by Angie Pepper
He cleared his throat and raised his glass, smiling and blinking rapidly.
“A toast,” he said.
She raised her own glass and waited.
His voice low and soft, like a prayer, he said, “May every loving heart hear its song returned across the lake.”
She was surprised by his poetic words. She was slow to clink her glass with his.
Chapter 14
After dinner and dessert, Tina said, “Let’s move over to the couch.”
“All the way over there? It’s too far.” The couch was about two feet away from the table. “I’m so full from dinner.” Luca rubbed his stomach. “You’ll have to carry me.”
“You can stay on that swivel chair if you like, but I like to put my feet up after dinner.”
Tina moved over to the couch. Luca said, “Goodbye, mushroom-shaped chair. Thank you for not breaking in half underneath me,” and joined her.
It was a generous-sized couch, in an L shape. Tina could have fit a bed plus some smaller furniture inside her cottage, but she’d opted for the big sofa with a fold-out bed instead. In a small space, it was important to still have somewhere to stretch out.
When she’d bought the couch, she’d imagined having parties, and glamorous friends perching all over the stylish new sectional. In Tina’s imagination, everyone wore fancy clothes and drank martinis. In reality, her friends wore socks with holes in them, and most preferred movies over parties, and popcorn over martinis. The big couch worked well for that, too, though movie nights had become less frequent now that everyone was getting married, having babies, or both.
“This is good quality upholstery,” Luca said, rubbing his hands over the nubby fabric.
“We had to take the door off its hinges to get it inside. I think it’s been expanding since I got it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to get it out of here.”
His eyes twinkled. “I’m sure you’ll figure out a way. If you need someone big and strong to help, I’m your guy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He leaned back and relaxed even more than he had been. “It’s a great couch,” he said. “Your kitchen is challenging, but this couch was made for me.”
“It is custom made, but not for you.” She batted her eyelashes. “Only because I didn’t know you back then.”
He let out a nervous laugh. Was he nervous? She’d been so worried about her own nerves and the averted meltdown that she hadn’t given his feelings much thought. But she should have. The guy was always reminding her that big, tough guys had feelings, too.
“Would you like a coffee?” She’d picked up three kinds of beans, just for him.
“Do you see me yawning?”
“Not tonight. You must have gotten some deep sleep last night.”
“I didn’t,” he said. “Being here with you is better than caffeine.”
He reached over and lightly touched her arm, then her shoulder, then her hair. He gently pushed his fingers into her curly hair, but he wisely didn’t try to comb through and get himself caught in the knots. He lightly massaged his fingertips on the back of her head then pulled his hand away.
Tina stared at his cheek. His shave looked really close to the skin. He looked brand new, like a clone in a sci-fi movie who’d just come out of an egg. And he smelled like heaven.
“Thanks again for the flowers,” she told him.
“I didn’t just bring you flowers.”
“Oh, right. Thanks for the wine, too. It was excellent. You must have a well-stocked wine cellar.”
“I also brought you this.” He leaned back to pull something from his jeans pocket. A jewelry box. It was bigger than a ring box, but smaller than a necklace box.
Tina’s hands trembled as she reached for the velvet case. Jewelry? On the fourth date? None of the dating advice websites had prepared her for a jewelry scenario.
“Open it. Open it now,” he said, sounding like an excited kid on Christmas day.
She snapped open the box. Inside was a charm bracelet, with several charms already connected to it. She pulled the bracelet out. One charm was a tiny little hammer. There was also a kangaroo, a motorbike, a flower pot, and a tea cup. The charms were all symbols of things connected to them and that they’d talked about.
She waved one hand to fan her face. “Luca, this is too much. I don’t know what to say.”
“Tell me it’s cute.” He tapped the tea cup with the end of his fingernail. “This one is the most cute, and you know I’m not a man who uses the word cute lightly.”
“It is cute,” she said. “It’s exactly like the tea cups they have at Delilah’s.” Tina’s view of the bracelet and its tiny charms grew blurry. She blinked furiously. “You really brought your A game to the fourth date,” she said. “I feel so bad. I didn’t even make you dinner myself. Rory did all the prep work.”
“Then I can’t take full credit for this,” he said. “I just bought the thing. I didn’t make the charms.”
“Technically, I didn’t pay for dinner. Rory insisted.”
“But you hosted,” he said. “I’m giving you full credit for a great dinner, whether you agree with it or not.”
He took the bracelet from her hand and undid the clasp. She held out her hand, which no longer hurt from the burn, and he fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
She admired the bracelet, turning her wrist back and forth. “I wish I’d gotten you something,” she said.
“Tina, you made me dinner, plus you’ve already given me so much. This dark cloud of dread has been hanging over me since I got the keys to the garage.”
“What dark cloud of dread?”
“The idea of me, running a business. It’s crazy. When I picked up the keys from the real estate agent, I was sure I’d made the worst decision of my life. Everything felt wrong. But then I met you, and things turned around. You turned it around. Now I feel like I’m finally on the right path.”
I waved my charm bracelet. “Sounds like I’m your good-luck charm.”
He laughed at my dumb joke then kissed me. The kissing went from warm to hot quickly. He pulled away and gave me a serious look.
“You want to hear something funny? I started thinking about charms the day I met you, but I told myself to be cool and not scare you away. I wanted to get you those charms, but I promised myself I’d wait until our fourth date, assuming I even got that far.”
“Is that why you kept talking about which date we were on?”
“That’s it.” He frowned. “Why? What did you think?”
“I thought that by the fourth date, it might be time for us to play Scrabble.”
He smiled and stretched his arms out along the back of the sofa. “I’ll play whatever you like.”
Chapter 15
Tina Gardenia prepared for a typical Sunday afternoon routine.
Rory arrived a few minutes early and sent a text message saying she was at the main house. The girls were planning to do laundry together, as they had done about one Sunday per month for many years.
When the message came in, Tina was still sorting her laundry—mostly just trying to find it. The tiny home didn’t have conventional closets, so she had to stuff things in nooks and crannies and other creative spaces. While tidying for her dinner with Luca the day before, she’d gotten so creative that she couldn’t locate any of her socks. She invited Rory to come around to the small house and meet her there.
Rory pushed open the door to the tiny home and entered cautiously. She’d left her laundry at the main house and was carrying the usual: a big takeout cup full of coffee and a box of gourmet donuts. She visually scoured the house interior like a detective searching for clues. She sniffed then wrinkled her nose as she walked over to the door for the bathroom, which she flung open.
Rory demanded, “Where is he? Is he hiding?”
“Luca’s not here,” Tina said. “And where would he hide, anyway? This place is basically one room.”
“One room plus a closet.” Rory flung open th
e home’s only closet. It was full, but only with stuff.
Tina spotted her dirty socks on the hat shelf and grabbed them.
“I told you,” Tina said. “He’s not here. You’re going to meet him, but I swear it won’t be by ambush.”
“He must be nearby. I can smell him.”
Rory closed the closet door then yanked it open a second time.
“He’s not in there,” Tina said. “And he’s not in the main house, either. I promised I wouldn’t spring him on you before you’re ready, and I won’t.”
“Okay. I believe you.” She pushed back her curly hair and tied it up with an elastic. Hair nets were for cooking, but elastics were for laundry day.
Tina finished retrieving dirty laundry from the various places she’d hidden it before dinner the night before.
“So?” Rory held out both hands. “Let’s get it over with. How was last night?”
“Wow. I’m so excited to tell my best friend about my recent date, especially when she’s clearly so enthused.”
“This is me, being supportive,” Rory said. “How was the roast beef?”
“Perfect. I used the drippings to make the gravy, like you told me to.”
“How was the salad?”
“It was salad.”
“How was the cheesecake?”
“Very sweet, but perfect, as always. You are the best caterer in the entire city.”
“And?”
Tina played coy for a moment before saying, “We did play Scrabble last night.”
Rory’s body tensed, but she didn’t run. “And?”
“His board strategy is more aggressive than I’m used to, but I liked it.”
Rory looked down at her shoes, her cheeks turning red. “I’m happy for you,” she mumbled.
“I’m being honest with you,” Tina said. “We played Scrabble.”
Rory frowned and turned redder. “I heard you the first time.”
Tina picked up the slim cardboard box that had been under a pile of dirty laundry on the coffee table. It was the Scrabble board she usually kept in the closet.
“We played this.” Tina shook the box, making the tiles rattle.
“Oh,” Rory said. “Oh. Oh!”
“Yeah,” Tina said. “The fourth date is when you play Scrabble. That’s a new house rule.”
Rory swayed back and forth, still on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Tina tossed her dirty laundry into the basket she’d brought over from the main house. “This should be everything,” she said. “It has to be, since these are all the clothes I own.” She headed for the door. “Let’s do some laundry!”
Rory took one more look at the Scrabble box, then at the coat closet, then followed Tina out.
The girls walked over to the main house, where they found Tina’s sister, Megan Gardenia, in the kitchen, doing some baking. The flower shop was closed Sundays, except for major events like Mother’s Day, so the sisters usually had Sundays off together. They sometimes hung out, if they were getting along that weekend.
Megan was making bread. She said to Tina, “Mom phoned from Italy, and you’ll never guess.”
“Please don’t make me guess,” Tina said. “Just tell me for once.”
“The gossip about you and Luca has gone global.” Megan waggled her eyebrows. “Mom knows.”
“Oh, crap.”
“It gets better.” Megan grinned as she punched down bread dough. “You know that game where people whisper things, and the story changes with each person it goes through? Anyway, Mom thinks you’re dating the leader of a crime family.”
Rory leaned on the counter, listening without comment.
Tina said, “The leader of a crime family? How did she get that?”
“Someone on the telephone chain made the leap from motorbike repair to biker gang, and it must have exploded from there. You should have heard how worked up she was. She was threatening to come home.”
“I hope you talked her down,” Tina said. “I refuse to be held responsible for cutting short her fabulous year abroad.”
Megan snorted. “She’s not cutting anything short. If anything, she might not come back. She’s sharing her apartment with someone. A guy. She told me that when they share the bed, it’s platonic, because they sleep foot to head.”
At the mention of sleeping foot to head—another of Rory’s hot button issues, though one that rarely came up in conversation—Rory let out a strangled cry then bolted away to the laundry room.
Megan stared after Tina’s friend. “Is that still happening?”
“Be nice,” Tina said. “She’s making progress. Yesterday, she said pantyhose.”
“Speaking of pantyhose, how was your date last night? I noticed you pulled the blinds shut after dinner.”
“Spying again? You need to get a life.”
“Couldn’t help myself. That roast looked good. I was going to come over and mooch around for some leftovers, but I noticed the whole cottage was rocking on its foundations. Was there a small earthquake last night? One that was extremely localized underneath you?”
“The cottage was not rocking.” It had been built out of a former garage. Unlike tiny homes that were built on wheels, the cottage hadn’t rocked because it couldn’t have.
“From over here, it sure looked like it was bouncing like a trampoline. Must have been the wind.”
“Or someone’s imagination.”
“I may have implied to Mom that she should have an inspector check the foundation when she gets back. You know, in case you and your boyfriend from the crime syndicate cracked the seismic upgrades.”
“Meenie! We were playing Scrabble.”
“Sure you were,” Megan said. “Does he have a brother?”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t talk much about his family. Whenever I ask, he turns it around and asks about mine.”
“You can’t blame the guy,” Megan said. “Your sister is pretty interesting.”
Tina pulled out her phone and checked for messages. The night before, when Luca had lodged his large body in the kitchen and insisted on helping with the dishes, he had mentioned getting up early to meet a new subcontractor at the garage.
As for messages, there was nothing from Luca.
Tina had an excuse to contact him first, so she typed: My sister Megan asked me if you happen to have a brother. I’m only asking because if you do, we need to warn him about her.
“And send,” Tina said as she touched the button to send the text.
“You sound exactly like Mom when you talk to your phone like that. Or Grandma. I swear you’re twenty-nine going on seventy.”
Tina heard the sound of Rory starting the washing machine down the hallway. Tina continued staring at her phone, waiting to hear from Luca.
Megan noticed and said, “Give him a minute to get back to you, stalker. I’m sure he’ll still have a brother if you put your phone away.”
“You’re the stalker,” Tina said. “Don’t spy on me, and don’t start rumors with Mom.”
“I didn’t start the rumors. You two are the talk of the neighborhood. If you want to keep your little romance with the crime boss a secret, try riding that big bike of his over to the other side of town.”
Tina shook her finger angrily. “If Mom calls again, you’d better set her straight.”
Megan sighed. “I already did.”
Tina dropped her finger. “Thanks.” Megan wasn’t actually the worst, so Tina had figured as much.
Megan went back to her baking, and Tina wandered off to do her laundry with Rory.
Tina and Rory’s Sunday-afternoon laundry routine hadn’t changed much over the past decade. In between folding loads from the dryer, they lazed around in the TV room, watching movies and eating donuts. It couldn’t have been that bad for them. They were gourmet donuts with fancy flavor combinations. The kind of donuts that social media influencers posted photos of online.
Later, after Rory left, Tina checked her phone for the thous
andth time.
There was still no response from Luca.
Had she touched on a nerve, mentioning a brother? Was he just really busy? Was he ignoring her? Had he dropped his phone in a toilet? Had he been abducted by aliens?
Tina carried her folded laundry back out to the cottage and put everything away in the various storage spots.
The charms jingled around her wrist.
She checked her phone again. No response.
The flowers from the night before were sitting on the table, next to the note he’d used to pre-apologize for being a jerk.
Tina played with the charms on her wrist. The symbols were all cute, except for the kangaroo, which looked a little menacing.
The bracelet was such a thoughtful, personal gift. Luca had really made her feel special.
She thought back to the first time she’d met Luca, when she’d warned him that no woman on earth wanted to get “the usual.”
He certainly hadn’t given her “the usual” last night. In addition to the Scrabble game, there had been other fun activities for grown-ups. Nothing that would have, as Megan put it, cracked the cottage’s seismic upgrades. Nothing that Tina regretted. At least not until now, the next day, when Luca hadn’t even sent a single message.
Was this his big flaw? Was Luca Lowell the kind of guy who lost interest after the chase was over? Was this why he had to buy so many apology bouquets?
Chapter 16
Monday morning, Tina dug through the stack of jeans she kept in the drawer under her oven to pick out the day’s outfit. Luca still hadn’t returned her text message from the day before, and every minute that passed was bringing her down. She grabbed her pair of ratty cut-offs and her stained sweatshirt and slammed the drawer shut.
She left the charm bracelet on the bathroom counter and strapped on a gold watch—an old gift from the father who wasn’t in her life.
She stepped outside, immediately changed her mind, and ran back inside. She tossed the gold watch on the couch on the way to the bathroom then put on the charm bracelet. For luck. Then she swapped out the extra-large sweatshirt for another one that was still too large, but not as stained.
