As I listened to him talk about his business, I decided I needed to be a little more guarded with this relationship, not rushing headlong into it when he had a situation I didn’t know all the details of - and I had a situation of my own with Jack.
I found Nate attractive and I liked him very much; he reminded me of Jack in some ways. But, still, something about the idea of getting involved with him wasn’t sitting right with me. There was a niggling feeling at the back of my brain, telling me to proceed with caution. So I decided I would do exactly that until that thing at the back of my brain broke itself loose and I knew for sure what was causing this hesitancy. Then I would deal with it.
We had just walked back into Jack’s house when I heard my phone playing Steely Dan. Nate smirked at me, amused, as I dug the phone out of my purse.
“Hey, Jack,” I answered.
“Hey. Are you done with breakfast?”
“Yeah, we just walked in the door to your house. How did the meeting with Frank go?”
“About as we expected,” he said. “He was not happy. I thought he was going to quit on the spot when I told him Heather would be reporting to him from now on.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah. And I had barely hit ‘send’ on that memo before the first group of people started rushing to my office with questions about it. I can already see it’s going to be a shitty day.”
“Do you want me to come in and beat them away from your door?” I mentally crossed my fingers and hoped he would answer in the negative. I heard Nate snort at that and looked up to see he was sitting at the kitchen table, watching me and smiling.
Jack laughed. “I appreciate the thought, Rambo, but that’s not necessary. I’m just looking at it as the last time I’ll have to deal directly with this kind of thing and it’ll be fine.”
“Okay, if you’re sure,” I said, kicking myself for giving him an opportunity to change his mind.
“I’m sure. But I did call for a favor.”
“Shoot,” I said.
“I forgot I have a dinner meeting downtown tonight. A pre-bid thing. So I won’t be home until late. Would it be too much to ask for you to hang out with Luke tonight? I hate to leave him sitting there by himself again.”
“Yeah, I can do that. I’m sure we can find something to do.” I looked up at Nate again and he winked at me and flashed the dimples. I rolled my eyes at him and actually blushed, making him laugh.
“Great. Thank you. And can you pick out a tie for me and send it with Luke?”
“Sure, not a problem. Have fun tonight and I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay. See ya, Ange.”
“See ya, Jack.” I disconnected the call and said, “Jack has plans tonight so he asked me to entertain you.”
“Really?” He drew that word out to about four syllables and wiggled his eyebrows. “That was certainly generous of him.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter and tell me what you’d like to do.”
I sat with him at the table and we discussed options until he decided he would like to have dinner and then drive to the casino in Windsor.
I wasn’t much of a gambler, but it still sounded like fun to me. “What about your call to the boys? How will you fit that in?”
“I’ll call them this afternoon when Michael gets home from school. Kayla likes the opportunity to read to them, too, so it’ll be fine.”
“You’ll need your birth certificate to get across the border. I don’t suppose you have it with you, do you?” Even as I asked, I thought that was probably unlikely. Then I hoped I could find my own and tried to remember where I had put it.
He told me he had an enhanced driver’s license that would confirm his citizenship, so we planned for him to pick me up right after he got done at the office. I gave him my address and suggested that maybe we should get around to discussing work.
“I’d rather discuss you,” he said, reaching across the table and grabbing my hand again.
“You’re awfully feisty so early in the morning,” I told him.
“Oh, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” he said with a grin.
I arched an eyebrow at him. “Yet? Presumptuous.”
“No. Hopeful.”
I smiled at his flattery, but was suddenly feeling a little nervous at how quickly he seemed to be trying to move this forward. I disengaged my hand from his and said, “Listen, Psycho. Save that stuff for later.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized they almost sounded like an invitation – or a promise. “Um, I didn’t mean that like it sounded.”
“Oh. Well, that’s disappointing.” We laughed at that and then I got the conversation back on track.
I found out that Jack had already contracted him to come in for the week to upgrade the server and give some recommendations about setting up an in-house IT department. Currently, when there was a problem, we counted on one of the engineers to try to fix it. Most of the time he could do it, but sometimes the problem was way over his head. Plus, he had his own work to do and Jack didn’t like to keep dragging him away from it.
When the issue of the missing money came up, Jack asked Nate if he could also help us out where he could with that and Nate had agreed.
“I’m not sure how much I’m going to be able to do with that, but Jack wants me to monitor emails and internet usage and see if I can pick up anything there.”
“He wants you to spy on his employees?” That did not sound like Jack at all.
“Well, yes and no. I’ll be looking for very specific things. Jack was pretty adamant about my keeping anything I learned of a personal nature to myself. If it doesn’t have to do with the embezzlement, then he doesn’t want to know about it.”
“Oh. That sounds reasonable, I guess.”
“Yeah. Plus, this afternoon I’ll be setting up your computer with full access to accounts payable, payroll and the general ledger so you’ll be able to pull whatever reports you might want without having to go to anyone else to get them. Jack thinks that will be beneficial later, too.”
“He’s right about that. Wait until you meet Marla. She’s an interesting character and very possessive of her files. It’s like pulling teeth to get a simple report out of her. I swear, if I planned to remove one of her files from her area, I’d better go armed.”
“That’s interesting,” Nate said. “Wonder why she’s so protective of those files?”
“No clue, except that she’s been there a long time and she likes things the way she likes them.”
“Hmmm…I think I’ll look into her first.”
“Well, I imagine once you see her, and her boobs, you’ll be wanting to do more than look.” I rolled my eyes and Nate laughed. “Jack thinks Frank is the one you should be looking the hardest at.”
“Does Frank have good boobs?”
“Gross.” We both laughed and I stood up. “I think this conversation has deteriorated far enough. Jack wants you to take him a tie for tonight, so I’ll go get one for you.”
“Okay. I’ll get my stuff packed up. I need to get moving.”
By the time I returned with the tie, Nate looked ready to go. He shoved the tie in his jacket pocket and waited while I gathered up my various containers from Sunday and loaded them back into my tote bags. I smiled to myself when I saw the second treat container was missing.
“Since you bought me breakfast this morning, why don’t I make you dinner tonight before we go?” I offered.
“Oh. Okay. That sounds great. Thanks.”
“Is there anything you don’t like?”
“As long as it’s not liver, I’ll eat it.”
“I have never made liver in my life.”
“Good, then it’s a plan.” He displayed the dimples and then held the door for me as I went through it with my bulky load.
We loaded our stuff into the back seats of our respective cars and he turned to me as he was opening his driver’s side door. “Okay, I’ll see you sometime between 5:00 and 5:30, then
.”
“Sounds good. Have a fun afternoon.” I closed my back door and stood out of the way as Nate waved and pulled out of the driveway.
I opened my door to get in and saw a folded yellow note on the front seat. Puzzled, I picked it up and unfolded it, smiling when I recognized Jack’s sprawling handwriting.
“Enjoy your afternoon off. Don’t have too much fun without me. xoxo”
Looking at that note, with its hugs and kisses addendum, caused a little flutter in my chest. Jack had never written me a note before that didn’t have a particular purpose behind it, like, “Went to get propane for the grill, be right back.” And he had never signed any of those with hugs and kisses.
I slid into my car and closed the door behind me, still holding the note. Then I read it three more times. It wasn’t that it said anything so important, but I kept picturing him writing it and leaving it for me to find. Like he was thinking of me and wanted to make sure I was thinking of him while we were apart. It was such a sweet thing for him to do and I found myself wishing, again, that things could be different between us.
I pulled a pen out of my purse and wrote the date on the back of the note. Then I folded it carefully and put it in my wallet.
Then I drove away to start enjoying my afternoon off.
Chapter 15
By the time 5:00 rolled around, I was feeling pretty pleased about all I had accomplished in a few short hours. I had remembered to pick up detergent for my pressing laundry needs and managed to get that odious chore out of the way.
After getting the laundry started, I changed into clean clothes, eying my old pink and white striped panties with disgust. Deciding it was well past time to replace them with something newer and less frumpy, I tossed them into the trash, and sent a dozen more pairs in similar condition into the basket after them. My bras had also seen better days, so I got rid of a few of those as well.
I hated to waste money on anything, but especially on things like underwear that hardly anyone ever saw. But I did just get a raise, and I hadn’t bought new underthings in at least two years, so I justified the expenditure and made a quick trip to the mall.
Bypassing the overpriced big-name lingerie store, I sorted briskly through all the pretty lingerie the department store had to offer. Even though I told myself to quit buying so much pink stuff, I couldn’t help it. When it came to clothes, it was my favorite color. I came home with five new bras, two of them pink, fifteen pairs of assorted matching bikinis, thongs and boy shorts, seven of them pink, and a bad case of sticker shock. I put them all in the washing machine and consoled myself with the reminder I probably had several more years before I had to go through that again.
Around 4:00, I got dinner started, breading pork chops and peeling potatoes. I figured a guy who like potatoes as much as Nate did would enjoy them mashed, so I chopped them in small pieces and put them on the stove to boil. The only fresh vegetable I had on hand were green beans, so I threw those in a pan on the stove, too, and then went to look for my birth certificate.
After twenty minutes of increasingly frantic searching, I still couldn’t find it. I berated myself for not being more organized and hoped Nate wouldn’t be too disappointed to find out we weren’t going to be able to get into Canada.
As a last-ditch effort, I called my mom.
“Hey, honey,” she answered.
“Hey, Mom. Listen, do you happen to have my birth certificate around anywhere?”
“No, we gave the only copy we had to you. Did you lose it?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I think I did.”
“Well, it’s easy enough to get another copy.”
“I know, but I needed it for tonight.”
“What’s going on tonight that you would need your birth certificate for?” she asked.
I continued to look through drawers that I had already searched twice while I explained about Nate and gave her the shortened version of who he was and how we had met.
“So, anyway, long story short, Jack’s got a meeting tonight and asked me if I’d hang with Nate to keep him company - and he wants to go to the casino in Windsor.”
My mother didn’t respond at all and remained uncharacteristically silent.
“Mom? Are you still there?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m here.” She paused for a moment and I heard her take a deep breath before continuing. “Angie, you know I don’t like to butt into your business, but are you interested in this guy?”
I thought about how to briefly answer that since I didn’t have a lot of time before Nate was expected. I really wished I could discuss the whole situation with her – my issues with Nate and my feelings about Jack, but I didn’t have time and I couldn’t really do it without revealing my secret - or Jack’s.
“Well, yeah, I guess I am, in a way. He’s a nice guy and everything and I really like him – but it’s kind of a long story and I’m short on time right now. But if you’re worried about me rushing into anything, don’t be. I mean, he’s only going to be here for the rest of the week and he lives in Ohio, for Pete’s sake, so I don’t really know that it could even go anywhere.”
“I see,” she said slowly. “What does Jack think about you and Nate?”
“I don’t think he thinks anything about it. He hasn’t said anything one way or the other. But we’ll have to talk about this later. I’ve really got to go.”
“Okay – just one more thing. Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow night? I’ve got something I made for you - and your dad picked up those shelves you wanted.”
“Oh, he did? He didn’t have to do that.” I had talked to them about how I wanted to get some short shelves, paint them a pretty color and put them in my bedroom. But I hadn’t expected my dad to do anything other than help me hang them.
“Well, you know your father. Once he gets into Home Depot, he can’t stop buying – so he picked them up while he was there.”
“That was nice of him. Okay, sure, I’ll come to dinner. And what did you make for me?”
“Just wait and see,” she said.
“Okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow night after I get done at the gym. Around 6:30?”
“Yeah, that sounds perfect. Have fun tonight.”
“I will. Thanks, Mom. See you tomorrow.”
“You’re welcome. See ya, honey.”
I disconnected the call and rushed to get dinner on the table. The doorbell rang just as I finished mashing the potatoes and I hurried to the door to let Nate in.
“Hey,” I said, pushing the storm door open. “Come on in.”
“Hey.” He stepped inside and looked around while I closed the door behind him. “Wow. Nice house. It’s so…cozy.”
“Is that a polite way of saying it’s small?”
He laughed. “No, not at all. That’s an honest way of saying I like it. Reminds me a lot of Kayla’s house with all the family pictures.” He turned to the wall next to the door and studied the three pictures hanging vertically there. “These are cool.”
“Thanks,” I said. They were pictures of Jack and me from a weekend trip we had taken the previous summer to the western part of the state. I had blown up maps to show the detail of where we were when the picture was taken and then matted a photo on top of each of the maps. I had been pleased with the way they turned out. They showed us in front of a waterfall, on sand dunes and on a boat. It had been a great trip and I loved seeing the reminder every time I entered or left my house.
“You two look like an old married couple,” he observed.
“Sometimes it feels like it,” I said and laughed. “Although I’m not too crazy about the ‘old’ part of that description.” I turned and started walking toward the kitchen. “Come on, let’s eat.”
While we ate, I told him about the misplaced birth certificate and offered alternative plans. There were three casinos in downtown Detroit, so we discussed the options and he assured me he wasn’t disappointed about not going to Canada.
“I’ve jus
t never been to that one,” he said. “I thought it would be fun to see it, but I’m okay with any of them. I’m more interested in the company than the location.” He smiled and scraped the last bite of potatoes off of his plate.
I laughed, and noted how he ate like Jack, eating his favorite part of the meal first, and handed him the serving bowl. “Here, have some more. I made plenty.”
“Thanks.” He took the bowl and piled another large mound onto the empty spot on his plate. As he was covering it with gravy, he said, “So, I met Marla today and you were right. Her boobs are definitely better than Frank’s.”
We laughed and finished eating while we talked about his afternoon, what he had accomplished and whom he had met. When we were done and I was clearing the table, he asked me what I had done all afternoon.
I cleared my throat nervously, not about to tell him about my underwear expedition. “Nothing much, really. Got caught up on my laundry.”
“That sounds…interesting.”
“Not really. But anything’s more interesting than actually working.”
“True. Speaking of which, Jack seemed really excited about your new job.”
“Yeah, I am, too. It’ll be good for both of us. He’s overloaded with his work and I’m overly bored with mine. I’m looking forward to the change.”
His eyes never left me as I loaded the dishwasher and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Although I hoped I wasn’t showing it, his scrutiny was making me a little nervous and I chattered almost continually about basically nothing while I finished up.
“Am I making you nervous?” he asked when I finally rinsed out my sponge and turned around.
“Am I that obvious?”
He laughed. “Yeah, you’ve been talking without taking a breath for the last ten minutes.” He stood up and walked over to me. “Why are you nervous?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t really know.”
“Well, don’t be.” He put his hands on my shoulders, leaned in and kissed my temple. “Thanks for dinner. I really enjoyed it.”
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