagnating at home. She wants to use her mind! She wants to prove something to herself, that she’s smart, that she’s capable. She wants to grow as a person! For God’s sake, let her grow!”

  He hesitated for a moment longer.

  “Zach. Jeez. You’re miserable without her. What’s a little college if it will bring her back home?”

  “But what about the kids? If we have kids, when is she going to go to college? She’ll be busy with all these new kids we’ll have.”

  Kate blew out some air, frustrated. “She’ll figure it out. Just tell her you trust her judgment. And then you’ve got to actually do that. You’ve got to actually trust her judgment.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ll do it?”

  “Yeah.”

  She did a silent fist-pump, which caused the tourists to look up in amusement. She put a hand over the phone and mouthed, “I’m so sorry. I’ll be right with you.”

  She returned her attention to Zach. “So, ask her, figure out what night you want to do it, and let me know. I’ve gotta go. I’m ignoring my customers.”

  “Okay. Kate? You’re the best. Really. Thank you. I don’t even know why you’re doing this.”

  She knew. It was because she couldn’t take any more of his sad-sack, endless phone calls with him whining like a lovesick puppy. But she didn’t tell him that.

  “It’s no problem, I’m happy to do it. Now ask her. Bye.”

  She ended the call and turned to her customers. “Thank you for your patience.”

  “He’ll never regret having kids,” the woman said. “We have three kids and five grandkids. Here. I have pictures.”

  Zach got back to her a day later, giving her a date for his romantic evening with Sherry. He seemed surprised that she’d said yes, but Kate wasn’t. Things clearly weren’t finished between these two, and sometimes a woman needed to be swept off her feet by a guy who’d taken the time to make special plans. Sherry didn’t have to know that Kate was the one who’d made the plans.

  With that done, she had to deal with the fact that she’d said she would cook. Kate’s idea of cooking usually involved two slices of bread and some lunch meat, or maybe putting a Pop-Tart in the toaster. She called Neptune to see if they would cater the dinner, but was disappointed to learn they were booked up weeks in advance.

  Crap.

  She thought about whether any of her friends could cook. Gen was a good baker, but Kate wasn’t at all sure how she’d do with actual dinner food. Rose knew food—as in what went well with what—but she rarely made any herself. That left Lacy. She was clearly the best cook of the four of them. She sometimes even marinated things.

  During a slow period at the store, Kate called Lacy at Jitters and explained the situation. Lovelorn couple, special evening, nobody to cook the dinner that would prove to be the key to Sherry’s heart.

  “Oh, wow.” Lacy seemed impressed with Kate’s plans. “You put all that together? For a guy you went out with and then rejected? I’ve never been that nice to my bad dates.”

  “It’s not as selfless as it sounds. His ‘I can’t live without Sherry’ phone calls are getting old, especially when I could be rewatching Breaking Bad. So, how about it? Can you cook a meal to get these two crazy kids back together? Zach will pay for the food.”

  “Maybe. What night is it?”

  “Friday.”

  “This Friday?”

  “This Friday.”

  “As in, five nights from now?”

  “Yeah. As in, Friday. The day after Thursday. Can you do it?”

  The silence on the line didn’t bode well.

  “I wish I could,” she said finally, her voice full of don’t-want-to-let-down-a-friend misery. “I’ve got a family thing that night. My grandparents’ golden wedding anniversary. I’m really sorry.”

  Kate sighed. “Listen, don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out. Even if I have to order pizza and serve it by candlelight.”

  Daniel was at the gallery talking with Gen about some new pieces he was working on when Kate called to update Gen on her plans for the dinner. Daniel’s ears pricked up when he heard Gen talking about Kate and Zach.

  “What’s this about a fancy dinner?” he asked after she hung up the phone. “I like fancy dinner.”

  “It’s for a friend of Kate.” She blew a red curl out of her eye in a gesture of frustration. “She’s trying to get him back together with his ex. She set up a romantic dinner for them, but … no food. Neptune’s booked.”

  “Hmm. Is this the guy she went out with that one time? The guy she had dinner with at Neptune?”

  “Yeah. How do you know about that?”

  “Word gets around,” he said. “So, what’s the plan?”

  She looked at him curiously. “Why do you want to know?”

  “I just do.”

  “But why?”

  He shrugged. “Just think of it as gossip. Think of me as one of your girlfriends.”

  “Okay. Can we paint our nails after?”

  He flashed her a grin, and she told him the plan.

  “Listen. This is perfect. You do her a favor, show her what a good guy you are. She’ll owe you one. She pays you back by taking you out to the movies or something. All you have to do is not act like an ass. You think you can manage that?”

  “Hmm. Maybe.”

  Daniel was standing in the dining room at Neptune, an hour before the restaurant opened for lunch. He’d hurried down Main Street to the restaurant after his talk with Gen and banged on the door, saying he needed to talk with Jackson. The chef was rushing around, supervising prep, dealing with whatever chefs dealt with before the doors opened. He’d stopped his work, interested, when he’d heard what Daniel had to say.

  “Come on,” Daniel urged. “You don’t want to miss a chance to be a big hero.”

  Jackson sighed. “Well, if it’s going to get that Zach asshole back with his ex and away from Kate, that’s a plus.”

  “It is,” Daniel agreed. “Should I tell Gen to tell Kate you’ll do it? I can pass her a note after fifth period.”

  Jackson scowled at him. “When’s the dinner?”

  “Friday night.”

  “Aw, Jeez. You know I can’t on a Friday. It’s our busiest night.”

  “Right.” Daniel gave it some thought. “Can you make it ahead and have her freeze it and reheat it or something?”

  Jackson looked at Daniel as though he’d taken leave of his senses. “Freeze my food? Are you serious?”

  Daniel put up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I should have known better.”

  “Yeah, you should have. Look, it was a pretty good idea, but … ”

  “Teach her to make it!” Daniel had the look of someone who’d been struck by inspiration. “Yeah, that’s it. Teach her to cook something for them. You’ll be working closely together in the kitchen, tasting, stirring. Maybe even sautéing. Your hands brush together over the chicken cutlets.”

  “What are you, a girl?”

  Daniel’s brow furrowed. “That’s the second time today someone has suggested that.”

  “Well, if the Prada pump fits … ”

  “But seriously. You can see the possibilities.”

  “Maybe,” he said again.

  “Screw maybe,” Daniel said as he headed for the door. “I’ll tell her you’ll do it. When’s your night off?”

  “Tuesday.”

  “Great. Tuesday!” Daniel rushed out the door before Jackson could change his mind.

  “Wait. Jackson is going to teach me to cook something for Zach and Sherry?” Kate was in the shop, and Gen had just walked down from the gallery and popped her head in the door to tell her the news.

  “Right. On Tuesday night after you close the shop. It’s all set.”

  “But what … ” She closed her eyes and waved her hands around in front of her. “There are so many things wrong with this picture. First,
why would Jackson Graham, the top chef in Cambria, want to bother with Zach and Sherry’s dinner? And second, if he does want to do it, why would he be teaching me to do it instead of just doing it himself?”

  “Because it’s on Friday night.”

  “Ah. And he has to work on Friday night, obviously. Duh.”

  “Right.”

  Kate looked at Gen, her head tilted like a dog who heard something strange. “But why does he want to do it in the first place? Am I paying him a bundle of money I don’t have?”

  “Nope. He’s volunteering.”

  “But why?”

  Poised in the doorway, Gen looked at her with sympathy. “Honey, I love you, but you really can be dense sometimes.”

  Kate stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

  Gen changed her posture and her facial expressions, and started doing her best Jackson Graham impression. “ ‘Kate, what are you doing with that guy? He’s a stiff! White zinfandel? My God!’ ” Then she became Gen again. “He’s too big of a wuss to ask you out on a date, so he’s going to teach you to cook instead, because he gets to spend time with you, and, hopefully, he also gets Zach out of the picture by getting him back together with his ex. Jeez. I shouldn’t have to draw you a picture.”

  Kate started to say something, then stopped. She cocked one hand on her hip. “Oh. Really?”

  “Yes. I’ll tell Daniel to tell Jackson you’ll do it. Tuesday night, your house. He’ll bring the food.” She started to leave, then hesitated. “And wear something pretty. But not something that looks like you’re trying too hard. I mean, it’s a date, but it’s not a date. It’s a cooking lesson that’s also … Oh, never mind. I’ll pick something out for you. Gotta go.” She sped off, leaving Kate and Althea looking after her questioningly.

  “What in the world was that all about?” Althea asked, a stack of new releases in her hand.

  Kate shrugged. “I guess I’ll find out Tuesday.”