by Lee McKenzie
“If you could set up the umbrella while I arrange the seat cushions, we’ll be done.”
Easy enough. He angled the umbrella pole through the centre of the table and anchored it in the base below.
“Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow night?” He held his breath and waited.
She stopped what she was doing and stared at him for a full five seconds. “You mean like a family thing?”
“No. The girls will be at their grandparents’.”
“So just the two of us. Like a…date.”
She was avoiding emotional entanglements until her daughter was older, so this dating thing—real or not—was as new to her as it was to him. Best to take it slow. “No, not exactly. I was just thinking it seems a shame to have everything looking so good and not use it. So I thought, with the girls gone, we could throw some burgers on the barbecue, nothing fancy.”
“That sounds nice.” She arranged the last seat cushion and then looked up at him again. “Jenna has a sleepover tomorrow night. It’s her friend Abbie’s birthday.”
Sleepovers were good. Molly and Martha were having one, Jenna was having one. That meant he and Kristi could spend all evening together. And sleepover suddenly took on a whole new meaning.
“Well, good,” he said. “It’ll just be the two of us.”
“And the dogs. You don’t mind if I bring Hercules?”
“Not at all.”
“Okay, then. It’s a…” She didn’t finish the sentence, but they both knew what she had almost said. “What time?”
“How does seven sound?”
“Seven sounds great. I’ll be here. And since you’re making dinner, I’ll bring dessert.”
He liked the sound of that.
Sam returned with an armload of boxes and a sly smile. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Not at all.” Nate had accomplished everything he’d set out to do.
Chapter Twelve
By six o’clock on Saturday, Kristi had tried on half the things in her closet and still hadn’t found anything to wear. Jeans and a T-shirt looked too casual. It was a warm evening so she could get away with shorts, but they would show too much leg. A skirt and top made her feel as though she was attending a business meeting. Her eye kept straying to the vintage-inspired boat-necked dress hanging on the inside of her closet door. She’d made it to wear to her ten-year high school reunion a couple of years ago. It was a nice subdued shade of pale yellow, knee-length with a full skirt. It was a bit dressy, but was it too dressy? Not if she wore her white cashmere cardigan over it, she decided. She held up the jeans again and studied herself in the mirror.
“Mom, you can’t wear jeans,” Jenna said from the doorway.
“What’s wrong with jeans?”
“Nothing. They’re just not you. You wear jeans to do housework or take Hercules for a walk, but you’d never wear them on a date.”
True. She loved pretty clothes and bright colors. That she would even consider blue jeans simply showed how desperate she was to convince herself this was not a date.
Oh, it was a date, all right. Her legs were shaved and everything.
“Wear the dress,” Jenna said. “It looks great on you.”
Kristi fingered the soft fabric. Her daughter was right. It was a very pretty dress, totally feminine, and she did look good in it. With a white belt instead of the silver one she’d worn to the reunion, flats instead of heels… Okay, she was definitely wearing the dress.
“What time is Abbie’s mom picking you up?”
“They’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“And her parents are supervising the entire evening?”
“Mom! We’ve gone over this a hundred times.”
Kristi made a face at the mirror. This was the second time they’d talked about this, maybe the third. Definitely not the hundredth. She still hadn’t found the right time for her and Jenna to have “the talk,” though, and there were going to be boys at this party. Only till ten o’clock, and then it would just be Abbie, Jenna and another girl for the sleepover. Still, a lot could happen between six-thirty and ten.
The doorbell rang.
“There they are. See you tomorrow, Mom.”
Kristi reached for Jenna to give her a hug, but she was gone. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she called down the stairs.
“Okay, see ya!” And that was all the goodbye she got before the front door slammed.
Jenna will be fine, she told herself. It’s you I’m worried about. Not that anything would happen between her and Nate tonight. They were both too cautious and levelheaded for that.
She shrugged out of the housecoat she’d put on after her shower, slipped the dress off its hanger and held it up for one last look. Nate would like it, she was sure of that, but she hoped that by dressing up for a casual dinner of burgers by the pool, she wasn’t sending the wrong message. Or maybe dressing up was the right message.
* * *
AT FIVE MINUTES to seven, Nate warned himself against checking the clock every thirty seconds and keeping track of how many minutes ticked by until Kristi arrived. They’d have the whole evening together. Just the two of them, no kids to offer up a distraction, no extended family keeping tabs on them. He could still hardly believe his luck.
He had given her a key so she could come and go as she needed, but tonight she rang the bell. She was right on time, and she took his breath away. He would have waited a lifetime for this woman. Hell, he already had.
“Come in.” He reached for Hercules’s travel bag and set it on the floor. The dog started yipping right away, and a drooling Gemmy loped into the foyer to greet him. He opened the Yorkie’s bag, and he skittered out, touching noses with the Saint.
“Looks like they have a date, too,” he said.
Kristi laughed, and for once he wished he could take his lead from the dogs, shove propriety aside and kiss her. Right here, right now. Of course being a dog and acting like a dog were two different things, and tonight he was determined to do this right.
“You look amazing.”
“Thank you. I was leaning toward jeans, but my daughter said I should wear the dress.”
He wondered if it would be appropriate to thank Jenna the next time he saw her. Not likely. “I’m glad she did. Come in.”
“Thanks.”
They were both feeling awkward and overly formal, and he would be glad when they were sitting by the pool with a glass of wine.
Kristi was carrying a small box, and that’s when he remembered the dessert.
“Would you like me to take that?” he asked.
“No, thanks. It’s sort of a surprise, and I don’t want to ruin the fun.”
“Bring it into the kitchen, then.”
They walked through the house together, and when they got to the kitchen, Kristi opened the fridge and tucked the container inside. “Whipped cream,” she said. “It needs to stay chilled.”
It’s just dessert, he reminded himself, but the words whipped cream had his heart and his mind racing ahead to later in the evening.
Down, boy. It’s just dessert.
“Let’s go sit outside,” he said. He slid the screen open and the dogs dashed out ahead of them.
Kristi followed and stopped just outside the door.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” she said. “More than okay. It’s really beautiful out here.” She laughed at her own words. “I�
�m really pleased with the way it turned out.”
“So am I. You’ve done an amazing job.” He couldn’t remember ever meeting anyone like her. His entire adult life had revolved around the university. The women he met were smart, serious, studious. Heather included. Kristi was every bit as smart and creative, but with more joie de vivre.
She touched his arm, lightly, and the effect was electric. “I remember the first day I was here, thinking how unfortunate it was that you had this amazing outdoor space but it wasn’t being used. Have you and the girls had a chance to get in the pool yet?”
“We had a swim yesterday afternoon before supper. They were so excited…I can’t even tell you.”
“I’m glad.”
“Come on. Let’s sit. Would you like something to drink? There’s white wine in the ice bucket. I remember that’s what you had at Britt’s birthday party. I also have beer. A dark ale.” He held up the bottle. “And a lager that’s a little less…dark. And I’ll stop talking now.”
“The white wine sounds great,” she said. “I’m not much of a beer drinker.”
Good to know. He opened the bottle with as much flourish as he could muster while Kristi settled into one of the four club chairs she and Sam had arranged in the pergola. He handed a glass to her and took the chair next to her, grateful that the close proximity still afforded a view of her legs stretched in front of her and demurely crossed at the ankles. He could get used to this.
“So…” She smiled at him and he almost forgot what he wanted to say. “Ah, Jenna’s at a sleepover tonight?”
“Yes, her friend Abbie is turning fourteen so it’s a birthday-party-slash-sleepover. I had some misgivings about it.”
“Why is that?” He was genuinely interested, since someday he, too, would be navigating life with teenage girls.
“There’ll be boys at the party. Just till ten o’clock, not for the sleepover, obviously.”
He laughed. “A disappointing fact of life for them, I’m sure.”
Kristi laughed, too, but there was little humor in it. “Tell me about it. Anyway, I spoke with Abbie’s mom and she’s assured me the party will be fully supervised, as will the sleepover after the boys leave.”
“So no sneaking out to meet them once the parents have gone to bed.”
“That’s what we’re counting on.”
He debated whether or not to ask if they’d had “the talk.” No, that would be way too personal.
“You’re probably wondering if I talked to her about…”
“How did it go?” he asked.
“It didn’t.” She looked a little deflated. “I don’t know why this is so difficult. We have a good relationship—we talk about all sorts of things, but this is really awkward. I’m afraid Jenna’s going to think I’m lame and not take me seriously.”
He could well imagine a safe sex demonstration involving a banana would seem lame to a teenager.
“You’d think there would be books on how to do this sort of thing,” he said.
“Books?”
“Yes, books. Books for parents, books for teenagers.”
“I’m not sure about parenting by the book. They can be helpful but I think it’s up to parents to decide what they need to tell their kids, and when their kids are ready to hear it.”
“Good point.” He hoped he remembered that when his time came to make these decisions.
“And I’m not sure how effective a safe sex handbook for teens would be anyway.” Her smile curved in a way that could only be described as mischievous. “Most kids wouldn’t bother to read it. They’d just look at the pictures.”
He laughed. “Girls, too? I’d have thought…hoped?…that maybe just boys did things like that.”
“I wish.” But she was laughing, too.
He set his beer on the table and stood up. “More wine?”
“Not just yet, thanks. Maybe with dinner.”
Dinner. Right. “I’ll start the barbecue.”
“Were Molly and Martha excited about spending the night with their grandparents?”
“They seemed to be. I just hope they don’t come home with more stuff. Alice likes to take them shopping.”
“How has she been since you told her the girls weren’t going to be in the pageant?”
He shrugged. “She hasn’t said a word about it.”
“Nothing?”
“Not one word. It’s almost too easy, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
Kristi looked thoughtful. “I think you should just relax. This is what you wanted, right?”
She was probably right. If he was honest with himself, it had been a long time since he really thought about what he wanted.
“It’s just that she has a mind of her own, and once she’s made it up, there’s usually no changing it.” He didn’t know why he was telling her this, except that she was easy to talk to, and he liked her levelheaded, no-nonsense approach.
“It can be hard to set boundaries with family. Was it like that when your wife was alive?”
Heather and her mother had been very different people. “Heather always made it seem as though she was going along with her mother, then she usually did whatever she wanted to do.”
Even as he said it, he could see the flaw in that approach. He’d bet Kristi saw it, too.
“I can relate,” she said. “It seems like an easy way to avoid conflict, and for a while it works, but eventually whatever it is you’re trying to avoid will sneak up and bite you on the butt.”
No kidding. Like Alice’s crazy scheme to enter the girls in some kind of beauty pageant.
“How do you like your burgers?” he asked.
“Well done, and I mean really well done. Black on the outside and absolutely no pink on the inside.”
More info to file away. He slid a patty onto the grill for her. He’d give it a couple of minutes before he started his.
“I usually have a head-on approach to setting boundaries,” Kristi said. “Trust me, when Molly and Martha are teenagers, you’ll get lots of practice. I’ve been putting off this talk with Jenna, but now that you and I have had this conversation, I know I can’t keep doing that. She’s a good kid, and I trust her, but it’s time. As she gets older and becomes more independent, I want her to have all the information she needs to make the right choices.”
“When Molly and Martha get to that age, I’ll call you for advice.”
For the life of him, he couldn’t decipher the look she gave him. Probably wondering, like he was, if they would still be friends ten years from now. Ha. Even now he didn’t want to be just friends. Taking their relationship to the next level would definitely rule out the possibility of them still being “friends” a decade from now.
“What I meant—”
“I think I know what you mean. I hope you do call.”
“Oh, that’s good.” That was very good. He tossed his burger onto the barbecue next to hers.
She took a sip of her wine. “Here we are, spending a nice evening together, and we’re talking about our kids and our families. Why don’t you tell me something about yourself?”
He was all for it. “What would you like to know?”
“What you teach at the university, your research, how you got interested in studying plants.”
“How much time do you have?” He was only half joking.
While he prepared their burgers and served the salad he’d made to go with it, he gave her th
e Reader’s Digest version of his life as a graduate student and touched on the research he’d done for his PhD thesis while hoping he didn’t sound too boring.
“What about you?” he asked when she joined him at the patio table. “When did you decide you wanted to be an interior decorator?”
“I’m not sure. I always knew I wanted to do something creative, and when I finally went to college after my divorce, I was seriously considering graphic arts.”
While they ate, she told him how she had put herself through a two-year diploma program at community college while juggling single-parenthood, how she’d met Sam and Claire, and how they’d made the decision to open Ready Set Sold. He was already impressed by her, and now his admiration reached a whole new height.
“That was the best burger I’ve ever had. Are you ready for dessert?” she asked when he pushed his plate away.
“I can’t wait to find out what’s in that box.” And what else was in store for them tonight.
She smiled coyly. “Why don’t you sit here while I clear the plates and serve?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He watched her walk toward the house, then refilled their wineglasses. She might not want any more, given that she had to drive home. Unless things went the way he hoped and her car spent the night in his driveway.
Kristi returned carrying a pair of bowls with both dogs following closely. “I thought they might like to have their dinner out here.” She set the dogs’ dishes on the patio. “Be right back.”
This time she came back with two cupcakes on a single plate. Cupcakes? That was the surprise? Not that there was anything wrong with her cupcakes—they were delicious—but she had implied something a little less kid’s birthday party and a little more grown-up. And then he saw them close up, a pair of chocolate cupcakes in red foil cups, generously topped with a swirl of whipped cream and a red maraschino cherry, stem and all.
Kristi slid her chair closer to his and sat down, wrapping him again in the fragrance he’d now come to associate with her.