by Barbara Gee
I scratched behind her ears and down her long spine, wondering if she’d let me pick her up. Jude was still out calling for her, and I needed to get her outside before he got even more frustrated with the little gal.
I carefully slid a hand under her low-hanging chest, but before I could lift she danced away, giving another snort and shaking her head violently, causing her long ears to flap loudly against her neck.
Now her gaze was accusing, as if asking how dare I try to separate her from her chocolate dream.
“Come on, Lulu, don’t make this difficult.” I tried again to pick her up, but she was having none of it. After a third attempt, I was resigned to my fate. I wasn’t going to be able to get the chocolate-craving dog out of my kitchen on my own.
“And here I thought we could be friends,” I grumbled, getting to my feet and stomping toward the door. Best to get this over with.
I pulled the door open in a huff and stepped out onto the deck. I couldn’t see Jude, even though the Owens’ outside lights appeared to be working just fine. I could hear him though, and it sounded like he was just on the other side of the fence, but way in the back of the yard.
“Lulu! I’ve got your special treats. Come on, you little monster. You know you love these.”
He was shaking something—it sounded like the treats were in a plastic container of some kind. He sounded frustrated, but not especially mad or worried. I wondered whether Lulu was a habitual offender and escaped their yard regularly.
I walked to the edge of the deck and let out a long breath, gathering courage before I called out to him.
“She’s over here.”
The shaking stopped and there was a moment of silence.
“Ava? That you?”
“Yeah. Lulu’s in my kitchen. And not because I invited her.”
“Hang on, there’s a gate in the fence back here. I’ll be right there.”
I waited until I saw his tall form striding through my yard. Closer and closer he came, my heart beating faster with each step.
“How’d she get in your kitchen?” he asked as he bounded up the steps onto my deck, a wry smile on his face. Then he looked toward the open door and sniffed. “Oh, that answers my question. She smelled chocolate.”
“Apparently,” I said, pleased at how calm I sounded. “How’d she get out of your yard?”
“If I knew that, my life would be a piece of cake. I’m convinced this is why Chase and Hannah were so agreeable about letting me stay with them. They wanted someone else to do nighttime reconnaissance on their dog.”
“You really don’t know how she gets out?”
“No. I’ve gone over every inch of that fence and there are no holes or loose boards. The only thing I can figure is there’s a low spot in the ground somewhere and she can slither through. But I haven’t been able to find it.”
I decided to give him a pass since Chase had a big lot and there was fence all around it. It wouldn’t be easy to find a low spot.
“I tried to catch her, but she’s an elusive little thing,” I said.
“That she is, especially when chocolate’s involved. But that’s my fault.”
I raised my brows. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?” I asked, while thinking wow, this man is breathtaking in the moonlight.
He shrugged. “I never had a dog as a kid, thanks to my mom being allergic to anything with fur, so I had no idea dogs aren’t supposed to eat chocolate. A couple years ago I was hanging with Chase and Hannah and I gave Lulu a bite of my dark chocolate candy bar. Hannah freaked out and called the vet. She was convinced Lulu was going to drop over dead. But the vet told her it takes a lot more than one bite to harm a dog. He said the worst thing is that it would probably give her a taste for chocolate, and he was right. Years later and her obsession still hasn’t faded.”
“Has she had any since?”
“Chase has dropped an M&M once or twice.” He held up the container of treats. “And Hannah started giving her these every so often. They have carob instead of chocolate in them, but Lulu doesn’t know the difference.”
I couldn’t help but grin at the story of the little dog’s chocolate odyssey. I gestured toward the doorway.
“Go on in. Maybe you’ll have more luck catching her than I did.”
He tapped the light fixture by the door as he passed. “Light not working?”
“I think it needs a new bulb.”
“If you’ve got one, I’ll change it for you.”
I laughed as I followed him inside. “I actually have no idea if I have one or not. I haven’t made it through all Grandma’s cupboards and closets yet.”
He set the box of treats on the table and I saw his empty ring finger. That made me feel flustered all over again, and I was grateful he was looking at Lulu instead of me.
“How’d she get in?” he asked, shaking his head fondly at the dog, who was still holding her spot by the stove. “Was she scratching at the door and you took pity on her?”
“Not quite. I heard something out on the deck, but I couldn’t see what it was without the light. So, I cracked the door a few inches and she seized the opportunity. She was inside before I even saw her.”
“Lulu will risk it all when it comes to chocolate,” Jude said ruefully.
His blue eyes traveled around my kitchen, taking everything in. The pale yellow paint, the old but still sturdy and shiny oak cabinets, the medium blue solid-surface countertops Grandma had put in fifteen years ago to replace the original Formica, and the bluish-gray marbled floor tiles. The room was definitely dated, but it was clean and cozy and just the way I wanted it for now.
It also smelled of chocolate, and my new buddy Lulu agreed that was a plus.
The oven timer went off and I grabbed a hot pad. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jude pick up one of the Battleship game grids. Oh man, this was embarrassing. He probably thought I was the lonely new girl in town, playing games with my imaginary friend.
I gently scooted Lulu to the side with my foot and opened the oven door, taking out the perfectly baked brownies and putting the pan on the stovetop before turning off the oven. Now what? Should I offer to send a brownie home with him? Invite him to stay and have one with me? Would that be okay, now that I knew he wasn’t married?
At least, I didn’t think he was married. Surely he’d be wearing a ring—I mean, if this man was my husband, I wouldn’t let him out of the house without it. I might even make him get a ring tattooed on his finger so there was never any doubt.
I busied myself with sprinkling powdered sugar on top of the brownies, just like Grandma used to do. Lulu was dancing around my feet and I hoped she didn’t end up tripping me.
I still had no idea what I was going to do with my guest. Did I want him to stay or go? I honestly didn’t know.
When I finally turned around to face him again, he held up a Battleship case, one dark brow raised slightly. “Are you a competitive person, Ava?” he asked, his expression serious.
I frowned at him suspiciously. “You could say that.”
“Can you handle losing, or do you get mad and pout?”
I folded my arms and leaned back against the counter. “I might get a little mad, but I don’t pout. I just go back over the reasons I lost so it doesn’t happen again.”
He nodded slowly, replacing the case on the table and pushing it away. “I guess I’d better not challenge you to a game then.” He feigned regret, but those sparkling blue eyes gave him away. I knew he was teasing me, but I bit anyway.
“Why not?”
“Because you’ll lose and get mad,” he said with a shrug, as if it should be obvious. “Then you’ll challenge me to another game, thinking this time you’ll pull off the win, but you’ll lose again, and then you’ll really be mad. It’s just not worth it.”
I knew perfectly well what he was trying to do. Classic reverse psychology, using my competitive nature. But I wasn’t going to make it that easy for him. “That’s a bold claim,” I said. “It seems
only fair to warn you the reason that game is out here is because I found it in a closet and was reliving my glory days as a naval war fighter. My grandma taught me well.”
He gave a low chuckle, his gaze appreciative. “For me, it was my grandfather. He taught me to play when I was about six, and we’d practically worn the game out by the time I was ten. But I’ll risk losing if you will.” He looked pointedly at the stove. “I’m gonna need some of those brownies, though. And milk, if you have it.”
Just like that, my decision about what to do with my unexpected guest had been made for me. We were going to play a game from our childhood and eat brownies. Which was kind of crazy, but I chose not to overthink it.
“Don’t you have to get Lulu home?” I asked, only because I felt like I should. I looked down at the little dog, who was staring up at me in a confused sort of way, wondering why she hadn’t been offered a gooey chocolatey morsel yet. I leaned down and patted her head. “Poor thing. She has no idea we’re trying to keep her from being poisoned. She just thinks we’re mean.”
“She can stay here with us. Chase and Hannah aren’t home anyway.” Jude shook the plastic container of treats and Lulu’s head turned quickly in his direction. “Come ’ere, Lu. I brought the good stuff. The ones Hannah keeps for special occasions.”
He peeled back the lid and Lulu stuck her nose in the air for a sniff, then bolted toward him. Well, she tried to, but my kitchen tile wasn’t the best for dog paw traction. She scrambled a bit before she got some momentum built up, then when she reached Jude she spun in a couple of wild circles, her ears flying.
“Thatta girl,” he said, shooting me a grin when I couldn’t help but laugh.
The laugh caught in my throat when that grin hit me full force. I covered with a little cough and went to the fridge for milk, my cheeks burning with awareness of the man.
Jude dropped a carob treat on the floor and Lulu snatched it up, chewing it with her mouth wide open in true doggie fashion. I carried two glasses of milk to the table, but instead of setting them down, I held on to them.
“You don’t have a girlfriend or anything, do you?” I asked, the words coming out all in a rush. “I know it’s just a game of Battleship, but if you’re with someone, I don’t think she’d like you hanging out with the new girl on the block without her.”
His eyes locked with mine, and somehow I felt he approved of my asking.
“If I had a girlfriend, I would have taken Lulu and gone home.” A corner of his mouth kicked up as he took the glasses from me and set them on the table. “I certainly wouldn’t have challenged you to battle. Want me to cut the brownies?”
“I’ve got it.” I returned to the stove and found a plastic knife that sliced right through the warm brownies. I put two on a plate for him and one on another plate for me, then sat down across from him.
He pushed a grid case toward me and I opened it up and took out my ships. It had been many years since I’d played the simple game, but I felt the same anticipation. There was also a sense of disbelief. I knew absolutely nothing about this handsome man except his name, yet here we were, playing Battleship at Grandma’s kitchen table, with a little black wiener dog sitting at our feet, hoping for another treat.
We placed our ships in silence, then he looked up. “Can we talk while we play, or do you prefer silence except for calling out the coordinates?”
I smiled. “We can talk, but don’t accuse me of distracting you when you lose.”
He grunted. “You don’t have to talk to be distracting, Ava.”
Chapter 5
Iquickly focused on my ships again, trying to think of something to say because the silence felt way too charged after that comment.
“So, what do you do?” I asked. “I mean, what’s your job?”
“I work for Chase’s dad’s construction company.”
“Is that the one with an office here in town?”
“Mm-hmm. Owens’ Construction. The administrative office is here in Hidden Creek, because that’s where most of the Owens family is located. But we have a few satellite offices in bigger towns where most of the building happens.”
“I guess you spend a lot of time on the road then? Driving to building sites?”
“Right now I do because I’m staying with Chase. My own place is near Mountain View, which is a lot more central to most of the sites. We have an office there, too. Do you know that town?”
“I’ve heard of it. I don’t know if I’ve actually been there, though. Maybe when I was younger.”
We started the game, and as we played, Jude informed me that Mountain View was a small city of about forty thousand residents thirty miles east of Hidden Creek. When I asked him what exactly he did at Owens’ Construction, he told me he focused mainly on large commercial jobs as a project manager. He also did quite a bit of design work. I asked about his home remodeling project, and he said he’d bought a cabin in the woods two years ago and was completely redoing the interior. Due to the scope of the work, he’d decided to move out for the duration rather than live in the chaos. He hoped to be back home in three weeks or so.
“Chase and Hannah must really like you if they’re letting you crash there for that long,” I remarked dryly.
“They like having me there to take this little rascal in and out,” he said, nudging Lulu with his toe. “They’re on a date tonight to celebrate being pregnant. But don’t say anything. They just found out a couple days ago, and they don’t know that I know.”
I forgot all about the game—even though I’d been about to land the sinking shot to his cruiser—and just looked at him with my mouth hanging open. “Wait, what? You know Hannah’s pregnant, but they didn’t tell you? How does that even happen?”
He shrugged. “Lulu had an accident right by their bedroom door the other day. I ran into their bathroom for toilet paper and the pregnancy test was right there on the counter. Right above the toilet paper holder. And there was a big plus sign on it. There’s no way I could’ve missed seeing it.”
“But you didn’t admit you saw it?” I asked incredulously. “Oh, and I call B-4, which I believe will sink you.”
“Yep. My cruiser is toast,” he confirmed with a scowl. “And no, I didn’t tell them. They’re in their own happy little bubble, thinking they have a big secret and they’re the only two people in the world who know it. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll let it slip?”
“Nah, because I won’t have to worry about it for long. Chase’ll break soon. I predict he’ll tell me within the week, even if their plan right now is to wait longer.” He squinted at his game grid. “I call E-8.”
“You missed,” I said, placing a white peg in that hole of the grid. “You shouldn’t have told me, you know. I haven’t even met Hannah, and now I know she’s pregnant—before any of her family and friends. I shouldn’t be in possession of that kind of information. J-6.”
Jude grinned maddeningly. “You missed. And I trust you to keep the secret. F-3.”
“Dang, you hit my battleship. And you shouldn’t trust me—we just met today and you know nothing about me! What if I’m an incurable gossip?”
“You’re new in town. You don’t have anyone to gossip to.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I declared. “I’m tight with all of Grandma’s little old lady friends. There’s Priscilla and Rosie and Donna and Sarah Beth, to start with. And Evvie, Constance, and Liz. If I tell just one of them, the rest will know within ten minutes. Or, better yet, I could just show up at the Methodist sewing circle and share the news and the whole town would know by lunchtime.”
He raised a dark brow. “Like you’re going to subject yourself to a morning of quilting, or whatever they do at a sewing circle,” he scoffed.
We went back and forth for a while, striving to sink each other’s ships as we playfully butted heads on the pregnancy thing. Then he asked more about me. I told him where I’d moved from, and a little more about my job
, going so far as to say I handled some cyber security issues for the companies who contracted me.
A half hour later I was feeling surprisingly comfortable with him. Jude was gorgeous and smart, but also so funny and humble he put me at ease. Well, mostly at ease. My heart still gave a little jump every time he smiled.
We were finally down to one ship each in the game. I had my two-hole destroyer and he had his three-hole submarine. It was his turn, and he was studying his grid intently. I’d stuck with my strategy of hiding my smallest ship near a corner, and I was confident he wasn’t going to find it.
Then he looked up, his expression smug. “It’s going to take me a maximum of four guesses to pinpoint your location.”
“Whatever,” I said, equally smug.
“J-9,” he said, watching me closely.
“Missed,” I said, trying not to give anything away, even though I now knew he suspected my corner trick. Thankfully he’d chosen the wrong corner, but I had to find his sub in the next two guesses, or he was going to win.
We fought to the bitter end, and he won by one measly, maddening shot. If he wouldn’t have had a three-holed ship against my two-holed one, I could have taken him.
“Again,” I said, scowling as I pulled the white and red pegs from my grids.
“Careful,” he teased. “You’re bordering on a full-on pout, and you promised me you wouldn’t go there.”
“I’m not pouting,” I said, forcing a blatantly fake smile. “Can we please play again?”
He closed his case and stood, an infuriating grin on his face. “Not tonight. I need to get the dog home before Chase and Hannah come back or they’ll worry.”
“Sure you do,” I said sarcastically.
He grinned. “I’ll give you a rematch, don’t worry. It’s a good way of making sure I’ll see you again.”
I scooted my chair back and got to my feet, raising my arms in a stretch. “It was a good game,” I said grudgingly. “I’m a little rusty, that’s all.”
“You think I’m not? It’s been close to twenty years since I’ve played.”