Finding Love in Payton

by Shelley Galloway

  He wasn't chuckling when Joanne handed him a stack of material and three envelopes of patterns and commanded him to take them to Dinah Cate.

  "Couldn't you do this yourself, Jo?" he asked, more than a little peeved. He wasn't ready to see Dinah again. And he really wasn't ready for his sister to send him places around town like he was her errand boy.

  "Please, Jeremy? I'm swamped."

  He glanced at her desk. As usual, piles of papers were strewn everywhere, calendars, pens, and an opened box of highlighters threatened to fall off the side of the table. "You're a mess, that's what you are."

  Missy, who worked as her assistant, looked up from her own desk, which was neat as a pin. "She does know where everything is, I should probably add."

  "I find that amazing, but not enough to run these over to Dinah." With sudden inspiration, he turned to Missy. "Isn't it about your lunch hour? You could drop these off."

  Missy laughed. "Good try, but no. I've got two clas ses of second graders about to visit and I bring my lunch. You are the chosen one, brother-in-law."

  "Jo...

  "No whining. Thanks so much," she said, hoisting the material into his arms. "Please tell Dinah thank you, and that I'll be calling her. And ... I'll call you later this week and tell you when the first rehearsal for the reenactment will take place."

  "I can't wait," he muttered as he filed out of the building, just as a school bus full of excited kids pulled up on the curb. He waved to a few of them and one of the teachers, then headed toward Beagle's Books, pretending that he wasn't excited to see Dinah Cate.

  Did she dare act surprised when she looked up from her mystery and saw Jeremy Reece enter the shop, his arms full of navy blue wool and scarlet-colored silk? No way, Dinah decided as she got a good look at his expression.

  It was full of resolution and brotherly irritation. She knew the look well, after all, she had two brothers of her own. "Hey, Jeremy," she said instead, standing up to relieve him of his burden. Bonnie approached also, and when he bent down to pet the dog, she gathered her wits.

  "I thought you might be stopping by."

  His eyes narrowed. "Did my sister tell you that?"

  Big mistake. "No, but she was in the store earlier."

  "And?"

  Oops. "And, I had an idea, from where I don't know, that she might enlist your services. Since you're not working."

  A muscle in his cheek clenched. "I start my job tomorrow."

  Why was that a sore subject? "Well, then. I'm glad you had time today." She walked the fabric and envelopes to her back room, deftly depositing them in one of the many laundry baskets she used to cart books and Bryan's things back and forth from home. "Thanks for bringing this in."

  "Where's Bryan?"

  His question, and his presence caught her up short. How had he followed her to the back without her being aware of it? "He's home with Valerie. Valerie Redmond. Do you know her?"

  'No."

  "Well. She's home from college. This is the second summer in a row that she's worked as my nanny. He loves her."

  Jeremy seemed to be in no hurry to step away from her. All at once she wondered if her hair was a mess. If her lipstick ... had she even remembered to put any on today? Without the shopping carts between them, he looked bigger, his presence seeming to suck all the oxygen out of the room, leaving her breathless. "Well," she said.

  "Well."

  Frantically she tried to think of something to say. Anything to redirect her mind from thoughts about his broad shoulders; from his unusual gray-blue eyes, from the way she was happy to see him again.

  Anything to remind her of Joanne's veiled hints that he was young. Much too young for her. "Um, well. Next time I see Valerie I'll have to tell her I met you. She's a nice girl, so friendly, and I don't think she's dating anyone at the moment."

  "Are you?"

  She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her apron. "No."

  A hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. "I'm not either."

  "We don't even know each other." The moment the words were out she tried to figure out how to get them back. Those were the wrong words to say. She was older than him! His sister was going to kill her if she even thought about dating him.

  And Jeremy ... surely he would want someone young. Someone without a baby. Someone without a marriage and another man's old coat in her closet.

  The chimes at the front of the shop rang then and, hurriedly, she stepped forward. Jeremy moved to the side, just enough to let her get by, but not far enough to prevent their bodies from touching as she passed.

  Just that brief contact made Dinah's pulse race. Jer emy Reece smelled good. Like starch and honey. And outside. "Do you run?" she asked.

  "I bike. Why?"

  "You smell ... like outside."

  "I was on the trail this morning. We ought to go there together sometime. We could take Bryan for a walk or something."

  That did sound good, which of course made her nervous.

  Not knowing what to say, she continued to the front of the store and exchanged pleasantries with the couple who had just entered. After offering them coffee, she stepped toward her counter, and slid behind it just as Jeremy approached. Anything to provide a barrier to her emotions.

  "Thanks for bringing the material by, Jeremy."

  "You're welcome."

  She pasted a smile on her face. "Maybe I'll see you around."

  His mouth thinned, and she could tell it was all he could do not to let out a torrent of words; he looked that frustrated. "I'll see you soon, Dinah. Take care."

  "You too."

  "And tell Bryan hey for me."

  She laughed at that. "I will."

  And then he left, leaving a longing in her heart and the faint scent of pine in his wake.

  "Uow was your day?" Valerie asked Dinah two days later as she walked in the living room and collapsed into her favorite overstuffed chair.

  "Exhausting. I didn't think the UPS man was ever going to stop unloading boxes of books. Then I had to un-box them and enter everything into the computer. And Mrs. Edwards came in."

  Valerie frowned at the last part. "How was she today?"

  Dinah smiled. "Not too bad. She only stayed for an hour today."

  "I don't know how you handle that. She's there sometimes two and three times a week and never buys a thing."

  "I like her. It's just sometimes I don't get a lot of work done when she's around." She had, though, she thought with a secret smile. And she'd even decided to close up shop a little early, at 4:30, just to get a chance to enjoy a Friday night for a change.

  She had actually gotten a lot done today, and that made her proud. She'd have something to be happy about tonight when she went to bed, she realized with some pleasure.

  When she was growing up, her father would sit with her at the end of each day and asked what she had done. Any accomplishment, playing with a friend, drawing a pretty picture, cleaning out a desk drawer, was met with praise. Sitting around doing nothing was not.

  It was all she could do on some days just to relax.

  Of course, Bryan's appearance in her life changed all that. Now each day was loaded with dozens of mini-accomplishments. It had been a long time since she'd sat down for any length of time. "Where's Bry?"

  "On the living room floor, sound asleep. He was playing with the plastic containers, stubbornly saying, ,not tired, not tired,' then practically collapsed on them. Don't worry, it's only been about thirty minutes."

  "Good, he'll sleep well tonight, then." Dinah stood up and reached for her purse. "Let me pay you, sweetie, then you can run off and have fun. What do you have planned for this evening?"

  Valerie's eyes lit up. "I've got a date."

  "Oh yeah? Anyone special?"

  "Maybe."

  Dinah couldn't help but laugh. "They're all maybes huh?"

  "Not this one. He's kind of special. And we've gone out before, so we're practically a couple."

  Dinah couldn
't help it, she did laugh at that. "I remember those days."

  "Was it like that with you and your husband?"

  Dinah sighed, thinking back. "You know, I guess it was. One day we were just dating, then somehow, we were a couple."

  "Then you were engaged and married."

  "Yep," she agreed, thinking that it all had gone by much too fast. "I hope you have a great time. And thanks for watching Bryan."

  "No problem, Dinah. See you on Monday."

  Dinah waved her off, then slipped off her shoes and closed her eyes for a long minute. It did feel good to do nothing! She'd have to tell her dad that one day.

  As if on cue, the phone rang. It was her mother. "Want to go to the club tonight?" she asked after the usual pleasantries were over.

  Dinah didn't go out much, but since it was Friday night and she and Bryan were just sitting home alone, the offer sounded pretty good. "You know, I think we would like that."

  "Great. Want Dad and me to pick you up or to meet you there?"

  "I'll meet you there." She checked the grandfather clock on the far wall. "It'll have to be early, though. Bryan will have a fit if he has to be good at seven P.M."

  "So will your dad," her mom joked. "How about we meet there at six? That way we can eat before the crowd filters in."

  Dinah didn't go to the Payton Country Club a lot with her mom, but the times she had the restaurant could have never been called crowded. "You think it will be busy?"

  "Without a doubt. That new chef there is all anyone's been talking about."

  "Have you tried anything yet?"

  "No, but Mrs. McKinley has and she said the spinach chicken wraps are just to die for."

  It did sound good. "Bry's still asleep, but I should be able to get him up and going soon. Save me a spot."

  They chatted for a few more minutes, then hung up, leaving Dinah to finally hop off her chair and check on Bryan. And as soon as she saw him, curled up around a set of measuring cups, her heart melted.

  "Hey there, handsome," she said, lying down on the floor next to him and rubbing his back. "How's my best man?"

  His little eyelids fluttered open. "Mama."

  "Yep. I'm home and we're going out to eat with Nana and Pa."

  Bryan's little smile widened, then he held out a hand to hers. Dinah clasped it with pleasure. "I missed you today."

  He smiled again, revealing six teeth, then immediately replaced it with a frown. "Val?"

  "Val went home. It's just you and me, buddy, okay?"

  He sat up. "Okay." And then with another sweet smile, he was off, arranging containers again.

  Dinah knew without a doubt that she would rather be with Bryan than most any other person in the world, even though Valerie's date did sound like fun.

  Jeremy knew without a doubt that Payton and Priscilla needed to come to some kind of agreement, soon, because their constant bickering was going to drive him crazy.

  If Payton wasn't following Priscilla around, giving her well-meaning advice, he was talking her up to Jeremy.

  Not that he'd ever given Payton any indication he wanted to know anything about his love life.

  And to make matters worse, Priscilla actually seemed to like the guy. More than once, Jeremy caught her making calf's eyes at Payton when he wasn't looking. And she'd actually stuck up for him when the golf manager said something snarky about him, too.

  It would have been amusing if he didn't have to be a part of it all.

  Lucky for him, he didn't have to deal with the two of them much at the moment, because the dining room was packed. Already they had turned over tables twice, and if they were lucky, a few might even get turned three times. People were flocking into the restaurant to get a glimpse of the pretty chef and to try out her daily specials. Jeremy did his part by sampling each and telling everyone that it all was delicious.

  And it was. Ruefully, he realized he was going to have to start biking a few extra miles a day in order to keep up with the extra calories.

  "Here you go, Jeremy. Three orders of sea bass and one chicken teriyaki for table eight."

  "Thanks," he said to Priscilla, then hurried out to give the Andersons their order.

  Inwardly, he smiled. There were actually quite a few advantages to waiting on people who had known him all his life, especially when they learned that he was working to save money for a house. The tips had been great, and most folks had given him a break while he got used to the ebb and flow of the room. Nobody yelled at him if he was slow taking their order or refilling their iced tea.

  But he had to admit that each day had gone a little smoother, and by next week he would be feeling more at ease.

  Well, he thought that until he wandered over to table twelve and almost lost his bearings.

  Dinah Cate was there, with Bryan and two people who could only be her parents. She looked up and gave him a million dollar smile as he approached, her dimple in full glory. "Hi, Jeremy. I was hoping you were working tonight."

  "Hi Dinah. Bryan." With manners that would have made his mom and dad proud, Jeremy turned to her parents. "Hi there. I'm Jeremy Reece. I met Dinah the other day at the store."

  Her parents eyed him with interest. Her dad, a husky man with a balding head of hair, held out a hand. "Mark Ryan. Nice to meet you. Jeremy Reece, huh? Any relation to Jim or Cameron?"

  "Jim's my dad; Cameron's one of my older brothers. There's a whole crew of us."

  "Jim and Cam are good lawyers. Decent."

  Jeremy got a kick out of that. "They are that," he said before turning to Mrs. Ryan. "Ma'am."

  She held out a hand, as well. Jeremy would have expected her to look just like Dinah, but she didn't, not really. Her eyes were brown and Dinah had her cheek bones, but where Dinah's hair was golden blond, Mrs. Ryan's was a more auburn color. And she also looked to be a few inches taller than her daughter. Interesting.

  Mrs. Ryan shook his hand and smiled brightly. "It's a pleasure. I'm Winnie." A dimple appeared. "I know your mom; we've been on a golf league together. We practically kidnapped Dinah tonight. She's not one for going out much."

  He looked at Dinah to see what she thought of that, but she only looked happy, like there wasn't a thing her parents could say that she would ever worry about. Interesting.

  "Well, I'm glad you came out," he said. "Our new chef is terrific." He went into the specials, describing each dish in detail, then opened up his small notebook to get their drink orders.

  "Just iced tea, Jeremy," Mrs. Ryan said. "For three. And some apple juice for Bryan."

  "Gotcha," he said before walking away to take care of things.

  For the next hour, he took orders, and did his best for the six tables in his area, keeping an eye out on the Ryan family all the while.

  He liked watching them, noticing how easily Dinah got along with her parents. Just watching them together made him think of his own family, and their easy camaraderie. He knew a lot of people who did nothing but complain about their parents ... who had uneasy relationships with them. It made him feel good to know Dinah wasn't one of those people.

  After an hour went by and they finished their dessert, he brought over a carafe of decaf coffee for Mr. Ryan. "Refill, sir?"

  "No thanks, Jeremy. If I have any more I'm going to float away."

  "Ma'am?" he asked Mrs. Ryan.

  She also shook her head, though she smiled up at him above Bryan's head. Bryan had moved from his high chair to Dinah's lap to Winnie's during the course of the meal, and Jeremy would bet money that Mr. Ryan was just biding his time until it was his turn.

  "Dinah?"

  "You know, I am going to take a little bit more. Promise it's decaf?"

  "I promise," he said, gazing at her more closely. She had on a sundress and a pink sweater, making her look like any college coed in Columbus. Her hair was curled at the ends and kind of bounced when she nodded, and her brown eyes were lit up like Christmas.

  "Great. I sure don't want to stay up all night."

  "
What do you have going tomorrow, honey?" her mother asked as Jeremy refilled cups.

  Dinah shrugged. "Not too much. Mrs. Martin is opening for me tomorrow, so I'm not going to go in until one or two. I guess Bryan and I will sleep in and go for a walk or something."

  Her dad looked from Jeremy to Dinah. "So you've got a whole Friday night with practically nothing to do."

  "I wouldn't call eating dinner with you two nothing," she replied.

  Her parents exchanged looks and then eyed Jeremy again. "You're too young to stay home every night. When do you get off work, Jeremy?"

  There was no way he was going to pass this up. "In about an hour or so."

  "Dinah, why don't you let us take Bryan home? You and Jeremy could have a little time together."

  Dinah's face colored, and Jeremy felt like a fool. He'd been practically ogling at her all night long. Her parents probably thought there was way more between them than there was.

  "Mom, just because we talked about-"

  "We know all about you, son," Mr. Ryan interrupted with a small smile, completely ignoring his daughter. "We've been sharing stories with Dinah about your family and such. Sounds like the two of you have a whole lot in common."

  "Like a free Friday evening." Winnie smiled angelically.

  Dinah looked mortified. Jeremy's heart went out to her; he knew exactly how she was feeling. Just as there was plenty of love in his family, there was also plenty of meddling. Not all of it welcome. "I'm sorry," he said to her quietly. "I'll just see you later."

  But then her hand was on his forearm. "No," she said, a funny little smile playing across her lips. "I don't want you to think we were talking about you. Or that you're trapped or anything ... but if you want to do something later ... I would love to."

  She would love to. He swallowed hard. "I'm glad," he admitted. Then, deciding that anything more that came out of his mouth would be embarrassing, he turned away. "I'll go speak with Payton about leaving soon."

  Jeremy couldn't help but grin as he asked Payton to leave a little early so he could be with Dinah.

  Payton glanced over at table twelve and smiled a little himself. "Sure, Jeremy. You don't have to ask, anyway. I'm just glad you're working as much as you are."