Chris’s arm came around his shoulders so fast he had no time to back away. Nor did he care to. “If all the crap surrounding my upcoming wedding makes you and or Jay uncomfortable and you’d rather not—”
“What? Be part of my own brother’s special day? I don’t think so.” Moving away from the brotherly embrace, he thunked Chris on the arm. “But better not let Angela hear you refer to your wedding plans as crap. She may take it wrong. Women are funny that way.”
“Funny what way?”
Little brother practically jumped out of his skin as he straightened then turned to come face to face with his fiancée. “Hey, sweetheart. You two have a good time at the beauty shop?”
“Funny what way?” Angela asked again, coming easily into his one armed embrace.
“Not funny peculiar. Funny miraculous as in your attention to detail with all of these wedding plans.” Eric couldn’t help but rise to his brother’s defense. “Taking care of everything the way you do.” He took one last pull of his beer as three sets of eyes bore into him with such strength he was sure he’d be spouting drill holes before long. “You ladies look very nice.”
He set down the empty bottle suddenly very self-conscious about being half right. Angela looked nice. Elyse, on the other hand, was nothing short of amazing. Her hair was loose and framed her face in a way that made him imagine it was his hands cupping her cheeks, bringing her lips up to meet his. Diverting his eyes and turning off those errant thoughts, he suddenly wished he’d ordered another beer.
As Angela and her sister filled in a highly attentive Chris about their day at the salon, Eric fixated on Elyse. The usual slacks, smock, and running shoes had been traded in for a black tank top trimmed in wide lace at both the top and bottom. Spaghetti straps were all that covered shoulders tanned to golden velvet. White cotton pants skimmed down sexy hips and thighs, ending in knots tied just above her knees. Thin straps of silver sandals wrapped across her ankles and over her feet.
“Your table is ready.” With four menus in the crook of one arm, the hostess motioned with her free hand. “This way, please.”
Eric yanked his gaze away from apricot tipped toes.
As the group filed into the body of the restaurant, Chris put a palm against the small of Angela’s back.
Beginning to do the same with Elyse, he stopped before making physical contact and extended his arm. “After you.”
As it turned out walking behind her trumped physical contact as the hips and thighs he’d admired from a relatively safe distance swayed a silent message in front of him now.
He’d barely recovered from thoughts he had no business having when they were settled into a cozy booth and Elyse slid in beside him. For starters, she smelled fabulous and he wondered if he’d get through lunch without doing something stupid. Like putting his arms around her and kissing her senseless.
Then Elyse started to relate a story about what Jay and the kids did at daycare and soon he was totally at ease talking, laughing and thoroughly enjoying himself. When a cell chimed, they all automatically reached for where they kept their own, then laughed.
Elyse was the one who brought hers up to her ear. “Oh no,” she said after a moment and the laughter died as the others turned to listen. “No. I’ll take care of it. Good bye.” She looked at Angela. “That was Iris. There’s a problem with your bridal registry. The china pattern was entered wrong. A mistake she discovered when she shopped with one of her friends who wanted to buy you a place setting. She says the one they have listed—the wrong one—is ghastly.”
At the distasteful face she made, Eric couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sounds serious.”
The sisters glanced at him but said nothing. The brothers exchanged blank looks then shrugged.
Elyse spoke up immediately. “Iris suggests, and I agree, this needs to be corrected very soon. Like right after lunch. Before too many try to make a purchase and you end up with all sorts of dishes you’ll have to exchange.”
At Angela’s horrified expression and Elyse’s somber one, Eric went for more comic relief. “Darn that Ma anyway.”
While both women looked aghast, the bride responded first. “Are you kidding me? Your mother’s a Godsend. Ask Elyse.”
Ears ringing with their tirade about the skills and value his mother brought to the wedding planning, Eric was relieved when their lunches arrived and the conversation turned to non-wedding topics. With a dash of politics thrown in at the end. Which only served to convince him, aside from his attraction to her, he and Elyse shared some basic philosophies about life.
And though he would have been more than content to have a long, leisurely lunch with the current company, and had an idea Chris would concur, Angela and even Elyse seemed bent on an opposite course of action. Downing their food in a hurry so they could go on to solving this most recent nuptial crisis.
With the single-mindedness of those two, there’d be no lingering over dessert and coffee. Another example of someone on a mission. Places to go and people to see. In other words lives to go on with.
Walking out of the restaurant a short while later behind the sisters and beside Chris, it occurred to him, even with the abbreviated lunch date, he still thoroughly enjoyed her company.
“How could the store mess this up?” Angela wondered out loud as they all stood for a moment in the parking lot.
Chris brought a quick arm around her shoulders. “Does it matter? Ma caught it and we’re going over there now to straighten it out.”
She gave a brave smile and nod as he brushed a kiss on her temple. “You’re right. I’m over reacting.”
Even if it was a no-brainer, Eric knew better by now than to say so. “I didn’t mean to make light of your problem,” he said instead.
“You didn’t know,” Angela replied and rested her head on Chris’s chest as he pulled her closer.
“Anyway, I’m sorry.”
Eric caught hold of a momentary fantasy he should be the one to comfort Elyse. Except, the way she stood beside her sister, talked softly and rubbed a hand along her arm, she gave no indication of being all that upset, let alone needing any kind of comforting from him.
“Chris will help you fix it,” she assured Angela in a strong voice.
“You bet I will, sweetheart,” Chris affirmed. “And you’ll give Eric a ride home?” he asked Elyse.
That was when Eric spoke up for himself. “He picked me up this morning so Ma could use my car.”
“Sure.” The smile she cast him traveled up to brighten her eyes and he plunged into that familiar cool, clear lake and broke the surface wanting more. “I’ll take you home.”
Making something out of her “take you home” word choice when maybe he shouldn’t have, he fell into step beside her and wiped a second unreasonable fantasy from his mind. “Where’s your car?”
“This is mine.” She indicated a brand new silver Mercedes she stopped beside. The same one he’d seen at the daycare.
He took a stutter step then stopped too. “This is your car?” Another pause and he tried to gather his thoughts. “This?”
She fisted the keys collected from her purse and, with a click of the remote, unlocked the doors. “Get in.”
Doing as she instructed, he slammed the door then stretched the seat belt across him and clicked it into place. She did the same then reached up to adjust the rear view mirror, and a figurine dangling there caught his attention.
“I’ve never seen one of those before.” Suspended on a beaded chain from the mirror’s base was an angel figurine with a seed pearl head, delicate metal wings and a crystal body. “It’s kind of neat.”
She reached up again. “Angela made that for me.” It spun and whirled at her touch causing pieces of sunlight to wink and shimmer through its prism. “For good luck and protection.” Her hand dropped to grip the steering wheel. “While I’m in the car.”
Pulling out of the parking lot soon after, she blended with traffic as they made small talk. But, after a few moments she took a turn he hadn’t expected.
“You’re going to miss your entrance onto the expressway.”
“I know.”
“It’s the quickest way home.”
Slowing for a red traffic signal on the two lane highway she’d chosen, she cast him a look of mock horror. “You aren’t a back seat driver are you?”
He shifted on the plush leather, unsure where to put his hands. “No. You’re relatively new here. I grew up here. I know my way around.”
“I’m sure you do.” Attention returned to her driving and the now green light, she accelerated. “I like to take the back roads whenever I can. I detest expressways. Probably a throwback to my time in LA.” He got a side-long look. “You aren’t in a huge hurry are you?”
“Not at all.”
“It’s a pretty drive.”
He took in the delicate curve of her throat, the way her lashes brushed her cheeks, the dimple on the side of her mouth that played hide and seek with him as she talked.
“If you say so.”
“I do. I mean look at this scenery.”
Pulling his attention away from the pleasure of taking in her profile, he did as she asked. All sorts of trees, elm, maple, fir, their leaves green and lush, lined the roadway three and four deep. Behind the miniature forest stood alternate fields of knee high corn and golden wheat. All the vegetation, short, tall, or in between swayed and shimmied under the direction of a stiff summer breeze.
“It is pretty.” His covert gaze slid over her. “All of it.”
“I can’t wait until fall. Imagine what colors these leaves will take on. They don’t have the changing seasons out west either.”
“Fall was Jan’s favorite season.”
Aw hell. He’d gone and said it out loud.
“My—uh—late wife loved the fall. Sorry.”
The next sidelong glance lasted a little longer. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, Eric.”
Her voice was kind, soothing, and he struggled to swallow. “Sometimes I think I embarrass people when I talk about her.”
“Only the people who don’t really matter, maybe.” She studied the road in front of her. “What’s wrong with holding on to the memories?”
“Are you asking me or telling me? Because I could respond either way.”
“It goes without saying Jan was a significant part of your life. And certainly of Jay’s. Enjoy that. Embrace it. Don’t be ashamed. And don’t rob Jay of the memories of his mother because of your own feelings and reactions.”
“Is that a nice way of saying hang ups?”
“No it’s a nice way of saying feelings and reactions. Don’t penalize Jay because of them.”
“I’d never hurt my son.”
“Not intentionally. None of us would.” She stopped to take a breath. “There’s nothing worse than a child in pain.”
“You sound as if you speak from experience.”
“We all have scars in life to deal with. Some more visible than others.” For the first time that day her voice waivered before she brought back its strength. “This fall, we’ll have to come back and see the leaves.”
He paused at the thought of seeing her beyond wedding plans and their in-law family connection. “In the fall.”
“
There’s the neatest little grocery store down there.” She indicated a country road as they went by. “Best bacon for miles.”
As their laidback banter continued, for the second time that day he found he was totally at ease and thoroughly enjoying himself. Too soon, the Mercedes rolled to a stop at Sid and Iris Matthews’ house. Across the street a neighbor watering her grass stared. Elyse put the gearshift into park but didn’t shut off the engine.
He made no move to open his door and get out. “I appreciate the ride.”
“Any time.”
If they’d been on an actual date, he might consider trying a kiss. He leaned forward and the seat belt held fast. Clicking it open with as much finesse as he could muster, he wasn’t sure what to do when she kept hers on.
The idea she’d be leaving him soon kicked in and the urge to touch her before she did was suddenly too strong to ignore. Unaware he’d done it, his palm caressed her shoulder.
“Thanks again for the ride.”
Her attention moved to the fingers so very close to her throat but she didn’t pull away. When she glanced up, his gaze joined hers and they smiled. “Along with the friendly advice?” She blew out a breath that glided over his chin. “Both are free.”
She was the one who didn’t hold on. When her eyes lowered, her head did too and her cheek rubbed across his knuckles. The connection nearly did him in as the strength of too many feelings to process at one time charged around inside.
“And available any time.” The vibration of her words sent a tingle up his arm as if in search of his heart.
“Are you sure I wouldn’t abuse the offer?”
“I’m pretty sure you aren’t the abusive type.” Emotion shone in her eyes, but now he had an idea about its source. “In fact, I’m sure of it.”
Gaze locked with hers, he cupped her cheek. “It’s nice to know I have a friend.”
“I’m very good at being that.” She pulled back until his hand dropped away.
The spell broken, he slid to his side of the car.
When can I see you again?
“What’s next on the wedding agenda?”
She cleared her throat and looked away. “There’s another shower coming up.”
“Oh yeah. The twelfth, right?” When she nodded, he went on. “Some friends of our parents are putting on that one.”
“It’s a barbecue. Very casual.”
“Should be fun.” She didn’t protest when he clicked open the door. “Well, thanks again for the lift.”
“Any time.”
Kicking himself all the way up to the house for being such a wuss, he walked in to find Jay staring out the window. Prepared for all sorts of questions he didn’t have answers to, he decided offense would be a better way to deal than defense.
“Did you see Miss Elyse brought me home?”
“Yeah,” Jay replied, his gaze remained on something in the yard.
“What are you watching?” He knelt beside his son to rest his chin on the back of the couch as they both looked out.
“Mourning dove.” Jay pointed then added solemnly. “Grandpa says she does want to live here.”
Eric watched as the bird landed in the grass inches below the window, stepped around in little circles then began to pick at the ground. She stopped to bob her head then lifted it with a length of dried grass in her beak and disappeared into the pine tree by the driveway. Moments later, she was back to peck at the ground.