“They put them out earlier this year. I know how much you enjoy them.”
She did, especially when it came to decorating her house. She also helped decorate Amazing Grace for the Christmas season, but that wouldn’t happen until after Thanksgiving, the normal time to decorate.
“Christmas was never your favorite holiday,” she said.
He pulled into a parallel spot next to a row of shops. “Yeah, I’m a grinch around this time of year. Holidays were never much fun while I was growing up.”
She frowned as he turned off the car. He never liked talking about his childhood, and he was so distant with his parents that she’d only met them a handful of times before they passed away a few years ago. He’d been cold and aloof at their funerals. Now that she thought about it, that was around the time he started pulling even further away from her and Harper. His behavior had affected Madge too. When her own mother died, she’d gotten so used to hiding her feelings, she hadn’t cried at her funeral either.
Madge put her hand on his arm. “We don’t have to do this.”
He laid his palm over her fingers. “Yes, we do. You’ve always gone along with the things I wanted to do. It’s pasttime I did the same.” He opened the door, then paused. “I don’t think I told you how much I like your new hair.”
Suddenly self-conscious, she touched the sides. “You do?”
“Yes. You look beautiful.” He stepped outside and shut the door.
Buoyed by his compliment, she got out of the car and marveled at the decorations she saw. The city had outdone itself, even though Christmas was more than seven weeks away.
“Where do you want to go first?”
She looked at him, searching for the faraway look she often saw when he was bored, or the impatience when he was in a hurry for her to finish something he deemed unimportant. Instead, there were sparks of excitement in his eyes, and he was looking at her the way he used to when they first dated. An ember of attraction she thought long burned out suddenly warmed her heart.
“Ice cream,” she said.
He arched a brow. “You want ice cream? In this weather?”
“I’m in the mood for butter pecan.”
Don grinned. “Then let’s find you some butter pecan.”
Later that afternoon, after they had spent several hours eating ice cream, shopping, and getting coffee to go, Don took her home. As he pulled his car into the driveway, she gripped the Styrofoam cup. Would he ask to come inside? Or to stay the night? She wasn’t ready for either.
He put the car in Park and turned to her. “I had a great time, Madge. Better than I’ve had in years.”
Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, she said, “Me too.”
“If it’s all right with you, can I give you a call later in theweek? Maybe we can grab a bite to eat next weekend. Or if it’s too soon, I can wait.”
“A call would be nice.”
He smiled. “Thank you. I’ll help you get your bags.”
They got out of the car, and he took the three small bags out of his trunk and handed them to her. “I’ll talk to you soon,” he said, heading for the front of the car.
She nodded, stepping to the side as he got into the driver’s seat. Then she hurried to the window and tapped on it with the back of her knuckles.
He rolled down the window, a questioning look in his eyes.
She leaned over and brushed her lips against his, not daring to deepen the kiss. “Thank you, Don.”
He smiled, then nodded and rolled up the window. She waved as he pulled out of the driveway. Today was a first small step toward... she wasn’t sure exactly what. But she needed to savor this moment and not worry about the future. She also had some early Christmas presents to wrap.
***
On Sunday afternoon Harper arrived early to the Miles Road property after picking up the gate key from Brielle’s office. Her weekend secretary had given her the key, and Harper was about to open the door to leave when she heard Brielle call her name. Rats.
She turned around and didn’t bother to force a smile. “I’ll return this as soon as we’re finished.”
