That was above and beyond what she’d expected. She smiled up at him. “You’re a good man. The kind who deserves flan.”
His eyes lit up. “Does that mean?—”
“It’s in the fridge right now. Surprise!”
“You’re the best.” His grin took on a warmth that had been missing before. “And as it happens, you’re not the only one with a surprise.”
“What does that mean?”
He let go of her to reach into his bag. He presented her with a beautiful, gold-foiled box. “Sweets for the sweet. Sophie said they’re the best chocolates in Miami.”
Essie wasn’t sure what to make of that, but she smiled all the same. “Thank you so much. I might take these to book club to share with the girls.”
“That would be nice. But I have something else for you. Something I don’t think you’ll want to share.” He dug into his jacket’s interior pocket and pulled out a long, black velvet box. “A little present to say I’m sorry for Sophie’s behavior.”
She took it, opening it to reveal a stunning diamond bracelet. It took her breath away, but she got it right back. “Oh, Frank, you shouldn’t have. It’s gorgeous. I love it.”
“I loveyou.” He helped her get it out of the box and fastened it around her wrist.
“I love you, too.” She kissed him, long and hard. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
“I’m glad you did, though.”
He laughed. “And I’m really glad you made flan.”
Chapter Forty
Maude had two reasons to call Ollie, neither of them good, but one definitely worse than the other. As she waited for him to pick up, she wondered if she should lead with the sort of bad one or the really bad one.
The really bad one she’d prefer to tell him in person, but she knew how busy he was and she didn’t want to wait until she saw him for dinner, which was supposed to be Thursday night. He’d texted to ask, and she’d agreed without thinking, which was the not-so-bad news.
But no, thereallybad news was not the kind of thing she wanted to share over their first dinner date. Talk about a real mood-killer.
Also, he’d want to know this as soon as he could.
“This is Dr. Oliver Keen. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I’m available. If this is a medical emergency, please dial 9-1-1.”
That solved that problem. She wasn’t telling him either one in a message. “Hey, Ollie, it’s Maude. Call me when you can.”
She hung up and went back to the client website she’d been working on. Pixel was blowing a new bubble nest and Maudewas getting hungry. Maybe she’d order something. Or just microwave a frozen meal. What she really wanted was a big bowl of pasta salad, but there was none made and she didn’t have the ingredients to whip some up.
She really needed to go to the store. That’s what she ought to do. But if she went grocery shopping hungry, she’d buy everything that looked good.
“Pixel, being an adult is hard. Be glad you’re a fish.”
She got up and stared into her refrigerator to see if anything appealed to her. It didn’t. She made a peanut butter and jam sandwich on wheat bread, then ate it with a diet Snapple iced tea while sitting on her porch.
Ned Ripley, the neighbor diagonally from her house and to the left, was fertilizing his lemon trees. She should go check her veggies and see if anything was ripe and ready. He was a nice man, probably early nineties.
She hoped to be as active as he was when she got to that age. He even rode a bike. And not one of those three-wheelers, either. A beach bike with fat tires and a basket on the front he’d had custom-made for his dog, a yippy little Chihuahua that would have driven Maude crazy, but he loved that thing.
Cookie, Maude thought her name was.
Cookie was sleeping in one of the chairs on the porch while Ned worked. What a life.
Maude finished her sandwich and went back inside to make a grocery list. Chores were no fun, but if she didn’t go shopping now she’d be having another PB&J for dinner. That would be all right, but kind of boring. She didn’t have anything planned for tonight except she’d promised her enclave she’d spend a solid two hours online with them.
