The Love Goddess' Cooking School (21 page)

“Would she do that?”

He shrugged, then started rowing again, the movement of his muscles almost mesmerizing Holly. “She’s capable of anything. And she likes grandiose gestures.”

“And if her mother doesn’t come?” Holly said. “How upset will Mia get?”

“She’ll be a wreck for a good couple of weeks. And then she’ll talk herself into a rationalization that she can live with, that makes her feel better, and that makes her mother some kind of mythical creature instead of a neglectful parent.”

“That must be so hard on both of you,” she said, wishing she had something more insightful to say. But she didn’t understand the situation at all. How did a mother just walk away from her child like that? Calling every now and then? Sending expensive gifts as though it made up for her presence, her love?

“It’s only hard on me because I can’t do anything about it. I can’t make her mother act like a mother. I can’t give her that.”

“But you’re a great dad,” she said.

“I hope so. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Especially now that she’s turning twelve and everything’s changing. Everything—her body, her interests, our relationship. A few months ago I was in the drugstore picking up
toothpaste and shaving cream, and I realized there were some items Mia would need soon, and there would be no one but me to get them for her, so I bravely marched into the aisle marked ‘feminine’ and couldn’t even handle standing in front of the hundreds of boxes of tampons. I wouldn’t have known what to get even if I wasn’t embarrassed about being there.”

Holly smiled. “Did you buy the wrong thing or something?”

“I got overwhelmed and bolted. And so I just asked Jodie to pick up the basic necessities that a girl going through puberty would need. She came back with two big shopping bags.”

“Of what?”

“I don’t know—a lot of brightly colored boxes. Pink deodorant. Mouthwash. Shaving cream in pink canisters. Pink razors. A couple of things I had no idea what they were.”

Holly laughed. “It’s very clear that you deeply love your daughter and that you’re devoted to her. You’re doing just fine.”

Liam slowed the boat and slid over on his seat. “Come row with me?”

She smiled and set her cushion next to his, taking the left oar. They attempted to row together, but it took a while to get their motions in sync.

“Why don’t we drift for a while and open the wine,” he said, reaching for the bottle and a corkscrew.

She held out the glasses and he poured each glass half-full with the red wine. “Thank you. This is really nice.” And
nice
was just the word.

“I know I said this would be a foodless date, but I couldn’t resist getting some good French bread and my favorite cheese.”
He slid a small cooler from the stern, taking out the crusty loaf and setting the cheese and a tiny knife on a small wooden cutting board.

“What didn’t you think of?” Holly asked, her heart pinging with how touched she was. This entire date was romance at its sweetest and purest. A boat. The water. A good-looking man whom she was dying to kiss. Good red wine, a hunk of Gouda, and a loaf of crusty bread.

“I didn’t think of how I would attempt to make out with you without knocking the oars into the water.”

She laughed. “Actually, isn’t that the classic smooth move? The guy ‘accidentally’ lets the oars slip into the water so the woman is his captive?”

Liam held her gaze, his handsome face so close to hers on the wooden seat, and then he leaned forward and kissed her, soft and warm on the lips, letting his lips linger on hers before pulling back to look at her—and looking at her like she was beautiful. He kissed her again, full and deep, his hand reaching up to pull her closer against him.

“Your hair smells like flowers,” he whispered into it.

“Not garlic or Bolognese sauce?”

He laughed. “Flowers. And that perfume is driving me crazy.”

She might have whispered “good,” because he shifted her onto his lap so that she was straddling him, and they were kissing so passionately she was surprised the boat didn’t tip over.

Fourteen

Holly felt like she was floating the next morning. She woke up smiling, all because of a perfect date on a rowboat under the stars, quite possibly her favorite date of all time. Even if it ended way too soon. The wind had started to blow and it had been nearing eight thirty, when Liam expected Mia home from a hockey game at her school, and so they’d rowed back together, and Liam had walked her home, the beagles scampering ahead of them. And on her porch he kissed her again, the kiss as sweet as it was passionate, and Holly knew that night had been the start of something.

She came downstairs all lazy and happy in her robe and noticed something slipped under the door, another card in Mia’s strawberry-scented stationery. But this was in Liam’s handwriting.

Holly,

Thank you for an amazing date. Can’t wait to do it again. And again. And again.

Liam

She grinned and pressed it against her chest, then tucked it in her robe’s pocket and floated into the kitchen, where she gave Antonio an extra liver snap. She couldn’t shake her goofy smile all day, even when she realized she’d forgotten the dry white wine for the Bolognese sauce, which she’d only discovered when she’d tasted it after wishing for even just one more perfect date with Liam. She’d made stupid, my-head-is-in-the-clouds mistakes all day, but didn’t mind a bit. And she had to admit that she liked that she was able to tell she’d forgotten the wine.

Though earlier in the week Holly had offered to take Mia out for lattes and treats at the bakery after school for her birthday, Mia had said no, she didn’t want to miss her mother in case she came to pick her up at the house. So at four o’clock that afternoon, Holly wrapped up Mia’s gift (her grandmother had a closet devoted to various wrapping paper, bows, and cards for all occasions), pretty dangling earrings with tiny purple beads to match her Fall Ball dress, and headed to the Gellers’ house.

Halfway down, she could hear someone running toward her, and then Mia’s excited voice calling, “Mom?” And then there was Mia, out of breath, the disappointment on her face that it was “just Holly” heartbreaking.

“Oh,” Mia said, the excited gleam in her eyes dulling. “I thought you were my mother.”

“So she’s coming this afternoon? That’s wonderful!”

“Well, I don’t know for sure. I haven’t heard from her. But I assume she is. She probably wanted to wait till after the school
day. You know how parents can be about school. I’m sure she’ll just come straight here from the airport any minute now.”

Holly hoped so. Really hoped so. Her mother coming for her birthday clearly meant so much to Mia. And Holly could certainly understand why. If there was any special day, for her mother to show that she actually did care, this was it.

“Did you see anyone on Blue Crab Boulevard looking for the turnoff to this road?” Mia asked, straining her neck to see around the bend in the road where the trees obscured the view of the path. “Maybe my mother is having trouble finding it?”

“It’s pretty well marked,” Holly said gently. “And she could ask anyone in town. She’ll find the road no problem.” If she was coming. “Why don’t we head back to the house?”

Mia searched the road again, but there was nothing but the occasional squirrel and bird. Her face fell and she trudged up the porch steps and sat down, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Want to go inside?” Holly asked. “It’s getting pretty cold.”

“No, I’m okay. I’m just so excited about my mom coming. I mean, I’m sure she’ll come. It’s my
birthday.
” She zipped her hoodie up to her chin. “And the mail came and there was no birthday card from her, so that must mean she’s planning to be here. There’s no way she wouldn’t send a card
and
not come in person, right?”

Oh, hell. Holly hoped not.

“Well, here,” Holly said, handing her the gift as she sat down beside her. “Happy birthday, sweetie.”

Mia brightened. “Wow, thanks.” She undid the ribbon,
ripped away the wrapping paper, and opened the box. “Oh, my God, Holly, these are gorgeous! She held up the pretty earrings in the light. “And they’ll match my dress perfectly. Thank you so much,” she added, leaning over and hugging Holly. “I want to wear them right now, but I feel like I should save them for the dance.”

Holly smiled. “I totally agree. And you’re welcome. I can’t wait to see pictures of you in your dress—with your cute date.”

Mia’s blueberry-colored eyes twinkled. “Me too. I’m so excited. Just one more day.”

“So tell me more about this cute Daniel Dressler,” Holly said, and they sat there for another hour, talking, glancing up at every sound, but by five o’clock Mia’s mother hadn’t arrived. At five thirty, an hour and a half of sitting outside, a car came down the path and Mia jumped up and ran toward it, but it was the navy SVU. Just Dad.

Mia burst into tears. She stood there, tears running down her cheeks as Liam got out of his car. “She’s still not here, Dad. Is she going to come? Did she leave you a message?”

Liam’s expression basically said
Oh, shit.
“I’m really sorry, honey, she hasn’t left any messages for me. I did call her and email her a few times, and I tried again this morning, but I haven’t heard from her.”

Mia’s face crumpled. “Then she must be on her way.” She sat back down on the steps, brightening a bit at the new hope she’d given herself.

Oh, Mia,
Holly thought, sighing. For a moment Liam looked like he wanted to kill someone, namely his former wife, but she
wasn’t exactly around. He glanced at Mia, and his expression softened.

“Have you been sitting out here since you got home from school?”

Mia nodded. “Holly came down around four o’clock with a present for me. Look how pretty these earrings are. They match my Fall Ball dress perfectly.” The excitement in her eyes lasted for just a few seconds.

Thank you,
he mouthed to Holly. “Mia, let’s go in. I’ll order a pizza with your favorite toppings. And I have a present for you. Something you’ve been begging for since your last birthday.”

“I just want to wait out here for Mom,” she said, kicking at the step with her foot.

“Honey—”

“I want to wait out here, Dad.”

He stared up at the sky for a moment. “I’ll take it from here,” he said to Holly. “Thanks for staying with her,” he added in a whisper.

“Of course,” she said. She walked over to Mia and gave her hands a squeeze. “Happy birthday, Mia. And don’t forget that I want to see pictures from the dance, okay?”

“Okay,” Mia said, then resumed her foot scuffing, her head popping up with every minor sound.

Holly didn’t want to leave, and she wasn’t quite sure if Liam had asked her to go or just gave her the option of going. Awkward. She wanted to stay and try to be a comfort to both of them, but this was a family matter. Holly needed to go and let
Liam handle it the way he wanted.

“Okay, well, bye,” she said.

Liam offered a brief smile and then sat down next to his daughter, his elbows on his knees.

She hoped they wouldn’t be sitting out there too long. But when she reached her bungalow and opened the door, she still had not seen a car turn down Cove Road. She heated up one of that day’s pastas, the penne in vodka sauce, which even in her goofy-brained state that morning she hadn’t been able to mess up, then ate on the tasting bench, one eye out the window. She never did see a car turn down Cove Road.

For Mia’s sake, she hoped she’d missed her.

A bit after midnight, Holly’s cell phone rang. She was in bed, the fluffy down comforter so warm and cozy on the chilly night, her grandmother’s recipe binder on her lap. She’d been working on menus for the rest of the cooking class sessions, but she’d been unable to concentrate on anything other than the Gellers, one tall, dark, and hot, the other an adorable tween, both whom had gotten inside her heart. She grabbed the phone, figuring it was one of them.

Liam. “Because it’s midnight, Mia finally gave up,” he said, his voice angry, despairing, hurt. “She just went to bed, sobbing. I’m at such a loss to know what to possibly do to make this better.”

Oh, hell. “I’m so sorry,” Holly said. She scooped up the three Po River stones, hoping they’d help her find the right
words, but she had no idea what to say—and didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

“Holly, I—I don’t know. I don’t know what I want to say. I just want to take care of my daughter. That’s all I want to do.”

He was silent, so Holly waited a moment and said, “You do what you need to, okay?”

“Okay.”

So maybe there would be no perfect second date. Liam was right to focus on his daughter, not his love life. She respected him even more for it.

“It’s just that you’re the first person she’s trusted in a long, long time, Holly. You’re such a good role model for her—a female role model. I don’t want to screw anything up with that. If I mess this up—” He sucked in a breath. “Am I making any sense? I have no idea what I’m saying, or what I mean.”

You’re saying that if we start dating and things go bad, Mia loses me.
Holly got it, and she understood, but it still … poked at her heart. “I completely understand, Liam. You just want to protect your daughter, who just got her heart broken in a way you can’t fix. And you want to make sure you don’t do anything that could make things worse.”

“That’s exactly it. I told her that Jodie is out of my life, and that perked her up, but not for very long. So maybe we can take this very slow?”

The poking stopped. Very slow was not
stop.
“Very slow is good. Very slow is a sweet date on a rowboat that ends in an amazing kiss and nothing more.”

“That was some good-night kiss, huh? And the ones
preceeding it were hard to top.” He was silent for a moment, then said, “I’m not too sure I want Mia’s date for the school dance to end with an amazing kiss. Do twelve-year-olds kiss?”

She smiled. “Innocent kisses. Anyway, you’re chaperoning. And I’m glad you are. It’s a big night for her, something she’s so excited about, and maybe having that to look forward to will help take the edge off this disappointment. It’s great that you’ll be right there. She might not say so, but I’ll bet it means a lot to her.”