‘‘Thanks.’’ He followed her over to a small table against the back wall. Waitresses had come and gone at the Hob Knob, but Madeline had become a fixture there. She brought in plenty of business, possibly because her permed white hair and rosy cheeks made people think they were eating at Grandma’s house.
‘‘How’ve you been, Madeline?’’ Jeremy pulled out a wooden chair and took a menu. He didn’t need a menu, but Madeline believed in doing things by the book, so everyone got a menu.
‘‘I was doing just fine until last night, when I found out Abe had offered our spare room to a loose woman.’’ Her lips were set in a straight line of disapproval.
Jeremy had a moment of panic. What if someone had started a rumor about Annie being naked with him on the beach? What if she’d had a fight with her mother and sister over it and had to take refuge at Madeline and Abe’s house? Surely she would have called him first.
‘‘What sort of loose woman?’’ he asked cautiously. He hoped it wasn’t Annie. Madeline was known for her conservative views on sex before marriage. She didn’t believe in it.
‘‘Someone named Isabel Moore,’’ Madeline said.
Jeremy relaxed. ‘‘Never heard of her.’’
‘‘Neither has anybody else. She waltzed into town in a skirt that barely covers the subject, long, drippy earrings, and boots like they wear on MTV. Abe says she’s from San Francisco, which should tell you something.’’
Jeremy was intrigued by both the thought of a newcomer and the image of Madeline watching MTV. ‘‘Why’s she here?’’
‘‘I don’t know, but I mean to find out, seeing as how she’s staying under my roof. She weaseled her way in by pretending to support Abe’s petition. That tipped me off that she’s up to no good. Nobody supports Abe’s petition except me, and I have to, being his wife and all.’’
‘‘Well, keep an eye on her for us, Madeline.’’
‘‘Don’t worry, I will. You want some coffee while you’re waiting?’’
‘‘That would be great.’’ Jeremy was always happy to drink a cup of coffee he didn’t have to brew. He wondered what would happen if he pointed his finger at the espresso machine at the café and said
abracadabra
. Maybe when no one was around he’d try it.
Sean arrived just as Madeline was leaving to get the coffee. ‘‘Coffee, Sean?’’ she asked.
‘‘You bet.’’ Sean pulled out a chair and sat down. His dark hair was mussed and he looked very happy. He waited until Madeline had left before leaning toward Jeremy. ‘‘Sorry I’m late. Maggie had a mid-morning break and . . .’’ He grinned sheepishly.
‘‘Say no more.’’ In the past, Jeremy had never quite understood how Sean was willing to drop everything for a chance to be alone with Maggie, but he understood it now. If Annie crooked her little finger, he’d close the café in a heartbeat.
‘‘I’m crazy about that woman.’’
‘‘You might have mentioned that a few thousand times. But crazy looks good on you.’’ When Sean and Maggie were dating last fall, Sean hadn’t looked like his usual studly self. Everyone had been confused as to why Sean, the town Romeo, had suddenly become so awkward. Jeremy had put it down to raging hormones.
Considering how Annie was affecting him, he wouldn’t be surprised if people could see a difference. He certainly felt like a new man, although in his case, hormones were having the opposite effect they’d had on Sean, making him more confident instead of less.
Sean picked up a menu and put it back down. ‘‘They should do away with these things. Everyone has it memorized.’’
‘‘Madeline likes them.’’ Jeremy thought about how to broach the subject of Annie.
‘‘I get such a kick out of Madeline. Menus have to be passed out at a proper restaurant, even though nobody opens them. She’s a color-inside-the-lines kind of woman.’’ Sean nudged the menu aside. ‘‘So how’s business at the café?’’
‘‘Fine.’’ Maybe first he’d talk about the wine. ‘‘Dorcas and Ambrose gave me a bottle of that red wine you raved about.’’
‘‘Cool. You try it?’’
‘‘Um, yeah. Annie and I had some last night.’’ Sean gazed across the table, his green eyes filled with speculation. ‘‘What’d you think of it?’’
Jeremy lowered his voice. ‘‘Listen, do you think that wine makes everything . . . better?’’
Sean looked as if he wanted to laugh, but he didn’t. ‘‘I’m guessing that your use of the word
everything
means you and Annie—’’
‘‘We did.’’
‘‘Congratulations, buddy. I can imagine what that means to you.’’
‘‘But how about the wine?’’ Jeremy lowered his voice another notch. ‘‘Do you think there’s some kind of aphrodisiac in it?’’
‘‘I don’t know.’’ Sean leaned toward him and kept his own voice low. ‘‘Maybe. I tried to buy some from them and they wouldn’t sell it. Can’t find it on the Internet, either. They’re giving us another bottle on our anniversary, so I have a hunch there’s something in there that makes good sex even better.’’
‘‘Now I’m scared that the next time won’t be as good. We drank it all.’’
‘‘You could ask them for another bottle.’’
Jeremy shook his head. ‘‘I’m not one of their clients. That’s not what this is all about.’’
‘‘Oh? Then what is it all about?’’
Madeline arrived with their coffee. ‘‘I assume you’re both having the usual.’’
‘‘I am,’’ Sean said.
‘‘Yeah, I guess,’’ Jeremy said.
Madeline nodded. ‘‘I don’t know why I bother to ask. I should automatically bring you both turkey sandwiches. I’ll be right back.’’
‘‘Wait a minute.’’ Jeremy caught her arm. ‘‘Changed my mind. I’ll have the French dip.’’
Madeline stared at him as if he’d sprouted tentacles. ‘‘French dip? You never have French dip.’’
‘‘Then, it’s about time. And I’ll have the coleslaw instead of the fries, too.’’
Madeline frowned. ‘‘Something strange is going on with you, Jeremy. First those magic tricks and now the French dip and slaw.’’
‘‘What magic tricks?’’ Sean asked.
‘‘I can’t believe you didn’t hear about it,’’ Madeline said. ‘‘There was even a story in the
Tribune
.’’
‘‘I’ve been doing some work at the house the past couple of days and didn’t come to town.’’ Sean glanced at Jeremy with raised eyebrows. ‘‘What’ve you been up to?’’
Jeremy shrugged. ‘‘Just fooling around.’’ He happened to know that Sean had stayed home because he was renovating the room that would become a nursery. Maggie wasn’t pregnant yet, but they were having fun planning for when it did happen.
‘‘I’ll tell you what he’s been up to.’’ Madeline pointed to Jeremy. ‘‘Showing off with a trick coffeepot on Monday and plucking a rose out of thin air on Tuesday. No telling what he’ll come up with today.’’
‘‘Interesting.’’ Sean folded his arms and looked across the table at Jeremy.
‘‘And don’t you be doing any of that magic in here,’’ Madeline said. ‘‘We like the place calm and orderly.’’
‘‘I’ll keep that in mind.’’ Jeremy glanced up at Madeline. ‘‘Could you lean down here a minute? I think there’s something behind your ear.’’
‘‘And I know exactly what it is. A pencil.’’
‘‘No, your other ear.’’ Jeremy pushed back his chair and stood. ‘‘Abracadabra.’’ He reached behind Madeline’s ear and pulled out another warm, shiny quarter. Damned if the trick hadn’t worked a second time. ‘‘Look what I found.’’
Madeline backed away from the quarter as if it had cooties. ‘‘I don’t trust magicians. Never did. I’ll get your order, but you behave yourself, Jeremy Dunstan. I mean it.’’ She bustled off.
Sean had his head down and his shoulders were shaking. When he looked up, his eyes were bright with laughter. ‘‘Outstanding. Where did you learn how to do magic?’’
Jeremy reclaimed his chair. ‘‘Well, I—’’
‘‘That quarter trick was smooth, man. Puts my silly little card trick to shame. I’m impressed.’’
Jeremy thought about admitting that he didn’t know how the tricks worked. But Sean had always been the cool guy while Jeremy had been the geeky one. Just this once, Jeremy wanted to be cooler than Sean.
‘‘Ambrose gave me some tips,’’ he said.
Sean nodded. ‘‘Makes perfect sense that Ambrose is an amateur magician. What a great way to get girls. Which reminds me, we never finished talking about Annie.’’
Jeremy ran his finger around the rim of his mug while he thought about what he wanted to ask. ‘‘When I first found out she was coming home, I told myself not to get my hopes up.’’
‘‘Good thing you didn’t give that kind of message to other parts of you.’’
Jeremy rolled his eyes. ‘‘Yeah, well. The thing is, I’m feeling more confident now.’’
‘‘I should hope so. You had a significant encounter with Miss Dairy Queen. There are guys in this town who would kill for that chance.’’
‘‘I know. Believe me, I’m grateful.’’ Jeremy leaned closer to Sean. ‘‘I’ve tried to tell myself to be satisfied with a few nights of great sex, but instead I’m already trying to figure out how to get her to stay.’’
Sean finished off his coffee. ‘‘Which is where I come in, right?’’
‘‘Right. For a while there last fall, it looked like Maggie was going to choose the big city instead of you.’’ Jeremy took a deep breath. ‘‘How did you get her to change her mind?’’
‘‘I’m not sure I can take any credit for that.’’ Sean stared into his empty cup, as if thinking back to the scary days when he thought he’d lost Maggie forever.
‘‘Maggie seems happy here.’’
‘‘She is.’’ Sean glanced up. ‘‘She’s having fun working for Dorcas and Ambrose, plus she’s getting a kick out of helping me restore the house.’’
‘‘Annie really loves her job at the
Trib
. I can’t picture her being happy at the
Big Knob Gazette
. If someone jaywalks across Fifth, that’s a big news day.’’
Sean gazed across the table at his friend. ‘‘You might have it tougher than I did. Maggie’s job in Houston wasn’t totally satisfying to her.’’ He hesitated. ‘‘Have you given any thought to relocating?’’
‘‘Well, that’s way premature, but yes. And I would hate living in Chicago. I like small-town living—no traffic, no crime, no crowds.’’
‘‘I know. I like it, too.’’ Sean stared at him in silence for a few more seconds. ‘‘So when are you getting together with her again?’’
‘‘I hope tonight.’’
‘‘After the bachelor party?’’
‘‘Oh.’’ Guilt washed over Jeremy. He’d been so obsessed with Annie that he’d forgotten Bruce’s bachelor party, the one he’d set up at the Big Knobian, the one he was the host for.
‘‘Besides,’’ Sean said, ‘‘won’t Annie be at the bachelorette party being hosted at our house tonight?’’
‘‘Yeah, she will. And chances are both parties will run late.’’
‘‘I’m guessing. Maggie told me not to come home until at least one in the morning.’’
Jeremy couldn’t very well be pissed about that. The wedding was Annie’s reason for being here. ‘‘Maybe I can see her beforehand.’’ Then he remembered that Tony and Kira were driving into Evansville to see a movie and had specifically requested he not assign them hours this afternoon. ‘‘Or not.’’
Jeremy was quickly realizing how little free time was left. Tomorrow night might be it, because Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, and Saturday night was the reception. During the day Annie had her stories to research and write, and he had a café to run.
‘‘Whenever you see her again,’’ Sean said, ‘‘I have a suggestion.’’
Jeremy looked at him. ‘‘What’s that?’’
‘‘Don’t be proud, buddy. Ask Dorcas and Ambrose to give you another bottle of that wine.’’
Chapter 10
Click-or-Treat was deserted at one thirty when Annie walked in to write her story about Mayor Abe and his gonzo petition. The petition was weird enough, but now Abe had an assistant, some woman from San Francisco who didn’t seem to belong in Big Knob at all, although people commented that she looked vaguely familiar. Annie thought so, too, but Isabel’s outrageous personality was the reason for including her in the story.
Once inside the door of the café, she glanced around, expecting to see Jeremy. He wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Megabyte sprawled in her usual spot on the floor near the counter, so Jeremy had to be somewhere nearby.
Thinking about Jeremy made Annie nervous. She was more than a little embarrassed to meet him in the light of day after the hot encounter they’d had the night before. She’d never been that uninhibited during sex, not to mention that she’d dropped all her inhibitions on their very first date. She would have preferred to avoid him completely, but the café’s high-speed Internet connection made it the only place in town where she could accomplish her assignment.
So here she was, feeling awkward. She’d never had this kind of morning-after, or afternoon-after, confrontation with a man. She’d dated Zach for so long that when they’d finally had sex, it hadn’t seemed like a big deal. Come to think of it, sex had been a very little deal with Zach, who had been her one and only sexual partner. She hadn’t realized how bad a lover he’d been until last night, when she’d experienced Jeremy’s top-notch effort.
But now she wasn’t sure how to act around him, especially in public. Thanks to the wedding, she’d have to spend lots of time in public with Jeremy. Her tummy churned at the thought. Getting naked and having sex on the beach had seemed to make sense at the time, especially after the lake-monster incident and sharing that bottle of great wine.
But upon waking up this morning, she’d decided having sex with Jeremy, or at any rate
more
sex with Jeremy, wasn’t very bright. Casual sex wasn’t something she knew anything about, and Jeremy didn’t deserve to be her practice round.
She still intended to find out what the hell she’d seen in the lake last night, but that didn’t have to translate into a repeat of their extracurricular activities. Besides, she was in Big Knob to be the matron of honor at her sister’s wedding, not have an affair. The week’s activities were already frantic enough, and none of it was supposed to be about her.