by Nicole Ellis
She reddened, then laughed. “You got me. Parker and I have a friendly competition going of who can sell the most houses this year. I’m a few behind him. But seriously, I have clients that might be interested.”
He gave her a smile. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He eyed Sarah again. “But I’d better get going. Thanks for letting me tag along today.” He hurried out of there, probably racing back for a date with Maura.
Sarah felt ill thinking of him dating Maura. She hadn’t talked to her friend lately because school had been busy for both of them, but she assumed that Maura and Patrick would have hit it off on their date.
Apparently her plan to desensitize herself from Patrick hadn’t worked as well as she’d hoped. It didn’t really matter though. If she got this house, she wouldn’t have much time for dating between renovating the property and her teaching job. Things may not have been going the way she’d like for this stage in her life, but she felt as though she was making strides.
Gretchen smiled at her. “Well, are you ready?”
Sarah looked at her friend. She trusted Gretchen’s judgment and Patrick had given his blessing on this house as well. It was time to throw caution to the wind and take a leap of faith. “You know, I think I am.”
10
Sarah didn’t see Patrick for another two weeks, in which time she managed to convince herself that any romantic feelings she’d had for him had passed. Gretchen had called to tell her that the owners of the house had accepted her offer, and she’d been busy getting everything together for her mortgage application.
At school, her fourth graders were getting more and more excited about Halloween, and the Fall Harvest Festival had finally arrived to usher in the holiday season. As she’d told Patrick, she looked forward to going to it every year.
This year she didn’t dress up for the festival, although some of her students used it as an excuse to wear their new costumes prior to Halloween. She’d asked several of her friends if they’d like to go with her, but none of them had been available, so she’d decided to go alone. It wasn’t that bad though – there was plenty to do and she busied herself with participating in the games and talking with her students and their parents.
Although it could be seen as childish, one of her favorite events at the festival was the donut-eating contest. In the contest, mini powdered-sugar donuts were hung from strings and each contestant had to eat their donut faster than the person across from them. When the round in front of her was complete, she moved into her place along the line of donuts while chatting with one of her students, who was next to her in line.
The announcer warned them that the race was about to begin, and she turned her attention to the donut in front of her – and the man on the other side of the donut. She had to do a double-take when she realized who it was.
“Patrick?” The last time she’d seen him was when they’d gone house hunting together and she hadn’t heard from him again. She’d told him she always went to the Fall Harvest Festival, so if he was trying to avoid her now, he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
He gave her a devilish grin. “I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were talking with that kid, but I plan to beat you in this competition.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to conceal laughter of her own. A sense of wistfulness rushed through her. Patrick’s playfulness was one of the reasons why she loved spending time with him. If only she could find someone just like him. She fought to push that thought out of her mind and just enjoy the moment. “You think you can beat me? I’ve been winning this contest since I was a little kid.”
The announcer called out, “Ready, set, go.” All around them, people awkwardly tried to eat the donuts dangling in front of them with their hands pressed to their backs.
The donuts were hung low enough that even the littlest of kids could participate, and she and Patrick had to sink down in a duck squat to eat them. She nudged at the donut with her lips, but it kept bouncing off her cheek as she tried to bite into it, sending showers of powdered sugar all over her face. She attempted to come up from underneath it and lost her balance in the extreme crouch, falling forward into Patrick. He reached out to catch her, but he couldn’t stop her momentum. Their lips touched as he toppled backward, still holding on to her.
For a moment, she couldn’t move. His lips were soft, warm and coated with powdered sugar. All of the feelings she’d struggled to deny cascaded over her and she was helpless in his arms. He held her there for a few seconds longer than necessary, then helped her to standing. Around them, people were cheering. She assumed it was because a winner had been declared until she saw a few of her students staring at her.
“Ms. Rigg was kissing him,” they said in excited voices as they pointed to Patrick, who still held her in his arms, steadying her. He looked unperturbed by the pint-sized onlookers, but her legs were as wobbly as a toddler’s.
Sarah blushed to the roots of her hair and quickly extracted herself from Patrick’s grip, studiously averting her eyes from his face. Then she jogged over to the women’s restroom and locked herself in a stall before taking a breath to calm herself.
Her fingers went to her lips, which still tasted of powdered sugar. What had that been? Had they really kissed? She’d accidentally bumped into him, but her feelings for him were no accident. As much as she’d tried to avoid them, they weren’t going to go away easily.
She left the stall and stood at the sink, splashing water on her face until her cheeks paled. Great. Now not only had she kissed Patrick, but she’d probably be receiving phone calls from parents asking why she’d been kissing someone in front of their kids.
A group of teenage girls came into the bathroom, gabbing excitedly about a boy they’d just seen. If only life as an adult were that easy. She left, trying to sneak away from the carnival without anyone seeing her. If she could make it to the exit, she could leave and pretend that the kiss had never happened.
“Wait,” someone called out to her. She cringed and froze in place. So much for escaping.
She turned to see Patrick running up to her. He was the last person she wanted to see at the moment. Heat rose up her neck and into her cheeks again. She attempted to compose herself before he reached her.
“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier,” she blurted out. “I didn’t mean to fall into you…or any of the rest of it. I just lost my balance.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He smiled at her. “I wanted to make sure you were okay though. You ran away so fast.”
“I’m fine.” She glanced longingly at the exit. This was one of the most embarrassing conversations she’d ever had. She checked his expression to see if he felt the same, but he was staring at something over her shoulder.
His face blanched and she turned to see what was bothering him.
A beautiful woman in her early thirties and a man who was a few years older were walking toward them with an elementary-aged child. Sarah didn’t recognize the little girl, but she may have gone to a different elementary than the one where she taught. The woman halted when she saw Patrick.
“Patrick. It’s nice to see you.” She smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Nina.” Pain flashed across his face as he eyed the woman.
“This is my fiancé William and his daughter Angela.” She gestured to the man and little girl next to her, who didn’t appear to have any clue as to what was going on.
Sarah stared at her. Who was this woman? Then it hit her. This was his ex-fiancée, the woman who’d broken his heart.
“Your fiancé?” Beside her, Patrick sputtered and almost choked on the words.
Sarah had never seen him so rattled and her heart went out to him. It must be killing him to see her engaged to another man so soon after breaking up with him.
Nina looked pointedly at Sarah. “And this is?”
He glanced down at Sarah. “This is…”
She took a deep br
eath, pasted a smile on her face, and held her hand out to Nina. “I’m Sarah, Patrick’s girlfriend.”
Nina’s red-stained lips formed an O and her gaze darted between the two of them, as if she wasn’t sure whether or not to believe Sarah.
Patrick didn’t seem to know how to react either. He met Sarah’s eyes, questioning her.
She nodded, and he said, “Yes, Sarah is my girlfriend. We’ve been dating for a few months now.” He put his arm around her shoulders and chills ran through her.
“Oh? I’d heard you weren’t dating anyone.” Nina eyed him with suspicion.
Did she really say that? Had she been keeping tabs on Patrick? It was almost as if she didn’t think he should be happy.
Without any thought to the possibility of her students seeing it, Sarah turned to Patrick and reached up to cup the back of his head with her hand, gently tugging him down toward her upturned face. He stared at her in surprise, but then seemed to realize what she was doing and covered her lips with his.
The outside world disappeared, and it was just her and Patrick. His hands were placed tentatively on her back and his touch seared through her jacket. She never wanted the kiss to end.
Nina cleared her throat and a cold wave washed over Sarah, breaking the trance. What had she done? She’d been trying to help Patrick when he was in distress, but she’d kissed the man her friend was dating – and she was the one who’d brought them together in the first place. She was the worst friend ever.
Patrick put his arm around her again, pulling her close. Sarah fought to catch her breath, afraid that if she said anything, it would come out as a squeak. She pressed her lips together and a burst of powdered sugar hit her tongue, but its sweetness made her mood even more sour.
Nina stared at them, then said to her fiancé, “We’d better go. Angi’s been wanting to do the cake walk.” She turned away, then said to Patrick over her shoulder, “Nice seeing you again.”
He nodded and gave her a cool wave as she walked away.
Sarah turned to him, her blood chilled. Any lasting effect from their passionate kiss had worn off. Her words came out in a rush. “I’m so sorry for kissing you like that. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
He hesitated for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. “Don’t worry about it. You helped me out of a tight spot.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe she’s already engaged to someone else.” He looked her in the eyes. “I don’t have feelings for her anymore or any hopes that we’d ever get back together, but there are a lot of memories there. It feels like she tossed them away without any regard. And he has a kid – when we were together, she was never keen on having a kid in the future.”
“I get that,” Sarah said slowly, still trying to understand what had just happened. “By approaching you, she was almost flaunting her new relationship in your face. Still, it was wrong of me to do that.”
His eyes searched her face and she bit her lip to keep from crying. She’d really screwed up. “Okay, then let’s forget it ever happened.” He smiled at her.
Was it even possible to forget they’d kissed – twice? Somehow, she didn’t think so, but she found herself agreeing with him. She didn’t want him gone from her life, but things between them kept getting worse instead of better.
“Are we good?” he asked. “I don’t want things to be awkward between us. I value your friendship.”
There it was again. Friendship. She was completely in the friend zone in his mind – not that she’d expected anything different.
“Of course,” she said with forced cheer in her voice. All she wanted to do was to get out of there before any sense of bravado lapsed. She eyed the exit. It was so close. If she left immediately though, it might look weird.
She fought for something to say to him, and then it hit her – the house. “I got the house.” Her spirits lifted.
His face lit up. “You did? That’s wonderful. Are you excited?” He moved toward her as if he were going to give her a hug, but she backed away, effectively putting a wall between them. He dropped his arms and grinned at her instead. “I’m really happy for you, Sarah. I think you’ll like being a homeowner.”
“I hope so.” She twisted the hem of her sweater sleeve. “I’m still nervous about it.”
“Eh, that’s normal. You’ll get used to it. Do you know when you can move in?”
“They think it should go through in early December.” She could already smell the Christmas cookies she’d make in the big kitchen and the lights she’d hang from the eaves of the house.
“Just in time for Christmas. It’s your favorite holiday, right?”
“It is.” She looked at him in amazement. How had he remembered that? “I’ll probably hold off on remodeling until after then, but I’d like to get the kitchen redone in the next few months. I’m feeling a little out of my depth though. There are so many choices for the things in the kitchen.”
“Well, if you need anything, give me a call.” He checked his watch. “I need to head home, but I’ll see you sometime soon, okay?”
“Yep.” She watched him saunter away, still chiding herself over kissing him. Although he hadn’t appeared to hate the kiss, it obviously hadn’t been as mind-blowing to him as it had been for her.
11
Patrick stared at the railing in front of him and groaned. He’d been sanding the same patch of wood for the last ten minutes and his efforts had worn a ragged patch in the finish. He couldn’t get Sarah or the kiss they’d shared at the Fall Harvest Festival out of his mind. When she’d fallen into him during the mini-donut-eating contest, he hadn’t known what to say. So many emotions had shot through him as their lips touched for the briefest of moments.
When he’d found her after their accidental kiss, she’d been so upset by it that he’d told her it was no big deal – but it was to him. In that kiss he’d felt a connection with her, and the bond became even stronger when she kissed him later. The second kiss may have been fake to her, but he knew the instant that Sarah’s lips touched his that he no longer had feelings for Nina or hopes that she’d come back to him. Sarah was all he could think about.
He was sure now that he was ready to start a new life, hopefully with Sarah. The problem was, he didn’t know if she was still dating Derek. There was no way that he could horn in on their relationship since he’d set them up in the first place.
On a whim, he called Derek on the phone.
“Hey, man,” he said when Derek answered.
“Hey, Patrick. What’s up buddy?”
“Not much. Just been finishing up this house and I realized I hadn’t talked to you in a while.” Patrick paced the hardwood floors in the kitchen, staring at the refinished oak planks as he walked.
“Yeah, it has been a while. I think the last time we talked was when you set me up with a friend of yours – Sarah, was it?”
Hope crept into Patrick’s chest. Derek couldn’t even remember Sarah’s name. How was that even possible? But it did mean that they couldn’t be dating.
“How did that work out with her, anyway?” Patrick forced himself to stop pacing and sat down on the stairs.
Derek was silent, as if straining to remember. Finally, he said, “You know, we just weren’t very compatible. We barely made it through the first date.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I was really hoping the two of you would hit it off.” Patrick hoped he had put enough sympathy in his voice, although his entire being was shouting “Yes!”
“Yeah. No biggie though. I’m actually dating someone now that I met at the gym,” Derek said. “Hey, do you want to get together for a beer sometime and catch up?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Text me the day and time and I’ll be there.” Patrick’s heart pounded, his mind reeling at the revelation that Sarah might be single.
“Okay, bud. Talk to you later.”
“You too.” Patrick set his phone down on the counter. Sarah might not be with Derek, but was she involved with anyone e
lse? He doubted that a beautiful, smart woman like her would be single for long. But now that he knew he had a shot at a future with her, he had to give it a try. After their last interaction though, would things be awkward? He couldn’t just show up at her front door and proclaim his undying affection for her. He needed to test the waters first to see if his feelings were reciprocated.
What could he use as an excuse to visit her? His eyes roamed around the kitchen. He’d finished the remodel in there, but he still had all of the catalogs and some samples he’d used to choose the building materials for the project. Sarah had mentioned being a little intimidated by the prospect of a kitchen remodel. Bringing her the samples would be a perfect excuse for a visit. Even if he struck out with her in the romance department, he’d at least be helping her.
First though, where did she live? Although he’d seen her new house, he’d never been to her current house before. An idea popped into his head and he rummaged around in the closet under the stairs where he’d stashed the Christmas cards he’d received last year. Nina had chided him about keeping so much old mail, but he always had good intentions of sending out cards of his own and would need the addresses. He dug through the box. Aha. He triumphantly held up the envelope with Sarah’s return address printed neatly in the corner.
He grabbed the building material samples and jumped in his car, driving straight to her house in Candle Beach. When he reached her door, the sounds of her singing along to Jingle Bell Rock reverberated through the door.
A grin spread across his face. She’d been serious when she said she loved Christmas. It was only late October and he hadn’t even decorated for Halloween yet. Even the department stores waited until after Thanksgiving to start blasting Christmas music.
He rapped on the door, loud enough to be heard over the music. The song shut off abruptly. A minute later, the door swung open. He sucked in his breath.
Sarah stood in the entry, wearing a red sweater and jeans, with a thin gold chain around her neck. Her hair was piled high in a messy bun atop her head, with tendrils escaping from it and cascading down her flushed cheeks. She was beautiful, although he was sure she’d never believe it if he told her so. The scent of something savory and delicious wafted out of the apartment.