Finding Love in Payton (12 page)

His dad smirked. "Especially if Payton and Priscilla
are still at it."

Jeremy laughed. "You should see them together.
They are slowly driving me mad. Priscilla could say the sky is blue and still Payton would find a way to
argue about it." He sighed. "Any ideas?"

"A few. You're the only child we've had who managed to hold a part time job during all of college, save
like crazy, and graduate early." He grinned, his eyes
twinkling.

Jeremy stared at him, surprised. He'd never accomplished those things in order to receive praise, he'd
just done them because he couldn't imagine functioning any other way. He believed in hard work and savings, and always had. "I have some money saved, and
there is money I made substitute teaching last spring.
And the tutoring." He shook his head in frustration. "I
don't think there's enough to go buy a house and furnish it, though."

"Interest rates are awfully low."

"Not that low, Dad."

He gazed at Jeremy again. "Somewhere in the midst
of your hard work, I bet we saved some money. How
about a loan?"

Jeremy winced. This was what he'd been afraid of.
"No thanks."

"Because?"

"Because I want to look at this place and know it
is mine."

His dad looked incredulous. "It will be. Believe me,
your mom and I don't want to live there with you."

Jeremy burst out laughing. "I don't want you to!
No, it's just that there's something else ..."

"Ah."

Jeremy organized the papers again until they were
in a neat pile then spoke. "This girl I met ... Dinah.
I like her a lot, Dad."

"I know Dinah. Know her parents, too."

"She had me over for dinner the other night." Jeremy smiled at the memory. "Everything was a mess,
but together we made it okay. I helped with Bryan,
then she put him to bed and we did the dishes. I ... I
had a great time." He paused, well aware that he had
put himself out for ridicule. Hadn't he heard more than
once that he should be having a good time? Dating
lots of cute girls? Living more carefree?

This was just the opportunity his parents loved to
take advantage of. Before he knew it, they would be
reminding him of his age, how he should be doing the
things that Kevin and Cameron did when they were
fresh out of college.

As if the Reece kids needed to be carbon-copies of
each other.

But his dad only folded his hands on the table and
looked wistful. "Your mom and I have had some great
times just being home. I've done my share of dishes
with her, discussing the day's events." He smiled at
the memories. "Sometimes it's nice to do that. So ...
you're serious about her?"

Jeremy swallowed, thanking the fates for finally
giving him a person who really wanted to know how he was feeling ... not just tell him what they thought.
"Yeah. I'm serious about her, Dad." There. It was out
in the open.

"And the baby ...?"

"He's amazing."

"You don't mind the responsibility?"

He shook his head.

"I should have known. You never have, son."

"What do you think I should do about the house?"

His dad shrugged. "Don't know. I've lots of ideas,
but something tells me that you'll figure it out in your
own time." He leaned back and shared a smile with
Jeremy as they heard his mom open the back door,
followed by a rustling of what could only be shopping
bags. "Ah, looks like your mom's back."

Jeremy grinned. His mom was always carting in
bags from somewhere. "In two minutes, she'll hear our
voices and come in, telling us where she's been."

"Two minutes after, she'll suggest we either grill
some steaks or go out to eat."

"Because it's just too nice to stay inside," Jeremy
finished. "And she's so worn out from fighting the
crowds."

They shared a smile. "Bring over Dinah and Bryan
one day soon. We'd like to get to know her."

Jeremy glanced at the stack of paperwork again.
"And you really don't have any idea about the house?
I'm afraid I'm going to lose it if I wait too long."

His dad shrugged. "I guess the pros and cons of
living there would depend on who you want to live
there with, wouldn't you say?"

"I never thought of that."

"You might want to," his dad said just as his mom's
clipping heels headed in their direction. "Some day,
someone might want to be there with you ... and then
you'll find a way to make it happen, even if it means
asking me for help." He stood up then, just as his mom
charged in, a shopping bag in each hand. "Darling,
you're home."

"Jim, Jeremy, you wouldn't believe where I've
been," Daphne gushed. "Kenwood Mall!"

Jim winked at Jeremy. "What did you find?"

"Oh, I'll show you everything, but I just realized
it's almost dinner! Jeremy, are you working?"

"No.

"Well, let's either grill or go out. It's just too nice
to stay inside."

"We were just thinking that, honey. We'll do whatever you want."

Without pretense, his mom kissed his dad right then
and there on the mouth. "Oh, honey."

Jeremy could almost imagine Dinah and himself in
their places.

The uniform was thick wool, and dark navy in
color. Two rows of brass buttons lined the jacket, and frayed bits of braid and embroidery decorated the
shoulders. It looked to fit a man who was smaller than
today's regular-sized man, but maybe that was simply
her own thoughts, making the Civil War soldiers seem
far larger than life.

But no matter what the reason, Dinah was glad she
was visiting the historical museum, and seeing the special uniforms of the Union infantry. Though she'd
been following the pattern Joanne had given her, just
seeing the actual clothing soldiers wore gave her new
insight into how they would need to look.

The last three weeks had been busy. She'd divided
her time between working at the store, caring for
Bryan, and sewing the costumes.

And thinking about Jeremy.

He'd stopped by the store every few days, and once
they'd even gone to The Grill for burgers. Things between them were good ... and more than a little disconcerting. She felt so many things for Jeremy: desire,
friendship, wariness. It was going to be a relief when
she could finally sort through her mixed-up emotions.

Scribbling notes on paper, she hardly heard Joanne
and Missy join her. "Aren't these incredible?" Joanne
gushed. "I'm so thankful for Mr. Henry for letting us
put them on display this month."

"They are incredible," Dinah admitted, smiling at
Missy. "Like I said, I've been getting those costumes
done. Even though they aren't quite the work of art that these are, I think you'll be pleased. Jeremy's going to come over this afternoon before work and try
his on."

"I bet he's going to look great in it. You know, the
other uniform is for Kevin."

"I thought you said your husband was going to be
too busy."

"He thinks he is, but he might attend for Joanne."

Dinah chuckled. "He might attend for you, Missy.
I have a feeling he'd do just about anything for you
... but then, we both know that."

"Even if he would go, I'm not sure if I'm going to
ask him. Dressing up is just not his thing."

Dinah glanced at the clock above the door. Four
o'clock. "Are you about to close?"

"We are. We close early on Thursdays to have a
board meeting."

"I'll get out of your way, then."

"You're not in our way," Joanne said quickly. "Besides, I don't want you to do a thing until you tell us
how dinner went."

Dinah suddenly recalled how Joanne had spoken of
Missy's dinner for her husband with reverent tones.
"Not quite as nice as I heard yours was, Missy. The
house was a mess, Bryan was crying, and I was a
nervous wreck."

"You?,

'Me."

"What did Jeremy do?"

"Everything. Grilled steaks, played with Bryan.
Helped with the dishes." She grimaced at the memory.
Poor Jeremy had probably been thinking he couldn't
get out of her life fast enough.

Missy sighed. "He's a great guy. Just like his
brother."

Dinah wasn't about to disagree. She had enjoyed
being with him, and the part of the evening they'd
spent on the couch had been awfully nice. Feeling daring, she said, "And you can tell Mary Beth that she
was right. He is a dreamboat."

Joanne clapped her hands together. "I'm so pysched
you told me before her. Mary Beth had been teasing
Dinah, wanting to know how Jeremy kissed," she said
to Missy.

Missy perked her head up. "Well?"

"I kiss very well, thank you," Jeremy said from the
doorway.

Dinah's drawing pad fell to the ground. "Oh my
gosh. I didn't hear you."

"I hope not. I'd hate to think you wanted me to hear
you talking about ... me kissing?"

Joanne blushed as well. "Just girl talk, little
brother," she said quickly. "Now go take this girl of
yours out of here so I can get some work done."

Dinah wished Joanne would just toss her over the
stair railing, she was so embarrassed. "What are you
doing here? I thought we were going to meet in an
hour."

He let her lead the way down the stairs, then answered her as they walked outside to the parking lot.
"I called your mom and she said you were here. I'm
going to have to postpone our fitting. Work."

"I thought you waited tables all night last night?"

"I did. Plus I asked Payton for a few more hours."

The day was so beautiful, she didn't see any reason
to postpone their conversation. "Why?"

He hung his head. "I'm really loving that house I
told you about. And ... I don't quite have enough in
savings to cover the down payment and everything
else I want to do."

Understanding dawned. "Oh. Gosh, that's such a
shame, though. I mean, about the fitting."

"Maybe we could do the fitting late tonight? Or tomorrow morning?"

She thought quickly. "How about in the morning?
That way I'll be wide awake and Bryan won't be
fussy."

Jeremy smiled in relief. "Great. Around eight?"

"Around eight."

"I'm glad you're not mad."

"I'm disappointed, not mad. I was kind of looking
forward to seeing you."

"Really? That makes me happy." And with that, he
took her hand. "You don't know how many times I've
thought about kissing you again."

She had a pretty good idea. It was at least as much
as the idea had popped into her head.

"I hope I'm not rushing you."

"No.

"And Sunday night? Will you and Bryan still come
over for dinner?"

"We will."

"My parents can get a little ... involved, but you'll
like being around them."

"I'm sure I will."

"And I have a feeling at least one of my siblings
will finagle a dinner invitation, too. And since all of
them are married, that will be at least two more people." He looked at her steadily. "When my family gets
together, things can get a little crazy."

"I'll consider myself warned." She said it in a way
to make him smile, but it looked as thought Jeremy
was about to do anything but.

"So you're sure about this? I don't want to do anything you don't want to."

"You won't."

Gray eyes glowed. "You're right. I ... I really like
you, Dinah." His cheeks colored. "What is it about
you that makes me sound like such an idiot? I didn't
mean to say it like that. I meant-"

But she didn't give him a minute to say anything.
Quickly, she kissed him. Not hard, not especially passionate ... but just enough for him to realize that she
was right there with him, by choice.

And at that moment, there was nowhere she would
rather be.

'You've sure been putting in a lot of hours,
lately," Priscilla said to Jeremy just as he was taking
a break.

"Yeah. Might as well bring a sleeping bag here."

She pointed to the circles under his eyes. "You do
look pretty tired."

"I worked that wedding reception last night. The
bride and groom were in no hurry to start their wedding night."

"They catered in, so I had the night off."

"Must have been nice for you." He glanced at Priscilla, noticed the concern in her eyes, so he decided
to admit the whole truth about what had been going
on with him. "I haven't been sleeping too well."

Priscilla blew the wisps of bangs from her eyes. "I
haven't either! Isn't that something?"

"What's your excuse?"

Priscilla looked embarrassed. "Just trying to get
used to the changes here, I guess."

"Things a lot different from Houston?"

"Like night and day. The job, anyway. The people
are just as nice." She sipped on a soda. "Your turn."

"I'm trying to figure out my future."

She frowned. "I thought yours was already planned
out. Won't you be teaching in the fall?"

"Yeah. It's not the job, it's all the other stuff."

"Such as ..."

"Such as there's a house I found to live in that I
really like, but I don't know if I can afford it."