by Emma Miller
“I’ll come back tomorrow if you like,” Laura said.
They all clapped, and she smiled, happy to have this opportunity and grateful to Zeb for giving it to her. “Where is Faith’s room, Shea?”
The nurse had started wheeling Timothy out, and the little boy answered, “She’s at two twenty-four,” he said, still smiling. He hadn’t stopped smiling for the past hour.
“Thank you, Timmy,” Laura said, then headed toward the room.
She found David and Zeb sitting on each side of the bed holding cards. The little girl, wearing a sequined pink cap to cover her lack of hair, plucked a card from David’s hand.
“Another match for me,” she said, then noticed Laura. “Hey, are you Miss Laura?”
Laura neared the bed. “I am.”
“Mr. Zeb said you’ll read to me next time and catch me up on what I missed with the Boxcar Children.”
“I’d love to,” Laura said. “I think I’m coming back tomorrow night. Maybe I can come in here first and read to you before I read to the others.”
Faith’s smile beamed. “That sounds great!” She watched as David grabbed a card from Zeb’s hand, and then giggled when Zeb had to take one from hers. “I’ve only got two left,” she said, “and guess what one of them is.”
Zeb held his finger in front of one, tilted his head as he watched her eyes, blinking mischievously, and then took the other card.
Faith’s giggle filled the room. “Old maid for you,” she said.
Laura watched them continue until, sure enough, Zeb’s last card was the unwanted lady.
“You lose again, Mr. Zeb,” Faith said.
“And so I do,” he said.
A young woman who looked to be in her early thirties walked in, her eyes bloodshot and undeniably tired, but she gave them all a smile. “Did you let Zeb win tonight, honey?”
“Nope,” Faith said.
“I wouldn’t know what to do if I won,” Zeb answered, and Faith grinned.
“Thank you for playing with me,” she said, “and you, too, Mr. David.”
“It was my pleasure,” David said.
“And you must be Laura,” the woman said. “I’m Sharon Mulberry, Faith’s mom.”
“Wonderful to meet you,” Laura said.
Faith stretched her jaw wide in a huge yawn, and her mother stepped forward to gather the cards from the bed.
“I think that’s your clue that you need to sleep now,” she said.
“I know. Thanks again for coming, Mr. Zeb, and Mr. David and Miss Laura, too.” She shimmied down in the bed and tugged the covers to her neck. “I love y’all.”
“We love you, too,” Zeb answered, giving her another smile and patting the top of her hand. “We’ll be back tomorrow night.”
“Awesome,” Faith whispered, her eyes growing heavy and another yawn slipping free.
Laura and David walked back down the hall passing murals of David and Goliath, Moses and the Ten Commandments, the Garden of Eden and then Noah’s Ark again as they neared the elevator.
“Thank y’all for coming,” Shea called from the nurses’ station.
“We were glad to,” Zeb said, and Laura and David nodded in agreement.
Laura waited until they were on the elevator and the doors slid closed, then she said, “Bless their little hearts.”
Zeb nodded. “I feel the same way. This means a lot to them, to have people care enough to visit and spend time with them on a regular basis.”
“It meant a lot to us, too,” David said. He stood next to Laura in the elevator, and she felt his hand slide against her palm, then his fingers clasp with hers. The motion was sweet, tender, like the precious moments they just spent together with those children.
“I needed someone to help me out here,” Zeb said. “I couldn’t spend enough time with the group and also with Faith, or any of the others when they’re unable to leave their rooms. Tonight, having your help meant the world to me.”
“You can count on us, anytime,” David said.
The elevator door opened at the first-floor lobby and they stepped out, with Zeb stopping a moment to look at them. “That’s what I was just thinking,” he said. “I can count on you.” He took a step in the opposite direction. “I’m going to say hello to the lady that runs the flower shop before I leave.”
“You want us to wait on you?” Laura asked.
“Nah, y’all go on home. I know you and those babies need your rest.” He nodded his goodbye and then walked away.
Laura and David started out of the hospital, and he said what she felt.
“That was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.” He let go of her hand to open the door for her as they exited the hospital, and Laura immediately missed the contact of his skin against hers.
“I can’t believe I’ve never thought to visit the kids on the children’s floor before,” she said. “Reading to them was incredible. They were so into the story and so appreciative of us coming to see them. I’m looking forward to coming back tomorrow.”
“Me, too.” He opened the passenger’s door of his car.
Laura slid into the seat and then waited for him to shut the door, but he didn’t. “Everything okay?” she asked.
David leaned into the car, took the seat belt and gently draped it across her and then snapped it into place, his face so close to hers she could smell a hint of peppermint on his breath. “You’re amazing,” he said. “You know that?”
Embarrassed, she felt her cheeks blush. “You really think so?”
“I know so.” He still leaned into the car, so close that Laura would merely have to move forward a couple of inches to have her lips touch his.
She could feel her heart beating solidly in her chest as she waited for...whatever he planned to do.
“Remember when I told you that you’d know if I took you on a date?” he asked.
She blinked. “Was this a date?”
His smile broke free. “No, this is me, asking you for a date, tomorrow night after we visit the kids here. So, Laura, would you like to go out with me, on an official date, tomorrow night?”
She didn’t hesitate, and she didn’t let her promise to herself not to get in another relationship hinder her words. This was David, a completely different kind of guy than she’d ever gone out with before, a guy who’d been there for her when she needed him most, and a guy who made her feel something so special that she didn’t want to miss the chance to see exactly where the feelings would lead. “I’d love to.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He slowly eased out of the car, shut her door, rounded the front and climbed in the driver’s seat. Then he started the engine but didn’t back up.
She glanced behind them and didn’t see anything blocking his path. “Everything okay?” she asked again.
He turned to face her. “No, everything isn’t.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m thinking that the whole time we’re on our date tomorrow night we’re going to keep wondering about something, and that wondering is probably going to make it where we can’t enjoy our date,” he said smoothly.
“Wondering about what?”
He smiled, leaned closer. “This.” Laura hadn’t been kissed in eight months, and she wasn’t all that sure she remembered how, but David certainly did. His mouth was soft and inviting, teasing her lips and every last one of her senses.
When he pulled away, he must have been satisfied with the awestruck look on her face because he gave her a confident smile and said, “Now we won’t have to wonder.”
But Laura was already wondering...how long she’d have to wait to experience another kiss like that again.
Chapter Fourteen
David couldn’t be happier w
ith his choice of locations for their first date. The food at Messina’s was amazing, as evidenced by Laura humming her contentment with nearly every bite. He pinched his lips together to keep from laughing, and she noticed.
“I’m doing it again,” she said, shrugging. “I don’t think I ever made noises when I ate before I got pregnant.” She picked up another bite of lasagna with her fork and grinned. “But I also don’t remember enjoying eating quite this much before.”
“Personally, I think it’s cute,” he said. “In fact, I think several things you do fall into the ‘cute’ category.”
She paused her fork in midair and then slowly placed it back on the plate, one corner of her mouth lifting as she turned all of her attention to David. “Several things?”
He nodded, enjoying the flirtatious banter of their first date. “Several.”
“You realize you can’t make a statement like that without elaborating,” she challenged. “So...what things?”
“What things do you do that I find cute?” he asked.
The other side of her mouth joined the first to give him a full smile. “Yes. Tell me.”
“Okay.” He wasted no time with his list. “The way your eyes glisten when you talk about your baby girls. The way you glance away at the bookstore when you catch me looking at you. The way your voice softens when you read to the kids in the book club, and the way I know that it’ll do the same thing one day when you read to your little girls. And the way the base of your neck blushes when you’re embarrassed, or flattered, or whatever it is that you are...right now.”
Her hand touched that small pink spot at her neck, and she looked down at her plate. “You sure do notice a lot, don’t you?”
“When I find something interesting.”
She lifted her eyes back to his. “You find me interesting?”
“I always have.”
“I’ve always found you interesting, too.” She cleared her throat, and David thought for a moment that she’d say more, but then she pushed her plate away. “I’m done. Actually, I think I was done three bites ago, but it was too good to stop.”
He understood that they’d gotten a little more personal than she’d planned for their first date. But he was satisfied, sensing that they were growing closer, step by step. He finished off the last of his own lasagna and nodded. “Agreed, but I kept going, too.”
“It is that good, isn’t it?” the waitress said, nearing the table with a tray of assorted desserts. “We have our famous tiramisu, pignoli nut pie and cassata.”
“Oh, I can’t hold another bite,” Laura said, “but those do look amazing.”
“They are,” the woman said.
“We’ll take a tiramisu to go.” David handed his credit card to her. Then to Laura he said, “You know you’ll want it later.”
She laughed. “Didn’t take you long to figure that out.”
The waitress nodded her approval then left the table to tally their check and get their dessert. A few minutes later she returned with the tiramisu boxed and bagged, David’s card and receipt.
Laura started to stand, and David hurried to get up and help her out of her chair.
“I’m attempting to be a gentleman here.”
“And I’m getting more and more used to having one around,” she admitted. She leaned into him as they left the restaurant, the two of them admiring the elegant décor and also saying hello to a few people they recognized from town.
When they neared the exit, David opened the door and a blast of cold air pushed inside.
“Oh, my.” Laura turned her head away from the chilly wind.
David pulled the door shut. “Wait here. I’ll go get the car.”
She nodded. “I’m not going to argue with you.”
* * *
Laura watched through the window as David walked across the parking lot toward his car.
“Excuse me.”
She turned toward the man. She’d seen him before at church but didn’t remember ever being introduced. “Hello.”
“I’m Milton Stott,” he said. “David’s accountant for the bookstore. You’re the lady he hired, aren’t you?”
Laura nodded. “I am. I love working there.” She glanced out the window and saw that someone had stopped David in the parking lot to talk, but she couldn’t identify the man. She wished David would hurry. Milton seemed harmless enough, but he was definitely crowding into her three feet of personal space.
Then she realized why. He wanted to tell her something in private. His voice wasn’t a whisper but just louder than one.
“I’m not trying to interfere in another person’s business,” he said softly, “but when I saw you tonight, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t warn you. A woman in your condition and all.”
Laura turned her attention to the man. “Warn me? Warn me about what?”
“The bookstore,” he said. “I’m assuming you’re, well, relying on it as your source of income?”
She blinked. “Yes, I am.” That was all she had for income until something came through at one of the school systems, which she didn’t see happening before next fall. Then it hit her; this was David’s accountant. He knew the true financial state of David’s business. Laura had suspected that it wasn’t doing well when she first arrived, but lately things had seemed so much better. “We’ve been doing very well,” she said, in case the guy hadn’t checked the books in a while.
“I’m sorry, miss.” He shook his head, opened his mouth as though he were going to say something else, then stopped and pointed out the window. “Your ride is here.” And this time it was a whisper, then he returned to his table in the dining room.
Even though the man hadn’t directly said anything about the stability of David’s business, he’d certainly implied that things weren’t going well. And if anyone would know, it’d be the accountant, right? Laura felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. What else could she do if things didn’t work out at the bookstore? Especially after she had the babies?
She stepped into the cold, and the wind made her eyes water and drip. Or that’s what she would tell David, if he asked. Because now the fairy tale she’d begun to see was starting to disintegrate before her eyes.
David hopped out of the car and moved to open the door. “I’ve got another surprise for tonight,” he said. “I can’t wait to take you...”
She forced a smile. “David, it’s been such a long day, with work and then visiting the kids at the hospital and all. Would you mind taking me on home?”
* * *
David didn’t know what had happened, but from the moment he’d helped Laura in the car at the restaurant, her disposition had turned a one-eighty. She’d been laughing, even flirty, throughout dinner, and now she stared out the window and didn’t say a single word during the entire drive to her apartment. He parked the car by the rear entrance to Carter Photography. “You want to share the tiramisu before we end the night? That would at least put a little something special at the end of the date. I’d planned to take you to see the Christmas lights at Hydrangea Park, but tiramisu will do.”
She’d finally turned her attention away from the window, and David was fairly certain she’d passed her hand across her cheeks before facing him. Was she crying? A few rapid blinks and a forced smile told him she had been, and he couldn’t fathom why.
“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked. “I thought our date was going well. Did I do something, say something wrong?”
She shook her head and did that rapid-blink thing again to ward off her burgeoning tears. “Tonight,” she said, her voice raspy and raw, “was one of the best nights of my life. You didn’t do anything wrong. You haven’t done anything wrong at all, from the first day I came to Claremont.” Then she sighed and added, “You’ve never done anything wrong toward me, fr
om the time that we first met at UT. In fact, everything you’ve ever done has been,” she sniffed, bit her lower lip and then finally said, “perfect.”
“Okay...” he said, confused beyond measure. “Then why are you so upset?”
“The pregnancy hormones, they make me emotional.”
“That’s it? Because you seemed to be really enjoying yourself at the restaurant.” He’d noticed her sensitivity over the past few weeks, the way she bonded so intensely with the children and the way she’d worried about her parents. However, he’d never seen her emotions change this quickly, and he suspected there was a reason. But he had no clue what it was.
“David, I...” She hesitated. “I need to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth.”
As if he’d ever give her anything less than the truth. “Anything.”
“You’ll tell me the truth, even if you don’t think I want to hear it?”
He’d always told Laura the truth, even when she didn’t want to hear it, like in college when he told her Jared wasn’t right for her. Back then she didn’t listen, but now, he could tell that she would. “I can’t imagine what you don’t already know, but yes, I’ll tell you the truth. I promise.”
“You always have,” she said, reiterating David’s very thoughts.
“So ask me what you need to know,” he said.
“The bookstore. Is it not doing well? And are you paying me when you can’t afford it?”
Her questions blindsided him. He ran his hand through his hair, his jaw tensing as he instantly dreaded giving her the truth this time. “Why are you asking?”
“Your accountant was at the restaurant tonight,” she said. “He came to talk to me when you went to get the car, and he hinted that things weren’t going well at the bookstore...at all.”
David was floored. He hadn’t seen Milton at Messina’s, but the restaurant by nature had several dimly lit areas to provide the customers with privacy. But this time, it’d given his accountant a chance to hide...until he apparently found a chance to speak to Laura alone. “What did he say, exactly?”