She scanned the food items, her eyes shining. “It’s the same menu,” she said. “I’ll have my usual���”
“Number seven,” he supplied. “With dipping sauce on the side.”
She grinned. “You remember.”
“Sure I do. And I’ll have���”
“Number twelve, extra hot sauce, extra napkins.”
This time a grin tickled his lips. “Right.” Then he glanced down at his snowy shirt. “I might need a bib too.”
“What’ll it be?” yelled the waitress, one hip cocked. They placed their food orders and requested bottles of good beer, their one deviation from the old days when they drank the cheapest draught.
The brews were delivered right away, the food, they knew, would take a bit longer. Ginny lifted her bottle in the air. “To Blackey’s.”
Buoyed by her good mood, he clinked his bottle against hers. “To Blackey’s.”
After a long drink, Bailey settled back, draping his arm around the back of Ginny’s chair. Graffiti was encouraged at Blackey’s, every customer could write their name and any bits of wisdom they could find room for on the cracked plaster walls. “Do you remember where we wrote our names?” he asked her.
Squinting, she looked around the room as she worked her mouth in concentration. Suddenly she brightened. “Over there, by the far window.”
He nodded. “Think they’re still there?”
She shrugged and grabbed her beer bottle. “Let’s see.”
Bailey followed her, feeling as if he were walking on eggshells. Which memories to touch on, which to avoid? For some reason, Ginny seemed more open and fun-loving tonight���but was it because she was becoming more receptive to him, or because he’d promised her a night on the town with “no funny stuff?”
They stood shoulder to shoulder, studying the hundreds of signatures and sayings which mostly merged into illegible garble.
“I see them!” she cried, pointing just above his head.
“Where?”
“Right there! See the red V? You can barely make out the rest of it, but I see your name just underneath.”
He spotted their names, and smiled. “Yeah, there they are.”
“We were just kids when we wrote our names up there,” she said.
“And now we have one.”
She tilted her head slightly, looking into his eyes. “Isn’t life strange?” she asked, her voice soft.
He studied her caramel eyes, his heart skipping a beat. “Seems to have come full circle for us.”
She bit her bottom lip. “Which reminds me, I’m going to call Mom to see how things are going.” She gestured to the alcove where the bathrooms were located. “I’ll be right back.”
Before his eyes she’d transformed into a worried mother. As he watched her make the phone call, Bailey felt a pang of guilt���he hadn’t even thought her parents might be having problems with Chad, or vice versa. She caught his glance and gave him a thumbs up, then ended the call. Lover, mother, friend���Ginny was a total package. He craved her so badly, her body and her companionship, he felt real physical pain.
“Order’s up,” their waitress yelled, slamming the trays down in front of their seats.
“I’m starved.” Ginny patted her stomach, her eyes wide.
“Me too,” he said, watching her walk back to the table, and feeling his groin tighten. “Me too.”
*
Ginny chewed the saucy meat slowly, savoring the textures and spices. Worth waiting for, the platter of chopped pork barbecue and sweet corn bread satisfied her hunger and her senses.
“What have you been doing for the past eight years?” she asked between mouthfuls.
His eyebrows climbed as he pondered her question, then grinned. “Not a whole hell of a lot, I guess.” He raised his beer for a drink.
“Oh, come on,” she urged. “Restoring cars?”
He nodded. “Landscaping during the week, working on the cars on the weekends. And there’s always plenty to do around the farm. I took up cross-country biking a couple of years ago.”
“Really?” she asked. “Where have you been?”
“This spring a couple of guys from the cycling club I belong to invited me to ride to North Carolina. Next year we want to go out west, where the bicycle trails are more rugged.”
“Do you still play basketball?”
“On a winter league.” He shrugged. “It’s good exercise. How about you? What have you been doing besides going back to school?”
She tilted her head. “A coworker of mine has a sailboat on Lake Erie, so I spend weekends there sometimes.”
He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Is this a male friend?”
Glancing up from her plate, she realized what he was asking and smiled impishly. “Yes, Robert is definitely a man, but his wife and grandchildren make it awfully hard for us to carry on our torrid affair.”
He smiled wryly and picked up his fork “Did you ever come close to remarrying?”
She nodded slowly. “Once.”
Virginia noticed Bailey had tightened his grip on his fork. “What happened?”
“He was divorced and had shared custody of his two children. The kids saw me as the obstacle for their parents getting back together. I decided it wasn’t worth all the trouble it caused his family.” And she couldn’t be around his children without thinking of her own lost child…
He stabbed his fork into a chunk of meat. “So you really loved this guy?”
Lifting the beer to her mouth, she said, “I thought I did, but I got over it pretty quickly, so I guess I didn’t.” She took a swallow, then said, “How about you?”
“I came close a couple of times, but it didn’t pan out.”
Why did that hurt? “Your decision?”
“Yes.” He wrapped his hand around his beer. “Are you still sculpting?”
Shaking her head, she sighed. “Not in years. I have good intentions, but never seem to get a piece started. I’m on my computer a lot in the evenings, catching up on work.”
“Which reminds me, I’m starting a new job Monday and���”
“What new job?” Another surprise.
He seemed sheepish. “I’m joining my company’s design team.”
Smiling, she straightened. “That’s wonderful, Bailey. When did this happen?”
“Last week.”
“Why haven’t you mentioned it?”
Shrugging, he said, “It seemed as if we always had more important things to discuss.”
“Another toast,” she declared softly, holding up her half-empty bottle.
He held his bottle up to hers.
“To new beginnings.”
Beaming, he said, “I’ll drink to that.” They clinked their bottles, then pushed their empty plates to the center of the table. Bailey revealed he needed to learn spreadsheet basics, and Ginny offered her assistance.
When the bill was settled, she glanced at her watch and reluctantly said, “I guess we’d better call it a night if we’re going to make it home before our son.”
He agreed and pushed away from the table. Immediately she missed his arm around her shoulders, but attributed it to the old memories they’d stirred up all evening. Bailey had certainly kept his word���he’d been a gentleman throughout.
On the drive home she laid her head back and smiled up at the stars. “You know, Bailey, we had a lot of good times.”
He smiled and nodded. “It’s human nature, I guess, to dwell on the bad, but you’re right���we had fun before…. before.”
She turned her head and studied her ex-husband’s face, still incredibly handsome, but older and perhaps wiser since their ordeal eight years earlier. “We were young,” she murmured. “Perhaps we gave up too quickly.”
Nodding again, he held out his hand in invitation to hers. “I was too young to realize how much I was giving up.”
She smiled and offered her hand in a slow, intimate clasp. He raised her fingers to
his lips for a soft kiss, then lowered their hands to rest between them on the seat.
For the remainder of the drive, her midsection pulsed with desire, her need for him almost tangible. Their evening had been deceptively casual and friendly. She desperately hoped he wouldn’t ask to spend the night, because tonight she would say yes. And as much as she knew they wanted each other, she wasn’t sure if they were ready for the emotional plunge. Her heart pounded faster when he pulled into her driveway.
He turned off the engine and said, “I’ll walk you to your door.”
She stopped rummaging in her purse. “You aren’t coming in to wait for Chad?”
Bailey shook his head. “I told him I’d see him in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said, hiding her disappointment.
She led the way to her door, her heart pounding. Would he at least kiss her good night?
Unlocking the door, she quickly stepped inside and dismantled the alarm. Bailey remained on the stoop, his hands in his pockets.
“I had a great time,” she said, laughing nervously.
“Good, because I did too.” His eyes shone in the semidarkness, the angular planes of his face alternately shadowed and highlighted. “You surprise me sometimes, Ginny.”
She swallowed. “I sometimes surprise myself.”
“Can I have a kiss?”
Her throat went completely dry. “Since when have you become such a gentleman?”
His grin was slow and warm as he leaned forward. “It’s my new strategy.”
She raised her mouth to his and he kissed her, soft and teasing at first, then with mounting urgency. His arms circled her waist to pull her closer, and she looped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. Their moans mingled and echoed into each other’s mouth, fueling the fire between them. Virginia felt her resistance dissolve as he lowered his hands to press her against him. If he asked right now, she’d give him anything she had to offer.
Suddenly his embrace loosened, and his kiss relaxed.
He raised his head and stepped back from her, his breathing ragged, his lips pressed together. “I think it’s time for me to go.” He inhaled deeply, then gave her a slow, heart-stopping grin. “I’ll swing by around ten in the morning, okay?”
She nodded.
“Good night.”
“Good night,” she murmured, her nerves still quaking, her muscles still tense, her mouth still burning.
After closing the door she walked into the darkness of the living room and peeked out the curtain. Bailey started his car, then slowly pulled out of her driveway, only to stop at the curb. He looked toward her house, and Virginia debated whether to turn on a light or give him some other signal, but then he shifted into gear and drove away.
She didn’t have long to ponder the events of the evening, because her parents arrived soon afterward with a well-fed, well-entertained Chad. It warmed her heart to see him accept their goodbye hugs and kisses. They asked Ginny if he could go camping Monday night, and she agreed.
After her parents left, Ginny decided to confront Chad about the locket right away, because it didn’t seem right to pretend that everything was okay.
“Chad,” she said after he’d told her about his evening, “I’ve lost something and I hope you’ll be able to help me find it.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, then he shrugged, a little too casually, she thought. “What is it?”
“It’s my locket with your baby picture in it.”
“I haven’t seen it,” he said too quickly, reaching for the television remote.
She stopped him with her hand, covering his fingers with hers. “It’s very special to me and I hope if you find it, you’ll bring it to me. I might have lost it outside when we were washing the car.”
“Okay,” he said in an annoyed voice. “What’s the big deal anyway? It’s just a necklace with a dumb old picture in it.”
“It means everything to me,” she whispered.
“Kind of like my game?” he asked, convincing her he’d taken it.
“Please give it back to me,” she said.
“I don’t have your stupid necklace.” He pulled his hand from underneath hers. “Leave me alone.”
Later when she stepped into his shadowed bedroom to soak in his sleeping form, her eyes swam with tears. Would she ever make peace with Chad and Bailey at the same time?
One step forward, then two steps back. And now she was going to spend the entire weekend with both of them.
Chapter 12
The Shenoway farmhouse was quiet as they unlocked the front door. “Would you mind getting the picnic together while I feed the cattle?” Bailey asked. “It shouldn’t take more than forty-five minutes.”
“Not at all,” Virginia said, only a little apprehensive about rattling around in the house by herself.
“Can I help?” Chad asked Bailey.
“Absolutely,” Bailey said. “I expect you to pitch in when you’re here.”
“Sure!” Chad agreed.
“I’ll take the luggage upstairs,” Bailey said. “You help Ginny take the groceries to the kitchen.”
Chad didn’t argue, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it when he thunked the bags down on the counter.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Whatever.”
He turned and walked out, then she heard Bailey come back downstairs. “We’ll be back soon���be sure to put on your bathing suit,” he called from the living room, the screen door slapping closed.
“Whatever,” she mumbled, hands on hips, eyeing the mounds of groceries. Her son had made it perfectly clear all morning that as far as he was concerned, she didn’t exist. She’d woken to ear-splitting music coming from his room, which he reduced to just plain loud when she pounded on his door. He’d refused to come out of his room or answer her until he heard the doorbell signaling Bailey’s arrival, then he’d ridden over with Bailey leaving her to follow behind in her car, solo.
And her locket hadn’t shown up, but she still held out hope it would turn up soon.
At least Bailey was cheerful and friendly this morning, which meant he hadn’t lost as much sleep as she had over their goodbye kiss. Sighing, she began to pull out food and assemble sandwiches.
Once she’d packed the basket with as much food and drink as possible and straightened the kitchen, she felt restless, and decided to unpack the clothes she’d brought. She peeked into the guest rooms alternately to see where Bailey had placed their bags. Chad’s duffel sat just inside the first room. She frowned when she saw Bailey’s gym bag in the room next to Chad’s room. She chewed the inside of her cheek as realization began to dawn. Sure enough, she found her bag sitting in the room she and Bailey had once shared. A large vase of cut flowers sat on the dresser, and an envelope propped against it read Ginny.
With one eye on the card, she changed into her bathing suit, then pulled on black knit shorts and a pink T-shirt. She picked up the envelope, her heart pounding in anticipation, and sat on the edge of the bed. With trembling fingers she loosened the flap and withdrew a card covered with muted watercolor designs. The inside had no preprinted message, only a few lines in Bailey’s handwriting.
Thanks for such an enjoyable evening. I look forward to the day when I don’t have to leave you after kissing you good night. Bailey
Her smile extended all the way to her toes. Her skin tingled and she felt as giddy as a teenager. Hugging herself, she lay back onto the soft bed, suddenly wishing Bailey was stretched out beside her. She looked around the room and sighed. It might not be so bad sleeping in here after all.
The screen door slammed downstairs, and Virginia shot up. She smoothed the covers and tucked the card back into the envelope, then walked to the staircase landing.
Bailey stood alone at the bottom. The sight of him sent jolts of sexual awareness through her limbs. He’d traded his polo shirt for a snug white T-shirt. His face and arms glistened with sweat, and bits of hay stuck to his skin. His
jeans were tucked into a pair of old workboots. He dabbed at his forehead with a bandanna. She stopped on the next to last step, a couple of feet above him, her body tingling.
“Hey,” he said, smiling up at her.
“Hey, yourself. Thanks for the card.”
He wet his lips. “You’re welcome.”
“And the flowers.”
He nodded.
She gazed into his eyes, and descended one more step. “You look… hot.”
He studied her carefully. “I am… hot.”
“Where’s Chad?”
“He found Jean Ann’s tire swing. I thought I’d take a shower before we go on the picnic.”
Her fantasies whirled free. “A shower?”
“Uh-huh,” he said just as slowly. “A hot shower.”
She stepped down again, coming to stand within inches of him. “A hot, soapy shower?”
He reached for her and crushed her into a deep kiss. She tasted the salt from his skin and felt the heat from his mouth. She inhaled the musky scent of him, and her legs weakened. Her tongue swirled over the smooth surface of his teeth, then probed deeper. Their kiss became more urgent as their hunger for each other escalated. She clenched at the muscles on his back, feeling the soaked, flimsy shirt beneath her fingers. She tore it from his waistband and raked her nails against the moist, warm skin of his back.
Behind them, the screen door slammed. “Oh, brother,” Chad said loudly.
They parted quickly, both breathing hard, and stared at their son.
Bailey shoved his hand through his hair. “I thought you were on the tire swing,” he said raggedly, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
“I thought you were going to take a shower,” Chad said, just as annoyed.
“I was,” Bailey sighed in exasperation. “I am.” He climbed the stairs in long strides.
Her chest rose and fell as she fought to regain control of her breathing. Chad stared at her with narrowed eyes until she started to squirm. “You got hay all over you,” he said, then turned and walked back outside.
She looked down and saw bits of straw on her arms and clothing, then stepped out on the front porch to brush herself off. Chad sat in an old metal glider a few feet away. She walked over and leaned on the rail near him.
Almost a Family Page 15