by Josie Kerr
“Holy shit, you’re a grandma.”
Liddie laughed and clapped her hands together. “Candy said almost the exact same thing.”
“Oh, fuck me. When did you run into her?”
“Yesterday, at the market, right before I saw you.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus. This is gonna be fun.” Tobias groaned, but then he shrugged a shoulder and just shook his head.
Liddie grinned, leaned back on the couch, feeling about thirty years lighter. She still had things to tell him, but they could wait. After all, he’d gone this long without knowing, and she’d gone this long without sharing.
“What is that look?” Liddie asked when Tobias’s expression morphed into something inscrutable.
“I would love to take you to dinner, Liddie. Would you go out with me?”
She blinked. “Like on a date?”
Tobias cocked his head to the side, thinking. “Yeah, like a date. Or just two friends sharing a meal and catching up. Or something in between.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Please, Liddie.”
Liddie took a long look at Tobias. It had been so long, yet he seemed so much like the boy she fell in love with all those years ago. She’d told him no that one fateful night, and look how that turned out. She could go to dinner with him; what would it hurt?
Tobias whistled through his teeth, tapped his toes, and generally made a musical racket while he packed up his instruments at the end of a long day of recording. He tried not to rush, but he had places to be tonight, for once; namely, the dinner date with Liddie. They had a seven o’clock reservation at a white-tablecloth restaurant located in one of the larger vineyards, and seeing as it was Friday and he was in Atlanta, Tobias needed to get a move on if he wanted to make it home in time for a shower and a shave before picking up Liddie.
“You have a hot date or something?” Mick Brennan, owner of River Driver Records and builder of custom home studios, grinned at Tobias.
“Yeah, something like that. We’ll see how hot of a date it ends up being. I’m just pleased that she actually will let me take her out to dinner.” Tobias looked around the recording booth, making sure he had everything.
“This is a new gal, b’y?”
Tobias had been working with Mick for over a year, and half the time he still didn’t know what the Newfoundlander was saying. Thankfully, this time he did. He didn’t have time to listen to one of Mick’s rambling explanations today.
“New old gal. We dated when we were teenagers. Some shit went down and we lost touch for years. Now she’s back in Hemlock Creek. We’re going to see where it goes. Thirty years is a long time. Worse comes to worst, we’ll just be friends.” Tobias grabbed the handle of the rolling case. “I hate to be rude—”
Mick cackled. “Get out of here. I’ll see you Monday, say ten or so?”
“Sounds good, Mick. I might even have some new stuff for you.”
“Solo material? Oh, intriguing. Sounds like the muse has finally stopped sooking. Hmm.”
“I have no idea what you just said, but I’m leaving anyway,” Tobias remarked over his shoulder. “I’ll see you next week, Brennan!”
“Best of luck to you,” Tobias heard Mick call as he headed out the door. He loaded his guitars into the back seat of his traveling vehicle, hopped in, and soon was on his way up to the mountains.
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Liddie paced around the small bedroom, wringing her hands and eyeing herself in the Cheval mirror as she muttered to herself. “Maybe I should wear a skirt. But I hate skirts. I think they make me look dumpy. But this is apparently a very nice restaurant, so maybe I should stay away from trousers. But I’m more comfortable in trousers, ergo more confident, ergo will look better because I feel better.”
“Trousers, definitely.” Tally, who was sitting with Chloe on Liddie’s bed, was surrounded by every scrap of clothing Liddie owned. “But only if you have another pair besides your funeral pants. You cannot wear funeral pants on a date.”
Liddie whirled around, her eyes wild. “Tally, I have a whole forty-seven minutes before he picks me up! Where am I going to find another pair of pants besides my funeral pants?”
“You should have let Kat take you shopping, Mimi. I bet she knows all the good places.” Chloe was thumbing through her phone. “This is what you need to wear.” She held her phone up.
Liddie backed up. “Honey, you know I can’t see that when you hold it up close to me. Lordy, I think I need some new glasses.”
“No, Mom, you definitely need new glasses. You practically had to hold the menu four feet away from you last time we went to dinner.”
“That restaurant was too dark to see anything properly,” Liddie grumbled. “And the print was really, really small. And squiggly.”
Liddie snatched the phone out of Chloe’s hand. “What in the world? Chloe! That is not helpful!”
Tally crawled across the bed to peek at her daughter’s phone. She erupted into laughter but quickly schooled her face into a stern scowl. “Chloe, Mimi is not going to be wearing a see-through, bedazzled catsuit.” She considered the photo for a moment more. “Although, it is technically trousers. So . . .”
“Out! I do not need this kind of input from a pair of smart-asses. Shoo!” Liddie scooted her daughter and granddaughter out of the room.
Chloe stuck her head back in the door. “Better a smart-ass than a dumb butt,” she said before her grandmother pushed her away.
“Oh my Lord,” Liddie muttered. “This is why I have not dated in five years.”
And as she sat in the parlor of Bunny and Ace’s house, wearing her funeral pants and waiting for her date to arrive, she felt herself begin to come unglued. She didn’t necessarily think a dinner date was a bad idea, but the mere potential for things to go badly made her sick to her stomach. What if they didn’t have anything to say to each other after the night he caught her trespassing on the dock? What if they just sat there in awkward silence? That would be awful.
“Mom? Are you okay?” Tally had been cruising by the living room every five minutes or so. Liddie assumed it was to get a glimpse of Tobias, whom she hadn’t seen other than at the Hemlock Creek Tavern show.
“Yeah, honey. I’m fine.” Liddie gave her daughter what she hoped was a confident smile. “Just . . . waiting for Tobias.”
“You look great, Mom. Really pretty, even if you’re wearing funeral pants.”
Liddie’s scolding was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell.
“I’ll deal with you later, young lady,” she said as she picked up her purse. She took a deep breath and flung open the door.
Tobias had his fist raised, getting ready to knock. As soon as she opened the door, his face split into a beautiful smile, and he dropped his hand. “Liddie.”
“Toby.”
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
They grinned at each other like idiots.
“You ready to go?” she asked.
He looked around her, into the house, seemingly surprised that Liddie’s uncles didn’t meet him at the door with loaded and cocked shotguns.
“Uh, sure.” He flashed another brilliant smile, his white teeth contrasting with his salt-and-pepper beard.
Liddie waved to Tally, took a deep breath, and stepped across the threshold. Right before the screen door slammed, Liddie heard her daughter yell, “Have fun, kids! Don’t forget about curfew!”
“I swear, I do not know what I’m going to do with her,” Liddie remarked with a laugh.
She was very conscious of Tobias’s big body walking by her side and his hand hovering centimeters from her back, guiding her toward a black car. She halted at the edge of the asphalt driveway.
“Where’s your truck?” Liddie craned her neck to look at him. He had always been much taller than she was, and today, when she was wearing a pair of flats so low she might as well have been barefoot, the height difference was especially noticeable.
“The tr
uck’s seat springs are sprung, and there are no shocks. It’s a rough ride, which is fine for me, but it’s really not acceptable for anyone else. The guys don’t even ride in the truck if they can help it.” He toed a seam where the dirt met the asphalt. “Besides, I didn’t know if you would be comfortable in the truck because of . . .”
He wasn’t looking at her, just concentrating hard on something that seemed to be inside the Charger. Liddie’s stomach did a little flip-flop. The fact that he even considered the emotional impact of riding in that truck spoke volumes.
“Thank you, Toby.”
When he grasped the door handle, she laid her hand over his. Electricity zipped between them, and Liddie’s stomach did another little twist. She squeezed his hand and then stepped back, allowing him to open the car door. Of course, he helped into the car, laying a steadying hand on her elbow. More zips and zings. As she wondered if he was feeling the same things, she heard him exhale a shaky breath, and when she looked up at him, he gave her the sweetest, most uncertain smile. Before he closed the car door, he squeezed her elbow, just the tiniest bit of pressure, and winked at her. Liddie’s heart thrummed in her throat, and she felt every bit as giddy being with him now as she did all those years ago, riding in his truck, zooming down the dark dirt road.
They got to the restaurant, a small hole-in-the-wall Italian place with cloth napkins and a framed photo of the Pope on the wall. After a few moments of strained silence, Tobias set his water down on a spoon, and his utensils and the bread bowl went flying, which broke the tension. They managed to make it through the appetizers without any more mishaps, but the conversation stayed general, consisting mostly of small talk about construction and weather.
The server brought their entrées, and they spent the next few moments concentrating on their food, though Liddie sneaked glances at Tobias. To say he was different from Tally’s father would be a huge understatement. Richmond Douglas was lanky and blond and, despite being a career military man, had no tattoos. By contrast, Tobias’s burly frame seemed to be inked from neck to fingertips, at least that Liddie could see. Her face heated, thinking about all the tattooing she couldn’t see.
“This sauce has some heat, doesn’t it?” Tobias grinned at her.
Liddie cleared her throat. “Yes, it does.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She cleared her throat and set her fork and knife on the plate. “God, I’m sorry, Toby. I’m just . . . I don’t know.”
He reached for her hand, bumping his fingertips lightly against hers. “What’s going on? What don’t you know?” Tobias gave her hand a brief squeeze. He seemed surprised when she grabbed his hand and held on. “Liddie, talk to me.”
“This is . . . surreal, right? I mean, the two of us, having dinner, going a date, after all these years, after everything that’s happened.” She smoothed her hair back from her face with her free hand. “It’s just wild. Sometimes I don’t think it’s even real.”
Tobias brought her hand to his lips. Liddie ran her fingers through his beard before resting her hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into her hand, and Liddie thought she might cry because his expression was so sweet. Tobias took a deep breath and pressed another kiss into her palm before squeezing her hand.
“Holy crap.”
The two words that interrupted the tender moment were uttered by an older man who now loomed over their table. The man goggled at the couple, his eyes wide as he shook his head in disbelief.
“I know you don’t remember me—” the man began, only to be interrupted by Tobias holding up his hand.
Tobias squeezed Liddie’s hand and stood up to his full height, towering over the much smaller man. “The hell I don’t remember you. What do you want, Myrick?”
To his credit, Myrick didn’t show any signs that Tobias intimidated him, other than an initial wincing at the larger man’s harsh greeting. Instead, he gave the couple an embarrassed grin, took a deep breath, and launched into a speech.
“Actually, I wanted to apologize. Everything about that night was off, from the call that came into the station to the sheriff’s letting Miss Hopewell go with your father.” Liddie saw Myrick swallow hard. “It might not mean anything, since it’s been so long, but I’m sorry.” He looked from Liddie to Tobias and back. “Just goes to show that if two people are meant to be together, it’ll happen. Enjoy your dinner.” Myrick nodded at each of them and walked away.
Liddie tugged on Tobias’s hand. “Toby, come on. Sit back down. He’s gone.”
Tobias was breathing hard, almost like he’d been running a race, but he took his seat. Liddie stroked his head and ran her hand over his neck and down one broad shoulder. Tobias patted her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I’m good, okay?” he said and then leaned over and pressed his lips to her cheek. “He was right, though. And I truly believe that.”
“You’re going to make me cry, Tobias Harper.” Liddie let out a little, shaky laugh. She leaned over and gave Tobias a kiss of her own and then sat back in her chair with a sigh. “I don’t know about you, but I think I need some tiramisu.”
“Sounds good, darlin’.”
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They stayed until the restaurant closed and then ended up at a townie bar. They each got a cocktail, but both drinks sat untouched. Liddie was thinking about that night, long ago, as she watched Tobias approach from the other side of the bar. He slid back into the booth and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“So what have you got going on this week, hmm? Any chance I can see you?” Tobias stroked Liddie’s cheek with the back of his fingers.
“Look at you, planning ahead when we haven’t even finished this date yet.” She didn’t even need to taste the drink to feel giddy and tipsy. Gary Myrick’s appearance during dinner seemed to have shattered some of the barricades between the two of them, and now, a few hours later, Tobias was giving her little touches and looks, and Liddie felt flirty, really flirty.
“So this is officially a date, then? Not just two old friends having dinner?” Tobias leaned over and ran his lips over her cheek.
“No, not just friends having dinner.” His hand, which had been resting lightly on Liddie’s knee, drifted up to her thigh.
“I’m glad to hear that, Liddie Hopewell Douglas,” Tobias murmured. He kissed her jaw. “Now, about this week: Do you have any plans? During the day or at night, either one?”
“Well, during the week, I have meetings three days. I’ve signed up to be a substitute teacher, and I have orientation. And then Tuesday night is curriculum night at the high school. We’re going to mortify Chloe and double-team her teachers.”
Tobias laughed. “Oh Lordy. Teacher’s pet gone bad.”
“I was not a teacher’s pet,” Liddie huffed. But when Tobias gave her a skeptical look, she giggled and admitted, “Okay, yes, I was.”
“I remember you wanted to be a teacher. That was one reason you didn’t come with me.” Tobias finally took a drink of his cocktail. “What became of that?”
Liddie nodded. “I eventually did get my teaching certificate, but not until Tally was five.”
“Why the delay?”
Liddie blew out a breath. “I went a little crazy when I got to California because of everything. I went from a man who would literally time me in the shower to having absolutely no supervision whatsoever. Because Micah never let me do anything, I didn’t have a lot of decision-making skills. I guess it wasn’t surprising that I ended up pregnant, considering. At least I was kind of a grown-up.”
Tell him, her little voice told her. Not now. We’re having a nice time, she retorted.
“You were in college.”
“Yep. Second-semester freshman. It was rough, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Rich seemed to be a good guy, and there was no doubt that he was going to marry me. But if he hadn’t, I would have been a single mom and it would have worked out, because it always does.”
; “You said that Tally had a baby when she was in high school.” When Liddie sighed, Tobias held up his hands and said, “Not judging.”
“Well, I probably judged myself enough for both of us.” She laughed. “I played the blame game for a long time: ‘We should have been stricter. We should have been less strict. I shouldn’t have gone back to school. I should have gone to work earlier.’ All sorts of stuff that probably wouldn’t have made a lick of difference. But everyone survived. Tally actually graduated high school right on time and went to community college and got her transcription certificate. She makes good money transcribing legal documents. I keep telling her she should become a paralegal.”
“Candy tried the medical transcription thing. Lasted two whole days until she figured out that she’d have to cut her nails.”
“Seriously?” Liddie’s jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. “No, of course you’re serious. That sounds just like Candy. Can I ask you a nosy question?”
Tobias chuckled. “I bet I can guess what you’re going to ask me, judging from the topics we just covered.”
“Ha! Okay, guess.”
“You’re going to ask me if I have any children, period, and if I have any children with Candy, right?”
“Yeah, you got it,” Liddie said with a little giggle.
Tobias winked at her. “See, this ninth-grade dropout isn’t too dumb after all.”
Liddie’s smile instantly disappeared. “There’s one thing you definitely were not, Toby, and that was dumb. It makes my blood boil that you even said that jokingly.”
Tobias stared at her, eyes blazing, and then he leaned into her and kissed her. The kiss didn’t last long, but it was so intense that it took her breath away.
“Oh.” The kiss rendered her speechless, stunning her a bit, but when she recovered, Liddie grinned at Tobias.
“Was it okay for me to do that?” Tobias, now sitting with his back against the booth, was shredding a napkin and looking worried.