Blue Heaven (Blue Lake) (13 page)

She stopped in the office, clearly realizing now that he had come in behind her.

“Staining and varnishing the old counter and the staircase are my next priority,” he said, thinking fast. “I wanted to run something by you.”

“About the office?”

She didn’t move out of the neutral territory of the office and into her quarters, even though Mama was crying on the other side of the pocket door.

“No, not work. Play. You need to get to know the people our age in this town. We have a thing about going up to Fast Eddie’s Friday nights. No dates or anything. Just whoever is available shows up.”

“Jane?”

“No. Jane is a loner. But you’re not. I can tell. I want you to meet my friends.”

“Are you setting me up? Is there going to be some single guy who has my resume?”

If only she knew how far from the truth that was. He was the guy who knew her resume. And he was the guy setting her up. For himself.

“Promise. Nobody knows anything about you, but they’re all curious. Say you’ll come.”

She stood there looking up at the ceiling like it had an answer. She twisted her lips to one side of her face. After a few disheartening beats, she said yes.

“Yes! This coming Friday. I can pick you up.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“Nineish.”

“Okayish.”

Instead of pressing his luck, he went home, mission—for now—accomplished.

Chapter Eighteen

The week flew by as every aspect of the renovation and grand opening got checked off the list. Eva could afford to take a night off and meet Daniel and his friends at Fast Eddie’s. She studied her closet for the right jeans and wished Jane was going to be there. She selected her dressier dark jeans. They made her look taller and were the proper length for dancing shoes. She slipped on her favorite ankle boots with wedge heels that were surprisingly comfortable.

When, five minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot, the place was jammed.

Daniel shot up from a table full of people and pitchers of beer the minute she walked in the door. He hustled over to her side, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and brought her to the table. Her cheek still tingled. Oh man. She hoped this was not a mistake.

“Hey everybody, this is Eva.” Daniel’s voice raised above the band. She stood for a minute feeling awkward as Daniel rattled off names. Nobody offered to shake her hand, but every one of them smiled. She recognized a few guys from the work crew. She smiled at the sea of faces and waved as she sat down next to Daniel at two open seats near the end of a long table.

The bar was loud, but the music was good. The only names she remembered were Luke, who she had contracted for lawn and snow services, and Meg, the woman on the other side of her. Luke offered Eva a beer from a communal pitcher, but eying Meg’s glass of sparkling water, which had been served in a wine glass, Eva wondered if they still carried that great brand Jane had loved so much.

A waitress in Daisy Dukes came up and rubbed her hip on Daniel’s shoulder. Eva was sure the touch was deliberate even though Daniel ignored it.

“Don’t worry about her,” Meg said. “Flirts with everyone. You’ll see.” Eva didn’t know how to tell Meg that she was not Daniel’s date, just a friend. She didn’t feel like just a friend. She felt like pushing Ms. Daisy Dukes onto the floor.

The waitress pretended to finally notice Eva. “What can I get for you, darlin’?” She batted her lashes like a silent movie queen. Meg elbowed Eva and snickered.

“Do you still have Jane Augustine’s wine brand? She called it KJ?”

The waitress nodded. “It’s on special,” she said.

“That’s what I’ll have.”

“Another for me, too, Kitty.” Meg held up her almost empty glass, finished it off, and handed the empty to the waitress.

“Is Kitty really her name?” Eva asked Meg.

“Yep. It’s on her birth certificate.”

The band started playing an old Bob Seger song, “Turn the Page.” Everyone in Michigan loved Bob Seger. He was a hometown boy made good who never left. But this was really amazing. Everyone at the table except Daniel, Luke, and Eva got up and walked over to the dance floor.

“You two go ahead,” Luke said.

“No way.” Eva and Daniel said it together and then laughed. When he’d recommended Luke’s services for her resort, Daniel had told Eva Luke had gone through a horrible breakup. No need to make him feel worse by leaving him alone while everyone else danced.

“So is everyone married except the three of us?” Eva asked.

Luke laughed. “Only most of them.”

Kitty came by with her wine. “There you go, sweetheart.” Huge smile, hand on hip, she waited for Eva to take a sip and nod that the wine was excellent. Then she turned and flirted outrageously with Luke. He mostly ignored her, and she left when someone across the room hollered her name.

By the time Daniel and Luke filled her in on the dating couples, the married pairs, and the singles, the song was over and everyone came back to the table.

The band started up a loud Red Hot Chili Pepper number and Meg sat down, gulping her water. “I’m so thirsty!”

“What’s his story?” Eva asked, as Luke got up and headed for the men’s room.

“We’re all trying to help him get over his busted heart. It ain’t easy.”

Eva nodded.

“They lived together. It was totally serious. On his part, at least. So I know you own Blue Heaven. And you’re dating Daniel now?”

Eva tried to wipe the scowl off her face before Meg noticed. “No, just friends.”

“I don’t think he thinks so.”

“Oh, he knows. He’s just pretending he doesn’t.”

They sipped their drinks and friended each other on Facebook as the song wound down and another started up. Meg took their picture and tagged Eva. Eva didn’t recognize this song. When had she stopped listening to new music?

Some people got up to dance again as the band switched singers. Kitty set down her tray and took a mic, starting a version of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” that wasn’t awful. Her perky dance moves and expressive face were great and her voice was in tune most of the time.

Eva noticed only women on the dance floor. Figures. No guy was going to dance to that song.

“Come on.” Meg took Eva’s hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. “It’s a Blue Lake tradition. Girls only.”

Eva got up and happily lost herself in the crowd of dancing women.

It felt good to dance. It felt good to know the song. It felt good to be a part of Blue Lake. Every woman at their table danced her way at some point in the song. They included her in the ritual. She didn’t miss Jane as much as she thought she would.

After two glasses of wine, Eva switched to water. She had to drive home. Even though it was so close she could probably walk, even in heels. But her head was swimming and her system was on social overload. She’d been dancing for hours and even though her feet were starting to ache, when Daniel asked her to dance, she said yes before she realized it was a slow song. Damn.

It felt good to be in his arms. Way too good. She pretended it was just for the dance, but she didn’t push even a little bit away when he pulled her closer. She put her head on his shoulder. It was just a dance to “Closing Time,” an old song, one she’d loved since grade school, before she understood what it felt like to know who she wanted to take her home.

How could it feel so right to be in his arms and how had she not realized that this song was the last song? They’d closed the bar. The hours had passed like minutes.

As everyone headed out to their cars, they were still talking. People shouted goodbyes and a few even said other sweet things to her.

“You’re great.”

“It’s so nice to see Daniel with someone like you.”

“Thank you for renovating your cottages!”

“Our town loves you.”

One by one, Daniel’s friends, and maybe someday her friends, all had something nice to say to her. Meg did one better and grabbed Eva in a tight hug. “I have a feeling we are going to be friends.” She whispered into Eva’s ear. “So I’ll tell you a secret. I’m pregnant.” Eva hugged Meg back, closed her eyes, and hoped nobody saw her face in the dark. Then there was a flash. Daniel with his phone camera.

“Send me that one!” Meg said. Getting in the car with her husband and heading home to her growing family.

Daniel walked Eva over to her car. “So did you have a good time?”

“Yes. Thanks. It was fun.” She’d been so focused on work that she’d almost forgotten how to be social. She loved dancing.

“I loved dancing with you. Holding you.” Daniel held her gaze. She couldn’t turn away. She had to quiet her mind. She needed to answer him in a way that would not hurt their friendship but would get her “friends only” message across. This was difficult and confusing. But he didn’t want to be “the one”—had in fact stated that he was not the one—so she had to be strong. She was not a one-night stand kind of person. Or even a summer romance type. One by one engines started, headlights flipped on, and a single file of cars left the parking lot, all of them turning left toward town.

Luke gave a quick beep of his horn as he passed them, still there, standing outside her car door. She waved. “How long do you think it will take for Luke to start dating again?”

She’d said it innocently, but Daniel stiffened next to her as if she’d insulted him. “What, you want me to set you two up?”

Oh stars. What an idiot. Didn’t he know she was in love with him? She was. In love. With him. Damn it.

“No, I just wondered.” She felt tender and a little wounded. “But if I wanted to, you’d do that?” Again, the wrong thing to say. And yet she had to say something so she wouldn’t think about what was really on her mind. How could she be so stupid as to fall in love with Daniel?

Daniel didn’t answer her. He just walked away and got into his truck. He waited for her to get into her car and take her right turn home before he pulled out and headed the opposite way.

Chapter Nineteen

She answered on the first ring. All business. He wanted to reach the soft interior he knew existed behind her tough outer layer. ‘I’m sorry about the way I left things between us at Eddie’s last night.”

“Oh.”

He tried without success to decipher her tone from the single syllable.

“To answer your question from last night, no I do not want to set you up with Luke.”

“Okaaaay.” Still one syllable but ominously drawn out. He looked at the clock on his kitchen wall. He was due at the site in thirty minutes. Maybe she’d communicate better in person.

“See you in a little while, then.”

“See you.”

He clicked off his phone. He was not satisfied by two syllables. What he needed was a plan to get her away from work, away from town, away from everyone for a day. He checked his calendar on the way out the door. By his calculations, it was just about doable. If she said yes.

He got to Blue Heaven, as usual, before the rest of the crew showed up. He spotted Eva from the highway inspecting the new sign she’d had commissioned. He parked in the gravel lot and walked back out toward the highway to her.

“Nice.”

“Yep.”

And they were back to the one syllable conversation again. He only wanted one syllable from her. And that would be her answer to his asking for a date. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“You said that already. It’s fine. Forget it. Anything else?”

Well, at least there were more syllables.

“Just—I want to ask you something, but you have to promise to say yes.”

They walked up the gravel path toward the bungalow together. “Tell me and we’ll see.”

“I want us to go away for the day. Just get away from all this—”

“You’re kidding, right? We’re on deadline here.”

“I know, but look around. We’re ahead of schedule. One day. Just the two of us. That’s all I want.”

“What would the two of us be doing?”

He realized he didn’t have a plan. He had assumed she’d say no. So he improvised.

“I’ve got a buddy who owns a boat—”

“No boats. I like looking at water, but I get seasick.”

He pulled Plan B out of his back pocket. “Okay, we take a couple of bikes and ride Carmella’s Curve. Stop on the trail for a picnic.” Some of the crew had started to arrive.

“What is Carmella’s Curve? And where is it?”

“It’s a bike/hike trail that starts in town and goes about twenty miles. We would stop after a mile or so for lunch. You’ve got to ride it to appreciate it.”

“I don’t have a bike.”

She was not making this easy. “There’s a bike rental place in town.”

“I hope I’m not going to regret this.”

She said yes! Not the actual word, but that was a mere formality.

****

Eva put Lily in charge of the house and Daniel put Bob in charge of the crew. The three of them stood in the kitchen watching Lily tear open a huge box of towels UPS delivered. “I suppose you want these washed too!”

Eva nodded.

“Just do it and then you can get a little beach time in.” Eva was too happy to argue with Lily. She was going on a date with the guy she loved. Last night wasn’t a real date. Well, maybe a sort of date. But today. He’d put some thought into it and that touched her.

Lily sniffed and took her load into the laundry room.

“When she goes to the beach, you go with her.” Eva looked at Bob.

“Okay. I do that anyway.”

“If she goes into town, you drive her.”

“Well I have to, since she doesn’t have a car.”

“We’ll be home—not too late.” She glanced at Daniel, feeling a little shy. “Should I change?” She was wearing sneakers and jeans with a short sleeved top.

“Grab a jacket or a sweatshirt and you’ll be set.”

They drove into town while Daniel outlined Part 2 of Plan B. “After the bike ride, I want to take you to Amelie’s.”

Eva heard Amelie’s was swank. Beautiful, beachfront, and fancified grass-fed beef. “It’s not open yet.”

“It’s opening tonight. I put a reservation in. Just in case.”

“You’re so sweet.” Eva gushed. She kept trying to hold her feelings in. They’d snuck up on her last night. Ambushed her. She had to work hard to appear casual. She’d just blown it.