I gulped. My heart was pounding and I felt all my defenses come up. But I’d promised myself that today I’d start over. A new life. A new outlook. A new me. And a definite maybe for Davin. He was a good guy, a great father figure to Stephen, a wonderful role model to his students. He understood me better than I did myself, and did I mention the M.B.S.? “If I take the test and I come up more mature than you?”
“Then I walk away and promise not to darken your door again. Unless you want me to. But …”
“But what?”
“If I’m more mature, then you have to move in with me.”
“That’s crazy. Where would we live?”
“My house, of course.”
“You don’t have a house.”
“Of course I do. It’s a
great
house.” He took another bite of toast. “There’s a zillion things you don’t know about me. Think of all the fun you’ll have learning about them. Think of the fun you’ll have reading my diary.”
“You keep a diary?”
“If you move in I will.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a promise. Take the test.”
I checked the time. It was nearly eight o’clock, the hour the Goodwill store opened, and it had been on the back of my mind since I’d held the baby. “I’ve got to run an errand first, but when I get back I’ll take the test.”
“What do you have to do?”
I jumped from my chair and started toward the bathroom and a shower, but called to him, “Buy a new skillet. Do the dishes or something because it won’t take me long. Whatever you do, don’t leave!”
Forty-five minutes later, the salesclerk Meg and I stood looking at the Goodwill skillet offerings. At first I didn’t see anything I wanted, but then a gleam of stainless steel and copper caught my eye. It was perfect!
The skillet was a little tarnished, like me, but it was great quality. “I’ll take it.”
It didn’t take long for Meg to accept my donation of the partially seasoned skillet and ring up my new one.
As I climbed into the Animal, thrilled with my purchase, my cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Jill, it’s Aiden.”
Why would he be calling me? Maybe it was something about Susan? “What’s up?”
“I have a business proposition for you. Can we meet?”
“Now?” I asked.
“Any time will do, but now would be convenient for me if it is for you. I want to talk with you about a job.”
“What kind of job?”
“I know of an opening for a chef.”
“Cool! Meet me at my apartment … in half an hour?”
“Sounds good. Connie says she’s coming, too.”
Since my job had totally gone down the tubes, I was excited. I didn’t think Connie would want to come, too, if she didn’t think the chef position would work for me.
“Hey,” I greeted Davin as I entered my apartment, skillet in hand. “Look what I bought.”
I showed it to him and he was suitably impressed. Stephen wandered out of his bedroom and I quickly made some eggs for him, in my new skillet. My supposition was right. The skillet was perfect. Stephen took a seat in the dining room.
“Are you ready to take the maturity test, Jill?” asked Davin.
“What test?” asked Stephen.
“I’m trying to convince your mother that I’m her Mr. Right. The test will help prove my case.”
“Don’t be a tool, Maman.” Stephen rolled his eyes. “I asked him to marry us back in third grade.”
“You didn’t?!”
“He did.” Davin grinned. “I wasn’t sure about the marrying you part, but I was interested. When the school year was ending I tried to hint about you needing some help and, as usual for me, it didn’t come out right. You thought I was putting you down. And you were still reeling over Stormy leaving. It wasn’t the right time, but I think it is now.”
“He’s your Mr. Right,” added Stephen.
“Well, he can’t prove it to me now. Connie and Aiden are on their way over.” I checked the clock. “They’ll be here in about ten minutes. Aiden’s heard of a chef job!”
“Tres bien
,” said Stephen. He scooped up some eggs and took a bite.
It dawned on me that all his French phrases would be helpful since my baby would soon be living in France. He seemed to know where he was going and how he was going to get there on an instinctive level that I didn’t have myself. I ruffled his spikes.
The doorbell rang. I leaped to answer the door and Davin followed.
Connie and Aiden came in with gigantic grins on their faces. I offered them eggs, but they declined.
“We ate already,” said Connie, tucking a leg under her as she took a seat on the living room sofa. Aiden sat beside her and didn’t once look in a mirror or take a pretend golf putt.
Davin took a seat on the chair, and I perched on the arm.
Stephen came out of the dining room and greeted everyone. “Hi and bye. I’m off to Tom’s, Mom. Be back around four.”
“Have fun.”
As soon as Stephen left, Aiden scooted forward. “I’ve decided to create a new position at Classical Cookware. We have a small fleet—three jets. We need a chef to create a limited menu for them.”
“A plane chef?”
“There’s more to the job than that. We’ll be doing weekly demos with lots of press coverage. The chef will create interesting meals … using Classical Cookware, of course, to promote our new line of Chefware.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun.” I was almost hopping up and down. I’d
kill
for a job like this. But … Aiden hadn’t offered it to me. What if he only wanted me to recommend names of qualified chefs? “Are you looking for someone well-known?”
“I’m looking for someone exactly like you. You, in fact. I want you to be the Classical Cookware chef. I’ve seen you in action twice, once with Chef Radkin and again at the hospital. You’ve got the talent and the brains to handle a job that requires quick thinking like this one. It won’t pay that much to start, only—” Then he named a sum that was nearly double what I was making at La Papillon, making me question if this was legit or I was suffering from sleep deprivation after the night’s chaos.
I surreptitiously pinched myself. It hurt. This was real!
Aiden asked, “Can you start in two weeks?”
By the time they’d pulled me from the ceiling and left me alone with Davin, I was beside myself with glee. “I can’t believe it. Just today I decided to start over and everything is falling into place. A new skillet. A fantastic new job!”
“You could add a new boyfriend to that list if you’d sit down and take the test. Unless you want a nap first?”
“I’m not tired.”
“Take the test, and then we’ll decide how soon you and Stephen can move in with me.”
“You’re awfully confident,” I said, but I did as he asked.
After I completed the test, Davin quickly scored it. Imagine my surprise—not—when my score came back with the mental maturity of a thirteen–year–old girl.
I cheated a little. So sue me.
“You know you’re never going to live this down.”
I looked up and we gazed into each other’s eyes, trading smiles with one another. Then Davin’s pupils darkened, sending me back in time to when he’d taken my breath away in his Mustang.
But now we had the apartment to ourselves and there was nothing to prevent us from making love again, this time in comfort and privacy. With that thought in mind, I opened my mouth to suggest it, but Davin shook his head.
“What?”
“Don’t you need to freshen up?”
I felt pretty darn fresh already and didn’t immediately understand what he meant, unless he wanted me to change clothes?
“Powder your nose,” he said, with a twist of his head toward the bathroom.
Reaching up, I touched my nose, but I didn’t feel anything unusual except for the reading glasses. I removed them. “Do I have a smudge?”
He shook his head. “You are just no good at taking a hint.”
He rose, grabbed my hand, and led me down the hallway to the bathroom. “Look inside.”
Yipes. I couldn’t help wondering if I looked totally awful. I entered the bathroom and turned to the mirror, my face already cringing as I prepared for the worst.
But I didn’t see my reflection. The entire surface of the mirror over the sink was covered with Post-it notes. I spun back to him. “What’s this?”
He gave a shooing motion with his hands. “You’re supposed to read them.”
Smiling, I turned back and started at the top left, removing each Post-it as I read. “I.”
“Love.”
“You.”
“You do?” I asked.
Davin stepped forward and kissed my neck from behind. “Absolutely. I love everything about you.”
The warm emotion I’d kept bottled up inside me came rushing to my heart, almost like the sensation of a hot flash, but, oh, so much better.
Worlds better.
Leaning back against his strong chest, I turned and kissed his rough chin. “I love you, too. I’ve been trying hard to fight it.”
“I know. It’s okay, because you’re with me now.” He tenderly stroked my upper arms and shoulders with his calloused hands, the sensation sending trails of warmth throughout my body.
Could life get any more wonderful?
“Now,” he ordered. “Keep reading.”
I bit my lip, holding back a happy tear and then reached forward to grab another Post-it.
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” the next note said, quoting Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Each succeeding Post-it was numbered and I realized there were over a hundred of them covering the mirror.
1. I love the way it’s so easy to tell what you’re thinking and feeling. You wear your heart for everyone to see.
2. I love the way you scrunch up your nose when you’re happy.
3. Even though you’ve been hurt before, I love the way you drum up the courage to try again and again.
4. I love the way you feel in my arms.
5. I love it when you laugh. Your happy gurgle does something to my insides.
6. I love the way you have of making me laugh.
7. I love the way you never give up, even when life is stacked against you.
8. I love the way you love your son.
9. I love your crazy logic.
10. I love making love with you.
That was when I stopped reading and attacked the poor man. He didn’t know what hit him.
I kissed him once, twice, three times. “I love making love with you, too. It’s all I can seem to think about anymore.”
He glanced heavenward. “Thank you.” Then, he attacked me right back.
And let me tell you, it was absolutely mind-blowing.
EPILOGUE
How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
Three weeks off and one week of incredibly sizzling sex.
Be careful what you ask for, because that’s exactly what I got. During our seven months of blissful cohabitation, we’d even squeezed in a little hot sex during my three weeks away from home, on occasional weekends, and especially when school was out and Davin traveled with me.
Thursday nights are always pizza nights and I was eager to get home. Stephen was flying to Paris the day after next and this would be our last family evening for a long while, since we were having dinner with my folks the following night.
Stephen and I had settled into Davin’s house as if we’d lived there all our lives. It was a very comfortable three-bedroom home with a tiny lawn of very green grass that Davin enjoyed tending.
You wouldn’t believe how great our relationship is or how perfect our living arrangements are. Because my new job requires extensive travel, I didn’t have to worry about leaving Stephen while he finished out his senior year, since he got home from school around the same time as Davin.
Davin truly is a homebody, but I hadn’t realized how much I would look forward to coming home to a guy like him. Or how much I wanted to come home to him specifically.
When I pulled into the driveway, my temple furrowed. Something was different. I grinned when I saw what it was. What a sweetie!
My favorite hottie had added a small section of white picket fence in front of the walkway.
I pulled my wallet from my handbag and dragged out the photo of my dream house. There was the same green lawn and the same picket fence. They were smaller, but I couldn’t love them more if we’d been transported to Kentucky. I’d only shown the photo to Davin once and I was touched that he remembered. Talk about a keeper!
I returned my wallet to my bag and my cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“We need to discuss your wedding plans,” said my mother.
Some things never change. I’d forgotten to check caller ID.
“Who said I’m getting married? Why don’t you bug Gerald and Mandy?”
“Mandy said they’re eloping.”
Wise woman.
Just then, Davin came out of the house to greet me.
“Your mother?” he asked, pointing at my cell phone, and I nodded.
He leaned through my open car window and took it from me. “Hi, Mom.”
I heard her say something to him, but couldn’t make out the words.
“I’m working on her. I’ve got some survey responses to show her tonight.”