by LuAnn McLane
“I didn’t sneak,” John protested, trying not to laugh.
“You most certainly did,” she accused him, but it was difficult to take her seriously with gold glitter sprinkled in her hair.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared. I was startled.” She eyed the bag he held with interest. “I didn’t order anything.”
“This is a gift.” He held up the bag and wagged it back and forth.
She eyed him suspiciously. “What’s in there?”
“Pineapple upside down cake, made in a cast-iron skillet, as it should be.”
“Oh, that’s my …” she started to say and then clamped her lips together.
“Your favorite?” He arched one eyebrow.
“You’re putting words in my mouth.”
“I can put cake in your mouth.” He meant for the offer to be a joke but had a vision of feeding her. Judging by her blush, Betsy was thinking the same thing. “Then should I give this to someone else?”
“I didn’t say that either,” she responded in a softer tone.
“Then what are you saying, Betsy?”
“That I’d be a fool not to accept the cake.”
Her answer brought his attention to the lips he’d been thinking about all morning. The lips he’d kissed and wanted to kiss again.
“Did you add the pecans? Some people don’t.”
“Absolutely.”
Betsy reached for the bag but John pulled it just out of her reach. “Seriously? Did you really just do that?”
He smiled. Betsy brought out a playful side that must have been buried deep inside of him and it sure as hell was fun letting it out.
“You do know that I can wrestle that cake from you, no problem.” Betsy tapped her cute boot on the hardwood floor and tried her best to look intimidating. She failed.
“How can I be scared of someone with glitter in her hair?”
Betsy laughed. “These ornaments were made by the residents of Whisper’s Edge.” She held up a candy cane that looked rather phallic.
John laughed. “Oh wow.”
“The ornament making party involved spiked punch.”
“I’m not surprised.” John cleared his throat. “How about dinner with me tonight and this will be the dessert?” He pointed to the bag.
Betsy paused long enough to give him hope. “I have plans tonight.”
“Oh, okay.” John felt his stomach plummet. He had to ask, “A date?”
She hesitated but then said, “I’m going to Wine and Diner with Susan.”
John let out the breath he was holding. “Oh … half-price wine night.” He handed her the bag. “I’ll see you there.”
“Oh, so you were already going?” Betsy asked breezily, but she appeared a little bit disappointed. “Not that it’s any of my business.”
Did she think he was going there to hit on women?
“Forget I asked that,” she said before he could reply.
“I can’t forget anything about you.”
“You’re a smooth talker.”
“I’m just being honest.”
“So, were you going there already?”
“I just asked you to dinner, remember?” John felt a surge of joy that she might be jealous. “So I wasn’t going, but now I am.” Before she could back away he leaned over and gave her a light kiss, lingering just enough to have her wanting more. Hopefully, anyway. “I’m going to make crème brûlée this weekend.”
“For the deli?”
John paused, gathered courage, and then decided to take the plunge. “No, just for you. And with your permission, I’ll feed you a bite or two.”
Betsy’s jaw dropped, just as he thought it would, but then she recovered. “Ha, you wish.”
“I do.” John smiled, turned on his heel, and walked back through the shop. Susan spotted him and waved. He waved back and walked outside, whistling along with Elvis. “No, it is not going to be a blue Christmas,” he said to himself.
Still whistling, he popped back into the deli to give Stephanie a full report.
“Well done, young Grasshopper.” Stephanie leaned her broom against the counter and gave John a high five.
John folded his hands and bowed. “You have taught me well, oh queen of self-help.”
“I’m happy to put all of my newfound knowledge to good use.”
“Master, heal thyself.”
“I’m a work in progress.” Stephanie laughed. “I want to hear all about your Wine and Diner adventure tomorrow.”
“Thanks,” he said, but when he headed for the kitchen she raised her palms in protest.
“I’ve already told you that I’ve got everything under control. Go on home and get all prettied up and have some much deserved fun with your feisty little redhead.”
“Fun?” he asked with a slow shake of his head.
“Yeah, you know, that thing where you laugh and have a good time?”
John gave her what he knew had to be a blank look. “Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I let my hair down. I hope I recall how,” he said but then frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Even as a kid, I’ve always been about hard work and keeping my nose to the grindstone. My parents preached that I needed to be the best.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “It just hit me that I can’t recall how to let my hair down because I never have.”
“Like … ever?”
“Never.”
“No keg stands in college?”
John tried to imagine himself doing a keg stand. “That would have been a complete fail.”
“Whoa …” Leaning against the counter, Stephanie raised her eyebrows. “Oh come on, what did they do back then … panty raids?”
John had to laugh. “I’m not that old.”
“Oh, well how about streaking? Food fights?” She snapped her fingers. “Toga parties?”
“Where did you get that information from?”
“Animal House.”
John laughed again. “No to all of the above. I was too busy being at the top of my class for any shenanigans.” He sighed. “I know, boring. I was always too afraid of disappointing my college professor parents. Anything less than perfection wasn’t acceptable.”
“Well, you said your parents sold you their house and are on a cross country adventure in an RV.”
“It’s hard for me to imagine them on the road like that but yeah.”
“Well, I think it’s about time you cut loose and had a house party. I’m guessing you’ve never had one.”
“You guessed correctly.”
“It won’t be quite as fun as if the house still belonged to your parents but I think a toga party is in order. What do you think?”
“I think I would need a party planner.”
She pointed at her head. “You’re looking at the best. Being a trophy wife meant being an expert at entertaining. I’ll be happy to assist you. For now, you need to get over to Wine and Diner before some other guy starts hitting on Betsy.”
John realized that Stephanie didn’t get out any more than he did. “Do you want to come along?”
“Are you kidding? And cramp your style?”
“I don’t have a style to cramp,” he said.
“I think you are capable of having way more fun than you realize. You’ve just kept your inner teenager repressed.”
“More like I need to discover my fun side,” John said, wondering if he would bore Betsy to tears. One of the things Rachel had tossed in his face was that he was a complete bore.
“I think Betsy Brock is just the person to bring the fun side out in you.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Remember, full report,” Stephanie said. “Now skedaddle.”
14
Flying Solo
Susan cranked up the sound on her favorite Billy Joel greatest hits album and belted out “Big Shot” while she put on the finishing touches of her makeup. “Oh … drama.” Leani
ng back, she checked out her face in the bathroom mirror, hoping she hadn’t gone overboard. “I like it!” she said out loud, proud of her winged eyeliner and smoky eyeshadow. She’d tamed her dark curls with some magic product she’d purchased at A Cut Above, deciding to let her hair hang loose instead of pulling it up into a bun.
“Okay.” With a satisfied nod she glanced at the time on her cell phone. “Oh no, got to get a move on.” She wanted to arrive at Wine and Diner by six-thirty and she’d used up almost all of her thirty minutes getting ready after closing the shop at six o’clock. Since she knew she would have a couple of glasses of wine, she’d decided to walk, and now she had to rush to get there on time. Rushing gave Susan anxiety and so she took a deep breath and decided to text Betsy and let her know she would be a little bit late. Betsy’s house was in the opposite direction but also within walking distance so they’d decided to meet at the restaurant.
“I should have known,” Susan said when she read Betsy’s answer, which said that she was running late as well. While Betsy made it to work on time most days, she always came blowing in the door like a fierce wind, hurrying to make it by nine o’clock. Early wasn’t in Betsy’s vocabulary.
Susan hurried into her bedroom and put on the black lace dress she’d purchased at Violet’s, slipped on her jeweled flats, and then added a soft red shrug over her shoulders. After spraying on her favorite perfume she put on her coat and grabbed her purse. “My phone!” With a groan, she hurried into the bathroom and retrieved it, frowning at the time.
Susan closed her eyes and stood perfectly still for a moment, trying to calm down. She knew that the time wasn’t the only thing causing her anxiety. Getting dressed up and going out to a stylish wine bar wasn’t something she was used to doing and she was out of her comfort zone. What would she do if someone approached her and offered to buy her a drink? She kept reliving moments of her dinner with Danny, and the thought of flirting with another man didn’t appeal to her at all. “But he’s not my boyfriend,” she whispered to herself. Her mother used to tell her not to put all her eggs in one basket. She chuckled. “But Danny is such a good egg.” Susan opened her eyes. “All right, enough.” She wondered if people would think she was one taco short of a combo if they knew how much she talked to herself. “But it calms me down,” she answered herself and had to laugh.
After wrapping a pretty red knit scarf around her neck she headed out the back door and walked through the narrow alley out to Main Street. The evening air had a serious nip and the cold breeze blew up her dress, making her doubt her decision to walk. Two blocks later her cheeks felt numb and she picked up the pace, wanting to be in the cozy restaurant at a table as close to the crackling fireplace as she could get.
Susan smiled at the memory of walking down Main Street with Danny. She’d been serious about getting him back in the Christmas spirit. His comment about wanting to spend more time with her made her feel a bit warmer in spite of the frigid weather. A few people were actually out window shopping, carrying steaming coffee cups from Grammar’s Bakery. Some of the shops were open late, something Susan would do as soon as Aubrey was home and could relieve her in the evenings.
Susan opened the door of Wine and Diner with the silly wish that Danny was with her. That way if John did show up she wouldn’t feel like a third wheel. Just as she thought, the wine bar was packed, but as luck would have it a couple stood up and left two vacant seats at the bar. While Susan would rather have the privacy of a booth, she decided she’d better snag the two seats and so she draped her coat over one stool and sat down at the other one.
After ordering a glass of Riesling, Susan shot Betsy a text message that she’d arrived at Wine and Diner. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she played with the stem of her glass, wishing that Betsy would hurry up.
“I think you dropped this,” said a male voice near Susan’s ear. She turned to her right and looked at her scarf. “It was on the floor.”
“Oh, thank you,” Susan said. The scarf was being held by the guy sitting next to her. He looked familiar, and then she realized it was Cole Christian, from high school. He’d been an amazing basketball player and she thought he might have played some college ball. Like Danny, he’d run with the popular crowd. It wasn’t uncommon for her to recognize classmates and for them not to remember her and so she gave him a polite smile and turned her attention back to her wine.
After a moment Cole said, “You look familiar.”
“Well, it’s a small town, so I guess we all look rather familiar.”
“Oh, so you live in Cricket Creek. We get so many tourists these days.” He gave her a dimpled smile. He was handsome in a Ryan Reynolds kind of way. “I’m Cole Christian.” He extended his hand.
Susan gave Cole a firm handshake. “Susan Quincy.”
“Oh … wait, you own Rhyme and Reason on Main Street. My mother loves your place.”
“I do.” Susan felt a flash of pride.
Cole tilted his head to the side. “And we went to high school together,” he added slowly as if not quite sure.
“We did.” Susan nodded. “You were a great point guard. You played in college too, right?”
“Yeah, thanks. I played some division one college ball.”
“I thought so.”
Cole shrugged. “I wasn’t good enough to go any further but I coach at Cricket Creek High School. You like basketball?”
“I do,” Susan said, and he raised his eyebrows. For some reason people usually seemed surprised to learn that she enjoyed watching sports.
“I’m so tall that I’m often asked if I played, but I’m afraid I don’t have an ounce of athletic ability.”
“You look more graceful, like a dancer.”
Was he flirting? “No, I’m afraid I have the unique superpower to trip over my own shadow.”
Cole laughed. “I’d like to prove you wrong by dancing with you after the band starts later on.”
Susan was suddenly stuck for an answer. “I …”
“I’m sorry, I should have asked. Do you have a boyfriend?”
“Not really, well sort of, no … I guess.”
“Hmmm …” Cole laughed. “Let me think that answer over while I drink my beer. But I heard a no in there somewhere, so I’ll keep my hopes up.”
“Okay.” God … Susan wanted the floor to swallow her up. Where was her wingwoman when she needed her?
Cole took a drink from his longneck bottle but then turned his attention back to her a moment later. “Wait, I remember you from my senior English class.” He put his hand to the side of his mouth. “Don’t judge me but I might have copied some answers here and there. I wasn’t much on required reading.”
Susan had to laugh and found herself relaxing just a little bit.
“Yeah.” Cole nodded slowly. “I also remember you were super pretty but so shy.”
Susan was startled by his statement. She’d never considered herself pretty and she certainly didn’t think that boys in school had given her a second look.
“You’re even prettier now, Susan.”
“Oh …” Okay, so he was flirting. “Thank you.” She averted her gaze and took a sip of her wine, surprised that her stutter didn’t kick in.
“And still shy, but it’s refreshingly sweet.”
“Not as much as I once was. Running Rhyme and Reason has brought me out of my shell. I have to deal with the public.”
“Makes sense. You could sell me anything.”
“Well then you have to stop in.”
Cole chuckled. “Damn you’re cute. So who are you sort of, kinda, maybe dating, if you don’t mind me asking? A local guy? Some lucky guy that I know?”
“Me.”
Susan almost fell off her chair when she realized that Danny was suddenly standing by her side. “Where did you come from?” Her heart did a little tap dance in her chest. He looked so sexy in jeans and a leather bomber jacket.
“I just got here.” Danny pointed to the door behind him. “You we
re talking so you didn’t see me approach. I knew you were coming here tonight and I wanted to buy you a drink, if that’s okay?” He looked at Cole. “Hey, what’s up, Cole? Haven’t seen you at the brewery in a few weeks.” His tone was friendly but Susan sensed a little bit of tension.
“I’ve been busy doing some private coaching. This is my last season coaching at Cricket Creek. I’m going to open a private personal training school for kids. I know I can get some Cricket Creek Cougars to work with baseball players during the off season. And I know lots of basketball players.”
“Wow, that’s a great idea.” Danny kept the friendly tone but took a step closer to Susan. “I’ll help spread the word for you when you get the idea off the ground.”
“Thanks, Danny.” He looked at Susan. “Sorry, was I hitting on your girl?”
Susan waited for Danny to correct Cole about her being his girl but he draped his arm over her shoulders. Susan caught a whiff of leather and spicy aftershave and fought the urge to snuggle closer. “No harm. Can’t say that I blame you. Susan, do you mind if I take the seat beside you until Betsy arrives?”
“Hey, I’ll let you two lovebirds chat,” Cole said and then leaned over. “Danny, it was good to see you. I’ll pop in the brewery sometime soon.”
“Thanks, man. Sounds good.”
“And Susan, I’ll do some Christmas shopping at Rhyme and Reason.”
“Thanks, Cole.” She gave him a warm smile.
“Have a seat, Danny.” Susan pointed to the empty stool. She felt a tingle of awareness when he scooted next to her. Cole was charming and good-looking but didn’t come close to making her feel like she did with Danny.
“I hope you don’t mind that I took it upon myself to stop in here tonight. I just couldn’t resist seeing you again. But I don’t want to interfere with your evening out.” He took off his jacket and draped it over the back of his barstool. “I shouldn’t have been so … possessive. I hope you’re not angry.”
“No, I’m flattered.” Was he jealous?
“Good.” He gave a warm smile that made her want to lean over and kiss him. But then again everything made her want to kiss him. “You okay on your wine?”