Walking in the Shadows (12 page)

“Sure Mark
, what can I do for you?”

Pie! Everyone likes pie, so
I threw myself into making a pum
pkin and an apple pie
from scratch. I had thought
that it would take my mind off of the f
act I was
alone and no one could save me from it. It was true
,
I could h
ave gone to New York with
Kirsten
and she
had even offered
to
forgo the profits of Black Friday to help me. I had refused
,
knowing it would be awkward to meet a whole bunch of people I didn’t know and also that it would be just as painful to be there.
It was very possible, I had learned, to feel lonely in a room full of people. 

The making of the pies only occupied me for an hour
,
and then
as I sat
on the couch watching the Thanksgiving parade I realized I had made the situation worse. The smell of the pies only remi
nded me of my mother
cooking dinner for us and her close
s
t friends, flour everywhere and her hair in a messy bun.  I put my head
in my hands and rubbed my eyes, if
I were older, if I were out of h
igh school
,
Tad wou
ld be here now.  The doorbell ra
ng
,
and I jumped at the sound.

“Coming,” I grumbled as I stood up
.

I opened the door to find Tad leaning against the door frame looking at his feet. When he looked up
at me he
started laughing
. “You’
ve been cooking,
huh
? Did any o
f the flour get into the pan?” h
e
teased
as he
reached up and rubbed my cheek clean.

I couldn’
t help but smile
.
“I thought making pies would take my mind off of things.”

“Well, they s
ure do smell good. I hope you’
ll share them with me?”
h
e suggested.

“Tad,
what are you doing here?” I asked
as I looked over his shoulder
and
pulled him inside
before
shut
ting
the door.

“You shouldn’t be alone.”

“What if someone sees your car and knows I live here? You kno
w how teenagers gossip!” I chided him,
my face feeling warmer by the second.

“My friend Toby lives right across th
e way. He’
ll cove
r for me and say I was there…I’
m not worried. Everyone at the school is already gossipi
ng about how head over heels I am for
girl that broke my heart.
I’
m sure
Jaz
told you all about it.
”

“Did she really break your heart?”

He stepped closer to me
.
“Not really, she’s just holding it se
cretly as opposed to openly now
.
”

I closed my eyes a
nd took a deep breath as I tried
to make my brain keep working, but it was impossible with the heat of his body so close to mine and his cologne working like amnesia gas. His hand was on my cheek
again and
his arm sl
owly pulled my waist to his own
.
“What
I’
m wondering is
,
does she still want it?”

I opened my eyes and searched his
.
“How could you even ask?”

He was about to kiss me
,
and I was about to let him when his phone rang
,
making us both jump and separate. He pulled his phone out of his pocket
clumsily
;
h
is brain ha
d obviously stopped working too
.

“Hi Dad…Yeah, I know Aunt Cathy is going to drive you nuts, but you have Meg and Bri—I
know I’m
your only savior…I can’t Dad…I’
m already here though…Where? At a friend’s house…Yes, it’s a girl…yes, it’s the girl…I know I need to be careful…
”  He frowned and looked me, saying, “
Do you have a turkey? Wait
…
Dad why do you need to know if she has a turkey?
My d
ad wants to know what we’
re having for dinner
.
”

I couldn’
t help but laugh
.
“Sorry, I only made pie.”

“She only made p
ies….come on Dad, why do you need to know…fine—
what
kind of pies?” Tad asked
.

“Apple and pumpkin,” I answered
and motioned to my flou
r covered clothing,
“
from
scratch.”

He repeated my answer
.
“What’s her address? She lives in the same com
plex as Toby…wait? What? Dad!”
H
e hung up the
phone
.
“My d
ad’s bringing the t
urkey and all the fixings from the grocery store. He’ll be here in half an hour after he convinces them to give him one that he didn’t order.”

“Your Aunt Cathy must be a real
ly
scary
person,
” I commented
,
unable to stop smiling.

“Yeah, he can’t stand to be aro
und her when I’
m not there. I’
m really sorry…we can always lock him out?”

“I like turkey
though and
it’s not fair for you to give up your family to spend time with me. I’
d like to meet your d
ad,” I replied
,
and
I
then look
ed
down at myself
.
“Crap, how long did he say?”

“Half an hour,” h
e answered
with a smirk.

“When the timer goes of
f take the pies out of the oven,
” I ordered as I turned
into
the bathroom. I showered
and threw on a light dusting of make up before walking out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

Tad’
s eyes widened
.
“What I wouldn’
t give to have x-ray vision right now.”

I don’t know what I was thinking as
I let the towel fall
before
I
turned into my bedroom.

“
That’s not
fair!” Tad yell
ed
from the living room
,
his voice semi-breathless. When I walked out clothed he looked up
at me with
his face red
.
“You can hurt a guy doing something like that.”

“You don’t look hurt,
” I remarked
as I bit my lip. He closed his eyes
,
and I picked up the towel and threw it at him
.
“Stop imagining it.”

He opened his eyes just as the towel hit him in the face. He
then
leapt the short distance across the room towards
me and pulled me into his arms
.
“
You’re a tease
!
”

I
wrapped my arms around his neck
.
“I have to look at you every day in tight button up shirts an
d
sexy
ties that
are very tempting to yank on.
“
You’re
the tease.”

He kissed my neck and my whole body began to tingle.

“I
should have worn a tie,” h
e replied.

My head felt fuzzy and light, as if my brain had been replaced with Christmas tinsel and my heart felt like it would explode before I could finish the countdown of seconds before his lips touched me
again.

“I’ve missed you,
” I whispered
.

He jumped as the doorbell rang, “Damn it
,
Dad!”

I let the breath I had
been holding out and ran my hand through my hair
.
“He has impeccable timing doesn’t he?”

“
With h
ow long I’
ve waited to kiss you, he can wait another minute.”

“He told you to be careful, didn’t he? He knows
,
t
hen?”

T
he doorbell rang again
.
“He knows some of the story
,
but not all of it.”

“Okay,” I said before
going to open
the door
, and
then, brightly,
“I’m sorry
,
Mr. Knightley
!
I didn’t mean to keep you waiting
;
your son was
being a pain in my ass
.”

Tad’s father was
an
older, grayer and just as handsome
version of him
.
He punched Tad’s shoulder in greeting.
“
He’s
a pain in my ass
,
too, but not as much as Crazy Cat Cathy.
”

I took the bags of food away from him
.
“Crazy Cat Cathy?” I repeated
over my shoulder as I walked into my kitchen to get plates and utensils. Tad and h
is father followed me to help
.

“Sometimes my brother in-law tells me a little too much ab
out his wife,” Tad’s father grimaced,
his eyes wide in mock horror.

“Dad, seriously I don’t want to hear that
,
nor imagine it.
I’m a
ll set imagining something else,
” Tad said
,
and winked at me.

My face
beca
me the color of my sweater. “Tad
!”

His father
raised an eyebrow
.
“So that’s why it took
so long to answer the door. I warned you I would be here in thirty minutes!”

“Oh
. M
y
. G
od
!
”
I muttered
closing my eyes
.
“No,
not at all.”

When I opened my eyes I saw Tad smiling at
me
.
“
Teasing you is just so very fun.”

I narrowed my eyes
.
“Too bad you’re not wearing a tie.”

“Oh
! That’s a little kinky now
,
isn
’t
it?
” Tad’s dad commented
,
pulling the delicious smelling turkey out of the bag.

Tad shrugged
.
“Yup, it’
s too bad.”

“Ughh…I can never get you back!”

“It’s a Knightley thing,” his d
ad said
.
“The name is George, by the way…no need to call me Mr. Knightley.”

I
offered my hand
, “
Vera
Macintyre
;
it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

He shook my hand
.
“
She’s a polite one
—
and pretty
,
too.”

“Thanks
,
” I responded
,
taking a seat.

“So all you two were goi
ng to eat was pie?” George asked
as Tad took the seat next to me and he sat across.

“
Well, I wasn’t expecting anyone,
” I said.

“Why would you make pies the
n?”

“Dad…”

“
To keep busy
.
” I replied
.