by Kay Correll
But it sure felt like a date…
He struggled to find a topic. “So, I heard about the Festival of Lights. Sounds like fun.” Maybe if he could get her talking about the town again they could get back to being— Being what? Friends? Were they friends? It took longer than four days to become friends, didn’t it?
“The festival is fun. It’s so lovely. And a group of us—The Yarn Society—are getting together to bake cookies.” She grinned. “We named our knitting group yesterday.”
“Didn’t know people named their knitting groups.”
“We did.” She laughed. “And I love the name. Love being part of the group. And Lillian offered up the kitchen here at the inn. I think it will be fun to bake with everyone.”
“So… you’re a knitter. What else can you tell me about yourself?”
“I’ve lived here on the island most of my adult life. I was from Michigan before that. I came here for vacation, met my husband—” She paused, glanced out the window, then back at him. “Barry. He was just starting up his marina business. We dated long-distance for a little bit, but soon he asked me to marry him and I moved down here. We had Ben and Brian.”
“You have another son?”
“I do, but he lives in Michigan now.”
He wanted to know how long she’d been a widow but didn’t really know if she’d want to talk about it.
She took a sip of her wine and looked out the window again. She finally set her glass down and looked at him. “Barry died over two years ago… almost three I guess. It was sudden. He was my best friend and—well, it’s been hard.”
“I’m sure it has.”
A spouse that was a best friend. He sure hadn’t gotten that with his marriage.
“So, how about you? You were married?” She frowned. “Or are married? You aren’t married are you?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not married. Divorced. My wife—she left me. Didn’t want to be married to me any longer.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t such a great husband. I worked a lot of hours. Anyway, that was a few years back. I’ve adjusted.” Kind of. He still couldn’t quite get used to the rattling around in his empty condo alone. Not that he and Laurie did much together toward the end. They occasionally had a meal together. He went to his home office to work most nights, she went to her room. They hadn’t shared a bedroom in years. But still, in some weird way, he missed being married. Now their family was no more. Corey didn’t come back to Kansas City, and he never saw Laurie anymore.
Ruby shot him a sympathetic look. He didn’t want sympathy, and he sure as heck wasn’t going to tell Ruby why Laurie had really left him. That was hopefully all behind him now, and he didn’t like to think about it.
The waitress came to take their order and their talk turned to less deep subjects, which suited him just fine. Somewhere during the meal, they seemed to find their comfort zone again and chatted along like they had before this date thing.
Lillian came over at the end of their meal. “Would you two like dessert? Jay made apple pie.”
“Oh, yes please.” Ruby’s eyes lit up.
“I can’t let the lady eat dessert alone, now can I? I’d like a scoop of vanilla ice cream on mine.”
“Oh, me, too.”
“Okay, two slices of pie with ice cream, coming right up.”
They sat and ate their dessert—it really was great pie, but not as good as Ruby’s—and continued on in their more relaxed way, thank goodness. He was almost past his nervousness. Almost. She still made him feel a bit off-kilter. But in a good way.
Honestly, the woman totally delighted him.
Ruby was glad to be over her whole falling apart with nerves thing she’d had going on. They walked leisurely back to her house after stuffing themselves on Jay’s excellent dessert.
The wind had picked up a bit, and she wished she’d grabbed a jacket. She rubbed her hands on her arms to warm them.
“You cold?”
“A little bit. We’re almost home though.”
“Here…” He held his arm out.
She paused for a moment, then slipped next to him. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. They fell into perfect synchronized step as they headed down the sidewalk again.
She admitted it did feel strange to have some man have his arm around her, but she did appreciate the heat he was putting out. His warmth seeped through her, making the walk much more enjoyable.
They got to her house, and she paused on the top step in the glow of her porch light. “Thank you for tonight. I had a nice time.”
“You mean after we decided not to call the date a date?” He winked at her.
“Yes, after that. It was silly. I don’t know why I was so… nervous.”
“You and me both. Glad that’s over. No more first dates for us.”
She laughed. “That’s true.”
“But how about a second date?” He looked at her and her heart skipped a beat.
No. No, it didn’t. She was fine. But an unexpected wash of pleasure and anticipation swept over her like one of the surprise waves on the beach. “Are you asking me out?”
“I am. Tomorrow night?”
“Oh, I can’t. I made plans with some women from The Yarn Society.”
“The next night then?”
She nodded.
“Perfect. I’ll call you tomorrow and we’ll make plans.”
He stood on the bottom step and looked like he might say something more, but he didn’t.
“Well, good night.”
“Night, Ruby. Sweet dreams.”
She watched him head back to Charming Inn. She finally slipped inside, flipping on the light. Mischief came running up to her, wagging his tail. He’d evidently gotten over his snit about not being invited to dinner with them.
“Come on, boy. I’ll take you outside, then I’m headed to bed. Going to curl up with a book if I can keep my eyes open that long.”
She changed into her pajamas and washed her face, lost in thought the whole time. Thoughts that jumped from this musing to that one. The dinner. How nervous she’d been. Their walk home. How it felt to have David’s arm around her.
And Mischief. Her constant companion who was now curled up on her bed, waiting for her. She flipped off the bathroom light and climbed into bed, deciding she was too tired to even read for a bit. She clicked off the bedside lamp and snuggled down in the covers.
She heard David’s words in her mind as she drifted off to sleep. “Sweet dreams.”
Chapter 13
Robin stood in the kitchen at Charming Inn, leaning against the counter. “I told Char I’d disappear so she could have a nice quiet evening with Ben at the bungalow. So, I guess you’re stuck with me.”
Jay tossed her a lazy grin. “Lucky me.”
“You can put me to work if you want.”
“I’ve got things covered. Why don’t you dish up a plate of food and you can talk to me while I work?”
“But then I’d have to decide between the meatloaf or the broiled grouper.”
“Or you could have some of both.” He nodded toward the food.
She took a small plate of each, a helping of green beans cooked with bacon—bacon made everything better—and eyed the pie, too. Maybe if she still had room later.
She perched on a stool by the counter and tackled her meal.
“Looks like you’re enjoying it.” Jay’s lips tilted in a smile.
“You’re like the best cook ever. You keep feeding me meals like this and I’m going to have to buy a whole new wardrobe I’ll get so fat. And it will be all your fault.”
“As if that would ever happen.” Jay eyed her appreciatively.
She blushed. She had been blessed with a slender, eat-anything-she-wanted figure. Though that was changing a bit as she got older.
She finished her meal and put the dishes over by the dishwasher, coming back to sit on the stool. She balanced herself, resting her feet on the r
ung. “So… how is the new cook working out?”
“Pretty good. I took a night off this week, well the end of the night, and went to meet Ben at The Lucky Duck.”
“A couple of nights ago?”
“Yep.”
“That must have been where he was when Charlotte went looking for him. They were supposed to have dinner, but he cancelled and said he had too much work at the marina—and it wasn’t the first time he’d done that. She decided to drop by and see him, but he was gone.”
“Yeah, we met up at nine-thirty for a quick, late beer.”
“I think Charlotte thinks they aren’t quite… I don’t know… in sync anymore?”
“People get in sync?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, you know. When they’re in love. They seem to just… be in sync. Not have to work so hard at it. I’m afraid he’s not making Charlotte much of a priority in his life, and she’s not one to take that in a relationship. Especially after putting up with being ignored by her family for so long.”
“I guess they’ll just have to work things out, then.”
“I hope so. Charlotte was so happy when they first got together.”
“Dating is a complicated business.”
“I guess so.” Though to be honest, she couldn’t remember her last date. Oh, yes, she could. Franklin somebody. What a disaster that had been. Enough to sour her off men for months. Franklin was fairly certain he was the center of the universe. Talked nonstop about his job all through dinner. Never asked a single question about her. She’d never been so glad for a meal to be over. He’d never called again and that had been the best thing about that date.
Jay interrupted her thoughts. “I think Ben’s struggling with the weight of running the marina, and he’s not dealing very well with his mother dating.”
“That’s a shame. I would think he’d be happy that she’s out and doing things now. She had a long, hard go of it after her husband died.”
“She did. I think Ben just needs some time to get used to their new normal without his father. And I think he feels pressure to make the marina a big success. To make his father proud. Or he thinks he needs to.”
“I’m sure that’s hard for him.” She’d give Ben sympathy for that. It is hard to lose a parent. But she was a bit worried about the whole Ben and Charlotte thing. She didn’t like to see her friend hurt.
“So, how about a slice of pie? You know you want one.” Jay tossed that lazy grin her direction again. He was impossibly impish when he wanted to be…
“I do.” She slid off the stool and helped herself to a slice of pie. But only so she didn’t hurt Jay’s feelings when he’d offered her one. That was all.
She grinned at her blatant lie.
Charlotte busied herself getting ready for her dinner with Ben. He’d promised he’d make it by six tonight. She’d carefully planned a menu. She’d even attempted baking a pie. Okay, she’d had Jay help her with that and brought it back here to the bungalow to bake. It smelled delicious.
The table was set for two and she’d watched YouTube videos on how to fold napkins and had a folded rose-ish napkin sitting precisely on each plate. She eyed them. They did look like roses, didn’t they?
She placed fresh flowers on the table and in a few vases around the bungalow. She’d picked up the bungalow, hiding the everyday clutter that somehow managed to appear even though both she and Robin were pretty tidy people. Except for the room she used as a studio. That was a mess. But she was certain it would be called a creative mess, so it was okay.
She peeked in the oven at the chicken dish she’d made. It was browning nicely. She’d opened a nice bottle of red wine to breathe. Hopefully everything would come together about thirty minutes after Ben got here. That would give them time to relax with a nice drink.
And maybe talk a bit…
She glanced at her watch. Five minutes to six. She popped into the bathroom for a last check on her hair and makeup. Everything was ready. She was ready.
She wandered back to the kitchen and sat down at the table, staring at the folded napkin roses. Did they look like roses?
She glanced at her watch. Ben was running late. It was five after. He was probably hurrying around trying to finish up things at the marina.
Then it was six-twenty.
She drummed her fingers on the table, then hopped up and turned the chicken down to low. She didn’t want to serve a dried-up chicken dish.
By six-forty, she was ticked off. She started to text him, but no. She’d told him this meal was important. He’d promised he’d be here.
At seven she jerked the chicken out of the oven. She stalked over to the table and unfurled the silly rose napkins, then grabbed her plate and filled it with the delicious meal she’d prepared. She poured herself a glass of wine and sat down at precisely seven-ten.
She ate the meal in silence. She’d done a good job with it if she did say so herself. Not that it mattered. She was eating alone.
After she finished her meal, she cleared the table and put the food away in the fridge. After pouring herself another glass of wine she went to go sit in the front room.
This was not exactly the way she’d hoped the meal would turn out.
At eight o’clock there was a knock at the door. She considered not answering. With a sigh, she got up off the couch and went to answer the door.
“Charlotte, I’m so sorry. I got tied up at the marina. A big sale I was negotiating. It all worked out though. We got the sale. That will help our bottom line this month.”
She turned and walked back into the room. Ben closed the door behind him. “Ah, don’t be like that. I said I was sorry. Sometimes I just can’t get away. It was just a dinner. I’ll make it up to you.”
She whirled around. “It was not just a dinner. Though it was a meal I spent all day preparing for you. Trying to make it special. And… I wanted to talk to you. But now… well, I’m too angry to talk. You didn’t even bother to call.”
“I told you, I was wrapped up in negotiations.”
“Right. Priorities. And you couldn’t have stepped away for a minute to let me know you weren’t coming.”
He looked sheepish. “You’re right. I should have stepped out to call you. I just lost track of time. It was a big sale. This really nice yacht.”
“How nice for you.” She walked out of the front room and into the kitchen. Ben followed behind her.
“I know you’re mad. I’m sorry.”
She turned around to face him. “You know, Ben, it’s not just tonight. It’s like we’re no longer in sync like we used to be. I feel like I’m not a priority in your life anymore.”
“Of course you are.” He reached for her hand, but she jerked it away.
“I don’t feel like it. And I feel like you don’t listen to me.” She took a deep breath. “I think we need to take a little break.”
“No, don’t say that. We don’t need a break. I’ll do better. I’ve just been so busy and so worried about Mom.”
“Then our break should give you more time to spend with your job and worrying about your mom. Even though I think she’s doing just fine. Not that you want my opinion about your mother.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want a break. I miss you.”
“Then maybe this break will give you time to figure out how you can fit me in your life, and if you still want to.” She started walking to the door, and he followed slowly behind her.
She opened the door. “Good night, Ben.”
“I’m not happy with this decision.” He frowned.
“Then make some changes. Figure things out. I’m not going to be treated like I’m the last thing on your list.” She closed the door behind him and slid to the floor, tears falling down her cheeks.
She wasn’t sure how they’d gotten from the excitement of falling in love to this point. She didn’t need his constant attention… but she did have to be a priority in his life if they were going to ever make anything of their relationship
.
She pulled out her phone and texted Robin it was safe to come home now…
Robin entered the bungalow, wondering why Ben had left so early. Charlotte was sitting on the sofa, eating dessert.
“Hi, you want a piece of pie? There’s a whole pie—minus one piece—in the kitchen.”
Robin frowned. “Where’s Ben?”
“He decided to show up at eight. He got tied up at the marina.” Charlotte’s eyes flashed with anger and with sadness.
Robin sat down beside her friend. “Oh, Char, I’m sorry.”
“So I sent him away. Told him if he couldn’t make me a priority then… well, I’m not going to be last on his list when it’s convenient for him to find time to see me. He’s made it clear that the marina and his need for it to grow is most important and I’m… not.”
She could see that Charlotte had been crying, and it broke her heart. Just when she thought her friend might have found the perfect guy for her.
“You have to do what you think is right. And you should be a priority as serious as you two had gotten.”
“I hope I made the right decision. I said we needed to take a break.”
“That will give him time to sort things out.” She eyed the piece of pie Charlotte was eating. Did she have room for just a tiny slice?
“That’s what I told him. I mean, I really care about him. I do. But… I just can’t play second fiddle to his job or anything else. Not if he wants something serious with me.”
Robin stood. “I’m going to get just a tiny slice of that pie and join you with your glass of wine. And we’re going to talk about anything and everything besides men.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
But she wasn’t sure that was going to erase the sad look on Charlotte’s face.
Chapter 14
The next evening Lillian walked into Magic Cafe, arm in arm with Ruby. “I’m sorry that Dorothy couldn’t meet us for dinner, but I’m glad we decided to still go out. I love coming here. Sometimes it’s nice to eat somewhere other than Charming Inn.” She smiled. “But don’t tell Jay I said that. I think he was kind of offended that we’d decided to come here instead of the inn.”
