* * *
Ned’s response had been so charming, so sweet, that Gloria stared down into her nearly empty cocoa mug for a long moment, basking in the glow. When she finally looked up, her face radiant with contentment, she came face to face with Winnie.
Smoothing her expression into one of someone who was intent on their drink and only their drink, Gloria offered a genteel smile, then lifted the cup for a sip.
Winnie didn’t buy it. “So,” the old woman began, “what’s happening between the handsome young deputy and you?”
Gloria shook her head, her expression solemn. “Nothing, we’re just good friends.”
Winnie didn’t argue, but her lips thinned into a thoughtful line. After a moment of conjecture, she spoke. “Friends are something to cherish, for sure.”
“For sure,” Gloria repeated, lifting her cup once again. Draining her cocoa, she stood and carried the mug to the sink, then returned for the other dirty dishes. “Want me to wash these up real quick?” she asked over her shoulder as she rinsed the cocoa from the bottom of the mugs.
“Don’t worry, dear, I’ll just pop them into the dishwasher,” Winnie said, climbing down from her stool. “It was so nice of everyone to come in a for a cup.”
Gloria turned from the sink and laughed. “Oh yes, we’re so kind to partake of your wonderful cooking and hospitality.”
“Well,” Winnie said, brushing at her wrinkled apron. “Cooking for yourself isn’t any fun.”
“That’s true,” Gloria agreed. When the dishes were all rinsed and stacked, she headed toward the washroom to collect her coat and gloves.
“I hope you know you’re always welcome,” Winnie continued, tottering after her.
With one arm in her coat, Gloria looked up to meet the old woman’s scrutiny. Then, forgetting all about the coat hanging down her back, Gloria reached out to hug Winnie, falling headlong into the scent of Jergen’s lotion and peppermint. “Thank you, Winnie,” she whispered into the old woman’s hair. “Thank you for being the grandma I never had.”
When Gloria released the hug and returned to tugging on her coat, Winnie huffed and sniffled with emotion. As she moved to let Gloria pass, the old woman pulled a ruffled hanky from under watchband and wiped at her nose. “You kids.” she sniffed.
* * *
Elliot tilted his head to one side as he perused the backdrop for the pageant choir. “You’ve done so well with this,” he said to Ned, motioning with one hand toward the large wooden set, painted with bright Christmas scenes. “It’s exactly like I envisioned it.”
The door to the shop creaked open, and both men turned to see Lizzie, carrying little Isabelle on one hip.
A smile lit the men’s faces as they watched the beautiful woman approach, Elliot taken with the brightness of her eyes and the curve of her figure, Ned focusing on the grinning baby.
“Hey, guys,” Lizzie said, adjusting the baby on her hip. “Wow, Deputy, these look amazing!”
“How did you find me?” Elliot asked, reaching out to tuck a curl behind his girlfriend’s ear then drop a kiss on her cheek.
“I saw your car,” she said, struggling to keep her grip on Isabelle, who had spotted Ned and lunged to reach him.
Ned stepped up and took the baby, lifting her into the air. “How’s my little Bella, Bella, Bella?” he sang, swinging her around. The baby screeched in delight.
Elliot and Lizzie grinned, watching the baby and Ned play, then Elliot slipped his arm around her waist. “Is Tara still helping Julia with decorations?”
Lizzie nodded, her black curls bobbing. “Yes, and the baby was getting hungry and tired. I need to get home and feed the animals anyway, so I offered to take her. When are you heading home?”
“I could come now and help with the baby.”
“That would be great,” she said, her smile warm and filled with love.
Ned handed the baby back to Lizzie. “I n—need to get going too. I have just enough t—time to work out and get cleaned up before I have to b—be at my parent’s house. Big family dinner,” he added with a cringe. “I may cut out early. Say I have to get to w—work.”
Elliot’s eyes sparkled as he considered Ned’s words. “Gotta fit in a workout, eh?”
“I better get this little girl some dinner,” Lizzie said smoothing the baby’s hair. She turned to go, but Isabelle fussed and cried, reaching for the men, so Lizzie stopped and offered the baby to Elliot.
The striking man took the baby, overlooking her slobbery little hand clutching his one-hundred-percent silk tie. Settling her against his chest, he patted her back, and turned to follow Lizzie.
“Bye, Ned,” Lizzie called as she disappeared out the door.
“See ya, and great work,” Elliot said over his shoulder, motioning toward the pageant sets. When he reached the door, he stopped, then grinned, as if confirming something to himself. “Have fun tonight.” He chuckled as he hurried out and the door creaked closed.
“Ugh,” Ned grunted, shaking his head. “Yeah, I’ll have a blast being inundated with family, no doubt.”
* * *
“I need to go right now?” Gloria asked Elliot.
His voice buzzed on the other end of the line, and she glanced in the rear-view mirror. “I suppose I could turn around, but it’s out of my way just now. Are you sure this can’t wait until morning?”
She frowned at the answer coming from the cell phone. Finally, she flipped on her blinker, watching for a place to turn around. “Okay, okay, I’ll go back to town.” She clicked off the phone and dropped it back into her purse.
Sighing, she watched traffic fly past in time to the click, click, click, of the blinker. Finally, she could make a U-turn and head back toward town. What on earth could Elliot need that was so important? Ned wasn’t even on duty. Surely he would answer his phone at some point and Elliot could tell him whatever was so urgent.
She’d been ready to tell Elliot she was too tired and needed to get home. But when he said he was babysitting Isabelle while Lizzie was out with the animals, She’d decided it was the least she could do to take Ned a message.
She’d never actually been to Ned’s house, but like most of the folks in town, she knew where he lived. Justin and Tara had talked about the old house he’d been remodeling in his off time, and what a good job he was doing. Julia had helped him with his yard, and Chad had delivered some appliances and furniture. And of course, Becky was a huge source of info on what people were doing around town.
As she neared the house she rehearsed what she would say. “Hi, Ned, I just came by to let you know that Elliot needs to talk to you.”
No, that sounded too stuffy, too official. They were friends, it shouldn’t be a big deal if she came over. How about, “Hey, I hope it’s okay to pop in. I’ve been curious about your place, and Elliot asked me to give you a message.”
No, too butt-in-skie.
Pulling into the drive, she gave up and decided to wing it. However, on her way to the front door she began to regret the whole thing. Why on earth couldn’t Elliot wait until Ned got the message? He’d never called her before and acted like it was a life or death matter that she give someone a message.
Straightening her shoulders, once again reassuring herself this was no big deal, she knocked on the door, then waited. She didn’t hear anything, no footsteps or indication that Ned had heard. A quick glance toward the driveway showed that both his personal car and the patrol car were both there, so she tried again, this time knocking harder. She waited, feeling guilty for pounding on his door, but finally, she was rewarded with footsteps from inside. For a quick second, the peephole darkened, and she smiled as if having her picture taken. How awkward.
The door flew open, and Ned stood wide-eyed, wearing a pair of shorts and not much else. In one hand he held a towel and sweat glistened on his face, chest, and arms. Clearly, he’d been working out, which would certainly account for why he hadn’t been answering Elliot’s calls.
“Gloria!�
� he blurted, surprise clear on his face. “Wh—wh…” He glanced past her, wondering who else may be with her, but finding no one, he returned his attention to her face. “What are you doing here?”
Taken aback by the sight of Ned’s naked chest only inches away, she faltered, trying to recall her rehearsed words.
Unhappy with his greeting, Ned tried again. “No, I m—mean, wh—what brings you b—by? Now. T—tonight.”
Giving up completely on what she’d planned to say, Gloria motioned over her shoulder. “Elliot needs you to call him.” Wow, she thought, that was coarse, not friendly at all. She sounded mad, and that wasn’t what she’d wanted. “And I was in the neighborhood—” she lied, “so I offered—” No, wait, her brain screamed, that sounds forward. “I mean, I said I’d be able to—” Nice, Gloria, she berated herself. Genuinely unhappy, she stopped talking and fell silent.
The couple stood staring at the other, both lamenting their part in the botched conversation.
Chapter Twelve
“Come in,” Ned said, stepping back to open the door.
Gloria considered sprinting down the sidewalk rather than entering, but she stepped over the threshold, averting her eyes to avoid Ned’s masculine chest.
He motioned toward his sofa. “Sit down, w—would you like something to drink?”
Gloria perched on the edge of the sofa between a stack of papers, an open laptop computer, and a pile of clean clothes. “I’m fine, thanks.”
Ned closed the door then watched her intently as he crossed the room. Deep in thought, he nearly dropped onto his overstuffed chair, but in the nick of time, he remembered he was covered in sweat. With a quick swipe of the towel he dried his face and arms, then it dawned on him what Gloria had said, and the towel froze in place. “Did you say Elliot asked you to come by?”
She nodded. “Yes, he said he needed to get you a message.”
“And it couldn’t wait…” He mocked, knowing full well that when he’d left Elliot thirty minutes ago, the man knew he was heading home to work out. Yet he sent Gloria over. That sneaky bastard.
She stood, picking up on his irritation. “Anyway, I let you know so…”
Back peddling, he raised one hand. “Don’t go, I’m n—not upset at you,” he assured, putting aside his irritation with Elliot. “Stay, t—talk to me…” Now he sounded desperate.
Completely confused, Gloria hesitated.
Assessing her expression, Ned tried again. “Sit down, and I’ll g—go grab a sh—shirt.”
Appeased by his offer, she settled back down onto the sofa.
Ned hurried to his bedroom and grabbed up the T-shirt tossed on the end of the unmade bed. One sniff indicated he couldn’t wear that in front of Gloria, so he threw it in the corner and turned to the closet. Then again, he couldn’t very well put clean clothes on his sticky body. He needed a shower, but there wasn’t time. In near panic, he rushed to his bathroom and stuck the towel under the tap. Not waiting for hot water, he soaked the towel in ice-cold water and swabbed it across his face, arms and chest, then did the behind-the-back back-and-forth motion to wipe his back. Quickly he swiped at both armpits then paused to think.
No, that would have to do, he surmised, tossing the towel into the tub. An idea dawned and he flung open the medicine cabinet over the sink. Grabbing the bottle of aftershave, he sprayed himself down.
At least I smell better, he decided, replacing the bottle. As the cabinet closed, he caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror and froze. His hair was standing straight up, and his eyes had a desperate, wild look to them. Good lord, he thought in irritation as he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead. He looked like an idiot and smelled like a perfume counter. You’d think he’d never had a woman drop by. Then again—had he?
Banishing the thought, he tugged on a clean T-shirt and hurried back to the living room. When he entered, Gloria looked up. In her hands were several of the papers from the sofa.
“This is sheet music,” she said, clearly confused. “Handwritten sheet music.”
Ned snatched the papers from her hands and quickly gathered the rest from the sofa. “It’s nothing, really,” he assured her as he deposited the haphazard stack face down on the coffee table.
“But, you write music?” she asked, her eyes bright with questions. She was obviously shocked and wanted an explanation.
It was the perfect opportunity to tell her, he supposed. Most people didn’t leave sheet music lying around, but. “It’s—I— I p—play around with it…” he finally said, his words fading into the already tense room. He dropped into a chair across from her. “Anyway, do you know what Elliot wanted?” Besides getting you over here while I was undressed, he didn’t add.
She shook her head. “No, sorry, he just said it was urgent.”
“I see.”
She waited, her eyes darting from him to the door, to the coffee table, and back. Finally, she spoke. “So… I suppose… you should call him.”
“Oh, right!” he said, jumping up from the chair. He hurried from the room in search of his phone, then popped his head back around the corner to give her the one-finger-up, give-me-a-minute, signal.
“I’ll wait,” she assured him.
Ned cussed under breath as he tugged his cell phone from the pocket of his discarded jeans. Just as he thought, not one missed call. He typed furiously on the phone with his thumbs, sending Elliot a text stating his opinion of the man’s tactics, then stopped to stare out his open bedroom door.
“I’ve got to pull myself together,” he mumbled, jamming his fingers back through his hair. Elliot may have been out of line, he thought, but his friend had also created an opportunity for Ned to spend some time with Gloria, if he could keep from blowing it, that is. He inhaled a long slow breath and expelled it out his nose, then repeated the process. Once he felt more himself, he sauntered back to the living room.
Gloria stood, concern written across her pretty face. “Is everything okay?”
“It was, yeah, every-th-thing’s okay,” he assured her, tossing his cell phone onto the coffee table. “Emergency averted.”
She relaxed visibly. “Oh good. I was worried, what with— you know, your job.”
He moved the laptop to the coffee table so he could sit on the other end of the sofa. Even though the situation was awkward, he couldn’t help but be happy to have Gloria all to himself. She was so appealing, especially the way her hair caught the light when she moved.
“I like your tree,” Gloria said.
“Huh?” He jerked to attention, realizing he’d been lost admiring her instead of talking to her.
She pointed across the room to a tiny potted Christmas tree on the floor by the fireplace. Mini decorations and strands of tinsel covered the tiny branches.
“Oh,” he scoffed. “My m—mom got me that, I’m not one for holiday d—decorations.”
“You only hang other people’s decorations, is that it?” she joked.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I g—guess so.”
“I hear the backdrops are finished,” she said, keeping the conversation flowing.
Ned leaned into the cushions and draped one arm along the back of the sofa, sending up a waft of cologne. He started to yank his arm back, but Gloria was watching so he replaced it, pretending to fluff the cushion. Unfortunately, the pillow was affixed to the sofa. Finally, he gave up and refocused on her, feigning confidence.
“I’ll bet that was a challenge.”
His face fell. “Excuse me?”
“The backdrops?”
“Oh,” he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, causing another nauseatingly strong wave of aftershave to drift around him. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. You helped me p—paint…”
She shrugged. “Well, I didn’t do much.”
Quiet settled between them, causing Ned to wish he knew something interesting, or even fairly intelligent to say.
“Here I am taking up your whole eve
ning,” Gloria fretted, moving to get up.
He put one hand out. “No, you’re fine. I don’t have anything going on.”
“But, you were obviously working out,” she started. “And Elliot thought you may work tonight.” He didn’t respond so she continued. “I shouldn’t be taking up your workout time. I know how frustrating that is.”
“I promise,” he said, crossing his heart. “I have nowhere I need to be.”
Before she could respond, his phone rang on the coffee table, and both turned to see his mother’s face smiling up from the screen. Ned stifled a moan as the phone continued to buzz and sing, the ringtone repeating over and over.
“Are you going to get that?” she asked.
What a choice. He should answer his mother’s call, which was undoubtedly about when he was going to arrive for dinner, and right after he’d promised he had nowhere to be. Either that, or let Gloria think he neglected his mother.
“Sure,” he huffed, snatching up the phone. “Hi, Mom,” he grumbled, glancing toward Gloria.
She smiled, her eyes twinkling, causing the bottom to drop out of his heart. How did she do that, make him gasp for air, forgetting how to breathe for moments at a time? The phone sagged from his ear as his mind wandered.
“Edward?” a tiny voice murmured from the phone.
Snapping to attention, Ned blushed. “Yes, Mom. Okay, right. Soon.” He turned slightly away from Gloria. “I don’t know,” he added in a horse whisper.
Evidently, his irritation alerted Gloria because she stood and smoothed her sweater.
“Fine,” he said, his exasperation showing. “I un—understand.”
Gloria’s hunched her shoulders guiltily as if to say she knew she was being a problem. Then, using sign language, she motioned toward the front door and turned to leave.
“I’m bringing a friend,” Ned blurted far too loud, causing Gloria to jump in surprise. She turned to him in question, and he stood, his expression unreadable.
Hometown Series Box Set Page 93
