SWEET ANTICIPATION (12 page)

Last night’s kiss, however impulsive and brief, had given her a clue that her friendship with Jordan just might develop into something more. But was she ready for that? For a woman who was struggling to accept the prospect of carrying on a social life as a widow, it was still difficult to think about the possibility of actually growing to care for another man. But if Jordan was ready to move on the next step up from casual friendship, was she willing to follow?

One of the reasons for her hesitation was that she didn’t trust his motives. She hadn’t known him long enough to be able to tell whether or not he was interested in her because of herself or the fact that if she fell in love with him, he would be able to talk her into a better custody arrangement. But while she tried to view this matter objectively, there was a nagging detail that she couldn’t quite get out of her mind—she was enjoying the attention and the comfortable feeling of belonging to someone, even if it was only for a few hours. She had almost forgotten how nice it felt to be part of a couple.

How quickly her attitude toward Jordan had changed as she had gotten to know him better. Maybe he had entered her life when she was at a particularly vulnerable point. She hadn’t admitted it, but she had been very lonely and even a little melancholy. She had her business and her baby to look forward to, but now she realized that those things alone, however time-consuming, would not be enough to fill all the needs of her personal life. However, she was hardly ready to jump into another serious relationship right at this moment.

As if sensing her indecision, he asked with incredible gentleness, “Would you rather I moved? I will if you want me to, but I like having you next to me. I’m proud to be with you and I want everyone to know that at least for now, you belong to me.”

That confession made her even more confused. Right now she didn’t know how she felt about belonging to Jordan, even temporarily. To avoid answering his question, she reached into the picnic basket and pulled out the cookies. “Here, have a cookie,” she murmured, thrusting them toward him. She didn’t really want him to move his arm and yet she didn’t want to admit to him that she rather liked it being there. It was such a silly, inconsequential thing to discuss, anyway.

Obediently he took a cookie and bit into it. He had been watching her reactions carefully, trying to read the variety of emotions that had flashed across her expressive face during the past few minutes. As much from what she didn’t say as what she said, he deduced that she was not driving him away, but she was not ready to encourage him, either. But even that, after her original vehement opposition to him, was a small victory. He breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back against the ice chest. It was a step, a very small one, but still a step toward winning her confidence and convincing her that she was a very desirable woman who shouldn’t let her emotions shrivel up and die just because she had lost a loved one.

“That’s great,” he murmured aloud, congratulating himself on their progress. At her inquisitive look, however, he nodded toward the half-eaten cookie in his hand. “These are great cookies,” he improvised quickly. “I like them when they’re soft and chewy rather than hard and crunchy. My grandmother makes …”

“Don’t tell me. I’ll bet she makes them just like this,” Lauren interrupted with a tolerant smile. “One of these days, I’m going to have to meet your grandmother. She sounds as if she’s exactly like mine was.”

“Sure, I’d be glad to take you with me the next time I visit her. If you’re real good, I might even share her with you,” he teased gently. “A person can never have too many grandmothers,”

After the play, Lauren and Jordan took the long way around the park to get home. The narrow roads wound in large circles around the zoo, a lake, a golf course and the Museum of Natural Science and planetarium. Clusters of huge, ancient trees cast eerie shadows in the moonlight.

“I think this is my favorite spot in the whole city,” Jordan commented as they drove along. “It’s so pretty and peaceful, not at all like the concrete and noise everywhere else.”

“Yes, I know what you mean. I’ve spent many a day on the playground equipment or playing Frisbee in the park. Sometimes I wish I could move into the country where I could have a big yard and maybe raise a couple of horses and a rabbit or two.”

“A rabbit? Why on earth would you want a rabbit? Except for scientific experiments, they’re about the most useless creatures in the world.”

“Don’t tell me about your experiments. I don’t even want to think about those cute little bunnies being tortured in your laboratory.”

“They’re hardly tortured,” Jordan scoffed. “We use them because they are always ready to mate. We couldn’t hope for a better subject on which to test our fertility developments. I can assure you that they are the happiest animals in the whole lab.” He slid her a twinkling look. “Have you ever seen a rabbit smile? Well, ours do—constantly.”

Lauren couldn’t keep from laughing at the ridiculous mental picture he had created. “Smile or no smile, I think they’re cute, especially those little pygmy ones or the ones with the droopy ears. Someone gave me a black and white spotted bunny for Easter when I was about six or seven years old. I used to give it stale bread and potato peels along with its regular food. He could eat a whole lettuce leaf without stopping to take a breath.”

“And that’s exactly the way he would eat your orchids, your shrubs, your daisies and every other green thing in your yard.”

Lauren nodded reluctantly. “Yes, I guess you’re right. Rabbits do have quite a reputation for not having very selective appetites. Oh, well, I won’t ever be able to move anyway. It’s so convenient having my business next to my home. Even though I would like to have a larger place to raise my child, that house is well-built and cozy.”

“Is that the house you grew up in?”

“No, my parents owned a nice old house in West University Place. My dad worked for the railroad and was out of town a lot, so when my mother decided she needed something to do to occupy her spare time, she bought the property where I live now. I think it used to be a poodle grooming shop, but she turned it into a flower shop and rented out the house in the back. After Johnny died, I couldn’t stand living in our apartment anymore. My father had retired and wanted to travel, so my mother sold me her business and I moved into the house. After they sold their own house, they were off to see America. Right now they’re living in Corpus Christi. After the baby is born Mother is planning to come and stay with me the first week or two, to help out, and of course, Dad will come with her, too. Then they are going to spend the rest of the summer traveling through Canada and Alaska.”

“That sounds like a wonderful way to spend retirement. My parents used to travel quite a bit, but I always had to stay home to go to school.” Jordan passed the medical center and turned into Lauren’s street. “But now I’m tied down to my job. Not that I’m complaining, because I love my job, but I’m beginning to realize that it’s not a good idea to let it be my whole life.”

O
N
M
ONDAY
it came as no surprise to Lauren when Jordan happened to drop by at noon and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. It was a gorgeous spring day, much too pretty to be spent indoors. Rita had no luncheon plans, and when she agreed to stay at the shop, Jordan and Lauren took their lunches to the park.

It was a short walk and they took their time finding an empty bench. As soon as they opened their bags, the rustling paper attracted the usual crowd of squirrels and pigeons begging for handouts. Lauren watched with apprehension as Jordan unwrapped his sandwich. Never had she seen such unappetizing concoctions as he managed to bring for lunch.

“Jordan, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but could I make a suggestion?” she asked gingerly. “If we’re going to be eating lunch together fairly often, why don’t you let me take care of the food? Since I’ve got to fix something for myself anyway, it wouldn’t be any trouble to put something together for you, too.”

“Are you making fun of my sandwich again?”

Her only answer was that her small, straight nose wrinkled in an eloquent grimace.

“Actually, it tastes much better than it looks, but I’ll admit that sandwiches are not my culinary specialty. I’m better at making pizzas.”

“Then I’ll let you make all my pizzas if you’ll stop making me watch you eat those awful globs you call sandwiches.”

“How could I resist such a charming offer?” he replied with that wonderfully attractive grin of his. It hadn’t escaped his notice that she seemed to enjoy these lunches together as much as he did. And the very fact that she had made the suggestion told him that she, too, was planning on making these lunches a regular occurrence. “So how about tonight?”

“Tonight?” she echoed blankly.

“How would you like me to come over tonight and create one of my pepperoni supreme deluxe extravaganza pizzas? I’ll bring all the ingredients and all you have to provide is an appetite.”

The evening set a pattern that they followed for the rest of the week. Each morning she made two lunches, which they ate outdoors when the weather was nice and indoors at her shop when it wasn’t. Then their evenings were spent either having dinner at her house or at one of the many restaurants in the area, after which they either went to see a movie or simply stayed home and sat around and talked.

The week before Mother’s Day, Lauren and Rita were very busy taking orders and putting together dozens of corsages. Friday night Lauren thought she was going to have to tell Jordan she would be too busy to go anywhere, but he brought over a bucket of fried chicken, along with all the side dishes for dinner and kept her company while she inserted the flowers in the corsages and worked on several other special orders.

The shop had another wonderfully successful day on Saturday and with Rita busy making deliveries, Lauren was on her feet most of the time taking care of the customers. Jordan had helped her in the shop, but seeing how tired she was at the end of the day, stayed just long enough to make sure she ate a good dinner and then went straight to bed.

The next afternoon he made good his offer of inviting Lauren to go along with him to visit his grandmother. At first Lauren resisted, using the excuse that it was a family event and to go with him would make everyone wonder why he was wasting his time with a pregnant woman. But he assured her that no one need know the circumstances surrounding their situation. If someone went to the trouble to put together the dates of her husband’s death and her due date, then a simple explanation about her participation in the artificial insemination program was all that would be given.

Under those terms, she finally accepted, but as they left the city limits of Houston behind, she still couldn’t stop thinking about how awkward this meeting could be. He had told her his mother and father were out of town, which was a real relief. Lauren liked his mother, but didn’t want to have to make any excuses or promises about her friendship with Jordan.

By the time Jordan drove through the small town of Friendswood and up the long driveway leading to his grandmother’s house, Lauren was wishing she had never agreed to the outing. It was one thing to share a few lunches and dinners with this man, but to meet his relatives made their relationship seem much more personal than it actually was.

But once they arrived, she couldn’t very well stay in the car. Accepting Jordan’s hand, she let him help her climb out of the vehicle, a feat that was becoming more difficult with each passing day. Together they proceeded up the walkway, which led to the door of a large, two-story frame house. A wide porch with square wooden columns stretched across the front, giving the house a comfortable, old-fashioned look. In spite of her nervousness, Lauren noted how lovely the well-kept yard looked. Several lacy mimosa trees dripped pink blossoms onto the ground and wisteria vines covered with clusters of purple blooms climbed along a trellis on the side of the house. Many varieties of flowers crowded the flower beds in colorful profusion.

As soon as their feet touched the front steps, Jordan’s grandmother hurried out, immediately enveloping him in a welcoming hug. When she noticed that he had not come alone, she extended her hand and smiled warmly at Lauren.

“Grandma, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Lauren Nelson. Lauren, this is my grandmother, Alice Daniels—”

“But you can call me Grandma,” his grandmother interrupted. “Everyone else does. It’s been so long since anyone has called me by my real name that I’m not sure I’d even answer. Come on in and meet the rest of the gang. We just finished lunch, but I can fix the two of you a plate if you’d like. There’s plenty of food left.”

“No thanks. We ate before we left Houston, although I should have known you’d fix enough for an army,” Jordan replied with an affectionate smile.

“Well then, we are just cutting into the pecan pies. Surely you can find room for a piece,” his grandmother persisted in a typical grandmotherly fashion.