by Jackie Braun
Because he knew what he really wanted was off-limits, he wrapped both hands around his cup of coffee and forced his gaze to the stocky waitress. “Two slices of whole wheat toast and a fruit cup.”
Helga pursed her lips in distaste as she jotted down his order. “Fruit cup,” she muttered as she walked away. “Is whole world on diet?”
“I think we’ve ruined her day,” Chloe said.
“We’ll leave a big tip,” Simon replied.
They always did, regardless of the amount they spent. The way Simon saw it, she deserved the tip. He and Chloe took up one of Helga’s prime tables for at least a couple of hours on a Saturday without running up a sizable tab.
Chloe fussed with her hair, pulling it back behind her head. No doubt if she had a rubber band at her disposal, it would wind up in a ponytail.
“I like your hair down,” he said.
On a sigh, she let it drop. “It’s not even humid out and my hair is already going nuts. You wouldn’t know I’d used this expensive new antifrizz stuff. I want my money back.”
“I don’t know. I think it looks nice. I like it when you leave it curly.”
“I don’t mind curly, but it’s heading toward steel wool. For the reunion, I’m thinking of having it professionally straightened.”
Don’t! He wanted to shout. But he doubted she would follow his advice. So, instead he lifted his shoulders. “Whatever you think best.”
Helga was back with Chloe’s coffee and refilled Simon’s cup.
“I’m considering dying it a different color, too.” She smiled at their waitress. “What do you think? Should I attempt blond?”
Helga issued that rude sound again. Before stalking away, she said, “Keep what God gave you.”
To Simon, Chloe said, “I think God could have been a little more generous in certain areas and, well, spread the wealth in others, if you know what I mean.”
“You wouldn’t look good as a blonde.”
She frowned. “I thought you liked blondes? The last three women you dated all looked like they just stepped out of the California sun.”
True enough, he realized, although it hadn’t been intentional. They’d been available and interested and, well, since he’d been available… He didn’t like how that made it seem, though he’d never pretended to have deep feelings for any of them. Nor had he made any promises.
He wasn’t his father…a man who made promises, vows even, with the ease of a politician, only to break them, as wives one through five could attest.
“Simon?” Chloe was staring at him.
He pulled himself back to the present. “Your coloring is all wrong for blond hair. You’re too fair.”
“That can be changed, too.”
He didn’t like the glint in her eye. “Please tell me you’re not thinking about tanning again. Remember what happened before senior pictures.”
She shuddered, making him sorry to have brought it up. She’d gotten the bright idea to lie under the heat lamp her grandmother kept to warm new litters of Persian kittens, and had wound up burned to the point of blistering on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose.
“Not tanning per se,” she murmured, but before he could question her further, she asked, “Will you be going for your usual run tomorrow morning?”
He frowned at the change in subject. “Why?”
“I was thinking of joining you.”
He couldn’t help it. His brows shot up. “Are you going to run?”
She wrinkled her nose, a sign she was insulted. “You don’t need to look so shocked. Haven’t you pestered me since Nana’s heart attack to do more cardio conditioning?”
He had indeed, worried that Chloe’s addiction to comfort food might take her down the same hardened-arteries path as her seventy-four-year-old grandmother. But he knew Chloe’s sudden decision to listen had less to do with his persuasive abilities than their upcoming class reunion. He almost called her on it. But the truth was, he liked the idea of having company during the runs he took four mornings a week.
“We can meet in the park at eight,” he said after a moment.
“Great.”
Her smile lasted until Helga arrived with their food. The cream-cheese-laden bagel beckoned. The way she swallowed before sucking in her bottom lip told him as much. Whoever had been manning the knife in the kitchen had been generous with the topping.
“Anything else?” Helga asked, her meaty hands resting on a pair of what Simon remembered a great-aunt referring to as good child-bearing hips.
No way he was going to point out that his so-called fresh fruit cup looked suspiciously like the syrup-drenched cocktail variety that came in a can.
“No. We’re good.”
More than half of the bagel remained when Helga brought the check. Chloe considered that a victory of the highest order. She’d actually sat on her hands to keep from finishing it off. Whatever it took, she was willing to do it. She had her eye on the prize.
“You promised me a walk,” she reminded Simon.
“So I did. And I never renege on my promises,” he replied. He always looked surprisingly serious when he made comments such as that, and now was no exception. “Do you have a destination in mind?”
“How about that little bookstore just off Fifth? We haven’t been there in a while.”
It was one of the few independent shops of its kind left in the city. And while Chloe had nothing against the big stores that held every title and obscure periodical under the sun and housed trendy cafes where patrons could get a good, if pricey, cup of coffee and read their purchases, she was especially fond of this place. It was the clear underdog. Chloe knew how that felt.
“Sure.”
CHAPTER THREE
The girl most likely to obsess…
IT TOOK FORTY-FIVE minutes to get to Bendle’s Books, but only because Chloe stopped to do a little window shopping along the way.
“What do you think of that dress?” she asked, pointing to a clingy black number draping a mannequin that was wand-thin and eerily faceless. She turned to Simon expectantly, only to find him frowning.
“On you?”
“No. On the mannequin. I’ll be sending it to the reunion in my place,” she snapped, even though she was a little more wounded than irritated by his dubious tone. It didn’t help that the dress undoubtedly did look better on the faceless and tummyless dummy.
He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s kind of…revealing.”
“And you think I’ve got a little too much to reveal at this point, is that it?”
“No, Chloe—”
“I’ll be thinner by then. The reunion is six weeks away. If I lose two—okay, more like three—pounds a week, I’ll be able to pull off that dress.” Especially if she threw in regular toning workouts and shape wear. She mentioned the exercise to Simon, but not undergarments, adding, “You’re always after me to get healthy.”
“I want you to eat more balanced meals and exercise more often. I don’t think you need to lose weight, at least not by going on some kooky crash diet.”
She brushed off his reply and started walking. “It’s not kooky.”
He fell in step beside her. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not going on a kooky diet. I plan to eat sensibly, just smaller portions, and cut out comfort food entirely.”
“Entirely?” Again the dubious tone.
“Last night was it. No more mac and cheese for me and no more ice cream.”
“And bagels? What about those?”
“Today was an exception. What was I to do? Helga plopped that thing in front of me. I didn’t eat it all,” she reminded him.
“You showed admirable restraint.”
“I thought so, too.”
But her restraint took another beating when they passed a pizzeria and the smell of melted mozzarella cheese and spicy Italian sausage wafted out the door along with a satisfied-looking customer. She swallowed, not out of despair, but because her mouth had a
ctually started to water. Why couldn’t broccoli smell like that?
“Maybe at the bookstore I’ll be able to find a cookbook that includes some of my old favorites, just with a lot less fat and fewer calories and carbohydrates.”
It was a tall order, to be sure. But hope sprang eternal.
“You could just log on to the internet, you know. A couple of keystrokes and thousands of recipes would be at your disposal.”
He would know, tech geek that he was. Chloe shook her head. “I like books. I like holding them in my hands and flipping through the pages. Besides, when I download free recipes from the internet, I don’t get to see Millicent.”
Millicent Cox owned Bendle’s. Although her daughter was largely in charge of the quaint little store these days, Millicent was a fixture behind the counter on weekend mornings.
“She’s a character.” He said it with fondness, rather than with the snarkiness that Chloe’s last boyfriend had injected into the simple statement.
Millicent was pushing eighty and had as many stories to tell as she had obscure books to sell. Between her eclectic title selection, which included some rare editions that appealed to collectors, and a colorful past that allegedly included a turn as CIA mole, visiting her shop was always an adventure.
The older woman greeted them with a shaky wave when they entered to the jangle of cowbells.
“I haven’t seen either of you in here in a while.”
“Worried about us?” Simon asked on a smile.
“Not in the least.” She cackled at his fallen expression, before admitting, “Okay, maybe a little. You get to be my age and your social calendar tends to include a lot of funerals. It’s easy to think the worst when you haven’t heard from someone in a while.”
Chloe forced a smile. Millicent didn’t seem to notice.
“So, what have you kids been doing to keep yourselves busy?” the older woman asked.
“The usual,” Simon replied on a shrug.
“That means he’s working too many hours,” Chloe clarified.
“And you?” Millicent asked.
“Not enough.”
“Still part-time, hmm?”
Chloe nodded. She’d been part-time at the graphic-design company where she’d been working for the past three years, which meant she had to supplement her income by doing freelance work. It was far from ideal, but her boss kept assuring her she would become full-time soon.
“What about your love lives?” Millicent asked shamelessly. “Anything of interest to report in that area? And be generous with the details. I’m an old woman who spends all of her evenings alone. Vicarious living is the only thing I’m capable of at this point in my life.”
“Sorry.” Chloe shrugged. “I’m still dateless.”
“Still? Heavens, it’s been months,” Millicent remarked, sounding horrified.
The older woman’s tone, so similar to that of Chloe’s mother’s and the happily married Frannie, had her blurting out, “Well, Simon got dumped yesterday.”
“I didn’t get dumped.” To Millicent, he said, “My girlfriend and I reached a mutual decision not to continue our relationship.”
The older woman waved one thin, blue-veined hand in his direction. “It’s the same thing, my dear.”
When Chloe giggled, Simon shot her a black look.
Millicent was saying, “Workaholics make lousy mates, Simon. I found that out the hard way with husbands one through four.”
He blinked in surprise. “You were married four times?”
“Five. Only the first four were workaholics. Unfortunately, I was a slow learner.” She winked from behind a pair of thick bifocal lenses. “What can I say? I was a sucker for a pair of broad shoulders and a firm behind.”
Chloe was past the point of being shocked by Millicent’s unexpected bluntness. So was Simon.
“I’m not a workaholic,” he protested.
Chloe disagreed silently. He spent too many hours at the office. It wasn’t all the fault of the upcoming acquisition. He’d come far enough that he could give others in his employ more of the responsibility.
She couldn’t help noticing that he also had a pair of broad shoulders and a rather fine backside.
He was saying, “As the head of the company I have a lot of responsibility, especially right now. There’s a lot going on that requires my attention.”
“Delegate, young man. Delegate.”
Exactly, Chloe wanted to shout.
“The relationship wasn’t going anywhere,” he muttered. “It pretty much had run its course.”
“Regardless, life is too short. It passes you by quickly. Believe me. Before you know it, you’ll be worrying about hip fractures, misplacing your dentures and dozing off during the evening news.” A sigh rattled out. But then Millicent offered a crafty smile. “Besides, you’ll never turn the head of the girl of your dreams if you keep long hours at the office and spend your free time with women who are more interested in your title and looks than what’s behind both.”
Chloe felt her skin prickle.
Simon leaned one of his broad shoulders against the cash register. “You know, if you’d agree to marry me, Millicent, I’d agree to work reasonable hours, not to mention forsake all others.”
“I’d be tempted to take you up on that, but I think all three of us would be disappointed.” Her gaze shifted to Chloe and she smiled. “Don’t you, Chloe?”
Chloe shook her head. No matter how many times they’d tried to tell Millicent that they weren’t anything more than friends, the older woman kept insisting and insinuating they were or someday would become something more.
Silly, Chloe thought.
Surely, if Simon were interested in her as anything more than a pal, he would have made it clear by now. Not that she wanted him to. Or that she was interested back, despite those odd tingles she sometimes got when they were together. No. They were friends. Pals. Buds. BFFs.
She was as surprised as Millicent and Simon when a wistful sigh escaped.
Chloe cleared her throat. “I’m looking for a cookbook.”
“Well, you know where to find them, my dear. The shelf by the window has some vintage ones.”
“She wants one with low-carb, low-calorie recipes,” he said, his bias obvious.
Millicent’s mouth puckered in distaste. “The trendy ones are on the next shelf over.”
Simon went with Chloe and helped her leaf through the limited selection. She settled on one that boasted nutritious meals in thirty-minutes or less. The pictures looked appetizing, the recipes didn’t appear too difficult and the ingredients weren’t something she’d have to hit specialty stores to find. Portion control would be the key, though. She’d learned that with the first batch of low-fat cookies she bought. Low-fat or not, it turned out that when a person ate the entire box in one sitting, the calories still wound up going straight to her hips.
“All set?” he asked.
“Just one more thing.” She started for the back of the store and a section in which she had spent way too much time over the years.
“What are you doing in the self-help aisle?”
“Looking for, well, a way to help myself,” she quipped.
“What book are the talk-show gurus pushing this week?” he asked in a weary tone.
“They aren’t pushing anything.”
One of Simon’s eyebrows rose.
“Okay, so one of the guests on a show I caught last week mentioned a book that sounded sort of interesting.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask, what’s the title?”
She had to clear her throat before the words “The Best You, Ever” made it past her lips. She doubted he would care that the subtitle was “From the Inside Out.” She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard him swear. And his expression made his disdain plain.
“You’re already the best you that you can be, Chloe.”
Her heart did a funny somersault at his assessment, as off base as she knew it to be. She was
a far cry from the person she wanted to be, especially physically, which was her main objective now with the reunion fast approaching.
“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” Pal. Bud. BFF.
He folded his arms across his chest. “And if I wasn’t your friend? Would you believe me then?”
“Simon,” she began patiently.
But his tone was impatient and surprisingly irritated. “Answer me. What will it take for you to finally accept that you don’t need improvement? If that last loser you dated had said so, would you have believed him?”
Whoa, whoa! Her mouth went slack.
Loser? That was cold. Okay, so she’d called Greg a loser, too, not to mention a couple dozen other choice names in the weeks following their breakup. But Simon hadn’t seen the need to malign Greg’s character then, other than to say the guy wasn’t good enough for her. She’d been well into a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream at the time. Simon had taken away her spoon, made her dress in something other than sweats and had taken her out to a fancy restaurant for dinner.
“This is how you deserve to be treated,” he’d said at the end of the evening.
It dawned on Chloe then. Simon had never maligned the character of any of the guys she’d dated. Never…until just now.
He was joking. He had to be.
She waited for humor to leak into his expression, for the corners of his mouth to quirk in a well-remembered smile. But a full minute ticked past and Simon remained stoic, his countenance as unyielding as that of a tombstone.
“What do you want me to say?” she asked at last.
“I want you to say that you believe me when I tell you that you look fine just as you are.”
“I do believe you,” she assured him.
Well, sort of. Mostly. But he was her friend, her pal, her bud and BFF. People with those titles were known to lie. Which was why on days when Chloe was feeling particularly insecure about her body, she peppered Simon with questions such as, “Do these pants make my butt look big?”
No woman in her right mind asked that question of someone they thought might actually tell them the truth. Besides, the man regularly dated lingerie models.
