Sparked by Love

by Peggy Bird

  “I’ll make the reservation for six-thirty. Early enough for you?” Without waiting for an answer, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I can’t wait to spend some time with you.”

  As soon as he walked down the street to the parking area, she made a big show of closing the curtains on the windows and turning on the porch light then leaving in an obvious manner for the tenant’s parking lot behind the house. She didn’t think her father would follow her to see if she was making up a story, but she drove to a nearby coffee house anyway, went inside, and nursed a latte until she thought it was safe to go back to her house.

  Damn. First Jeremy. Now her father. Could her life get any more complicated?

  Chapter Eleven

  When Shannon arrived at the Grant House on Friday, the host announced, as he crossed out her name on his list, that the other three people were already there.

  The other three? Who else had her father brought with him? It appeared things were getting more complicated, whether she liked it or not.

  The host led her through the main dining area, where generations of high-ranking officers and their wives once entertained their guests, to the smaller sleeping porch in the back. There was more privacy there, especially when, like tonight, only one party was there—her father, a woman and … and … Jeremy? What the hell?

  The two men stood when she approached the table. She kissed her father’s cheek. The host pulled out the only empty chair at the table—the one next to her ex-boyfriend. Jeremy tried to take her hand. She pulled away as subtly as she could without making a scene.

  Her father was beaming. “I want you to meet someone special, Shannon. This is Louise Hawer. Louise, this is my lovely daughter, Shannon.”

  “Yes, hello.” Shannon regretted the snippy tone of her voice as soon as the words were out. It wasn’t fair to the woman looking so expectantly with her hand out in greeting.

  Louise had a kind look. She wasn’t particularly pretty, although she had nice features. She wasn’t the usual rode-hard-and-put-away-wet kind of woman her father had introduced her to before. “Marty’s told me so much about you,” Louise said, “and how close you are. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’m sorry to ambush you like this. I wanted to do this in a more gradual manner, but you know how impulsive your father can be.” She tipped up one corner of her mouth in a shy smile and Marty stroked her hand.

  How close she was to her father? What fantasy had her father sold this woman? Shannon said, “I’m happy Daddy arranged for us to meet. But I’m puzzled about why Jeremy’s included.”

  “I thought it would be nice,” her father said, “for you to have a friend here when I tell you my news.”

  “Jeremy is my ex-boyfriend, Daddy. We broke up over a year ago.”

  “Jeremy told me all about it. But he’s still your friend. And he tells me he wants to pick up where you left off.”

  “How did you find my father?” she asked Jeremy. “Or how did he find you?”

  “We’ve been in touch off and on for a couple years.”

  “A couple years?” She turned to her father, not sure whether to be surprised or angry or both. “Is that how you knew where I lived?”

  “Jeremy told me he was back in Vancouver and where you … ”

  The scene was interrupted by the server coming to take drink orders. For the first time in her life, Shannon wished she drank alcohol. She shook her head when asked what she wanted, and the other three ordered a bottle of wine to share.

  When the server left, her father said. “Please, don’t be upset. I was trying to make this evening easier on you. I have some good news to share and some sad news, too. The good news is Louise and I are getting married and we want you to be part of our wedding.”

  “Congratulations. If you’re happy, I’m happy for you,” Shannon said.

  “I hoped you’d get to know Louise a bit during this visit. Maybe we could all spend some time together before we go back home.”

  Perhaps getting to know the woman he was about to marry could help her figure out how to solve the riddle of who her father was. It might be worth a try. Nothing else had worked.

  “I have some other important news to tell you.” Marty glanced over at Jeremy who nodded before continuing. “Your grandfather passed away last week.”

  “Granddad died? Was he sick? Why didn’t you call me and let me know so I could see him one last time?” Shannon could feel yet another piece of her tattered family fall away with the death of the last relative from whom she had ever felt genuine love.

  “It was a sudden heart attack. No one even knew he had heart problems. I decided I’d let you know in person because I knew you’d be upset. Besides, seeing you would give me the opportunity to introduce you to Louise. I knew it would be better for you this way. Balance the sad news with the good.”

  Why did he do this every time? Dropping back into her life—again—thinking he knew who she was and what she needed when he hadn’t been around long enough to know her at all. It was painful and frustrating, and she felt like crying at his insensitive behavior. Again.

  “Daddy, you should have let me know sooner. I would have gone to the memorial service at least, even if I couldn’t have gotten to see him before he died.”

  “There wasn’t any service. Most of his friends have already passed, so it was pointless to have one when no one would show up. He wanted to be cremated and we did that. We’ll do something with his ashes eventually. I’ll let you know when we do so you can be there.”

  “I would have shown up even if no one else was there. This is really upsetting, Daddy.”

  “That’s exactly why I wanted Jeremy here for you.”

  “He never knew Granddad. Why did you think he’d understand?” Shannon pushed her chair back ready to leave. “I don’t think I’m hungry anymore. I think I should go home.”

  Louise leaned over the table and took her hand. “Shannon, you don’t know me from Adam’s off-ox so asking a favor might be out of line. I’m sorry Marty put you in this awkward position, but can you try, just for dinner, to put up with it so we can get to know each other a bit? I’d appreciate it if you would.”

  Louise sounded sincere. Shannon didn’t want to hurt her. And she didn’t want to screw up her father’s chances of finally having someone normal to be with. Although, God knows, he had never worried about her feelings in the same way, as his handling of the news of her grandfather’s death proved.

  Finally, she sighed. “All right. Just for dinner.” She picked up her menu and pretended to read it.

  She was distracted by the host seating another couple at a nearby table. They looked like a young couple in love, holding hands, sitting next to each other, smiling, looking at each other like lovers do. Like Leo looked at her. If only it was Leo here with her instead of Jeremy. Maybe she could call him and he could come join them. No, as tempting as it was to run to the ladies’ room and text him to come rescue her, with the traffic, by the time he got to Vancouver from Portland, dinner would be over. She’d have to wait to see him until he came to pick her up at seven-thirty.

  The conversation after they ordered their meals was awkward, and for Shannon, pointless. At the same time she was trying to process the death of her grandfather and her father’s off-handed dismissal of her disappointment about not seeing him again, she felt compelled to make small talk with Louise. She ended up liking her. The poor woman didn’t understand the drama going on at the table, and she didn’t deserve the situation Marty Morgan had put her in.

  While Shannon was making a stab at conversation with Louise, Jeremy was talking softly with her father. She could only make out a few words. Most of it seemed to be about his hike from Canada to Mexico on the Pacific Crest Trail. From what little she heard, every step had been over hot coals and every night had been spent fighting off hungry wolves and Bigfoot. But some of it, in whispers, really, was about something else—something about money. Maybe Jeremy was borrowing money from her father until he got a job
. Maybe vice versa. She couldn’t hear the details and didn’t care anyway. It wasn’t anything to do with her.

  The conversation didn’t get any less stilted between the four of them when their main courses arrived. Everyone ate quickly, and as soon as the plates were cleared, Shannon pushed her chair back. “I’m sorry to eat and run, but I have plans for this evening.”

  “Wait. There’s something more I have to tell you, Shannon,” her father said.

  “Then tell me quickly. I have a date waiting for me,” she said.

  “Your grandfather left a will. There are certain provisions you don’t need to know about, but one might interest you. He left you some family heirlooms—several pieces of your grandmother’s jewelry and a little money.”

  Her throat closed in a lump she had to swallow hard to talk around. “Gramma’s pearls?”

  “Yes, and her engagement ring. I have them with me in my hotel room. We’ll have to get together again so I can give them to you. And we haven’t talked about the wedding yet.” He turned to Louise and patted her hand. “We’ll do that, too, the next time.”

  Leave it to her father to use her inheritance as leverage to get what he wanted. Now she wondered if the sadness she’d been feeling all evening was only because of the news about her grandfather. Maybe some of it was because her father was doing what he always did—frustrating and disappointing her.

  “Okay. Call me later.” She glanced at her phone. “I really need to go. I’m late now.”

  “I’ll walk you home,” Jeremy said, putting his napkin on the table and beginning to stand.

  “Jeremy, I live right down the street. I don’t need anyone to walk me home. Besides, my date will be waiting.”

  “Don’t be rude, Shannon,” her father said. “Jeremy’s only being a gentleman.”

  “I doubt that, Daddy.” She dug in her purse and pulled out her wallet. “How much do I owe you for dinner?” She was anxious to get out of the restaurant before she made a fool of herself either by crying or by saying something she’d later regret.

  “Now you’re insulting me. I invited you. You’re my guest.”

  “Thank you, then.” She pushed back her chair, wanting to bolt for the door but remembered in time to say something to the puzzled looking woman sitting across from her. “Nice to meet you, Louise.”

  Before his fiancée could respond, Marty said, “When will I see you again, sweetheart?”

  “I don’t know. I’m awfully busy at work. I’ll be in touch.”

  As she race-walked out of the sleeping porch, she heard him say, “Wait, you don’t have my cell phone number!”

  Blowing past the host and several people waiting to be seated, Shannon was close to a run by the time she got to the sidewalk, so eager was she to get away from the awkward dinner scene. When she saw Leo waiting for her on her front porch, she was glad she’d hurried.

  She ran up the steps and threw her arms around him. “I’m so glad to see you,” she said. “I am a walking disaster with a soap opera life, and you should probably run away before I drag you any deeper into it.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the tip of her nose. “You’re not a disaster and the soap opera comment intrigues me. Since I’m not going anywhere except where you want to go, you’ll have a chance to tell me about it. Sounds like you need someone to have your back right now. Let me.”

  “You’re such a good friend.”

  He pulled away from her embrace. “Is that what we are? Friends?”

  She couldn’t see his face in the shadow, didn’t know where to take the conversation. “Well, we are friends. And we’re lovers, too. Is that what you mean?”

  “What I mean, Shannon, is I think of us as more than friends and fuck buddies. Do you?”

  She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Now even Leo, who she’d thought would be her refuge, was pushing her emotional buttons. “Fuck buddies?”

  “Okay, lovers. Whatever. You didn’t answer the question. Do you want to be more than friends and lovers?”

  She stood on tiptoes and kissed him gently, hoping she could divert his attention from her lack of response. On the heels of an awkward dinner with her father and her ex-boyfriend, who’d spent as much time talking to each other as they had to the women with them, the last thing she needed was another man asking her for something. She’d gone from no men in her personal life to three in record time and she didn’t know how to deal with it. And hadn’t she told Powell that her relationship with Leo was just about sex? It was, wasn’t it?

  If it wasn’t, she didn’t know what to do about it.

  Leo must have picked up on her mood. “My timing sucks, doesn’t it? Sounds like you’ve already had a rough evening and here I am trying to push you into a place you’re not comfortable being. I’m sorry. I don’t want to make things any more difficult. I just want you to know how special I think you are.”

  Shannon smiled up at him, relieved. Trying to lighten up the conversation, she said, “If I’m not sure yet what I want does that mean we can’t be fuck buddies?”

  “Hell, yes, we can. I’m not stupid.” Taking her cue, he said, “I spend all week thinking about how many times and how many ways I’m gonna make love to you when the weekend rolls around. In fact, you’re getting to be a menace. One of these days, I’m gonna burn the hell out of me or Giles because I’m so distracted thinking about you.”

  “Good. I mean I don’t want you injured but I’d like to think I could distract you as much as you distract me. Powell says … ”

  “When do I get to meet this woman, by the way?” he interrupted.

  “Next weekend at my house. I thought I’d invite her and her latest … well, in her case he probably is a fuck buddy … for dinner. She’s dying to meet you, too.” She moved out of the shadow toward the door. “Oh, but if she calls you Studly-Do-Right, don’t ask any questions, okay?”

  Leo followed her into the house, a huge smile on his face. “I won’t ask any questions, but I sure as hell would like to know why she calls me that.”

  “I’ll never tell. Although she may.” Shannon glanced around her living room, the temporary respite from her confused thoughts over. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for but suspected it wasn’t something she was likely to find there anyway. Because, really, would a couple pieces of furniture give her the answer about how to deal with the men who were responsible for making her life so complicated?

  But Leo interpreted her look differently. “It looks like you might want to stay here tonight, in your own place.”

  “God, no. I can hardly wait to get away from here. And if we stayed here, what would Walter do all alone?”

  “Walter I can take care of. I want to make sure you’re taken care of first.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

  Chapter Twelve

  Leo rented a small, one story house in southeast Portland close enough to his studio so he could bicycle there. The house reminded Shannon of a hobbit cottage with its A-frame shingled roof and old, well-established shrubs and bushes. Inside, the tiny kitchen, two bedrooms, one bath, combination living room and dining room felt warm and cozy. Leo wasn’t exactly an interior decorator, but he had an instinct for design and a love for color she assumed came from being an artist. The furnishings were minimal—bookshelves, a couch and side chair, coffee table, dining room table and four chairs—but the style was clean and the colors he used, striking. The couch was upholstered in a dark blue fabric; the pillows thrown on it were shades of green, except for one yellow one. The side chair was pale yellow. The rug was an abstract design of blues, yellows, and a bit of green.

  And there was glass everywhere—a bowl on the coffee table, light sconces on the wall in the dining area, vessels of various sizes and shapes in the book shelves. The first time she’d been there, Shannon had spent so much time looking at all his glass, Leo had had to kiss her hard to get her attention back on him.

  As soon as they arrived and greeted Walter, L
eo said, “Sit for a minute and tell me what happened.”

  After she gave him the highlights of the dreadful dinner with her father, his fiancée and her ex, he said, “I know something that may make you feel better. Why don’t you feed Walter and let me get it ready for you?”

  “Thanks but you don’t really have to. I don’t think I have enough room for any more food tonight.”

  “It’s not food. It’s a surprise.”

  “Okay, I’ll bite. What kind of surprise?”

  He looked at her with amusement. “Unclear on the concept of surprise, are you? Be patient. Relax for a bit and I’ll show you.”

  She went into the pantry, put kibble into Walter’s bowl, and changed his water. Whatever Leo was doing entailed opening and closing lots of drawers in the living and dining rooms and a bit of cursing under his breath. He disappeared down the hall before she got Walter settled. The dog gobbled down his food then joined her in the living room where he attempted to jump up beside her on the couch, a no-no but he always tried anyway, as if to see if she remembered.

  About fifteen minutes later, Leo returned, barefoot with his shirtsleeves rolled up and a necktie in his hand. “Ready?”

  “Sure. Where’re we going?”

  “I’m going to put this over your eyes so you can’t see and … ”

  “Is the surprise some kinky sex thing?”

  “Damn. I never thought about a kinky sex thing. I’ll have to remember that for another time. You’ll have to settle for what I put together tonight.” He motioned for her to stand. “Close your eyes.” He tied the tie around her head so her eyes were mostly covered. “Too tight? Or uncomfortable?”

  “No, it’s fine. Now what?”

  “Now I’m going to take you to the surprise.” From behind, he gently guided her in the direction he wanted her to go. When he stopped, she smelled something flowery, sweet. And she could hear soft instrumental music, the kind played in spas or as background for meditation.