by Ginny Baird
“Dolls, you goofball.” She splashed him again, and he laughed. “We did have this old chess set, though, and all of the pieces looked like people. I used to marry those guys off to each other when my mom wasn’t looking.” Which was true. Hope had always imagined having a two-parent home with a big family. Sort of like the one that Brent had.
Brent chuckled. “How creative. Did Hope play with you?”
“No, she wasn’t into that stuff,” she said, speaking really of Jackie. “She was all about setting the scene. Always drawing stuff.”
“Any schools in the picture?”
“Ha. But, no. Although we did play school.” Hope couldn’t help smiling. “The two of us, I mean. Me and—Hope.”
“I’m guessing she was the teacher.”
“Hope. Yeah. Definitely. Yes, she was.”
“So, what did your mom say when she found her chess pieces missing?”
“Oh, she never noticed. Mom’s not much of a chess player, to tell you the truth.”
“Are you?”
“Used to be. I was on a team in school.”
“That’s pretty fascinating.”
“It was fun. Chess is so much like…” She stopped because she was about to say math.
“So much like…?” Brent asked, leading.
“Puzzles,” Hope answered. “And I love working puzzles.”
“Seriously?” He grinned. “I didn’t know that, either. I like puzzles, too. Especially those insane thousand-piece ones. You know, the sort it takes you all of Christmas vacation to work?”
“Yes,” she said, knowing just what he meant. Now she was curious. “What did you play as a kid?”
“Video games.”
Hope giggled. “Nothing else?”
“Besides thousand-piece puzzles?”
She playfully huffed.
He glanced out over the bay. “When my family came here in the summers, our parents had a strict rule about limiting technology.” He shot her a teasing stare. “Sort of like you and I are doing now. It allowed us to have more time outdoors.
“We went sailing a lot with Grandpa. One year, we got a bocce ball set and played on the back lawn. During our high school years, it was cornhole.”
“I love cornhole.”
“Do you really?” he said, sounding pleased. “So do I. We’ll have to play sometime.”
“Great.”
“Anyway,” he continued. “Other than those things, on rainy days, my brothers and sister and I played games indoors. Old board games that our parents used to play when they were little, like Clue and Monopoly.
“Grandpa Chad also taught us to play poker. Although, honestly? Grandmother was better at it.” He lowered his eyebrows. “She’s got the world’s best poker face.”
Hope laughed. “Yes, she does.”
“Give her some time. She’ll come around.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“My mom talked to her.”
Hope thought back to seeing the two women talking by the firepit and wondered if that’s what they’d been discussing. “I love your mom. She’s really great.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll keep her. But Jackie?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll also keep the rest of them, too. Things will work out—you’ll see. I’m feeling more and more optimistic about, well, pretty much everything. Aren’t you?”
It did seem like they were making progress. Starting to engage as a couple for real.
And that seriously messed with her head.
Given that she was pretending to be her sister.
But now wasn’t the time to have doubts about her well-intentioned impersonation. She wasn’t doing this for selfish reasons, but in an effort to help Jackie. And, in a big way, she already had. She’d formed a connection with Elsa and had been accepted by Parker and Chad. She just had to break through to Grandmother Margaret, and Brent seemed sure she would.
“I’m excited about meeting your mom,” he said. “It’s great she’ll be here later today.”
Hope worried about that and keeping up the ruse but knew she’d have to deal with that situation when she came to it. “Yeah. I know she’s excited to meet you.”
“What’s she like? Your mom? You never talk much about her.”
Ooof. “That’s because she’s…different?”
“What do you mean?”
“A little eccentric.” She grimaced. “Marches to her own tune, so to speak.”
“I’m sure any tune will be fine with me.”
“Watch yourself,” she joked. “You don’t want to encourage her to sing.”
“That would be a problem, would it?”
“Oh, yeah,” she answered, grinning.
Brent grinned, too. “I’ll consider that fair warning.”
It was a beautiful day on the water with occasional sailboats passing by. One loud speedboat tore by at a clip, towing a water-skier, and Brent had to work to stabilize the canoe during the resulting onslaught of waves, which sent Hope giggling as she clutched onto her hat.
“You think this is funny, huh?” he asked. “It won’t be so cute if we capsize before lunch.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, stifling another chuckle. “I just can’t remember having so much fun.”
“That’s because you don’t make enough time for it,” he informed her sagely.
“I know you’re right.” She exhaled. “It’s good to relax.”
“Speaking of that…” Brent said, navigating the canoe into a sequestered spot in the cove beneath a canopy of trees. “Are you ready for lunch?”
Brent opened the picnic basket and pulled out a chilled bottle of pinot grigio, cranking its twist cap. “Wine?”
“I’d love some,” she said, feeling giddy in spite of herself.
He located the wineglasses in the basket and passed them to her to hold so he could pour.
He must have noticed her scanning the contents of the basket. “Everything’s low-fat but healthy,” he said. “I brought nuts, fresh fruit, veggies…”
“Is that cheese I see in there?” she said, lusting after it. “And a loaf of French bread?”
“Just a little for me. It’s okay if you don’t want any.”
“Oh no. I mean, yeah. Just a tiny taste would be good. I mean, I have to keep my strength up and everything. In light of the wine,” she added creatively.
“You’re right about having something solid in your stomach with the alcohol,” he agreed. He finished filling their glasses and capped the wine, returning it to its chilling sleeve in the basket. “I brought some of Grandmother Margaret’s chicken salad, too. It’s really good and made with almost no mayo.”
Hope’s stomach ached from hunger. “Sounds delish.”
“Would you like to enjoy our wine first, or are you ready to go ahead and eat?”
“Eating sounds great.”
“Okay,” he said, toasting her glass. “Then let’s get to it. Cheers.”
“Cheers,” she said, taking a grateful sip of wine.
Brent passed her his glass to hold and pulled a small container out of the basket. “I forgot about this, but you probably won’t want it.” The small glass jar contained an orange shredded mixture dotted with red bits. “It’s Grandmother’s famous pimento cheese.”
“Oh, yum. I mean, I would love to taste it. Maybe on a very small piece of bread.”
He started to prepare her plate, cutting off a slim sliver of bread from the loaf.
“Okay, not that small,” she said. “Maybe a bit larger.”
He tried again with a second piece, but it honestly wasn’t tons bigger. “You know what?” Hope said like she’d just thought of it, because she had. “Why don’t we split the loaf?”
Brent’s eyebrows rose. “Split it
? Are you sure?”
She needed him to hurry this up, because she was about to start drooling at any second. She’d barely had any breakfast, and then Brent had whisked her away for this adventure shortly after that. So she’d never had time for that snack. “Yes, please.”
He tore what was left of the French bread in half and handed her portion to her.
It took all the strength she had not to sink her teeth into it. Immediately.
Without butter. Or cheese, even.
“I kind of like this new healthy appetite of yours,” he said with a chuckle, continuing to fill her plate. “Maybe now I won’t have to eat dessert alone?”
She’d eat ten desserts at the moment. “Don’t push your luck,” she said instead. Jackie was going to kill her. “A little more chicken salad, please?”
Brent looked up. “You can have anything you want. You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me.”
She was unnerved by the compliment because she’d enjoyed it. And this made her feel squirmy. Brent was looking at her the way he should have been looking at her sister.
Stop and live in the moment.
All this was great for Jackie. She and Brent were becoming close.
By proxy.
“So, yes or no to the pimento cheese?” he asked, unscrewing the container’s lid.
“Yes. Please.”
“On the plate or crackers?”
“Ooh, we have crackers?”
Brent chuckled. “Maybe you’ve been no-carbs for too long.”
She grinned. “That’s just what I was thinking.”
“Right, well, you’ll want to be careful easing out of it.” He handed her the plate, looking worried. “You don’t want to overdo it right away. You could shock your system.”
“You’re right,” she said, nibbling absently on a pimento cheese–loaded cracker. “Mmm, this is heavenly.” She paused in thought while Brent filled his own plate. “I thought pimento cheese was a southern thing?”
“Grandmother grew up in Atlanta.”
“How interesting. I didn’t know that.”
“She also has a weakness for pralines.” Brent winked, and she laughed, unable to imagine Margaret having any weaknesses at all. “We all have our downfalls, I suppose. What are yours?”
“My weaknesses, you mean?” she asked, sampling some of the chicken salad, which was delicious.
“Yeah, those.” He dug into his food, apparently hungry, too. That made Hope feel about a billion times better. She hated chowing down alone, which was why Jackie was no fun to eat with. While she admired her sister’s resolve, Hope had no clue how she lived that way.
“Maybe I haven’t got any.” She adjusted her hat. “Weaknesses, that is.”
“Hmm. Maybe not.”
“How about you?”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty.”
“Is that so?” She knew her tone sounded flirty, but she didn’t care. She was having fun, and this was totally innocent besides. Just a picnic between friends. With wine. On the water. And he was maybe the best-looking guy she’d ever seen.
She took a long swallow of wine before asking, “Such as?”
“I’ll let you in on a secret, but you have to swear you’ll take it to your grave.”
She laughed. “I swear.”
He sipped from his wine with a Cheshire cat grin. “I’m abysmal at wardrobe.”
She found this impossible to believe. She’d only been here two days, but each time she’d seen him, Brent had been dressed impeccably, even in a casual way.
“It’s true.” He held up his hand. “I only order online, and when I do, I copy the outfits on the models exactly.”
Hope snorted wine through her nose and had to grab a napkin. “Do not.”
He pointed to his T-shirt, shorts, and shoes, and named a well-known outdoors store. “Spring Catalogue. I even bookmarked the URL.”
She hooted. “Brent.”
“What I was wearing yesterday?” He named another high-end cyber store. “Last summer’s sale. I bookmarked that page as well.”
She was cackling so hard she nearly spilled her wine. “You have to stop,” she said, catching her breath. “There is no way you only order online. What about your business clothes?” In his line of work, she was sure he had several nice suits.
“Believe it or not, there are stores where one can walk in and have an entire professional ensemble put together—and tailored.”
She sighed happily. “So, on your own, you’re a total fashion fail?”
He nodded. “Exactly opposite from you.” He studied her sundress and sandals. “I like the new look—I really do. It’s perfect for this week and summer.”
Hope ducked her chin, embarrassed yet pleased by another compliment. “Thank you.”
He raised his glass to hers. “Here’s to learning to relax, new hobbies, and summer.”
“Here’s to all of that, yes.” She clinked his glass with hers. “And here’s to an excellent picnic. Thanks so much, Brent. This has been the best.”
…
They finished their lunches, chatting about “dream vacations.” Brent had several places he wanted to visit, and he was stoked to learn Jackie had many of the same locales on her travel bucket list. It did his heart good to learn that he and his fiancée were so much on the same page.
“Ooh. And Bora-Bora,” she added excitedly after devouring her last bite of the chocolate tart that he’d packed for dessert. He was glad he’d brought enough food for the two of them. He’d never seen Jackie eat this much, but he was glad she wasn’t worrying about things like that now. It was their wedding week, after all, like she said. It was good for both of them to loosen up a bit and chill.
“I’ve always wanted to go there, too,” he told her, not wanting this fun excursion to end. He realized they should get going shortly, because the day was wearing on and the tides would be changing soon. But he was having such a great time, he wanted to give their adventure a few more minutes. “We can drop in on Bora-Bora on our way to Australia.”
“Tasmania and New Zealand, too,” she said with a dreamy gleam in her eye. The thin gold chain around her neck held a delicate gold heart pendant, and Brent commented on the pretty accessory, which he’d never seen her wear before.
“Oh, thank you. I’ve had it for a while.”
“It suits you.” He knew he shouldn’t ask, because it might have been a romantic gift from another guy, but curiosity got the better of him. “Where did you get it?” Though he wasn’t normally the jealous type, the thought of her loving anyone else somehow brought his cool-tempered blood to a slow boil.
She fingered the dangling piece of jewelry. “Maybe we should keep this conversation moving forward?”
“We are moving forward,” he teased. “I’m just kind of wondering from what?” Or whom, he thought, feeling a lead weight in his stomach.
“If you must know.” She straightened her spine, looking sassy. “I got it from somebody special.”
“Figured as much.” Brent’s neck burned hot, and she tilted her chin at his expression.
“It wasn’t from another guy, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“What?”
“I gave it to myself for Valentine’s Day two years ago.” She shrugged and then said, “I deserved it.”
“I’m sure that you did. Do.”
She sighed, gazing out over the water, and Brent saw the sun had lowered in the sky quite a bit since they’d started out. They really needed to head in soon.
And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to break the moment.
“I guess I never told you about my dating past?” She asked this in an off-kilter way, almost like she couldn’t authentically remember.
“Past boyfriends, no.”
She started to speak and the
n thought better of it. “Maybe we shouldn’t go there now.”
“You don’t have to unless you want to. I honestly didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable, really. It’s just…” She bit her lip in thought. “I grew frustrated, I guess. Tired of the pre-holiday dump thing, so I—”
“Hang on,” he said, stopping her, because this he had to hear. “What ‘pre-holiday dump thing’?”
She stared at him in surprise. “You know, that thing coupled-up people sometimes do. A big holiday’s coming up. Maybe it’s Thanksgiving and an opportunity to meet each other’s families. Or Christmas, and expectations loom high for a big, amazing gift.” Her eyes widened dramatically on the word “high,” and Brent couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Ah, I see. So, to prevent any disappointments, there’s a breakup instead?”
“Which is seriously such a disappointment in its own right.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Those guys were utter jerks.”
“It wasn’t just them.” She rubbed her heart pendant. “I did my fair share of dumping, too.”
“Then it looks like I dodged a bullet. A pre-wedding dump could be the biggest dump of all.”
Jackie’s cheeks colored.
“Oh, wait. I didn’t mean…” He hung his head in shame, then peeked up at her. “That wasn’t how it sounded. I hope you know that I would never do that to you. I would never let you down on our wedding day.”
She stared at him a long moment, and he wondered why there was so much sadness in her eyes. “You’re really pretty wonderful, you know that?”
That was unexpected. “Um, thanks. So are you.”
“And the necklace?” She sniffed. “I gave it to myself because I wasn’t sure if anyone would ever…”
Her chin trembled, and Brent reached for her, leaning forward and rocking the canoe.
“Hey,” he said, steadying her smooth shoulders in his hands. “There will be lots of great Valentine’s Days ahead. I promise.” She viewed him doubtfully, and Brent’s heart ached. “You and I didn’t know each other last February. But we’re changing that now. We’re getting married. Married, Jackie,” he said hoarsely. “And I’m determined to make this work. You do believe I’m going to try?”