Romance on Mountain View Road (20 page)

He stopped by the house the next morning on his way to work and saw that yesterday's present was no longer on the porch. Good. She'd gotten it. Or Dennis had filched it. Adam wouldn't put it past him.

Adam decided to think positive. Of course Chels had found the present. Had she read the note he'd included? It had been short and to the point. “I'm happy about the baby. I wanted you to know that.”

Today's offering was the blanket. The accompanying note read: “This blanket made me think of you. It's soft and pretty. I can see the baby wrapped up in it. Wish I could wrap my arms around you like a blanket.” Had that been too mushy? Probably not. From what he'd read in those books, a man couldn't get too mushy.

He wanted more than anything to ring the doorbell and wait for her to open the door so he could give her the blanket in person, but something told him this wasn't the time. He needed to simply leave her every present, like Santa Claus. Then, maybe, by Saturday she'd be ready to see him.

If she was, he had to make sure he played it right. Deep down he knew this was his last chance. If he blew it there wouldn't be another. No three-strike rule in this game. He'd be out in two.

But he wasn't going to strike out. Chels still loved him and he loved her. What was it Vance had said to Jonathan on Friday night? Oh, yeah.
Love always wins in the end.
He hoped Vance knew what he was talking about.

* * *

Mindy not speaking to Kyle had been bad enough. Mindy speaking to other men, that was torture.

And she wasn't just speaking. She was flirting. She flirted with Willie the accountant, which was kind of sick if you asked Kyle, considering how old Willie was. She flirted with Harold, one of the claims analysts. And when Kyle followed her down to Filly's, he found her parked at a table flirting with Dave, the kid from the mail room.

She glanced up and saw Kyle, and instead of the warm look she used to give him, her expression hardened. Then she returned her attention to Dave and flashed the kid a hundred-watt smile.

Fine. If that was how she wanted it, fine. Kyle ordered a sandwich to take back to the office. He sat down at his desk and ground his sandwich to smithereens with his teeth.

He knew when Mindy had returned to the office. He could hear her laughing as she came in. What had Dave said that was so funny?

Other people were returning from lunch, too, smiling and happy. Everyone was smiling and happy but him.

“I guess you had a good time at lunch,” he said sourly as she sat down at her desk.

“Actually, I did.”

It was the first time she'd talked to him since that disastrous Saturday, but it didn't improve his mood. “Did Dave ask you out?”

“You know, I don't think that's any of your business.”

That shut him up. But it didn't stop him from seething. He didn't want Mindy flirting with other guys. He wanted her flirting with him. What was he going to do?

He had no idea, but he'd better get one soon. Mindy was moving on at the speed of light, and pretty soon she'd be completely out of reach.

Once home from work, he picked up his reading device and sank onto the couch, prepared to spend a few hours in the nineteenth century with a hero who was just about as dumb as he was. Oh, man, and now Alan Tremaine had really blown it. Kyle went to the next page and read on.

Opal hurried to take refuge in her favorite spot, the little stone bench at the heart of the garden maze. How symbolic that she should come here, after all she'd been through. What a fool she'd been. But no more. She could live without Alan Tremaine. She could find another man and be perfectly happy.

“Don't do it,” Kyle groaned. “Give him another chance.”

She arrived at the quiet spot to see a single rose lying on the bench. She hurried to pick it up.

“I can't pass by a blooming rosebush without thinking of you, Opal,” said a soft voice at her back.

She turned and saw Alan standing there. A flush of embarrassment heated her cheeks as she remembered that humiliating scene the night before. “It's cruel of you to mock me,” she said, and moved to rush past him.

He blocked her way. “I'm not mocking you, truly. I'm hoping with this rose we can grow something new. I've been blind a long time, but you've opened my eyes to what true love is.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “And what, pray, is it?”

“It's shared laughter and challenges faced together. It's standing beside a man even when he's acted the fool. It's so much more than I thought it was when I pursued a woman with a head as empty as your father's pockets.”

At the mention of her family's straitened circumstances, Opal bowed her head in shame.

A gentle hand raised her chin. “I don't need a fat dowry. What I need is you. What I need is a second chance, if you'll give it to me.”

How could she not? “Oh, Alan,” she cried, throwing her arms around him.

“Ah, my girl,” he said, and kissed her. “We were always meant to be together. I can't believe now that I didn't see it.”

She dimpled up at him. “Nor can I. But I'm glad you've found your sight at last.”

“Me, too,” Kyle said.

Opal and Alan went on to enjoy a lavish wedding and a wedding night that sent Kyle to a cold shower.

In this latest Vanessa Valentine (make that Vance Fish) novel, it was almost as if Vance had taken Kyle's situation with Mindy and given it an historical setting. Like him, Alan Tremaine had been a shortsighted idiot who couldn't see that the right woman for him was standing under his very nose. And like Kyle, Alan Tremaine had blown it big-time. But he'd redeemed himself with a chick-friendly peace offering and a humble request for a second chance.

Of course, he'd been able to redeem himself because Opal Carew, the heroine, had loved him since they were kids and was willing to give him that chance. Mindy had known Kyle for a year and even he wasn't so naive as to think she was in love with him. She was interested, that was all. And the disastrous nondate at her place had done a lot to kill her interest. He wasn't sure any kind of romantic gesture could resurrect it.

But it was worth a try. He'd tried hard enough to get a woman who only cared about the size of a man's bank account. Mindy had appreciated him for who he was, didn't care if he was short or tall, rich or poor. She'd simply liked him. Wasn't she worth at least as much effort as he'd put into chasing Jillian?

Absolutely. And if it was too late, well, that was no more than he deserved.

The next day he hurried into Safeway before going to work and picked up a bag of Hershey's Kisses.

Mindy was already at her desk when he got to the office, typing away on her keyboard, too busy to say hi.

Kyle pretended they were still pals and said, “Good morning.”

The only response he got was the tap-tap of her keyboard.

He opened the bag of chocolates. “You still playing poker?” he asked, and tossed a Hershey's Kiss over the cubicle wall. He heard it land on her desk.

The tapping stopped a moment, then resumed.

“I'm betting I can get you to laugh before the day is over,” he said, and tossed a second chocolate.

The tapping picked up speed.

He tossed a third one. “I'll see that chocolate kiss and raise you another.”

The tapping stopped and he smiled.

Until she scooted her chair back, leaned over and grabbed the bag. “Some of us are trying to work,” she snapped, then disappeared behind the cubicle wall.

So much for that idea.

A moment later a chocolate kiss sailed onto his desk. All right. “Are we friends again?” he asked.

Another chocolate came over to visit. “I'll think about it.”

Thinking was good. Thinking let him hope he had a winning hand. Now it was time to bet all his chips.

On his way home from work he went to Gingerbread Haus and ordered a gingerbread girl and a gingerbread boy. Cass Wilkes was on duty and at his request she happily wrote his name on the boy and Mindy's on the girl.

“That is really sweet,” she said. “And clever.”

“You think my friend will like it?”
You think she'll want to be more than a friend?

Cass handed over the box with the cookies. “Of course she will. What's not to like about a man doing something so thoughtful?”

He'd paved the way with chocolate. He sure hoped this gingerbread couple wouldn't encounter any roadblocks.

The following morning he got to the office ten minutes early and set the gingerbread couple on Mindy's desk. Then he sat down at his computer and started going through the motions of work. He pretended not to notice when she walked past him and tried to ignore the sudden increase in his heart rate. She set down her purse. He felt sweat beading on his forehead.

“What's this?”

He peered around the cubicle wall and saw she'd opened the box. “That's you and me going to the grand reopening of Zelda's restaurant in Icicle Falls. I hope.”

She stared straight ahead at her computer. “What, Jillian wasn't available?”

“I don't know and I don't care.” What had Alex Tremaine said to Opal Carew? Kyle couldn't remember a single word. Crap. He was on his own. “Look, I was dumb. I don't want someone like Jillian. I want someone who's got heart, someone I can laugh with.” This was coming out all wrong. He tried again. “I had a chance for dinner with a really cool woman and I blew it, plain and simple. I'd like to try again if you'd let me.”

She still wouldn't look at him, but she was nibbling her lip, a sure sign she was considering his offer.

He gave her one last nudge toward yes. “Hey, at least I'm a step up from those internet losers you dated. I've got a job. And I'm not writing a book on mushrooms.”

That made her smile. “Yes, but can you compete with Willie?”

“It'll be hard, but I'll try.”

“I could do worse, couldn't I?”

“Hell, yeah.” He suddenly remembered her prerequisite about a man being a churchgoer. “I mean, heck. Heck, yeah. What do you say? I think I'm done being stupid about women. Give me another chance.”

“All right.”

He pumped the air. “Yes!”

“People are trying to work here, you know,” said Eleanor Gumm, several desks over.

Kyle shut up and got busy, grinning as he worked. It was going to be a great day.

Chapter Sixteen

O
n Friday Adam had to visit his customers in Seattle, so he got up extra-early and was at Chelsea's door before dawn, this time setting out the tiger-striped jammies. The accompanying note read “I have something to ask you tomorrow and a promise to make. Will you open the door when I come by?” He knew she wouldn't be working. He'd actually called the nursery and found out. He'd show up right after breakfast, before she got busy in the yard. He hoped to heaven the presents had been enough to convince her he'd changed.

The work day seemed unending, and he lost twenty bucks and three romance novels to Kyle at poker that evening. “I can't concentrate,” he said. “Tomorrow is do or die. Either Chels takes me back or I'm in Jonathan's spare room forever.”

Jonathan had the world's worst poker face and it was impossible for him to hide the utter panic this announcement inspired.

“Don't worry,” Adam assured him. “I was just kidding. If things don't work out with us, I'm moving to Seattle. I don't want to hang around here and watch her hook up with some other man.”

“I don't blame you,” Bernardo said. “That would be tough.”

“It'll work out,” Vance predicted.

Adam frowned at him. “How do
you
know...Vanessa?”

The jibe didn't faze him. “Because she's going to have a kid. She wants security.”

“If that's all she wants, why didn't she take me back sooner?” Adam demanded.

Vance shook his head as if sorely tried by having to deal with such a slow learner. “She wants to make sure she's got you trained before the baby arrives, dolt.”

“Trained?”

“Yeah, trained.”

“What, you think she's been manipulating me?”

Vance shrugged.

“She's been jerking my chain.”

“Maybe it needed jerking,” Vance said.

Adam considered his behavior over the past couple of years. “Yeah, maybe it did.”

The next morning at ten he and the stuffed elephant parked in front of his house to find Chelsea already outside, weeding the flower beds. She wore cutoffs and a yellow T-shirt and her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. And there, walking up and down the lawn—his lawn!—pushing a lawnmower—his lawnmower!—was Dennis the Menace.

He grabbed the elephant and stomped over to Dennis, falling in step with him. “What are you doing mowing...” he shouted over the roar of the lawnmower.

“What?” Dennis shouted back.

“Why are you mowing...” Dennis turned off the mower, leaving Adam to finish his sentence loudly enough for all of Icicle Falls to hear. “My lawn?”

“Just helping out,” Dennis said. “You haven't been around and your grass was getting high. I offered.”

“Well, you don't need to offer. I can mow my own lawn,” Adam said, attempting to wrest the mower out of Dennis's greedy paws.

Now Chelsea had joined them. “Adam,” she began.

Adam thumped his chest. “I can mow the lawn.”

“Not if you're not here,” Dennis said, giving the mower a yank in an attempt to regain control.

“I'm here now.” Adam yanked back.

“Adam, come away,” Chelsea coaxed. “What have you got there?”

“A big, dumb animal?” guessed Dennis. “How symbolic.”

“I'll symbolic you,” Adam said, and whacked him with the elephant, tipping his glasses sideways.

“Hey, not cool,” Dennis growled.

“I'll say. Over here trying to steal my wife. My grass.” Adam took a swing.

The little weasel ducked and before Adam knew what hit him, or rather who, Dennis landed a lucky punch. Adam and the elephant went down.

It was broad daylight but Adam saw stars. His jaw was broken, he was sure. Some other man was all over his lawn and would be all over his wife next and here he lay like a beached whale. He groaned and shook his head.

“You shouldn't mess with me. I was a lightweight champion in college,” Dennis said.

“That was a mean thing to do,” Chelsea snapped, and Adam couldn't tell whether she was saying it to him or to Dennis.

“You shouldn't mess with my wife,” Adam said. Ow, that hurt. He clutched his jaw.

“Oh, your poor jaw.” Chelsea was kneeling next to him now, concern plainly written on her face.

It had been a long time since he'd seen even a hint of kindness on that pretty face. Adam decided he could do a little manipulating, too. “I think my jaw's broken.”

“Someone should break your head,” Dennis informed him. “To just up and leave a sweet woman like this?”

Up and leave? Adam looked at Chelsea in confusion. “I—”

“Come on in the house,” she said, helping him up. “Let's get some ice on your jaw.”

He let her help him up, him and the elephant.

“Leave the lawn,” Chelsea told Dennis. “Adam can finish it.”

Yeah. So there.

“If you need anything, call,” Dennis said to Chelsea, giving Adam a look that promised a smashed nose to follow his broken jaw.

Once in the kitchen she sat him down at the table. It felt like years since he'd sat here. He soaked it all in—the pretty oak cabinets, the vase of flowers on the table, the smell of bacon left over from her breakfast. But the best sight of all was Chelsea herself.

He watched as she loaded ice in a plastic bag and then wrapped it in a kitchen towel. “What did Dennis mean about me leaving you?”

“He saw you were gone and jumped to conclusions.”

“And you never said anything different?” She'd let him look like a jerk. Granted, he'd been a jerk—long before Dennis arrived on the scene—but not
that
big a jerk.

“I never said anything, period. He just assumed you'd left.”

Adam chewed on that for a moment. “I guess it's easy to assume things about people. Like they'll always be there, no matter how much you take them for granted.”

She looked at him, surprised as a math teacher with an obtuse student who'd finally grasped a simple equation.

She came over to where he sat and pressed the ice on his chin.

He winced and pulled away.

“Don't be such a baby,” she chided.

Baby. The word brought him back to what he'd wanted to say when he first arrived. He held up the stuffed elephant. “This is for the baby.”

“It's sweet,” she said softly. “You've been sweet,” she added, and the tone of her voice encouraged him to hope that if he played his cards right, he'd be back home tonight.

“I'm gonna be like that elephant, Chels. I've learned my lesson. I won't forget.”

She sat down opposite him, tears in her eyes. “Do you mean that? Really?”

“What else can I do to prove it?”

“Be different from now on. Make time for me. Make time for your family.”

He was done being a selfish bastard. “I can change,” he told his wife and himself.

“You have to. We've got a baby on the way. It's time to man-up.”

“I will,” he promised.

She smiled. How he'd missed that smile! Then she leaned across the table and kissed him. It was as smooth and satisfying as fine bourbon. When she pulled away, the look in her eyes promised more.

“Will you go out with me tonight?” he asked. “Zelda's is reopening. I got reservations.”

She nodded.

He wanted to jump up and down, shout his success from the rooftop, go pummel Dennis McDermott into the ground. Instead, he played it cool. “Good,” he said. “And now, I'm gonna mow the lawn.”

* * *

Kyle and Mindy were enjoying salmon baked in puff pastry almost as much as they were enjoying each other's company when Adam and his wife came into Zelda's to swell the crowd by two. It seemed most of the residents of Icicle Falls had showed up to celebrate the reopening of the popular restaurant. The bar where they'd waited for their table had been packed, and here in the dining room not a table was free except for one down by the fireplace, their obvious destination.

Charley, the owner, was beaming as she led them to their table. She had every right. She'd worked her butt off turning the restaurant into someplace special, and after the fire she'd worked even harder. The restaurant was better than ever with a slick new rustic decor and a bigger bar, complete with a nice-size dance floor. Jake O'Brien, hometown boy, and his band Ricochet were going to be performing there later. Jake's first CD was out and he was busy playing the county fair circuit, but since his wife and Charley were friends he was squeezing in this appearance as a favor. Yet another reason the place was packed to the rafters. Adam had made his reservation fairly late; he must have pulled some strings to get in. Well, good for him.

He had his arm around his wife's waist and he was smiling like he owned the world. With his wife back, Kyle supposed he did. He stopped to give Kyle a handshake. “How's it goin'?”

“Great,” Kyle said, and made introductions.

“We'll have to get together some time,” Chelsea said before they continued on to their table.

Getting together with other couples, being a couple. Kyle sure liked the sound of that.

“Is that one of your poker buddies?” Mindy asked.

Kyle nodded, although with everything they'd been going through lately, he was more like a comrade-in-arms.

“He's nice. So's his wife. It would be fun to do something with them.”

That seemed positive. Kyle took a casual drink of his beer. “So, are you saying you'd like to do more things together?”

She smiled at him. “What do you think?”

He grinned. “I think I'm glad I asked you out.”

“Me, too,” she said.

And later, when he took her home, she asked, “You want to come in for a drink. Or something?”

A drink sounded good. “Or something” sounded even better. “Yeah,” he said, “I do.”

He followed her inside and looked around the tidy little house, taking in details he'd missed the first time he was here. Being stupid. Paintings of flowers decorated the walls. She had a bowl of fruit sitting on her kitchen table. It was all homey and welcoming and he could already envision the two of them stretched out on that couch on a winter's night, in front of the fireplace. A big orange cat regarded him warily from its perch on a rocking chair, then bolted for safety to another part of the house.

“You've got a cat,” he said, stating the obvious.

“That's Snookums. She's kind of shy.” Mindy continued on to the kitchen. “What would you like to drink?”

He joined her. She opened the fridge and bent over to inspect its contents. It was a lovely sight to behold.

“I've got Pepsi, lemonade, some white wine.”

“Huh?” Oh, yeah, he was supposed to be focusing on the contents of the fridge, not the woman in front of it. “Pepsi's fine.”

She got out two cans and took glasses from the cupboard. She probably couldn't reach the top shelf without a stepladder. Smiling, he remembered what his mom used to tell him every time he complained about his lack of height.
Good things come in small packages.
Mom had been right.

Mindy put ice in their glasses, poured in the pop and brought them over to where he leaned against the counter. As she smiled at him, it dawned on Kyle that, at last, he was writing his own romance.

There she stood, her eyes inviting him to kiss her. Her lips parted in anticipation. He took the glasses out of her hands and set them on the counter, saying, “Later.” Then he reached out and drew her to him.

She came willingly, a smile on her full lips.

Savoring the moment, he threaded a hand through her dark, silky hair. She was beautiful, a perfect little package.

She closed her eyes and tipped up her face, ready for his kiss.

The minute his lips touched hers, he knew his search was over and he'd found the woman of his dreams.

Oh, yeah. This was better than anything Vance could write, Kyle thought, and deepened the kiss.

It was long and juicy, and when they'd finished, she asked, “Are you sorry you're not out with Jillian?”

“Jillian who?” he said, and kissed her again.

* * *

Jonathan and Chica had gone hiking on Lost Bride Trail. Legend had it that when you were about to get hitched, you caught a glimpse of the ghost of Joshua Cane's bride, who mysteriously disappeared back when Icicle Falls was nothing more than a mining town. Jonathan hadn't seen a thing.

He'd returned from his hike in a grumpy mood and heated a pizza. He should've been in a better mood since he'd finally lost his roommate. Adam had collected all his stuff that afternoon and was now over at Zelda's celebrating the grand opening with his wife.

Kyle was there, too, on a date with his pal Mindy. Bernardo and Anna were out with her family. Even Vance had plans. His editor was in Seattle for a conference and they were having dinner. Juliet and Neil were going dancing at the Red Barn. It seemed like everyone was doing something tonight except him.

“We're doing something. We're having fun right here, aren't we?” he said to Chica as he pulled out the pizza. Pizza and the sci-fi channel. Life was good.

If you considered that a life. Halfway through
Aliens versus Aliens
he decided he'd had enough. He was going out. He donned a clean T-shirt that said Nerd Is a Four-Letter Word, then left Chica in charge and headed out the door to join the gang celebrating Zelda's grand opening.

The parking lot was full and there was a crowd inside the door waiting to be seated. There was barely room for them with all the floral arrangements and balloons saying Congratulations. No surprise that this was such a big deal. Both the restaurant and its owner, Charley, were popular.

But it was more than that. The people of Icicle Falls loved real-life Rocky Balboa stories. They supported one another, and when one of their own fought her way back from failure to success, everyone celebrated. The town itself had once been on the verge of extinction and came back strong, turning itself into a German-style alpine village. Failure happened and that was okay. Letting it beat you was not.