Discovering Alicia (3 page)

“He hung around to be arrested?”

“Surprisingly, he had the good sense not to tempt me to use the shotgun I had aimed at his man parts. He was quite the captive audience to what I was saying.” Both women laughed. “Enough about that,. I’m ready to hear all about what happened last night! What do you think about Brad? Did you two hit it off? He’s a good man, dear, hardworking, honest, and he’s not bad on the eyes either, eh?”

Ali was trying to figure out exactly how much detail she wanted to go into when a loud knock sounded.

“Come in,” Aunt Dottie called out.

Ali’s pulse ramped up to overdrive when Brad strolled into the room. He looked beyond incredible in his uniform. Memories of their kiss, of being held against his hard body, and the way she’d reacted sent a shiver along her nerve endings.

“Aunt Dottie,” Brad acknowledged with a slight tilt of his head before turning his full attention and killer grin in Ali’s direction. “Alicia. How’s your foot?”

“Fine. Well, my toe’s black and blue, but other than that, I’m all good.” She wiggled her foot to punctuate her point.

“Glad to hear it, sweetheart.” At his use of the endearment, Ali glanced over at Aunt Dottie. She was beaming like the Cheshire cat. “We removed four more traps this morning, and although I’m reasonably confident there aren’t any more,
you
need to be extra careful.”

“Let it go, Brad.”

“Can’t. It’s my sworn duty to protect all who inhabit this land.”

“Get over yourself.” Ali rolled her eyes. “You’re a forest ranger, not a frickin Jedi knight.”

“Nice geeky movie reference, but you have absolutely no idea who I am now, Alicia.” He moved to tower over her chair. “I would have been more than happy to continue getting reacquainted last night if you hadn’t…”

Ali gasped.

“This is utterly marvelous,” Aunt Dottie interrupted, clapping her hands and giggling. “Better than I’d even dared to hope for. How do you know each other?”

“Michigan State,” they answered in unison.

“College sweethearts?”

Ali didn’t miss the hopeful tone in her question.

“Sadly, no.”

Brad’s answer shocked the crap out of Alicia. She met his eyes and saw a myriad of emotions reflected there. “He’s kidding, Aunt Dottie.” Ali said quickly.

“Is he, dear?”

“Absolutely. He made a point last night of reminding me which of my shortcomings he disliked most.” Ali experienced a bit of triumph when Aunt Dottie fixed a most unhappy frown in Brad’s direction.

“Wow, I hope you don’t make it a habit to only tell part of the facts of things to your impressionable little students, Alicia,” Brad remarked with more than a bit of censure.

“Sounds to me as if you all have lots to discuss and work out. Thank goodness she’s here for a nice long stay, isn’t it, Brad? Why, you should take her to The Tavern, and, of course, the fair.”

Ali decided it was high time to get this conversation under control. It was pretty obvious Aunt Dottie was working herself into a matchmaking frenzy.

“Four weeks isn’t all that long, Aunt Dottie, and I actually already have plenty of plans.”

“Really, may I ask what those are?” Brad sounded truly interested.

“My first order of business is to not stress over the joyous task of job hunting until I’m back home. To that end, my plan is to sleep whenever and for however long I want to, take extended walks, read until my eyes cross, and catch and eat fish until I’m sick of them, which will take a heck of a lot of fish!”

“You wield a fishing rod, with hooks?” Brad dramatically shuddered, and Alicia attempted to kick him. For a big man, he could move damn fast. She missed; he laughed.

“Yeah, I do, clean and cook’em, too. You should see the ones I caught this morning.”

“Love to. I get off work at five; what time should I come over?” He flashed a tag-you’re-it smirk.

“Seven,” she answered with a slightly wobbly grin. Hell, at least she could control the time he arrived, for an evening she’d intended to spend alone.

“There, you see? Easy as pie,” Aunt Dottie declared. “Brad, we’ll discuss the trap situation later. Why don’t you toddle along so Alicia and I can get back to our girl talk.” She made a shooing motion.

“Oh, and I’m in charge of the grill tonight, Brad,” Alicia added.

“Then I’ll bring the fire extinguisher,” he said with a laugh and walked out of the house.

“Dear, I’m nearly dying of curiosity. Fill me in and don’t spare the details!”

Aunt Dottie was dabbing at the corners of her eyes and complaining of laugh-induced rib pain when Alicia wrapped up the short but eventful story of her and Brad’s college acquaintance.

“So it must have been quite a welcome surprise when your protector from the past showed up last night?”

Ali fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt. “You might think so, if I’d recognized him. Well, I mean, he seemed really familiar, but come on, he looks nothing like he did back then. It didn’t take me long to figure things out though, after we fell into the river.”

“You fell into the… Oh my, what happened next?” Aunt Dottie shook her head and chuckled.

“In the span of mere minutes, I was able to send enough mixed signals that I can’t figure out why Brad wants anything more to do with me.”

“He made short work of finagling an invite for dinner, dear, due to being as attracted to you as you are to him. There’s no reason to over-think the situation; simply let nature take its course.” Aunt Dottie winked.

“My track record with men sucks, Aunt Dottie. I’m the poster child for making extremely bad decisions.” Ali’s cheeks burned.

“Alicia, don’t waste precious energy regretting past choices. Learn from them and move forward.”

“Easier said than done,” Ali replied with a sigh. “Until last night, I was doing okay with my life plan of swearing off men entirely.”

“Won’t work; it’s unnatural.”

“Nuns do it.”

“As part of their calling, this is then natural for them. Denying your true self will always lead to heartache.” Aunt Dottie stood and held open her arms. “Give me a hug, dear.” Ali went into her embrace. “It’s time for you to go and start enjoying your vacation. Visit again soon. I’ve always got an available ear and lots of unsolicited advice.”

* * * *

Alicia checked her look in the full length mirror that hung on the back of the bathroom door. She’d changed her clothes three times, finally settling on a yellow sundress and flip flops. Despite a healthy dose of sunscreen, after lounging outside for hours, her nose and cheeks were peppered with new freckles. She was pretty sure there were a few extra wrinkles in her forehead, too. Instead of reading, Ali had spent the afternoon assessing her dating history, and a common denominator had made itself clear. Even with the two men she’d invested a substantial amount of time with, she’d never felt comfortable enough to be one hundred percent herself, physically or emotionally.

“Aunt Dottie is one insightful lady,” Ali commented aloud while applying a bit of mascara and lip gloss, and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. As satisfied with her look as possible, she headed out of the bedroom.

The fish were filleted, the salad was chilling in the fridge, and potatoes were already baking on the grill. Ali moved one of the flowers in the centerpiece a hair to the left as she checked the clock. It was five minutes to seven. She was deciding if she should open a bottle of wine or wait to see if he preferred something else when she heard his truck pull up on the gravel drive.

“Deep breath,” she whispered when her heart fluttered. In her nervous excitement, she turned to go meet him at the door. “Stop it. Don’t want to appear too eager. Or desperate,” Ali added, fiddling with the dinner plates.

“Knock, knock,” Brad called through the screen door.

“Hey, right on time.” She walked toward him at what she hoped was a normal pace and flipped the lock on the handle. Brad walked in, carrying a bottle of wine in one hand and a six pack in the other.

“You look gorgeous, Alicia,” he said with a low whistle.

“Thanks,” she replied, warmed as much by the look in his eyes as his words. He was looking pretty fine himself with his button down shirt and black slacks.

“And I’m glad to see you’re being safe. We have very little crime up here, but a woman alone should always be careful.” He set the beverages on the kitchen counter. “I wasn’t sure what you might want to drink. Both of these are produced locally and favorites of mine.”

“I’d love a glass of wine.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Alicia watched with interest as he put the beer in the fridge, grabbed two glasses out of a cupboard and pulled a corkscrew out of a drawer.

“Been here before, have you?”

“I lived here for almost six months while my house was being built. If renters move stuff around, Aunt Dottie always makes sure things are back in place after they leave. I can’t understand, though, why anyone wants to mess with such a perfect set up. Everything in here is exactly where it needs to be; the cottage has a perfect flow. One time I asked her where she learned about feng-shui.” He laughed as he pulled the cork out of the bottle. “She told me, ‘There’s nothing to learn if a person simply pays attention to the natural energies around them.’”

“She’s quite a character, isn’t she?”

“You have no idea,” he said, handing her a filled glass.

Ali took a sip. The wine was fruity but not too sweet. “Wow, this is delicious. I really appreciate you bringing it.”

“It’s the least I could do considering you’re cooking dinner.”

“Speaking of which, the potatoes are probably getting close to being done. I figured you’d be hungry after working all day, but I can pull them off the fire if you’d rather wait a while.” All of a sudden, she began questioning her dinner date etiquette. How much time should she have allowed for cocktails and conversation? Ali caught her lower lip between her teeth as her nerves kicked up a notch.

“I’m starving. I was so preoccupied this afternoon, I forgot to eat lunch.” He grinned and patted his stomach. “Hopefully, you didn’t exaggerate your fishing skills.”

Relief rolled through her. If things stayed on a light, playful level, she’d be okay. Ali moved around him and pulled the foil covered platter from the refrigerator. “Do you think this will be enough?” she asked.

“Damn, I should have skipped breakfast, too.” They both laughed.

“Hey, there’d better be leftovers. I’m planning on having a fish sandwich tomorrow. Come on, let’s go outside.” She took the fish, and he brought their glasses.

“I’m glad to not see any visible scorching out here,” he said, sitting down at the picnic table.

“It’s a gas grill with an electric start, barely different than cooking inside.” She used tongs to roll and check the potatoes before arranging the fillets across the grates and closing the lid. “But if charcoal and lighter fluid had been involved, who knows?” She turned and shrugged.

“You know I’m just having some fun, right?”

“Of course, Brad,” she said, perching on the end of the bench across from him. “Between my antics back in school and my causing you take an evening dip last night, you have every right.” She enjoyed another sip of wine. “So, tell me what you’ve been up to since graduation?”

“Professionally or personally?”

He asked the question with such a devilishly sexy leer; Ali had difficulty drawing a breath. “Either…I guess,” she managed to finally squeak out. Did she really want to hear about his love life?

“Well, I’ve done research all over the world; South America, China, Canada, Australia and, of course, the US.”

“Wow, that must have been incredible.”

“It was. Every trip was an adventure, but let me tell you, being deep in the Amazon for six months really makes a guy appreciate even the smallest of creature comforts! I’ve been back for a couple of years.”

“After all that, isn’t it a little dull for you around here?” When he raised an eyebrow, Ali quickly clarified. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded. It just seems to me small-town life might pale in comparison.”

“It’s different, that’s for sure, but so far, it’s working for me. I love my job, and my family is all in the general area. Plus, I’m pretty good at making my own brand of excitement whenever the mood strikes.” He held her gaze.

She was mesmerized by his eyes then the movement of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed then by her highly decadent thoughts. Heat surged through her as she imagined what Brad did for excitement. His deep chuckle snapped her out of it.

“Your turn, Ali. What’s been going on in your world the last ten years?”

“Well, um, let’s see, there’s my teaching, and I recently got my Masters. I spend as much time as I can helping out at the animal shelter at home and have been writing a young adult novel for way longer than it should be taking. I traveled a bit, but Disney World and the Grand Canyon now seem pretty lame in light of where you’ve been.”

Alicia took a sip of her wine to keep from groaning. Despite her deep ponderings and Aunt Dottie’s pearls of wisdom, she was coming out of the gate holding back. There was no earthly reason to be uncomfortable with answering his question any way she wanted to. “My parents needed me for a good part of the time, Brad.”