No Time for Surprises (The No Brides Club Book 6)

by Karen McCullough

T he dinner he fixed later could only be called spectacular. Although he claimed the steak would have been better cooked on a grill, she couldn’t imagine anything tastier. Tender, tangy, just barely pink in the middle, it tempted her to eat much more than she normally would.

  And the artichokes… Those presented an eating experience unlike anything she could remember. He’d set out a little cup of melted butter for each of them. After a couple of bites of steak each, she looked at the artichoke and said, “Okay. What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Ah. Glad you asked.” He put down his fork and reached for the artichoke. “You pull a leaf off it, like this.” He tugged one from near the bottom of the green hand grenade and held it up. “Dunk the pulpy end into the butter, put it in your mouth and scrape it through your teeth to get the good stuff off, then put the rest aside.”

  He demonstrated the technique while she watched. A dribble of butter ran down his chin and he swiped at it with his napkin. “Trust me. It’s delicious. I trimmed off the tough outer leaves and most of the pointy tops before I steamed them, so just grab and pull.”

  She watched dubiously as he tugged another leaf free and put it in his mouth. He did seem to enjoy it, so she hesitantly followed his example, removing a leaf, dunking it, and then dragging it through her teeth. What stayed in her mouth was pulpy, buttery, and surprisingly delicious.

  “Well, that was…okay,” she said, watching for his reaction.

  He rolled his eyes and tried to look offended. “Nope. Not buying that. It’s terrific and you know it.”

  She giggled at his stern expression. “Okay. I concede. It’s delicious. Who knew something that ugly could taste so good?”

  “We haven’t even gotten to the best part, yet. The heart. You have to eat most of the leaves first.”

  “Okay.” Conversation lagged as they concentrated on eating food that deserved every bit of their attention. Once they’d pulled out most of the leaves, he showed her how to scrape off the remaining ones and scoop out the fuzzy bits beneath to get to the heart. “Cut this up, dunk it in the butter, and you’ve reached the promised land.”

  “I think I got there during the steak,” she admitted. “But a bit of extra won’t bother me.”

  And it was pretty darn good. Not as good as the steak, but surprisingly delicious for something that counted as a vegetable. They finished off the ice cream remaining from the previous night for dessert. He made decaf coffee for both of them to go with it.

  By the time they finished, the light was fading outside. They sat on the couch for a while, talking and cuddling, but well before she wanted to call it a night, he stood. “I hate to go. Really. But if I don’t leave now, this is going to go farther than I think either of us is comfortable with yet.”

  She hated to admit he was right. But he was.

  Sleep eluded her again for a while that night. The wall she’d built around her heart was crumbling. That barrier had protected her from being hurt for several years now. Letting it go made her exposed to the kind of devastation she’d suffered once before. If he let her down again, she didn’t know if she could survive it. That risk terrified her.

  THE FOLLOWING week was relatively uneventful. She and Maureen made good progress on getting the app up and running. Since the next Wednesday was the due date, they worked hard and steadily.

  She saw Dan only a few times. There seemed to be a lot of meetings going on, probably to help settle all the newcomers into their roles with the new parent company.

  He called her at one point to ask how she felt about taking a trip out of town with him the coming weekend. “I was thinking of getting reservations for a B&B somewhere in the mountains upstate. Two rooms. Some place where we could just drive around and admire the countryside or stop to take a hike or look at things.”

  “Sounds delightful,” she said. “I’m in.”

  “Great. I’ll arrange for the car and the B&B.”

  “Anything particular I need to bring?”

  “Just your sense of humor and spirit of adventure. And good walking shoes.”

  “Okay. Got it.”

  She tried to keep a straight face, but Maureen saw something there anyway. “Weekend plans with lover boy?”

  “Maybe.”

  Maureen gave her a puzzled look. “When are you two going to admit you’re in love?”

  Julie sighed. “I don’t know if we ever will. I don’t know if we have a future yet.”

  “Why not? From where I’m standing it looks so obvious that he loves you and you’re head over heels.”

  “You know our history. You know what happened three years ago.”

  “And you can’t forgive and forget?” Maureen asked. “I get the feeling he has plenty of regrets about what happened.”

  “Forgive, yes. I wouldn’t be going out with him if I hadn’t forgiven. Forgetting is harder. It takes time to rebuild lost trust.”

  “He’s been as helpful and supportive as he can be.”

  “I know. It’s just me. And I’m trying hard to adjust my attitude. The attraction is still there. But I can’t make any promises until I’m sure the past won’t intrude. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

  Maureen’s expression showed sympathy. “I’m not living in your head, so I can’t judge. But I wonder if you’re expecting too much of him. Yes, he made a mistake, but it wasn’t so out of line, really, even if it seemed like it to you. You yourself said the evidence all pointed to you. Why wouldn’t he make that assumption initially? And he’s tried to apologize and make it up to you.”

  The woman looked down for a moment. “Also, in my experience, real love is a gift that doesn’t come along all that often. It’s a terrible thing to waste. And that’s all I’m going to say about it. Only you and he can settle it between you.”

  “Maureen?” Julie said.

  The woman looked up at her, showing a hint of worry in her expression.

  Julie smiled at her. “Thank you.”

  Maureen’s face cleared, and she smiled back. “I hope it works out for both of you.”

  By Friday of that week, they had the app finished aside from additional testing and fine-tuning a few details.

  She stopped in Dan’s office on Friday afternoon and tapped on his door when she saw him in there. He looked up, smiled, and waved her to a chair.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “The app I’m working on is set to be delivered next week and it’s pretty much working. Maureen and I will both give it an intense go-through Monday and Tuesday, but I need to schedule turn over for Wednesday, the due date. Then once we deliver stage three, we go to stage four, beta testing. I wanted to give you a list of our confirmed beta testers. Stan knows most of them since it’s pretty much the same list as for previous apps, but I thought you should have it, too. I’ll email the list to you. You can share it with Jake.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Also… Since I won’t have much to do for a bit once the app is off to the beta testers, I’d like to use the time to start on the next project. Spieler has a basic outline of the function for the next thing I’d like to work on, but I still haven’t heard whether or not there will be a contract for it.”

  He paused and looked uncomfortable before answering. “I don’t know. I’ve tried to get an indication from Charles about what he wants to do, but he won’t tell me anything. Just keeps putting me off. Says he’s not ready to decide. I think they’re vacillating about it.” The words sounded tired with a hint of defeat in their depths.

  “About me, you mean. The app’s a great idea and anyone who knows anything about this business should recognize it.”

  “I know. But I don’t know what Charles is thinking or planning. He’s not sharing ideas with me right now.”

  Julie took a close look at him, noticing dark shadows under his eyes and a general air of weariness. “Are you okay? You look tired.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “Busy week. A lot going on and I’ve been
working late. But I’m looking forward to the weekend. I’ve got rooms at a B&B in Windham. Looks like a beautiful place. I’ll pick up the rental car at eight tomorrow and get to you around nine, if that works for you? I’ll text you when I’m close.”

  “Sounds perfect. But you have to promise you’ll get an early bedtime tonight. No going out on the town.”

  His smile was strained. “Not happening. Have other priorities right now.” He jotted a note on a pad. “I’ll talk to Charles about setting up a meeting for the stage three handover next Wednesday. I’ll try to nudge him for a decision on the next project as well.” He stood as she rose to leave.

  She stopped at the door and studied him for a moment. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “Your concern is chipping away at my self-image as an invincible, self-sufficient, totally in control, manly he-man.”

  “I don’t know that person. In fact, I don’t think I’ve met anyone who fit that description.”

  “I’m wounded. You’re killing me here.”

  “Dan, your ego doesn’t need any more stroking. You know very well what a good, strong, kind man you are.”

  The smile crawled over his face slowly. When it reached his eyes, they glinted with a silvery radiance. “That’s better. See you tomorrow.”

  She left on that, not entirely reassured. Something was bothering him. She didn’t think he lied about the long hours, but she wondered what was going on to cause that. No rumors had reached her about a big project here at Spieler other than integrating the C & W people and resources into theirs.

  A possible answer hit her like a water balloon to the face. Was she the reason for his apparent lack of sleep? Did the possibility of their relationship ending bother him enough to interfere with his rest at night? She hoped not. But they only had a couple of weeks left before their self-imposed deadline, and she hadn’t made any decisions.

  And Spieler could be a complicating factor. If they decided against contracting with her again, that would leave Dan in an awkward position.

  CHAPTER 15

  She woke Saturday morning to a sky heavy with gray clouds and a light drizzle. When she checked her weather app, though, it indicated the clouds should clear off later in the morning, with sunshine and comfortable temperatures predicted for later. Dan showed up right on time to pick her up.

  As they headed to the Lincoln Tunnel, he mentioned the weather was supposed to improve. She wore a rain jacket and hiking boots and assured him she was okay with hiking in the rain as long as it was light, and the ground wasn’t too mucky. He nodded and handed her a print-out with their reservations, so she could plug the address into the maps app on her phone to get directions.

  The sky began to clear as they headed north toward the Catskills. After a while they left behind the industrial flats and densely populated suburban areas of New Jersey. By the time they crossed back into New York state, the landscape had become hillier as they drew near the old, worn-down mountains. Urban sprawl gave way to pastures and open spaces, and the exits led to small towns that were barely dots on the map.

  The Catskills weren’t the highest mountains in the world or even the country or region, but their position in southeastern New York meant they’d once been a popular vacation retreat for residents of the city, before major highways and air travel provided easier access to more distant places.

  The area boasted a significant niche in the state’s history as well as spectacular scenery and plenty of opportunities for hiking, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, and cycling in summer and skiing in winter.

  They stopped for lunch at a charming old inn Julie found with the help of another app on her phone. It was only a couple of miles off the highway and the food justified the trip. They spent an hour wandering the manicured grounds and attractive gardens afterward before setting out again.

  An hour later, they detoured again when a billboard directed their attention to hiking trails leading to a scenic waterfall and a mountain overlook not far away. It, too, proved worth the effort. A well-marked and mulched path led gently uphill for half a mile through woods with openings where flowering shrubs grew in colorful profusion and sometimes looked out across mountain-enclosed pastures. At a split in the trail they decided to go left, which led downward to the waterfall viewpoint.

  The waterfall viewing platform was halfway up the side of the hill where a stream dove off a steep cliff and into a pool a hundred or so feet below. It wasn’t a huge, raging cascade, but more an elegant and graceful stream of water rushing over rocks near the top and then trailing downward in several separate narrow lines. Julie found herself entranced by the flowing water. The sound was loud but rhythmic, almost musical, and it brought a damp freshness to the smell of the air.

  After a while she turned away to find Dan waiting on a bench. Obviously, it hadn’t mesmerized him to the same extent, but he’d waited patiently while she admired the display.

  They turned away and took the turn to a more uphill walk, leading to the scenic overlook. That proved equally breathtaking when they got there. Dan shared her enthusiasm for the view this time.

  The fenced, cleared area looked over a long, narrow valley to a row of ragged, jutting, bluish-green peaks on the far side. A river meandered lazily at the bottom of the valley. To their left it disappeared into a thick wood, but on their right, manicured pastures spread to the water’s edge. A small boat was tied up at a dock almost directly below, with a picturesque red barn and ramshackle house flanking the rickety wood walkway of the mooring.

  “The city almost makes you forget scenes as peaceful as this actually exist,” Julie said.

  “True. And it’s never this quiet.” As if to belie his words, a large bird flew across the mountainside in front of them and emitted a loud, harsh cry. They both laughed.

  The smile on his face made her aware of the tension in his expression it replaced. Although he tried to hide it, he’d been that way since they’d left the city. She wished she could tell him what he wanted to hear, to say the words that would drive away his unease.

  But then he drew in a sharp breath, turned, and took her in his arms. They kissed and held each other for a long time, breaking apart only when the crackle of twigs underfoot signaled the arrival of someone else at the overlook.

  They went back to the car and this time drove on until they got to the inn, just as the sun began to sink down below the tops of the hills to the west. The tension in his face abated but didn’t disappear.

  After they registered and settled into their rooms, showered, and changed clothes, they met in the lobby where drinks and canapés were served. By then they were both hungry again and proceeded to dinner in the restaurant. Their table sat beside a window overlooking a flower-dappled meadow that glowed in the sunset. The view, along with good food and good company made for a lovely dinner. They lingered over it for a long time.

  After a pleasantly relaxing day, the exercise, and good food, Julie should have fallen asleep quickly and stayed that way for a while. She didn’t.

  She couldn’t get it out of her head that she had only a couple of weeks, maybe a dozen days, to make a decision that could change her life in drastic ways. She wanted so badly to believe that he completely trusted her now and would take her side no matter what. And she almost did. Almost. It was that last, tiny, niggling doubt that kept her awake and kept her from telling him yes.

  A doubt she really shouldn’t have. What more could he do to prove to her that he regretted the past and wouldn’t repeat it? He’d offered her all the help he could; he’d kept his word about talking to Kris about harassing them; and he’d convinced Jake to accept her booby traps. That last alone should be proof enough.

  Why couldn’t she move beyond it? She was impatient and angry with herself. Maureen was so right that love was a rare gift and finding it with a man like Dan was even rarer. She had to work her way past this emotional roadblock. But the three years of agony following his betrayal couldn’t be banished so easily
or quickly.

  After a long, leisurely breakfast featuring more food than she would normally eat in two meals, they checked out, but headed for a museum recommended by the person behind the desk at the inn.

  This wasn’t specifically an art museum, but it still held a number of objects that could qualify as works for art. Its purpose centered on the history of the region from the earliest Native American settlements to the beginning of the twentieth century. Well-done displays and surprising nuggets of information fascinated them for a couple of hours, until the time called on them to get going again.

  They didn’t stop along the way this time, driving straight back through the afternoon. For a while they talked about the displays they’d seen at the museum and the implications, but each grew quiet for a while. Julie dozed, waking as they entered the tunnel taking them back into Manhattan.

  “It’s been a wonderful weekend,” she said. “I hate to see it end.”

  “So do I,” he admitted. “Let’s get dinner and then I’ll take the car back and head home.

  They ate at a nice Italian place, but Julie was fading fast after the broken sleep of the night before. He seemed to realize it, too. They didn’t prolong the meal and he dropped her off at her building just after seven.

  SHE HATED HAVING to go back to work on Monday. Maureen asked about the weekend and gave her a knowing look when Julie said it had been pretty good. Her friend’s eyebrows went up, but she didn’t push it.

  The only time she saw Dan on Monday was when he came to tell her he’d scheduled the turn over meeting for stage three at two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. He didn’t say anything about the next project, which increased her unease about it.

  Testing on the app went well. She and Maureen found only a few small, easily resolved issues, and she went into work Wednesday reasonably confident the turnover demo would go well.

  About an hour after she arrived on Wednesday, Stan asked if he could talk to her for a moment. When she agreed, he led her to the server room and shut the door behind them.