“Me too. I’ll meet you at my place.” Delphi leaned over the counter and pressed her lips to his. “Feel better. If it was Lars, the issue looks settled. If it wasn’t it was probably a random break in and the cops will find the culprit or they won’t. You can’t fix it.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“I know. See you in a bit.” She turned and walked out of the shop, her mile-high heels making her hips sway with every step.
“Now that makes me feel better,” he said to himself before turning back to his office to settle things for the night.
Delphi wasn’t sure how to dress for her date with Jeremy—they would be at an anniversary party, but was it one of those formal kinds or the less-formal events she saw so much of here? She settled for a pair of khaki pants, a white blouse and a sweater she could pull on if she got cold. Then she packed her motorcycle gear for later and waited in the kitchen area, talking to Jonquil, who was sketching flower designs for a new client.
“Hey, in withdrawals over the end of ski season?” Jeremy asked Jonquil after Delphi let him in.
“You know I am. But I’m taking Cleo hiking on Saturday. We’ll hit a couple of trails that should be mostly clear on Saturday. If we don’t get snow tomorrow.” She crossed her arms on the counter in front of her. “Where are you guys going?”
“I’m playing pack mule for him tonight and then we’ll grab dinner. Don’t wait up.” Delphi reached for the backpack with her protective gear, but Jeremy snagged it and her helmet before she had a chance.
“I know you can carry your own stuff, but let me be a gentleman for now, will you?” he asked when she started to protest. “Especially if I’m going to make you my grunt later.”
She conceded and followed him out to his car. “How are things coming on getting your place put back together? About done?”
“The mess is cleared up, anyway. Of course now I’m behind on touching up client files, but I’ll get to that tomorrow.”
“You live over your studio, don’t you?” She was curious as she’d never had a reason to go up there. Was he normally clean or messy? Was he one of those who kept his workspace immaculate and let his home slide?
“Yeah. It’s convenient. Most of the time. Unless someone decides to break into both at once.” He glanced over as they pulled onto the main road. “Have you thought about what you’d do about housing if you stay past the year?”
“You mean stay in that big house or let it be sold and downgrade?”
“Or stay at the hotel.”
“Not the hotel,” she said a little more strongly than she’d intended. “And money’s not the issue here. If I lived where I worked I’d never get away from it. Like really never get away from it, and that’s not an option. Lana has always known her dream of being hotel manager would mean her whole life would be the hotel, but that’s not for me.”
“So you girls will sell the house when you finish up here?”
“Last I heard Jonquil is planning on going back to Philadelphia. She might change her mind, but if none of us stay there, there’s no reason to keep the house as a financial drain.” She shot him a sideways glance. “Why, you looking to buy something?”
He laughed. “I’d like to get away from the studio eventually, but I think it’s probably outside my price range right now. Not to mention the fact that it has six bedrooms—what would I do with all of those? But I love the architectural lines and the main living areas. It’s a terrific house. And the property is great too.”
“It is that.” Her father had chosen well when he picked the location and the layout of the house. It probably wasn’t practical for a family home, but it worked well for the six of them, and might make a nice rental for skiers. “If I were staying I might consider buying the others out, but a year here is enough for me.”
His mouth pulled into a tight line. “I noticed construction is coming along for Joel’s pool.”
Delphi wondered if the subject change was intentional or just a matter of his mind wandering. “Yeah, they’ll be filling it with water next week. The rest of the house is making headway too.” Joel’s home had been heavily damaged in a fire the previous fall and the new foundation was poured, and the roof was on. There was still a lot of work to go on the house, but he and Sage were anxious for the huge pool to be finished so he could swim laps.
Cleo was excited because Joel said she could have a party with school friends after it was operational. The fact that the pool was going to be done months before the house showed their true priorities. The former Navy SEAL had missed his pool time since moving to Colorado.
Jeremy brought the car to a stop in front of the senior center, where the party was being held, and he retrieved the borrowed equipment, explaining what it was called and how it was used. “Be extra careful. I’d hate to ding any of Kyle’s stuff. It’s nicer than mine was.” He admitted this grudgingly with a wistful edge to his expression.
“Aye, aye, cap’n. I’ll treat it as carefully as a newborn baby.” She cradled the pole to her chest and slung the bag with the different lenses over one shoulder. He grabbed his camera and a box of lighting equipment and they headed inside.
A man saw them and approached as soon as they walked in the door. “Jeremy, so glad you could come. I see you brought along a beautiful assistant. Always a good idea.” He drew them to one side, explaining where he wanted to shoot the picture. It was a big family with six kids, seventeen grandchildren—most of whom were grown and several were married—and twelve great-grandchildren. Delphi was glad to be able to watch and follow directions and not be in the least responsible for turning the cacophony into a cohesive group photo.
Jeremy cajoled, teased and coaxed the group into formation, making the kids laugh and got several shots of everyone, then of the happy couple, them and their kids, and the evening drew out as the second generation each decided to have shots done with their individual families. What was supposed to be twenty to thirty minutes turned into more than an hour as he worked with different groupings.
Delphi had been there while he worked with people before but she didn’t think she’d paid that much attention to what he was doing, how good he was with people. On the job he was always smiling, joking and stretching for that perfect shot. He was as good with old people as young ones and found something in common with most everyone, connecting with them.
She thought that quality was probably why he was so popular with women, and grudgingly, she had to admit that it wasn’t just charm. It took talent to be that good with people, to connect with them quickly. Was that why they were dating now, because he turned on the charm, or was there something more here?
She couldn’t decide. When she saw the way one of the female guests looked at him, Delphi reminded himself that she and Jeremy were just kissing friends. They weren’t going anywhere so she had no reason to be irritated.
When they finally escaped, Delphi was definitely ready for dinner.
“Sorry, I had no idea it was going to turn into that,” Jeremy said when he was stacking the equipment into the car. “I would have rescheduled our date if I’d known.”
“Don’t worry about it. That was interesting.” It had been nice just spending time with him, even if it had been work for him. “It looks like you’ll have a bunch of portraits to put together—that’s a nice plus.”
“If I’d realized, I would have brought a backdrop, and some extra equipment.” He turned and put his hand on her shoulder to draw her closer. “Thanks. You’re a great assistant. You available to help on Saturday?”
She accepted his offered kiss, then shook her head. “Not going to happen. I already have a thousand details to juggle for the Gillespie wedding. Besides, I’d end up just patting your shoulders and telling you how brilliant you are.”
“My ego can always use soothing and petting.” He opened her door to let her into the car.
“I don’t think you need someone to tell you you’re brilliant,” Delphi corrected
.
He grinned and shut the door, then came around and got in behind the wheel. “Are you saying I have a big ego?”
“I didn’t say it, you did.” She tightened her seatbelt. “Now, where to?”
“I don’t think there’s time for a bike ride before dark now, and the roads are too wet to risk the ice when the temperature drops a little more,” he said apologetically. “There’s a nice little Italian place down the road if you think you might be able to eat something.”
She touched her stomach, which had been complaining, loudly, that she needed to eat. “I wouldn’t say no.”
“Good.”
They arrived at the quiet little restaurant a few minutes later and he helped her out of his car. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about your bike? Are you going to replace it with something that can actually move, or are you going to fix it up?” He said with a teasing glint in his eyes.
She didn’t answer for a moment. “It was Fallon’s, my husband’s,” she added when she realized she had probably never mentioned his name. “I hate to walk away from it. It was what he could afford while going to college, so it wasn’t even close to new then, and that was almost ten years ago.”
He was silent for a moment, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Caught between sentiment and practicality.”
“Yeah. And the desire for a really hot ride—which isn’t necessarily practical at all, but that’s beside the point. Something like yours. Only newer.” She sent him a cheeky grin, wondering if bringing up Fallon made him uncomfortable.
“You have a bit of a competitive streak, don’t you?”
“I might.” She gave his hand a squeeze as they walked into the restaurant. “Of course, if you’d let me drive your bike, I wouldn’t have to buy something that will outdo it.”
“Is that your excuse? Because I gotta tell you, it’s not going to make me budge.”
She leaned in and dropped her voice to a husky whisper. “Yeah, what will it take?”
He nuzzled her ear, sliding his free arm around her waist to draw her closer. “When you can make a full French dinner for me, I’ll let you take it for a spin, either alone or with me on the back. Your call.” His nose tickled her earlobe.
“You know I don’t cook, you hard-hearted man.” She smacked his shoulder and he shifted back, laughing.
The hostess approached. “Just the two of you?”
“Yes. Thanks.” Jeremy squeezed Delphi’s hand and they followed to their table.
When they had ordered their meals, Jeremy slid his hand over hers again. “How long ago did Fallon die? You never said what happened or when.”
Delphi didn’t like to talk about it, but maybe it was time. “We met in college. He worked at the cafeteria and flirted with me all of the time.” She smiled as she remembered the way he’d teased and cajoled her into going out with him. “It wasn’t long before I agreed to a date. And that was it for me. We married right after spring finals and settled in for a perfect life together. Until he got sick that winter. He never recovered.”
“So you were a child bride.”
She sent him a dirty look. “I was nineteen. Hardly a child.”
“I bet your parents nearly had kittens with you marrying so young.”
“My mom and her husband did.” She touched her chest, schooled her face to primness and used perfectly correct diction and tone as she explained, in her mother’s voice. “It didn’t reflect well on them that I married some nobody who worked in a cafeteria. What was I trying to do, ruin them socially?”
She still tasted bile when she thought of the way they had acted. “Dad was concerned. He made a special trip out to visit me and we talked all about it. He met Fallon, and then he gave us his blessing and said he’d cover our school expenses so we could finish our education.” Having his support had meant more to her than she could say. Fallon’s parents had been terrific, if concerned, but George’s support, emotional and financial, had meant a lot to her in the face of her mother’s ire.
“How did you manage school after he died?” Jeremy threaded their fingers together. “When my mom died, Dad became a walking zombie for a while, going through the motions, being there, but not really being there, you know? Honestly, sometimes I think he’s only slightly better now.”
Delphi felt a flutter of empathy for Jeremy’s dad, and for Jeremy, who had to watch his family fall apart. “I stopped going to school when he got sick and then I dropped my classes after the funeral—just getting through the day was hard enough without trying to do homework too. I went back in the summer, but I get where your dad was coming from. It was months before I felt like I was really living again. And then I felt guilty because I was getting on with things and Fallon was gone.” Her throat grew tight with emotion remembering how rough it had been for that first year. Learning she was pregnant just as Fallon got sick and losing the baby a few weeks after him hadn’t helped.
“Don’t you think he’d want to you to move on?” His thumb slid over her knuckles on the table.
She bristled at his words—was he just saying that for his own benefit? “Of course he did. He made me promise I would while I sat by his bedside, watching him struggle for breath.” She shrugged and fought to act nonchalant. “Promising to move on doesn’t make it automatic.” She knew that as well as anyone could.
“No, it doesn’t.” His hand brushed over hers on the table, soothing her. “So how long ago was this? Eight, nine years?”
“Eight. Sometimes it feels like yesterday.” Like right now with the images of the past rolling through her mind. She nudged them away and focused back on Jeremy, uncomfortable discussing Fallon with the guys she was currently dating even while she was glad to have someone to talk about him with.
His grip tightened on hers. “Do you regret it? Marrying him, going through all of that?”
She looked him in the eye. “Never. Not for a minute. Fallon was important to me, to who I have become. And while losing him was devastating, being with him was… amazing. Every day was special because he was in it.”
Jeremy stared down at their hands, his expression and voice becoming pensive. “I can’t even imagine having that kind of relationship with someone.” His brow furrowed. “Have you been serious about anyone else since?”
“No.” She thought of the way she’d felt with Fallon, and the way she sometimes felt around Jeremy. It wasn’t the same, but the similarities unsettled her a little. This was just fun, no strings, she reminded herself. “I’ve dated around, but no one else has ever gotten that close.”
He played with the straw in his water glass. “My dad doesn’t even date. It’s been thirteen years and he’s just not interested. It always made me wonder, if love does that to you, why does anyone want to fall in love? I mean, really in love?”
“Because when it’s the right person, it’s worth risking everything.”
“Would you marry again?” he asked. “You seem pretty settled into your career and everything. Now you’re used to being on your own, would you jump in with both feet like your sisters have?”
She nodded slowly, considering the question. “If I could have that again, or a reasonable equivalent, I’d like to think I’d risk it. If it was the right guy.” She kept her tone light so he wouldn’t think she was referring to him. “That little detail is the tough part, though. There are way too many wrong guys out there to jump if you’re not sure.” She needed a break from the subject and decided to turn the tables on him. “Your turn to spill. Any serious girlfriends?”
“Not since high school. Leslie and I were pretty hot and heavy, and then we graduated and she took off across the country.” He hesitated for a moment before pushing on. “I offered to go with her, she said she needed space to grow up and wasn’t ready for a serious relationship. I did what my parents had wanted and attended UC Denver—for a while at least—then moved home. Now I work weekends and evenings and a whole lot of daytime hours. Most women don’t want to put up
with it for long.” He shrugged it off as no big deal, but his eyes said something more. There was pain there, and for a moment she felt like an invisible wall shimmered between them as he made excuses for staying free and easy.
She shouldn’t be surprised—despite his insistence that he wasn’t a jerk where women were concerned, he kept things casual for a reason. She doubted he was in a rush to overcome that.
The waitress brought their appetizer and Delphi decided she’d had enough of the heavy topics. She changed the subject to his friendship with Vince and Gage.
They returned to Jeremy’s car two hours later only because the wait staff was trying to close the restaurant. Delphi knew she should take care of a few things at home and get some sleep, but she wasn’t quite ready to say goodnight.
Jeremy seemed to agree because he took a detour that headed away from her house. They were in the in-between season, tourist-wise so they and one other truck behind them were the only ones on the back road.
Delphi had spent the past several days considering what to do with her motorbike. Now she took a fortifying breath and took the step forward she had been fighting so much. “What is your schedule like on Friday?”
“What? You can’t pull out your phone and check it for yourself?” he teased.
“I could, but I thought asking would be less stalkerish.”
“Okay. I think I have a couple of things in the morning, but that’s it. You planning to run away to Fiji and want some company?”
“Yes, please.” She loved Fiji and would give nearly anything to be able to go there back there now—but it wasn’t in the cards. “Actually I was thinking about buying a new bike. I think it’s time. You know how they never treat a woman like she has the foggiest idea what she’s doing when she goes to buy a set of wheels. I wondered if you’d like to tag along and provide the testosterone they’ll think I need to be able to pick out a bike.” She should have enjoyed the way his car handled the curves and winced as lights from the truck behind them flashed in her eyes from the rear view mirror, but her heart raced and her lungs felt tight from the emotional stress of deciding to buy a new bike. This was a big step for her, and felt a little like she was betraying him, though intellectually she knew that wasn’t true.
Wild Hearts (The DiCarlo Brides) Page 13
