When I came down the next morning, the couch was empty, the bedding neatly folded. The bathroom door was shut, and I heard the shower running. I had dressed in jeans and a dark-blue T-shirt after a quick shower upstairs. My short honey-blond hair was damp and curling from the humidity. I hardly looked like a woman who planned to be married shortly, I reflected. Of course, try to tell Brian Adam that. His suspicious mind would reason that I was merely trying to trick him and perhaps had a wedding gown on underneath her outfit.
I wasn't type to wear much makeup, I had taken the time to cover the dark shadows under my eyes with a dab of concealer and slap on a bit of lip gloss. I needed a litle boost to my self-confidence this morning in order to take on the dragon again. I swiftly got the coffee maker started and pulled out the ingredients for breakfast from the refrigerator. I was a good cook-a great cook, some said-and I now strategized that Brian Adams temperament might be improved by a tasty meal. I imagined that he hadn't eaten during his long arduous Journey last night and would appreciate good breakfast-crisp bacon, blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice.
And even if the good food didn't mollify his contentious personality, the distraction of chewing swallowing would at least slow down his interrogation. For I fully expected another interrogation this morning regarding the where abouts of Will Adams. Or perhaps Brian thought all he had do was hang around me in order to catch sippery groom?
I didn't want him hanging around here all day I reflected as I whipped the pancake batter with nervous energy. Something about the man positively unnerved me, wasn't Just his difficult personality. That I could deal with. If only he was short, paunchy balding... why I'd have no problem at all denling with him. But no, he had to be so so outrageously attractive it made my brain blow a fuse when he so auch as smiled at me. Thank goodness he was such a sourpuss he rarely did. I lowered the heat under a skillet of simmering bacon and sliced some fruit into a colourful bowl.
No, I hadn't been attracted to a man in such way in a long, long tme It would have been funny actually, if it wasn't so annoyingly perverse, that of all the men I'd met lately, I should have sch a reaction to this one.
"Just my luck, I reflected wryly as I tested the griddle.
"What's your luck? a deep voice interrupted my thoughtsI looked up. trying to hide my surprise
"Umm..just talking to myself about the weather It's still pouring out."
"Yes, I noticed.. Though they say rain is good lauck on a wedding day, he added pointedly
"Oh. yes. My wedding. I nearly forgot,I replied dryly. I lightly slapped my forehead
"Thanks for the reminder."
"Not at all," he replied politely
"I finally lifted my head and took a good look at him. IF he'd looked good last night in damp, rumpled clothes and a day's growth of beard, he looked even better now. Fresh from the shower, he wore the borrowed black T-shirt that was attractively form-fitting and a pair of gray sweatpants that hung low on his slim hips. He'd obviously used the little plastic razor I'd found and had only nicked himself once, on Chin, I noticed. My hands itched to test the smoothness of his lean cheeks.
I abruptly turned back to my cooking.
"Help yourself to coflee. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.
Smells good in here. He poured himselfa mug of coffee. "I never have time for a real breakfast,"
"Well, this is a real one, a high-cholesterol special. I hope you' re not a health food freak or anything like that?
"Even if I was, right now I could eat anything you put in front of me."
I laughed. "Did you sleep okay?"
"Once I transferred from that back-breaking sofa to the floor."
"Yes, I imagine the floor would have been more comfortable after all," i agreed, the cormer of my mouth itching to smile
He leaned on the counter and sipped his coffee, watching me . The thoughtful expression on his face unnerved me. I wished he would go and sit at the table or something, but
I didn't want to ask him outright. His nearness made me selfconscious, and I focused on the pancakes. I didn't want them to get over cooked and tough. I tested the edge of one with the spatula, then flipped it expertly
"You do that very well," he observed.
"I was a cook in a diner once, I confided "one of my many employment experiences. But you probably know all aboul the exciting chapter of my life from your research I prodded him.
"My research?" His cheeks looked a bit flushed under his bronzed complexion. "Oh, yes, I do remember reading that." He admitted. "It's hard work for a woman, cooking in a diner," he added thoughtfully"It's hard for anyone, I corrected. "But the lady who owned the place was a good sort.She let me take Noah along sometimes when I couldn't get a sitter," "You took your baby to work with you," he asked in disbelief. Was that safe for him?"
"He was fine. I'd set him up on the counter in his little infant seat. All the waitresses took turns holding him and playing with him. They made such a fuss Over him, they spoiled him silly. You d think he had about ten grandmas."
I turned and looked at him. Me and this man were obviously from different worlds-different planets, in fact. Clearly, he'd never known what it meant to struggle to pay the bills, pay the rent, stretch every dollar to the end of the month. There was no way to explain that reality to him. I would be wasting my breath even trying.
"It was either take him...or get fired, i added.
And I needed my paycheck."
"I understand, he said thoughtfully
"No, I don't think you do, I replied. Someone like Brian Adams could research someone like me for ages, and though they might get the facts in black-and-white, they'd never understand the whole story, I reflected.
The kitchen suddenly felt small, his presence disIracting her. Disturbing her. The sound of the rain steadily beating on the windonpanes made the room feel close and airless.