“Yes. We need her full support.”
“And what if she doesn’t give it?”
“She will,” Bea insisted, sounding a little offended. “Who wouldn’t want my niece as their daughter-in-law?”
Erma pinched the bridge of her nose. “Have you given any thought to what might happen if you’re wrong about this?”
“Erma Jean, I’m surprised at you. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life, other than Bill, and here you are, doubting me.”
“I’m sorry.” Egad, this could end up exploding in their faces. But when Bea was resolute, she was resolute. “All right. Call Karen tomorrow, and I’ll set up the meeting.”
“I was hoping you would call her.”
“Me?”
“To be honest, she’s a little intimidating. And she’s always saying, ‘Ta-ta for now.’ Like Tigger from Winnie-the-Pooh. It’s weird.”
Erma blew out a resigned breath. “Okay, I’ll call Karen, and you set up the meeting.”
“Perfect. Thank you, Erma. You’re a gem.”
“And you’re a peach,” she said, somehow able to chuckle a little. But when she hung up the phone, she wasn’t smiling. She’d thought the matchmaking shenanigans were over. Now they were worse than before, because of who was involved. Kingston certainly was a catch, and at one time she’d thought he and Harper would end up together. She’d called that one wrong—Harper and Rusty were meant for each other. IfKingston was really interested in Olivia, she could see how they would work well together. But getting Karen involved? Egad . . . again.
She set her phone down and turned off the light. Maybe divine intervention would happen twice, and Bea would give up on interfering with Olivia’s life again. But as she started to fall back asleep, another thought came to her mind.
What if this time... she’s right?
Chapter11
Wednesday morning, daylight streaked through the white blinds in Kingston’s bedroom. He opened his eyes and glanced at his phone on the side table next to his bed. Almost eight o’clock. He hadn’t bothered to set his alarm during the past week. Not a good habit to get into. But while he was on his forced sabbatical, there wasn’t a reason to get up at 4:30 a.m. like he used to. Sleeping until eight, though? He’d wasted half his morning.
He rolled out of bed and padded to his kitchen. Intent on getting his morning coffee, he opened the cabinet and started reaching for the bag of beans, then changed his mind. He didn’t need any coffee right now. It had taken forever for him to fall asleep, thanks to the espresso overload and Olivia. But instead of stressing over making things right with her, he’d had a fun night with her at Bea’s, and he found himself mentally replaying the highlights.
What surprised him most was how relaxed he’d felt with her and Bea. The pie was delicious, Bea’s ankle was fine, andthe conversation flowed between him and Olivia. She also seemed completely at ease, more so than when they’d gone out for coffee afterThe Quiet Man. Her eyes lit up when she was talking about old movies, and they’d gotten into a bit of a lively debate over whetherThe Quiet Manwas a superior film toGone with theWind. As a history buff, he was more partial to Leigh and Gable than Wayne and O’Hara, but both films were excellent.
He hadn’t anticipated staying at Bea’s until after eleven, but the time flew by. Hopefully Olivia had gotten more sleep than he did and wasn’t too tired at work today.
Shuffling back to his room, he began undressing to take a shower when his phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and immediately answered it. “Hi, Lawrence.”
“Good morning, Dr.Bedford. I’m following up to see if you’re enjoying your time off.”
He sat on the edge of the bed. “Surprisingly, I am.” A pause. “Thanks. This was the right thing for me. I feel rested and balanced, so I don’t think I need the whole two months off. Another week and I’ll be fine to go back to work.”
“Continue to follow doctor’s orders, and we’ll see you in October.”
“But—”
Click.
Kingston stared at the phone. Then he smiled. Lawrence was doing what any good doctor would do—checking on his patient. Next time he called, though, Kingston was going to keep his mouth shut about coming back to work early.
Lesson learned.
Just as he set down the phone, it buzzed again. He wincedat the name on the display.Mother.He was tempted to ignore her call and return it later, but that was just postponing the inevitable—he was 99percent sure she was calling to ask him to do something he probably didn’t want to do.
“Hello, Mom.” He leaned forward, bracing himself for whatever plans she had for him.
“Good morning, dear. How are you?”
