Over the moon with you, p.13
Over the Moon With You, page 13
“He seems like a cool old dude.”
“He is. Once upon a time he was kind of a surrogate grandpa for me.”
“So, you wouldn’t feel weird if I bought their place?”
“Not weird at all.” Especially now that she’d seen the Landrys and realized how much they needed to get into a place where they could both have more help. Besides, she knew Paige would love the ranch as much as they had.
“Then I guess I’m ready to plunge myself into more debt.” Paige chuckled. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing exciting.” Seren smiled at the casualness of the question and how she didn’t mind telling the truth. Something about Paige was just easy. And dating was never easy for her. Then again, they had seen each other almost daily for the past week and weren’t technically dating. “I made myself dinner, paid some bills…then I decided to see if my mom’s piano was out of tune.”
“Is it?”
“No. It sounds perfect. She must have had someone tune it before I moved back.” Tears came again at that realization. She hadn’t played for her mom at all those last six weeks.
“I loved listening to you play tonight. You’re really good.”
Seren swiped tears away before they fell. “Thank you. I’ve been kicking myself for being out of practice.”
“You used to be even better, huh?”
“Yes.” She felt like a pendulum, one minute about to cry over another memory of her mom and the next high as a kite flirting with Paige. It felt dangerously good to flirt. She pulled a throw blanket out from where it was folded on the shelf of the end table and cuddled up.
“I wish I could have seen you playing the drums with the G Street Girls.”
“There’s a clip online somewhere.”
“Really?”
The excitement in Paige’s voice made her smile. “If you want it bad enough, I bet you could find it.”
“Nothing I could say or do to get you to send it to me, is there?”
“Nope.” She settled back on the sofa as Paige laughed. A warmth filled her. She wasn’t sure if it was because of talking to Paige or the image of the leaping cow printed on the throw blanket or how they seemed to go together. “This is probably weird to say, but I’m cuddling with one of my mom’s old cow blankets and I think you’d like it.”
“The blanket? Because I like cows?” Paige laughed again. “Honestly, I probably would. But I’m a sucker for anything with kitties or puppies on it too.”
“My mom was obsessed with cows. All of our dish towels growing up had cows embroidered on them. And the teapot in the kitchen is a cow. When the water boils, the cowbell rings.”
“I love that.”
“Yeah, it’s cute and also really obnoxious.” Seren glanced around the room at all the cow knickknacks she’d yet to box up. “It used to annoy me that our house was filled with cow stuff. Now it only makes me see my mom everywhere.” She didn’t want to cry, but the urge caught her again. She was a mess tonight. After a few breaths, she got hold of the emotion and continued, “My mom’s friends and all of our relatives knew they could give my mom anything with a cow on it. You would not believe all the cow trinkets they sell. I’ve cleared out a bunch, but there’s only so many cow things Goodwill wants.”
“Don’t give away the cow blanket.”
Seren’s first response was to ask if Paige wanted it, but mostly she was surprised by the intensity of Paige’s words. “Okay. I won’t.”
“I mean, you can do whatever you want but…one day you’re gonna want a mom hug and the cow blanket will be there waiting for you.”
Seren pulled the blanket tighter around her and let the tears finally course down her cheeks.
Paige continued, “My dad died a few years ago. I helped my mom go through his stuff—a lot of it went straight to Goodwill—but I kept one of his old jackets and his harmonica. The jacket smells a little bit like smelt. Okay, a lot.”
“Smelt? Like the fish?”
“Yeah. It stinks.”
Seren found herself laughing despite the tears.
“But I don’t care. Sometimes I put on the jacket and play a note or two on his harmonica. It’s like he’s sitting right next to me and we’re back at Lake Berryessa waiting for some trout to bite the line.”
Seren clenched her jaw, trying to stop the tears, but more pushed at her eyes. She knew Paige was waiting for her to say something, but she couldn’t.
After a long moment, Paige said, “I think I made you cry. I’m sorry.”
Seren took a shaky breath and then forced herself to talk. “Don’t be. I just don’t really want to break down on you.”
“Do you want company?” A second later Paige added, “I’m only saying that as a friend. I’m not trying to cross any lines.”
Yes, she wanted Paige to come over. She also wanted to cross all the lines. But mostly she wanted to wrap her arms around Paige. And to have Paige hold her close. She didn’t want to be a tearful mess around her, though. She wanted to be someone Paige desired. Not someone she’d need to take care of.
“I’m gonna take that long pause as a no. And apologize for overstepping.”
“You didn’t overstep. But…it’s late.” Definitely a cop-out answer, even if it was after her bedtime.
Paige didn’t say anything for a long moment, and Seren wondered if she’d messed up everything. Again. She squeezed the bridge of her nose. “I’m feeling conflicted.”
“I’m not really sure what you mean by that.”
That was fair. She didn’t know either.
Paige continued, “It’s okay to tell me that I need to give you some space. Maybe trying to be friends would be complicated.”
“Actually, I was thinking the opposite.” Fuck. Seren closed her eyes. She did know what she wanted, and it wasn’t to push Paige to the curb before they’d even had a chance. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Teaching water aerobics.”
“Right. I knew that.” She pressed her hand to her head. Could she really do this? Then again, how could she not? “What I meant was, what are you doing after?”
“I don’t have any plans.”
“Want to come over for dinner?” She quickly added, “I owe you a meal. Not only did you pay for the BLTs, you had to deal with me talking about vomiting.”
“You don’t owe me anything. If you’re asking me over because you want to make me dinner, and hang out, that’s a different thing.”
“I want to hang out.”
“As friends?”
“No.” There. She’d said it. She took a deep breath and plunged on. “I’m asking you over because I think it’s a mistake not giving us a chance. I need to be honest with you, though. I’m pretty sure you met me at the worst possible time.”
“But you want to date anyway?”
“I want to try.”
She heard Paige’s muffled cheer—“Yes”—and Seren’s smile widened so much her cheeks hurt. How was it that in the same phone call she’d gone from crying one minute to stupid happy the next?
“It might not go well. And I might need to take things slow.”
“I got that part,” Paige said. “We’ll keep it casual. If things don’t work out, then we stop.”
Was it really that easy? Seren hoped so.
Chapter Nineteen
Sparkling apple cider didn’t seem like enough to bring, but flowers would be trying too hard. Unless flowers were the appropriate choice? Paige stood in front of a display of bouquets weighing the decision. She had class to teach in a half hour. No time for waffling. The sunflower and purple daisy arrangement looked happy. Then again, the one with roses and lilies was nice too. Roses did seem more date-like. Paige reached for the roses and then stopped. What if Seren had a cat? Not knowing, lilies were risky. Maybe bringing any flowers would be coming on too strong?
“This is ridiculous.” Paige checked the time again. She was down to twenty-eight minutes before the hour. “Sunflowers it is.”
She’d hoped for a chance to chat with Seren before class but hit two stoplights wrong and watched as the minutes ticked away. By the time she got to the pool, Seren was already in the water—as were nearly twenty others. It was the biggest turnout she’d had so far, and she kicked herself for not looking over her lesson plan ahead of time.
She also had no idea what to expect with the music. Her mom had insisted on sending her with a cassette tape that ominously only said “Spicy Thursdays” on the label. As soon as she popped it into the player, Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” drew cheers from the crowd.
Paige turned to face the class, taking a deep breath. Seren met her gaze and smiled. She returned the smile and then called out, “Who’s ready to bring sexy back?”
A chorus of hoots and whistles came from the spicy seniors, and she started in on her failsafe marching steps, swinging her arms in time.
“You’re supposed to slap your tush every time that fellow says sexy,” a woman in the front said. “That’s what Bea always does.”
Paige looked over at her and shook her head. “Yeah, not happening.”
“If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” someone else said. That got plenty of laughs.
“Fine. How’s this?” Paige did a one-eighty hop and jiggled her butt. Someone whooped and more laughter followed. When she turned around again, she saw only the backs of most of the students and realized they’d followed her move. Everyone except Seren. No way was she impressing anyone with water aerobics moves. But she wasn’t embarrassed either. And Seren’s smile only bolstered her confidence more.
“All right, everyone turn back to the front.”
“We’re bringing sexy back,” Rita crooned.
The others laughed and Paige couldn’t help but sing the next two lines. For the rest of the hour, Rita kept the class laughing with comments about the relative sexiness of water aerobics. Paige didn’t mind that the students were only half paying attention to her directions. In fact, she was the most distracted of all. She caught herself staring right at Seren more than once, her gaze tracing the line of Seren’s swimsuit to the dip between her breasts.
When the last song on the tape ended, Seren was one of the first out of the pool. She brushed by Paige, promising to hurry before disappearing into the locker room. Paige cleaned up her things, surprised that for once no one hung around after class to chat or ask questions about their pets. Thanking the universe, she headed to the lobby to meet Seren.
“I hear someone’s having dinner with a certain busty blonde tonight.”
Paige froze, caught in Rita’s piercing gaze.
Rita clicked her tongue. “I’m going out on a limb and wagering this isn’t a friendly thank-you dinner like Seren insisted.”
Paige pursed her lips. What would Seren want her to say?
“I hear you found her wallet and phone?”
“Yeah, she forgot her swim bag here after class on Tuesday.”
“I see. And you gallantly delivered those items right to her doorstep?”
“I did but—”
“And this dinner is payback?”
“Um…” She’d done nothing wrong, but Rita’s questioning had her palms sweating. Before she thought of an answer, Rita stepped forward and patted her cheek.
“To think your poor mother believes you have no idea how to get yourself a woman. Enjoy your evening.”
Seren stepped into the lobby and Rita glanced between them knowingly. Without a word, Rita waved and was out the door. Paige blew out a breath.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Rita was…” Should she say that Rita had seen right through the “thank-you dinner” line and knew tonight was a date?
“Did you know she’s a retired detective? Professional interrogator.”
Paige chuckled. “Didn’t know that, but I’m not surprised at all.”
“I wasn’t either. She’s got a sixth sense when it comes to anyone trying to hide anything. I wasn’t trying to keep our date a secret, but I didn’t plan on telling the entire locker room either.”
Paige grinned. “It’s fine by me.”
“Good thing, because the spicy ladies are gonna spread this story fast.” Fortunately, Seren didn’t seem to mind. She hefted her swim bag. “I made sure I had everything. Want to follow me? Probably easier than leaving one of our cars here.”
Although Paige had briefly seen the inside of Seren’s house on Tuesday, she hadn’t noticed all of the cows. In addition to a front doormat with a cow, the door knocker was also a cow. But that wasn’t where the cow decor stopped. Throw pillows, wall hangings, and even picture frames were all adorned with cows. “Your mom was really into cows.”
Seren looked from the entryway where they stood to the living room adjoining it. “You don’t want to know how many cow knickknacks I cleared out trying to clean up for tonight.”
“You didn’t have to clean up on my account.”
Seren narrowed her eyes. “Would you not have cleaned up your place for me?”
“Well…”
“Exactly.” Seren set down her swim bag. “Thank you for bringing Martinelli’s. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve always liked it better than champagne.”
Paige glanced down at the bottle. “Me too. Bubbles without the headache.”
“But, sadly, no happy buzz.” Seren tapped her belly. “This little one is changing lots of things in my world already.” In a loose blouse, the baby bump so obvious in a bathing suit was entirely concealed.
“Getting buzzed is overrated.”
“You sure you don’t mind? I might have some white wine I could chill. I finished the last of the red the night before I went in for the IUI.” She bit the edge of her lip. “That was probably too much information.”
“I promise I’m fine with Martinelli’s. That’s why I brought it.”
“Right. Okay.” Seren nodded, as if convincing herself.
Something was off. Did Rita and the other spicy ladies knowing about their date bother Seren more than she’d let on? She glanced down at the bouquet. “Should I not have brought flowers?”
“No. I mean, yes.” Seren shook her head. “I’m being weird. Ignore me. I like flowers.”
Paige smiled. “Okay. Do you have a vase?”
“Yes.” Seren returned the smile, but it seemed a little strained. “Come in.” She motioned Paige into the living room area.
The house didn’t exactly fit what Paige knew of Seren, but it wasn’t entirely wrong either. It felt homey, the sofa and recliner more comfortable than stylish and the walls cluttered with everything from pictures to cow ornaments to quilts. Everything was clean and tidy, but Paige wondered how Seren would decorate it on her own.
Seren led the way to the kitchen. She opened the door to a cupboard and then paused. “I should have asked—do you have any allergies?”
“None that I’ve found so far.”
“Good. We’re having my mother’s old recipe of minestrone and salad.” She glanced at the bouquet Paige was holding and then reached for a vase. “You’re sweet to bring flowers. Do you mind putting them in water while I heat up the soup?”
The kitchen continued the cow theme both subtly and overtly. The floor was black-and-white tile. The dishrags were embroidered with cows. Even the vase had a cow silhouette etched into the glass.
While Seren set a pot on the stove and fussed with something in the fridge, Paige arranged the flowers. She wasn’t a pro, but the daisies and the sunflowers were forgiving. “I almost went for the bouquet with lilies, but I didn’t know if you have a cat or not.”
“I do. But he’s rarely around when I have anyone over. He’s black and good at shadow hiding.”
“I love black cats. I’ve got three.” Paige glanced around, hoping she’d spot Seren’s. Instead, she only saw more cow decorations. It was like they popped out of the woodwork the longer she was in the room. “I’m thinking your mom was more of a cow person than a cat person.”
“That’d be a yes.” She laughed softly. “She loved baby cows most of all. A few years ago, we took a drive out to the coast and stopped along the way at this field with all these Jersey cows. The babies were out so we decided to have a picnic right on the side of the highway. It was amazing watching them. My mom talked about it for months after.” She handed Paige a plate of sliced cheese and a breadboard with a baguette. “Mind setting these on the table?”
Paige set down the bread and cheese, and Seren brought over two steaming bowls of minestrone. “That smells good.”
“It’s my favorite of my mom’s recipes.” Seren smiled. “I’m hoping I pulled it off. Bon appétit.”
Paige had a sense that Seren’s need to eat was more urgent than her wanting to talk, so she focused on the soup. In no time, the soup as well as the bread and the cheese disappeared between them.
“That was delicious.”
“My mom’s version was better. I shouldn’t have left out the sausage…” Seren looked between their empty bowls. “But it wasn’t bad. Would you like more?”
“I’m good. Thank you. And thank you for having me.” Paige lifted her glass and held it up to clink against Seren’s.
Seren started to raise her glass but set it down a moment later. “I forgot the salad.” She moved to get up, but Paige touched her hand.
“This was plenty of food. You can get it if you want, but I don’t need it.”
