by Gail Sattler
She gave him a weak smile. “No. I’ve never gone shopping on Black Friday. In fact, this year my store will be open, which we haven’t done in the past. Depending on how everyone recovers from the flu, I might have to work.”
He poked around at the food on his plate, not looking at her as he spoke. “I was wondering if maybe next year you might want to come with me to my parents’ place. Next year is their turn to do the dinner.”
She bit her tongue again, stopping herself from asking the question she was too afraid to ask.
Suddenly, things had become really awkward. “That would probably be nice, but we should discuss that next year, not now.” She made a point of checking her wristwatch. “I think I’m finished. We should skip dessert and run off to get more shopping done.”
“Sure. Walmart, here we come.”
Chapter 10
Tonight, he would be seeing her again.
He couldn’t believe it had been nearly a week since he’d last been with Tasha.
The last time he’d gone on a trip and not seen Heather for a week, he’d been fine. More than fine—he’d felt relieved because he could relax. He didn’t have to worry about what he said, or if he had holes in the knees of his jeans. He didn’t need to shave, and no one cared that he didn’t have any gel to keep his hair in place. He’d also felt a touch of relief when the battery on his phone died and he didn’t have it in his pocket while it charged.
Being separated from Tasha, on the other hand, had nearly killed him. Monday and Tuesday he didn’t see her because she’d had to work killer overtime. Thanks to him, she’d been all set for dinner—the Hamburger Helper leftovers. Wednesday he’d gone to his parents’ for dinner, and they’d flown away in the early evening for their Thanksgiving weekend.
He’d texted Tasha multiple times from the airport, then again when he landed. Throughout Thanksgiving and Black Friday they’d had running text conversations going until his mother threatened to flush his phone down the toilet.
When he got back to the SeaTac airport on Saturday he phoned to say he’d landed okay, and had been very disappointed to get voice mail. But then she texted him back saying she couldn’t talk to him because she was with Heather. He’d left her alone on Sunday morning; after all, he’d been in church with his parents. It had been fun seeing many of his old friends, all adults now, and some married. He’d barely left the building when Tasha texted him to say that Ashley and Dave had asked about him.
He liked her friends. He liked her friends’ church.
He’d phoned Tasha just before he left so he could get Dilly to quack over the phone, which she did, then he began the trip home. The only reason he hadn’t called Tasha from the car to say he was almost there was because his battery died.
He wished he could have gone to her apartment, but Heather was there. That would have been awkward, so he respected her wishes.
Tomorrow, he was going to buy a new charger for the car.
As he turned the corner his heart nearly stopped.
Tasha’s car was parked in front of his house, and he could see the form of someone sitting on the bench on his front porch.
Instead of taking the time to go into the carport, he stopped behind her car on the street. Leaving his suitcase in the trunk, he ran from the car to the front of his house.
“Tasha! What’s wrong? I’m sorry, my battery died. Did you try to call me?”
She looked up at him with sad, mournful eyes. “I had a feeling that’s what happened. Heather and I had another fight. She’d already figured out that we’ve been spending a lot of time together, but I refused to give her any details or talk about it. We didn’t talk about it today, either. Today it was about Zac, our neighbor. She’d told me she ended things with him, but I found out that wasn’t true. We had...words.”
His heart tightened into a painful knot. He wished he could take her away from that, but short of getting her to elope, there was nothing he could do.
She turned and faced the blank wall, not looking at him as she spoke. “I wish there was something I could do to make her stop, but everything I say she turns around, so that it’s someone else’s fault that she’s doing this. There is nothing that could make it right to be having an affair with a married man.” She turned to face him again, and even in the dark he could detect the glistening in her eyes. “I shouldn’t be bothering you with this. You’ve already been hurt enough by my sister.”
“Don’t worry. I’m over it. Nothing she could say or do could hurt me anymore.”
It was true. Unless what Heather did hurt Tasha. Seeing Tasha crying over her sister’s words hurt him, too.
He sat beside her on the bench, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight against him.
Any other time, it would have been a good moment to kiss her troubles away. But with the reason being Heather, a wall had been erected between them.
“Do you have anywhere to go tonight? Do you want to stay here? I can sleep on the couch.”
She shook her head. “No. That’s not right. I’ll go home soon. She’s probably in bed, so I can make a quiet entrance. Then tomorrow it’s back to work, so I’ll hardly see her.” She pushed herself up, and he let her go.
“What about supper tomorrow? Will you be stuck with more overtime, or will you be free to join me?”
“I’ll be fine. Everyone will be back to work, so business as usual. No more need for crazy overtime and working through lunch and dinner.”
Jeff stood, too. He wanted so much to kiss her, but this wasn’t the right time. “Good night, then, I guess.”
She started to walk away, but before her foot touched the step of his porch, she stopped, and turned around. “Thanks for sending me those pictures of Daffodil. She’s pretty cute. Was that really the duck quacking over the phone, or was that you pretending to be a duck?”
“That was Daffodil. I really don’t do a fake duck quack very well. If you have a minute, I want to show you something.”
“I’ve got time. But I know you’ve got to get up early tomorrow morning.”
“This will only take a minute.” He quickly opened the door to let her in, then ran back to the car for his suitcase. Once he had it inside he tossed it on the coffee table, unzipped it and dug to the middle, until he touched the magazine holding the photo safely inside.
“I asked my mom for a copy of an old picture of me. This is the start of my career as a plumber.”
Gently, he opened the magazine. “My parents have the original in the living room, next to a picture of me in my graduation cap from college.” Now that he had a copy, he was going to frame it and hang it in the spare bedroom that he’d been using as a den, next to his diploma.
“It’s me. I was in my early teens, with my first set of real tools. See behind me? That’s the first waterway I built for Daffodil, and that’s Dilly in front of my feet, when she was a duckling. She’s still yellow in this picture. She’s light brown now. She’s kind of fading as she’s getting older. She’s a mallard, so she’ll probably live up to twenty years in captivity. I don’t know if old ducks go gray.”
“The duck is cute, but you were cute, too.”
Jeff felt himself blushing. He didn’t comment.
“This is really a good photo. It’s a copy, right?”
“Yes. Taken with real film. This is from the days before everyone had a digital camera.”
“Can I take it to work and scan it and print a copy for myself? I promise to take good care of it.”
“You want an old photo of me? Why?”
He could see her cheeks turning pink now. It was adorable. “Because it’s a cute picture, and it says a lot about the man you’ve become.”
He didn’t comment on what most of the world would think of a plumber with a pet duck.
“Okay. I g
uess.” He tucked the photo back into the magazine and handed it to her.
“Thanks,” she said as she accepted it. “Now I better run home. You’ve got to get up earlier than I do.”
“Sure.” He turned so he could see her to the door when he felt the soft brush of her lips against his cheek.
Then she did exactly what she said she was going to do. She ran to the door and was outside as he stood there, frozen.
As the engine of her car started, Jeff jogged to the window and watched as she drove away, unable to wipe the smile off his face.
There was hope.
* * *
It was hopeless.
Natasha stood at the machine, waiting for it to print the picture she’d just scanned.
Even looking at a photo of him as a boy brought back visions of what she’d done last night, like repeating loops on YouTube, and now she regretted her impulsive decision. All she’d wanted to do was give him a hint of how she felt about him, so, at the time, she thought the best way to do that was to do the same thing he’d done to her—a little surprise peck on the cheek. Except, as her lips touched his skin, she felt him go stiff as a board. Instead of returning her affection, he’d frozen on the spot. He hadn’t tried to kiss her back. He’d just stood there, not moving. At that moment she realized all her hopes were just delusions.
Like a coward she’d run outside before he could analyze his shock.
Apparently they would never be any more than just friends.
It was better than nothing, but not much.
From her pocket, her cell phone beeped.
She squeezed her eyes shut as she reached for it. She’d become so desperate for any contact from him, she’d started carrying her phone in her pocket instead of keeping it in her purse, in case she walked away from her desk and missed the tone that indicated a text.
She was hopeless.
She checked her phone, anyway.
I’m picking u up from work. Do not go home.
She put the picture down and texted back.
I’m not dressed up, just jeans.
The reply came back in seconds.
Me 2.
Her finger hovered over the keypad. She had no idea what he had in mind, but they were obviously not going anywhere fancy. For all she knew, they were going to the McDonald’s at Walmart, because she had to do more shopping tonight.
Again, she told herself it was better than nothing, and typed her response.
K.
After a minute there was no reply, so she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She’d been holding her breath waiting for more. How pathetic.
The day went quickly because she was still playing catch-up from when so many people were off sick. Fortunately, she was able to leave on time. She headed toward the employee exit door, and sure enough, the first thing she saw after stepping out into the waning November daylight was Jeff’s car.
“I still have lots of shopping to do,” she said as she slipped in and fastened her seat belt.
“I understand. I thought it would save time for the two of us to go straight to the mall. If we grab a fast bite in the food court we can get more shopping done.”
Natasha didn’t know if she should have been encouraged that he was suddenly so enthusiastic to help her shop, or completely decimated that shopping was all he had in mind.
But for now, the shopping was important. An entire week of shopping time had been lost due to working overtime, and now she had to make up for it. The Christmas party was in two weeks. Not only did she have to still buy half the gifts on her list, she had to wrap everything, too.
“Yes, that would work. I guess you’re planning to come back so I can get my car when we’re done.”
“Something like that.”
It was time to tackle the next age group, which was the largest, and would take more than one round of shopping.
She pulled her tablet out of her purse. “This bunch is going to be hard. Only a few parents gave suggestions. This is a group that is starting to get too old for toys, but still likes to play.”
“The boys will be big into electronic games.”
“The girls will be big into accessories. And games.”
They looked at each other. “This should be easy,” they said in unison, then smiled at each other. “Jinx!” they also said in unison.
Natasha didn’t know if that was funny, or should have been scary. “You know it’s not going to be easy. We can’t buy the same thing for any two of them, and any games have to be nonviolent and nondestructive.”
“We’ll just have to take our chances.” Jeff drove into the parking lot and managed to find a spot close to the mall entrance.
As he’d suggested, they went straight to the food court, picked something from the place with the shortest line and ventured into the shopping arena. By the time the store announced it would be closing they’d made some progress, but still had lots to buy.
Natasha couldn’t help but notice that as they loaded their purchases into Jeff’s car, with every group of gifts, the older the children were, the more expensive the gifts, and the less room they took. The smallest gift they’d bought was a gift card for a book that would be redeemed online, for the student to read on her e-reader.
Once they were seated in the car, before he started the engine, Jeff turned to her. “Did you want to go out for coffee or anything?”
She shook her head. “No. I think we should both go home. You have to get up early, and you still have to unload the car by yourself.”
“No big deal.”
The whole way back to her car, Jeff complained about the shopping experience and some of the dumb things he’d seen people do, then in the next breath said that he would be happy to help her shop the next day. Because she appreciated his help, now that he was actually being some help, she smiled and said nothing.
When they arrived at the store where she worked, he pulled up alongside her car. Instead of simply waiting for her to get out, he turned the car off and ran out and around the car. She got out, and he stood behind her as she closed the door.
Natasha spun around. “What are you doing? You don’t need to escort me. My car is right here. We’re the only ones in the lot.” To prove her point, she extended one arm to encompass the utter desertion.
“I know. That’s my point.” He stepped closer until they stood toe to toe, and rested his hands on the sides of her waist. “There’s no one here to watch, and no one here that I don’t want to see us. Just you and me.”
“But—”
Before she could protest that he wasn’t making sense, he cupped her cheeks and brushed a kiss to her lips. But he didn’t back up. Instead, he stayed so close that she felt his smile, rather than saw it. Then he kissed her again, except this time his arms slid lower down her back and he embraced her fully as his mouth covered hers.
She melted against him, drinking in his kiss with all her heart.
It was better than she’d dreamed it would be, and she’d been dreaming a long time. He was firm, but gentle, and she’d never felt more secure than in his arms.
In the distance a siren sounded, reminding her where they were. He broke the kiss, but didn’t release her. Instead, he cupped the back of her head with one palm and held her tight against him. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” he murmured into her ear.
“Me, too,” she said softly, only she wasn’t going to tell him how long.
Slowly, he released her. “I’m going to follow you back to your building, and don’t try to protest.”
She knew better. Besides, she liked the idea of him following. “Okay. Same time tomorrow?”
She held her breath, hoping this would not be a one-time aberration.
He smiled back. “You bet.”
>
Chapter 11
Before she arrived, Jeff needed to wipe the smile off his face.
The shopping was done. It hadn’t been that bad, and the past two weeks since Tasha had got back to her normal schedule had even been the quickest two weeks of his life.
Yesterday Tasha had contacted the caterer for the Christmas party and confirmed everything. Today she’d decorated the office with some help from her workmates. Their tree was up, and they were ready for the party tomorrow.
The only thing she had to do was tell her boss that everything was complete. She’d been really excited about how well it all fit together, although she knew her boss was going to be sad about him and his wife missing the party.
And now, Tasha was going to be even happier because he had a little surprise for her, too. Actually, a big surprise. A six-foot surprise, and it wasn’t him.
He almost started to pace the floor when he finally heard her car pull into his driveway.
Unable to contain himself, he ran to the door and opened it just as she stood there with her fist in the air, ready to knock.
“Hi,” he said as he took her hand, led her inside and pulled her into an embrace. He planted a fast kiss on her luscious lips, then rested his hands on her shoulders. Smiling, he extended his arms, keeping his hands on her shoulders to put some space between them.
She smiled. “Hi, yourself. What was that...?” Her voice trailed off, and she sniffed. “What is that smell?” Her eyes lit up and her smile got even bigger. “I doubt you bought Christmas air freshener, so that’s got to be—” She broke from his grasp and ran into the living room.
He waited for it.
“A Christmas tree!” she called out. “You bought a great big Christmas tree!”
She ran back to him, grabbed one hand and squeezed it, her feet moving almost as if she was jogging on the spot. “You bought a Christmas tree!” Then she ran back into the living room.