by Gerri Hill
So when dinner was ready, she made it a point to sit beside Leah, beating Sarah to the chair by a fraction of a second. Julie had already claimed the one on the other side of Leah.
“You’re popular this evening,” she murmured.
Leah appeared to be unfazed by all the attention she was receiving, and she smiled quickly at Megan before turning to Julie, responding to a question she’d asked.
Megan blew out her breath in frustration, finding Nancy watching her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, but Nancy only smiled and went to help Mary Beth in the kitchen. She blew out her breath again, impatiently tapping her foot, wishing the dinner was already over with.
“I hope everyone likes manicotti,” Mary Beth said as she returned, bringing a huge platter to the table. Nancy followed with a large bowl of mixed salad. Garlic bread had already been passed around.
“That looks wonderful,” Leah said. “Did you actually find all of the ingredients at Susie’s store?”
Everyone laughed, even Megan.
“Of course not,” Mary Beth said.
Leah looked at Megan questioningly. “I thought it was forbidden for the locals to use the supermarket down the hill.”
“Oh, it is,” Julie said.
“So?”
“We sneak out of town and go to the supermarket in Berryville,” Sarah explained.
“I see. And does Susie know?”
“She pretends that she doesn’t know,” Nancy said. “And no one talks about it.”
“So why not just use the one down the hill then?”
Mary Beth gasped. “Are you kidding? Someone might see us. Word would get back to Susie before we even made it back up the hill.”
Megan patted Leah’s thigh. “I’ll explain later,” she said with a smile.
Before she could remove her hand, Leah’s own covered it, holding it there against her thigh. Megan nearly jerked it away before she remembered that they were supposed to be dating. Besides, Leah’s hand was soft and warm and surprisingly, her touch seemed to bring some normalcy to the evening. She allowed her hand to rest there a few more seconds before gently pulling away.
* * *
“I’ll check on things at the grill,” Megan told Nancy. “No need for you to come down.”
“Good. Because I think I had one too many margaritas,” Nancy said as she slumped down into one corner of the sofa.
“Tequila and Mary Beth don’t mix,” Megan warned. “I hope we don’t see your photo on her Facebook page tomorrow.”
That statement sent Nancy into a fit of giggles, and Megan turned to Leah and shrugged. “Maybe I do hope it’s her picture and not mine.”
Leah laughed and took her arm. “Come on. Let’s tell the others goodbye and get out of here.”
She led Megan into the kitchen where Julie and Sarah were helping Mary Beth with a coffee tray. Leah was almost tempted to stay as the aroma of the freshly ground coffee made her long for a taste. However, she knew Megan was ready to leave.
“We’re going to pass on coffee,” she said.
“You’re leaving already?” Sarah asked.
“I need to check in at the grill,” Megan said. “Dinner was very good, Mary Beth. Thank you.”
“I picked up a pie from Craig’s. You sure you don’t want to stay for dessert?”
“Better not,” Megan said.
“Well, I’m glad you both came,” Mary Beth said. “We should do it again.”
Leah nodded. “Once I get my shop opened, maybe I’ll have dinner at my apartment for everyone.” She glanced at Sarah. “Give you a chance to see Ruby’s.”
“That sounds nice,” Sarah said. “Look forward to it.”
“Me too,” Julie added.
Megan was already backing out of the room, and Leah smiled quickly at them. “See you later. Thanks again.”
As soon as they were on the porch and the door closed, Megan turned to her. “Something’s going on.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was too nice.”
“Mary Beth?”
“What do you think she’s planning?”
Leah stepped off the porch and Megan followed. “Why do you think she’s planning something?”
“Because she wasn’t…she just wasn’t right.”
“I thought she was kinda pleasant.”
“I know. That’s what I mean. She’s up to something.”
Leah laughed. “Well, maybe she’s had a change of heart.”
“But why would she? It can’t be because of you. You spent more time talking to Sarah and Julie than you did me,” Megan said. “In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would have thought you and Sarah were the ones who were dating.”
“But, in all fairness to me, they—”
“Oh, my God! That’s it! She knows you’re not a threat.” Megan turned to her, pointing a finger at her chest. “It’s your fault! She knows we’re not dating! That’s why she was so damn nice! Because she knows.”
Leah tried—unsuccessfully—to keep a smile from her face, causing Megan to poke her in the chest with her finger.
“I can’t believe you find this funny!”
Leah laughed. “Maybe it’s my age. It doesn’t take much to amuse me.”
Megan groaned. “I’m going to be so screwed. She’s going to tell everyone. She’s probably putting the nude photo out there right now. I’ll be laughed out of town.”
“Well, from what I’ve seen so far, you might be whistled out of town, but I don’t think anyone would be laughing.”
Megan narrowed her eyes. “I’m beginning to like you less and less.”
Leah smiled but said nothing; she just continued on their walk toward the grill. The problem was, she was beginning to like Megan more and more. She sorely regretted not getting the opportunity for a kiss. Not necessarily the wet, sloppy fake kind that they’d teased about.
She admitted, though, that Megan probably had a point. Sarah and Julie had monopolized her time, leaving little for Megan. She hadn’t wanted to be rude to them by ignoring their questions. Instead, she’d ended up being rude to her date by ignoring her.
“You’re right,” she conceded.
“Right? About?”
“It’s my fault. I’m afraid I’m out of practice at dating,” she said. “I guess I don’t have the right mindset. We’re pretending to date, yet we’re not really dating. So…I wasn’t quite as attentive as I should have been tonight.” She paused on the sidewalk between her shop and the grill. “Two people newly dating would have been holding hands, touching, sitting together, and making goo-goo eyes at each other.”
Megan laughed. “Goo-goo eyes, huh?”
“Yes. So I can see where the others might be confused.”
Megan sighed. “Well, it’s too late now.”
Leah took a step closer. “Then I’ll have to make good on my dinner invitation. We’ll have to be much better actors the next time.” She took Megan’s hand and moved even closer. “So…I think we should practice.”
Megan’s eyes widened, but she didn’t move away. Leah tugged Megan’s hand as she leaned closer, gently brushing her lips against Megan’s. She hesitated only a fraction of a second before kissing her again, this time letting her lips linger, surprised when Megan’s lips parted, albeit slightly, as they moved against hers. She was also surprised by the quickening of her pulse, something she hadn’t felt in many, many years.
Megan was the first to pull away, and Leah was sorry that she’d ended the kiss, although she reminded herself that they were on a public sidewalk. Probably not the best place to be “practicing” kissing.
“I…I should go,” Megan murmured as she took a step away from her.
Leah caught her eyes, but only for a second as Megan turned and hurried toward the grill. Leah’s gaze followed her, a slow smile forming on her face as Megan disappeared from sight. Damn, but that felt kinda good. Who would have thought she’d enjoy kissing Megan Phenix that much?
She sighed contentedly as she unlocked the door to her shop. She paused to look around, the light from the back casting enough glow for her to see the stuff she’d put out. She still wasn’t used to the shop being nearly full and she supposed she needed to stop referring to her merchandise as “stuff.” And even though she still had several things that hadn’t come in yet, she had enough to go ahead and open the shop for business.
That thought made her pulse race nervously. A very different kind of racing than when she was kissing Megan. She much preferred the former.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Megan wasn’t sure what was worrying her more…the fact that Leah had kissed her—and she’d actually kissed her back—or that Nancy wasn’t home yet. She punched her pillow once again, then glanced at the clock. The midnight hour had come and gone. Where the hell was Nancy? More importantly…what the hell was Mary Beth doing to her?
Was she stripping her naked, taking pictures? Was she posing her in her bed, planning for her next Facebook attack? She smiled a little, thinking it would serve Nancy right, considering how unconcerned she was about her pictures being out there.
“And what was up with that kiss?”
Was it practice, like Leah had suggested? Had someone perhaps seen them and reported it back to Mary Beth? She stared up at the dark ceiling, reliving the kiss once again. She closed her eyes as she felt a rush, then opened them again.
“That’s crazy,” she murmured. “I don’t even like her.”
She rolled over onto her side, tucking one hand beneath her chin. How had her life become so complicated? How had her simple, boring, single life turned into all this? Well, she blamed Mary Beth, of course. But part of the blame should fall to Erin too. It was her phone call that drove her to…tequila. Yes, it was the tequila’s fault too. And Nancy and her damn surprise birthday party. Yeah…it was really all Nancy’s fault, if she thought about it. Had she not had a birthday party for her, none of this would have happened.
“Yeah…let’s blame Nancy,” she whispered into the darkness. She leaned up and looked at the digital clock on her nightstand. It was twelve forty-two. How long should she wait before she called Mary Beth? Should she call Mary Beth? When the roles were reversed, Nancy hadn’t bothered to call and check on her whereabouts. That thought sealed it, and she burrowed into the pillow again, vowing to quit worrying about Nancy.
“So…what was up with that kiss?”
* * *
Megan was shocked to find Nancy in the kitchen the next morning, standing by as the Keurig did its magic. Was she actually humming as she waited for the coffee?
Megan stood next to her, eyebrows raised expectantly. Nancy’s sleepy eyes blinked several times.
“What?”
Megan put her hands on her hips. “And when did you finally come home? I was worried sick!”
“Gee, Mom, I wasn’t aware that I had a curfew,” Nancy said.
“If you weren’t at a crazy woman’s house—a crazy woman with a camera—I wouldn’t have worried,” she said. “Do we need to check Facebook?”
Nancy laughed. “You should be the one worried about Facebook. Mary Beth is convinced that you and Leah are nothing more than friends. In fact, she doubts that you’re even friends.”
Megan feigned indignation…or at least she hoped she did. “What in the world are you talking about?” she asked.
“She thinks you’re faking it,” Nancy said bluntly. “They all do.”
“Faking? Really? Fake date?” She laughed, hearing her own nervousness. She widened her eyes, pretending to be shocked. “That’s ridiculous. Even I wouldn’t do something that crazy. Why would they even think that?”
“Well, come on, you two hardly spoke to each other at dinner,” Nancy said.
“That’s because Sarah and Julie were all over her! My God, they were fawning over her!”
Nancy took a sip of her coffee, then stepped aside, giving Megan room. Megan hastily put her own cup under the receptacle and grabbed a pod from the rack, noticing that her hand was shaking.
“There’s also the fact that you don’t date,” Nancy said. “Ever. Julie and Sarah can both attest to that. So for you to accept Leah’s invitation without your usual course of action has raised some questions.”
“That’s crazy,” she muttered.
“You have to admit, it’s a little weird that you’re dating,” Nancy said. “You made it no secret that you didn’t like Leah. In fact, you couldn’t even stand to be around her.”
“I think that’s a little strong,” she said. “She was annoying, yes. But it was only because of the parking thing. The more I’m around her…well, she’s kinda grown on me. As you went on and on about in the beginning…she’s really nice.”
“She’s also older than you.”
“So?”
“So…Tammi was three years younger than you were. Erin was ten years younger. Leah is eleven years older than you.”
“Right. And maybe I’ve learned my lesson with younger women. It’s actually refreshing being with someone mature. Compared to Erin, Leah is light years ahead in maturity.”
Nancy eyed her suspiciously. “Has she kissed you yet?”
Megan couldn’t believe she felt a blush light her face as if she were a schoolgirl getting questioned by her mother.
“I don’t know that it’s any of your business,” she said curtly. “And it’s certainly not Mary Beth’s business.”
Nancy laughed. “I haven’t seen you blush in years. Is that a yes?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leah was nearly giddy as she made her first sale…a wind chime and a T-shirt. The T-shirt was off the “sale” rack that Megan had suggested.
“Thank you,” she said as she slipped a business card for Ruby’s into the sack. “Come back any time.”
“You have quite a collection of things here. I’ve enjoyed browsing,” the woman said.
“Thanks. More is on the way.”
There was only one other person in the shop, and Leah went to the door, trying to give the woman some space. She’d left the front door open, and she stood there, watching her new “open” flags blowing in the breeze. Actually, whipping around might be more appropriate. She went out onto the sidewalk and looked to the sky, seeing dark clouds building. The predicted thunderstorms would no doubt hit them within the hour. Seeing dark clouds hovering overhead on her first day open was a little scary—she hoped it wasn’t an omen.
She turned her gaze toward the Phenix Grill, seeing the lunch crowd beginning to arrive. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Megan since Tuesday night when they’d parted company right here on the sidewalk. Parted with a kiss, she reminded herself. Although she really didn’t need reminding. It was something that crossed her mind quite often. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t gone over to see Megan. It was also the reason she decided to go ahead and open up shop. She needed something to keep her mind—and body—occupied. She was a little disappointed, though, that Megan hadn’t come over. Surely she’d already seen her signs stating that she was open.
“Ma’am?”
She turned and went back inside, smiling at the younger woman who stood at the register with a pile of T-shirts. “Sorry. Just checking on the weather. Looks like rain is coming.”
“I hope the weekend is nice,” the woman said. “I just got into town yesterday evening. The rest of my party is coming tonight. We plan on doing some kayaking over the weekend.”
“Really? Where do you go?”
“We’re doing the White River first. Then we’ll do the King’s River. It’s sort of an annual thing for us,” she said. “Do you kayak?”
Leah shook her head. “It looks fun, it’s just not something I’ve tried before.”
“Oh, you should try it. It’s addicting.” The woman motioned to the shirts on the counter. “I’ve been in almost every shop in town and it’s nice to see that you have some different T-shirts. Nearly everyone else sells the same thing.”
“We
ll, thanks,” Leah said. “Although a lot of the vendors sell the same thing too.”
“Oh, my God! You’re actually open?”
The woman’s eyes widened at the outburst as she turned to the door, but Leah laughed. “That’s the neighbor from over at the Phenix Grill,” she explained as Megan stood in the doorway.
“Oh. I love that place,” the woman said. “Great burgers.”
Megan held her hand up apologetically. “Sorry. I didn’t know you had a customer.”
Leah rang up the T-shirts and took the woman’s credit card, glancing up from time to time as Megan walked around the shop.
“Enjoy your kayaking trip,” Leah said as she placed the receipt and a business card inside the bag. “I hope the weather’s nice.”
“Thanks. I’ll probably bring my friends in here. They’re always in the market for new T-shirts.”
Leah nodded. “Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”
As soon as the customer left, she pointed to the sales rack of T-shirts. “Excellent idea, by the way.”
“Good.” Megan raised both hands questioningly. “So when did you open?”
Leah shrugged. “I got brave enough to put my flags out this morning.” She smiled and held up two fingers. “Two people came in, and they both bought something.”
“You’re on a roll then,” Megan said with a smile. “Are you going to hire someone to work here?”
“To help me handle all my customers?” She laughed as she looked around the empty store. “I think I can manage.”
But Megan shook her head. “You can’t be here all the time. Not seven days a week,” she said.
“I live here. Where else would I be?”
“What about when you need to go grocery shopping? Run errands? You can’t be here all the time, Leah.”
“I guess I hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” she said. She’d been so concerned with her inventory—and with whether she’d have any customers—that hiring a part-time worker hadn’t crossed her mind.
“Well, not to get into your business, but Eileen’s Aunt Dee is looking for work,” Megan said. “Her husband recently retired, and I think he’s driving her crazy being at home all the time.”
