“The old…” Sean paused. “Did Iris set this up?”
“How do you know her name?”
Sean rolled his head back and glanced up at the ceiling before he stared intently across the table at me. “I keep up on things.”
“As far as Iris is concerned, I don’t know. And yes, he’s the same guy I embarrassed myself over at the wedding.”
“And was the boyfriend with him?”
I rubbed a hand on my thigh, sipped coffee, and then responded to the question. “No. He brought Blake, the guy who works with him at the matchmaking service. I think there’s a chance he broke up with his boyfriend.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Why else would he bring a co-worker?”
“Perhaps because they both work with Iris, and she had the tickets. Doesn’t Blake have a boyfriend, too? I think you mentioned that somewhere along the line.”
I bit my lip for a moment. “Yes, he does. I met Hunter at the wedding reception.” A sudden realization hit me. It was swift and harsh. Maybe Daniel was still dating the new guy, and I butted in again and asked him out with me. I tried not to whine, but I didn’t manage to kill it completely. My voice rose to a higher pitch as I said, “It’s only coffee.”
Sean’s brow wrinkled. “Coffee? Wait, I’m not following. Did I miss something in the timeline? Is there something you skipped?”
“Sometimes, I forget that you don’t live inside my head. You’re able to predict so many other things.”
“Did he say yes?”
“Did who say yes to what?”
I watched a grin slowly build on Sean’s face until it spread from ear to ear. “The art of prediction. You asked Daniel out for coffee, and I wanted to know whether he said yes. Of course, I know the answer to that, too, since you’re traveling to Milwaukee tomorrow.”
I hung around the coffee counter and tried to look like I was intensely interested in the sweatshirts, t-shirts, and other shop swag. It was a Sunday morning, and it was easy to blend in with the restless crowd of customers. Daniel said yes to my invitation, but I wasn’t entirely confident that he’d show up. I saw the reluctance in his eyes before I left the hockey game. A nudge from Blake helped my case, and the chance that I’d see him was worth the drive north.
At the arranged time on the dot, Daniel entered the shop. I involuntarily reached up to grab my chest. He took my breath away. The quick gasp for oxygen was a familiar experience. It happened many times almost a decade ago. Still, I was unprepared for the sensation to return.
Daniel had piercing green eyes, and he maintained the body of an athlete even as he approached 40. He didn’t participate actively in sports, but he treated his visits to the gym like a religion, and his trainer was the head priest.
For me, the salt-and-pepper color of his wavy hair only made him more attractive. I had to fight my right hand’s instinct to reach up and rake its way through the locks on the top of Daniel’s head.
To my surprise, he accepted a brief hug. I wanted to hang on longer, but Daniel deftly stepped to the side and approached the counter. After I collected the cups of coffee and the monkey bread that I ordered to calm my stomach in case the nerves were too much, we found a table near the storefront windows spread across the facade of the coffee shop.
Daniel surprised me again when he spoke first. Maybe his icy opinion of me was starting to thaw, but his mood didn’t do anything to answer the question most important to me. What about his boyfriend?
“You have guts these days, Kenneth. It was terrific watching you zip across the ice as a human bowling ball. Is that why your business is so successful? Have you learned how to take the bull by the horns?”
I chuckled softly. “It was fun at the time, but I’ve paid for it for two days now. There’s my elbow.” I reached my arm across the table. “Here, feel it. Tell me whether you think it’s swollen.”
I saw hesitation, and I wanted to say, “I don’t have any contagious diseases, for cripes sake.”
Fortunately, Daniel did touch my elbow. He gently squeezed it. “No, I think it’s okay.”
“And then there’s the other one, and I’m a little sore in my hip, too.”
“I won’t touch you there.” I think Daniel’s voice was a little louder than he intended, and a few heads turned in the coffee shop.
I leaned forward when a memory popped into my head. “Well, it’s not like that time at the Oriental theater when the power failed, and there was a tornado warning. Everyone tried as hard as they could to get out of the theater and down to the basement of the building.”
Daniel started to blush. He knew where my story was leading. He reached up and raked his fingers through his hair.
“Do you remember what happened when they turned the lights back on?”
Daniel cringed. I wanted to reach across the table and touch him. I shoved my two hands under my thighs on the chair to stop myself from causing an unwanted encounter.
I said, “I still remember the sound of the usher’s voice when he found me lying on the floor on top of you in the back row. ‘Uh, Sirs, we still need to evacuate.’”
Daniel didn’t reply. He merely shook his head and turned his attention to his coffee.
“Aw, c’mon, Daniel. You have to admit that it’s funny. I worried myself to death that we would get caught that other time.”
“What time? What are you talking about?”
“Remember the art museum?”
“I remember that we went to art museums in both Milwaukee and Chicago many times. I had memberships.”
“In Milwaukee. They had a video installation in the contemporary space. Every few minutes, it plunged the room into complete darkness for a few seconds. Then the film rolled again.”
Daniel rubbed his chin. His steady gaze told me that I’d successfully tweaked his memory.
“You were so much fun then. You leaned in close to me and asked whether I thought we could time a kiss for the dark period. We were successful twice.”
“And then…” Finally, Daniel played along with my storytelling.
“Then we were a little late pulling ourselves apart. I pointed over your shoulder, and you turned around. There’s nothing like the scowl of a mother when she thinks her impressionable child has seen something he should never see.”
“But she didn’t say anything.”
I sipped my coffee. “She didn’t need to speak. Her eyes said a thousand words.”
When my careful attention slipped for a moment, I pulled my right hand out from under my thigh and reached across under the table. I grabbed Daniel’s knee. To my surprise, he didn’t flinch.
Those emerald green eyes fixed on mine. I said, “It is fantastic to see you again. I missed you.”
For a moment, I thought Daniel would say something in response. Instead, I had to content myself with a half-smile. At least he wasn’t frowning, and he didn’t make a scornful comment.
“Would you like a refill of your coffee?”
I heard a few more words out of Daniel’s mouth. “Yes, and thank you.”
While I waited in line to ask for more coffee, I attempted to watch Daniel discreetly. He’d pulled out his cell phone and busied himself typing something into it. I speculated whether he wanted to tell Blake or another friend about our encounter. Maybe he would ask what his next move should be. I hoped he didn’t still have a boyfriend. They could be arranging a lunch date.
I took a deep breath and told myself to calm down. He’s checking sports scores for all you know.
Daniel took his coffee from my hand. “I hope I got the order right. Taste it before I sit down.”
Daniel pursed his lips and gently blew across the top of the coffee to cool the brew. Those perfect lips gave me so many toe-curling kisses. I set my coffee on the table when my hand started to tremble.
“It’s exactly what I ordered. Thank you. At this shop, they have the best coffee in the city if you ask me.”
“Remind me to take you to
my favorite hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in Chicago. You’ll love it.”
There it was. I blurted it all out without thinking. Immediately, I stared down into my coffee and focused on the artfully designed heart traced into the cream finish on top. I didn’t know whether I could look across the table again at Daniel’s face. My words made the assumption that all was good between us, and this was only the first in a series of meetings, or even—and I couldn’t stop my thoughts about it—dates.
While I continued to examine the design of the heart and the shape of my coffee cup, I thought I heard a chuckling noise. It grew slightly louder, and soon it was a full-throated laugh. There was no mistaking the sound. Something amused Daniel, and he laughed out loud about it.
I looked up. “That’s one giant leap,” said Daniel. “Are you sure you want to go there?”
He had me pinned to the wall. The reality was that I was happy to jump back into any kind of relationship between us.
Daniel pulled out the figurative restraints and made it impossible for me to squirm out of the uncomfortable predicament I’d created. “What if I have a boyfriend? What would he think about that?”
I wrapped my hands around my coffee cup to warm them and attempt to stop the rest of my body from shivering. I only thought about the assumption that all was fine, but Daniel went further to what other people would think about him seeing an ex. Still, he said, “What if…” That didn’t sound like the relationship was settled.
Daniel’s stern expression melted into a grin. “We broke up before the hockey game. You can exhale now.”
“And what about the rest? Do we want to go there? Will there be more coffee shop meetings?”
“I decline to commit myself, but I’m smiling. That’s a huge step forward.”
9
Daniel
I followed Kenneth out the door of the coffee shop to walk him to his car. Snow started to fall, and big, white flakes steadily drifted to the ground. Winter weather wasn’t ready to let loose of its grip on Wisconsin.
Kenneth pulled a stocking cap over his head and donned leather gloves. He also wore a long, black overcoat to protect himself against the elements.
“Did you check the weather forecast before you drove up? I know that we’re supposed to get a few inches of the white stuff, but I thought they said it could be worse further south—maybe even some ice.”
Kenneth blew off the concern. “I’ve lived in northern Illinois my entire life. I know how to navigate a little snowstorm.” He took a few more steps in the direction of his car.
I reached out for him and took hold of his right shoulder. For an instant, an image of Kenneth turning and landing in my arms filled my mind. I erased that idea from my thoughts and focused again on the weather.
“Why don’t you wait a minute while I at least check the latest forecast? It’ll be good to be fully informed before you head out into it.”
“You’re worried?” Kenneth flashed that crooked smile. He was happy to have me express concern.
I loved snowstorms when I was home. I could watch the snow come down for hours from the comfort of my living room. The idea of friends and family caught on the highway in it was another matter. I’d lost two different relatives to winter accidents on the road. In both cases, they made terrible decisions to drive in the bad weather in the first place.
I pulled up a weather website on my phone. Kenneth leaned over my shoulder. He said, “I did check before I left home. I read that almost all of it would head south toward central Illinois.”
“It looks like that plan changed.”
Kenneth placed a hand on my elbow as he peered at the phone. The weather map was mostly a sea of blue that indicated snow on the way with a band of pink that showed a vein of icy weather located in the center of the city of Chicago.
I repeated the crucial elements of the National Weather Service warning. “It says the snow will be as heavy as an inch every hour. Visibility could be close to zero.” I abruptly turned so that we were face to face. “I can’t let you drive in that.”
“Did it say blizzard warning?”
“That was for later tonight.”
“And it only said an inch or two when I looked this morning. Winter’s crazy.”
Shivering, I bounced back and forth from one leg to the other. I’d expected to slip back into the coffee shop as soon as Kenneth left. I didn’t have my coat zipped up, and I didn’t put on my hat or gloves.
“Weather forecasting is an inexact science at best. Somehow, Blake knew about it two days ago, though. I remembered that he said Ollie and Iris were getting out of town before the snow got here.”
It was Kenneth’s turn to look worried. “You’re cold. Why don’t we step back into the shop since you insisted that you won’t let me go anywhere.”
We placed a new round of orders, and the barista recognized us. “Hey, aren’t you the two guys who ordered just about half an hour ago?”
Kenneth acknowledged the observation. “Yep, you’ve got a great memory.”
“And we’ll only charge you half price for the second order.”
I pulled out a credit card, but Kenneth waved it away. “You might have saved my life.”
Confusion reigned on the barista’s face, but I didn’t think an explanation was necessary. Instead, I looked down at the two cups and saw the heart-shaped cream as it floated on the surface of the coffee in both. I remembered that ten years ago, those hearts were linked together.
Our previous table was still free. We settled into our chairs and watched as huge snowflakes drifted to the ground outside. They fell so fast that it was difficult to see the cars parked on the opposite side of the street.
“I hope you remembered to bring a snow scraper in your car even though you thought the storm would go south.”
Kenneth sported a cream mustache from the coffee. He self-consciously wiped it away with a napkin. “I keep that, a bag of kitty litter, and a small, collapsible snow shovel in the trunk all winter long.”
“Good man.”
Kenneth leaned toward the window and turned his head in an attempt to look down the street. I knew that all he could see was a sea of white. “So, are we close to a hotel here? We’re what—a couple of blocks outside of downtown?”
My change of tune from two days earlier would have shocked Blake. When Kenneth first appeared at the hockey game, I wouldn’t have cared if he had to sleep in a cardboard box.
“I won’t let you stay at a hotel. I’ve got a spare room in my apartment. It’s there to host guests. You can crash at my place. It’s warm, cozy, and the view is great.”
“I don’t know, Daniel. I think everything would be best if I stay at a hotel. I’d better get my reservation soon. Plenty of other people will probably get stuck like me.”
Rejection of my genuine, unselfish offers of assistance by others was one of my pet peeves. I don’t know how turning them down for no good reason ever became socially acceptable. I decided to push one more time. If he rejected my offer again, he was on his own.
“Seriously, it’s ridiculous to book a room when I have space.
Kenneth’s eyes opened wider. “That’s incredibly generous of you, but are you sure?”
“Unless you have changed through the years, you’re a tidy, respectful houseguest. Yes, I’m certain. A hotel would be an unnecessary expense, and you’d only have a bland, impersonal experience.” My next comment surprised me. “We can have some time to catch up.”
I thought I saw a sparkle in Kenneth’s eyes. The prickly sensation at the back of my neck told me that I was wading ankle-deep into dangerous waters. Sometimes my determination to be generous required casting some concerns to the wind. I knew there was a possibility that one thing could lead to another, but I also understood that I still didn’t want that. My heart was held together with Band-Aids and duct tape. Hosting Kenneth was an errand of mercy, not an attempt to rekindle a romance.
“This is exceptionally thoughtful of you, Dan
iel. Of course, that’s always been the kind of man you are.”
Kenneth’s trademark flattery was on full display. He showered me with compliments and affirmations when we were dating. Every morning that we woke up in the same bed, he told me that I was the best man he’d ever known. It worked—until everything crashed and fell apart.
I thought ahead to the evening and considered the possibility of introducing a safeguard into the picture. “I could invite Blake and Hunter for dinner. We’d have a small party. I can cook, or we can order out. They’re fun company, and I doubt they have too many other commitments on a Sunday night.”
“You’re worried about me, but you’ll make them get out and drive in the bad weather?”
“It’s only a 15-minute trip across town. Blake and Hunter won’t drive on a highway with 40-mile-per-hour crosswinds. If it’s bad, I’ll encourage them to stay home.” Kenneth tilted his head slightly to the right. “Of course, I won’t make them get out onto slick streets if the weather’s still bad then. Maybe most of it will stay south of Milwaukee. Sometimes there’s a pretty sharp line where the severity of winter storms changes between here and Chicago.”
“Thank you. I owe you something for this.”
I pointed at Kenneth’s coffee cup. “No, you don’t. Drink up.”
He sipped from his cup. After he set it down, Kenneth searched for ideas to further break the ice and generate conversation. “How is your business doing? That expansion office in Chicago carries a high rent. I’m sure of that. Will you match me with a perfect man for my second chance?”
I bit my lip and hoped that Kenneth didn’t notice. Part of me wanted to boot Kenneth from the database immediately. After ten years, I still couldn’t imagine him with anyone but… My thoughts drifted off. I avoided the issue when I spoke with him, but I couldn’t figure out a way to bring it all up for productive discussion.
A thought popped into my head, and I blurted it out. “We usually suggest that our clients wait a few weeks before they try a new date if the first doesn’t work out. It gives everyone a cooling-off period. I think that’s a good idea. In the meantime, we might acquire and excellent new client or two for Xander to consider.”
Reunited: Matchmakers Book 4 Page 6