Finding Love in Payton (6 page)

For the next hour, he took orders, and did his best
for the six tables in his area, keeping an eye out on
the Ryan family all the while.

He liked watching them, noticing how easily Dinah
got along with her parents. Just watching them together made him think of his own family, and their
easy camaraderie. He knew a lot of people who did
nothing but complain about their parents ... who had
uneasy relationships with them. It made him feel good
to know Dinah wasn't one of those people.

After an hour went by and they finished their dessert, he brought over a carafe of decaf coffee for Mr.
Ryan. "Refill, sir?"

"No thanks, Jeremy. If I have any more I'm going
to float away."

"Ma'am?" he asked Mrs. Ryan.

She also shook her head, though she smiled up at
him above Bryan's head. Bryan had moved from his high chair to Dinah's lap to Winnie's during the
course of the meal, and Jeremy would bet money that
Mr. Ryan was just biding his time until it was his turn.

"Dinah?"

"You know, I am going to take a little bit more.
Promise it's decaf?"

"I promise," he said, gazing at her more closely. She
had on a sundress and a pink sweater, making her look
like any college coed in Columbus. Her hair was
curled at the ends and kind of bounced when she nodded, and her brown eyes were lit up like Christmas.

"Great. I sure don't want to stay up all night."

"What do you have going tomorrow, honey?" her
mother asked as Jeremy refilled cups.

Dinah shrugged. "Not too much. Mrs. Martin is
opening for me tomorrow, so I'm not going to go in
until one or two. I guess Bryan and I will sleep in and
go for a walk or something."

Her dad looked from Jeremy to Dinah. "So you've
got a whole Friday night with practically nothing to
do."

"I wouldn't call eating dinner with you two nothing," she replied.

Her parents exchanged looks and then eyed Jeremy
again. "You're too young to stay home every night.
When do you get off work, Jeremy?"

There was no way he was going to pass this up. "In
about an hour or so."

"Dinah, why don't you let us take Bryan home?
You and Jeremy could have a little time together."

Dinah's face colored, and Jeremy felt like a fool.
He'd been practically ogling at her all night long. Her
parents probably thought there was way more between
them than there was.

"Mom, just because we talked about-"

"We know all about you, son," Mr. Ryan interrupted with a small smile, completely ignoring his
daughter. "We've been sharing stories with Dinah
about your family and such. Sounds like the two of
you have a whole lot in common."

"Like a free Friday evening." Winnie smiled angelically.

Dinah looked mortified. Jeremy's heart went out to
her; he knew exactly how she was feeling. Just as
there was plenty of love in his family, there was also
plenty of meddling. Not all of it welcome. "I'm sorry,"
he said to her quietly. "I'll just see you later."

But then her hand was on his forearm. "No," she
said, a funny little smile playing across her lips. "I
don't want you to think we were talking about you.
Or that you're trapped or anything ... but if you want
to do something later ... I would love to."

She would love to. He swallowed hard. "I'm glad,"
he admitted. Then, deciding that anything more that
came out of his mouth would be embarrassing, he
turned away. "I'll go speak with Payton about leaving
soon."

Jeremy couldn't help but grin as he asked Payton
to leave a little early so he could be with Dinah.

Payton glanced over at table twelve and smiled a
little himself. "Sure, Jeremy. You don't have to ask,
anyway. I'm just glad you're working as much as you
are."

"Thanks."

"Welcome." Payton glanced toward the kitchens
again. "What do you think I should do about Priscilla?" he asked, revealing that his mind was on far
more than diners in the restaurant.

"Do?"

"She hates me," he explained, a crease forming between his eyebrows. "I kind of lied to her about the
country club so she'd work here, and now she's counting the days until her contract is up."

Jeremy pretty much figured telling Payton that lying
to employees was not a good idea, so he went for a
safer approach. "Did you tell her you were sorry?"

"Only about a dozen times."

What else could a guy do when saying sorry didn't
work? Since he'd never gotten too involved with any
of the girls he'd dated, the problem was a little foreign.
Finally he remembered Missy's birthday. "Roses."

Payton looked at him in surprise. "Roses?"

"Girls like flowers," he said, recalling how excited
Missy had been to get flowers from her husband.
"Roses seem to go a long way to solving all problems."

Payton brushed a non-existent piece of fuzz from
his suit. "You may have a point. In fact, I think I'm
going to do that. See, I'm crazy about her. I have been
from the moment I saw her." He glanced at the kitchen
again. "Weird, huh?"

Jeremy had a feeling Payton wasn't the only one
who was crazy. He thought about Dinah practically
nonstop and they had even less in common than Payton and Priscilla. "No, not so much."

Payton tilted his head towards Dinah. "You serious
about her?"

"I barely know her."

"By the look on your face, I'd venture to say that
hardly matters." He chuckled. "Go punch out and have
a good time."

"You sure?"

"Heck, yes. Someone needs to have a good night
tonight. We both know it's not going to be me."

Jeremy didn't need to hear that twice. After agreeing to meet Dinah at the bar, he went to go change
clothes and clean up.

All of a sudden, he had a date.

Dinah rubbed her hands on her thighs and tried to
look relaxed. It wasn't easy, though. She and Neil had
dated in college for three years, and then had been
married almost two when he died.

Add two years to that ... and it had been a long
time since she'd dated. She felt strange and conspicuous, and more than a little odd, especially since she
had the uneasy feeling that Jeremy Reece had probably
just had a date the night before.

Probably with someone who needed a fake ID to
get a glass of wine, someone whose body was perfect,
not faintly lined with stretch marks. Oh, she wasn't
going to lie and pretend she wasn't attractive on some
level. She worked out and walked, watched what she
ate. She still looked pretty good for her age.

But that was just it ... she looked pretty good for a
woman a few years from thirty.

And Jeremy Reece, with his movie star looks and
muscular physique, could still make high school girls
weep with crushes. Oh, he was going to have a time
teaching high school.

"Oh," she murmured to herself as he walked toward
her, a smile on his lips, wearing a dark blue button
down and jeans so faded they were almost white.
There was really something about him that was just
mesmerizing.

"I'm sorry," he said as soon as he sat down next to
her. "Getting cleaned up took a little while longer than
I expected."

"It's okay."

He leaned forward, searching her gaze, like he really did care. "You sure? Priscilla, the new chef, had
a few questions about the club and the town, and she
looked so desperate I couldn't just walk away."

Dinah was pretty sure he couldn't. Jeremy didn't
look to be the kind of guy who walked away from
anything. Ever. "I've been just fine," she said. "Just
thinking how long it's been since I've sat in a bar."

He looked concerned. "Hey, I wasn't thinking. Do
you want to go somewhere else?"

She placed her hand on his arm. "No. I'm fine."

His muscles clenched under her fingers, and at that
moment, Dinah had a pretty good idea that Jeremy was
just as nervous as she was.

He gazed at her again. "Would you like to go for a
walk? It's pretty out, and a little quieter."

Dinah glanced around the bar. It was pretty quiet
where they were, except for a group of older men
around the TV and two couples smoking in the back
corner. But just thinking about being with him, being
completely alone with him, was an opportunity she
couldn't bear to pass up. "Yes," she said, "I'd like
that."

He looked pleased. "Great," he said, hopping down
from the barstool. "Here, let me help you," he added,
taking her elbow.

She felt a little tremor as he clasped her bare arm,
and felt almost tingly when he kept his hand at her
arm, guiding her through the country club. And then
finally they were outside. Stars and fireflies dotted
green around them, making the night seem almost
magical. "Let's go this way," he said, letting his fingers run down her arm until their fingers joined.

She let him hold her hand, and couldn't believe that
something so innocent could cause such a feeling of
happiness. Valerie had been right. Having a date was
something to be happy about.

They said nothing for several minutes. Dinah was
content to just walk along the sidewalk toward a park
at the edge of the golf course, feeling her hand encased
in his.

"I'm glad we're doing this," Jeremy finally said. "I
hope you didn't feel trapped."

Trapped? "I was going to say I bet you felt that
way. My parents ... I don't know what was going on
with them. I guess they were excited to even think I
was interested in a man again."

He turned to her. "And are you?"

She glanced at him through the corner of her eye.
What could she say that wouldn't embarrass either him
or her? Not much. "I guess I stated that wrong," she
said with a soft chuckle, trying her best to sound like
she walked with guys in the dark all the time. "What
I meant to say is that I haven't dated anyone since
Neil died."

His footsteps slowed. "Why not?"

Now there was a question she hadn't even dared to
ask herself.

"I hadn't wanted to, for one," she told him honestly.
"And ... there was no one who interested me, for two.
And three ..."

His footsteps slowed. "And three?"

"Well, not a lot of men want to date a woman who
has a two year old." She glanced at him then, trying
to see what he thought of her words in the dim light.
But only shadows played across his cheeks, shielding
his thoughts from her gaze. "My days and nights are
pretty packed, between work and Bryan. There have
been moments I've looked pretty harried. Most men
would like to date a woman who at least looks like
she's put together."

They walked some more. "And then, there's the
whole idea of accepting another man's child. A lot of
men don't want to take that on, either," she said, then
almost bit her tongue. What was she doing, trying to
convince Jeremy to stay away from her?

Jeremy nodded. "I can understand that."

Her heart fell. "You can?"

"Sure. A lot of guys, and girls too, I guess, would
want to meet someone and start their own families."
He shrugged. "It's a natural feeling."

"I agree," she said, recalling just how many nights
she and Neil had stayed up, thinking of names for
Bryan. What would Neil have done if she'd already
had a baby? Would he have pursued her as doggedly?
She doubted it.

"I'm not one of them, though," Jeremy finally said.

His confession brought her to a halt. "Pardon me?"

He looked at the ground for a long moment, now
that they weren't making any pretense of walking at
all. "I said ... although I can see the difficulties, I'm
not one of those guys who would be bothered by a
woman who already has a baby," he said slowly, as if
each word was measured.

Their conversation suddenly seemed a lot more intimate than holding hands. "Really?"

"Really. It would be a pleasure ... to get to date a
woman who is already so mature."

Mature. That didn't sound good. Right up there with matronly. Instantly thoughts of stretch marks appeared
once again in her mind. "Is ... is that how you think
of me?" she whispered. "As a mature woman?"

He shook his head. "I can't even place how I think
of you," he admitted with a flash of white teeth in the
dim light. "Though I have to tell you that right this
minute ... the last way I'm thinking of you is as a
mother."

Dinah knew in her heart that she and Jeremy hardly
knew each other, that there were a thousand obstacles
and reasons that prevented them from being together.
But, there was a portion of her heart that didn't care.
A part that only wanted to think of how good it felt
to wear a flirty sundress and to have someone notice.

Her heart beat in staccato to think that an attractive,
single, extremely available man would ever think of
her in his own time. "How have you thought of me?"
she asked again.

"That I'm lucky enough to be alone with you. That
I hardly even know you ... and that I'm dying to kiss
you right here, in the middle of the golf course," he
said with a wry smile.