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“What’s Jenny interested in?”
“Boys.”
At Carly’s raised brow, Stone continued.
“She’s twenty, but isn’t sure what she wants to do when she ‘grows up’. Or if she wants to grow up.”
“It must have been difficult to grow up in the shadow of you and your sister, constantly being compared to two overachievers.”
“Paula is the overachiever, not me.”
Carly’s gaze narrowed. “Have you ever failed at anything you’ve set your mind out to do?”
“More often than I care to admit.” That squeezing pain he always got when thinking of Stephanie shot across his chest. To redirect the conversation away from his biggest failure, he gestured to the table. “There’s quite a bit left.”
Carly looked at the large glass bowl he’d filled with spaghetti, at the basket he’d put garlic bread into.
“You want to take it home?” she offered. “I’m sure I can find some containers.”
He shook his head. “I’ll be in surgery most of the day tomorrow so I’ll grab something at the hospital. If it won’t go to waste, I’ll leave it here.”
“Something that tastes this good won’t go to waste,” she assured him. “Joyce is going to think she’s in heaven when I share.”
He flashed his dentist’s kid smile.
“By the way, Joyce about fell over herself at her desserts.” She smiled. “She had to taste them all here and made me take a bite of each, too.”
He knew he liked Joyce. “Did she have a favorite?”
“The lava cake.”
“Sounds good. We should have done dessert last night.”
“No way.” She shook her head. “I was much too full to have dessert.”
“But you did try a bite of each?”
Carly’s lips curved upward. “She insisted.”
“Did you have a favorite?”
“The apple cobbler.” Her face filled with remembered pleasure. “The ice cream had melted into a soup, but it was still fantastic.”
“Wh-when w-was th-this?” her mother asked, her gaze going back and forth between them.
Carly’s look of pleasure morphed into one of guilt.
“Stone followed me home last night after work so he could carry in a box.” Carly’s voice was overly bright. “You were asleep, but Joyce met him and stayed so we could go to dinner. Stone brought her back four different desserts from Julio’s.” Carly smiled. “Wasn’t that nice of him?”
“J-Julio’s wh-where you w-worked?”
Carly had worked at the restaurant where they’d gone? Why hadn’t she said anything?
“Yes, but I didn’t see anyone I knew.” She cast a nervous glance toward Stone. “Everything looks the same except for the people working there.”
Her mother nodded, then looked Stone dead in the eyes. Her eyes were a similar shade of honey brown as Carly’s, only sharper, shrewder. “Wh-what are y-your in-intentions?”
Stone hesitated. He and Carly had agreed to be friends, nothing more. Yes, he wanted more, but the bright red glow to Carly’s face warned that he needed to proceed with caution on how he answered.
“And that’s why I don’t normally bring men home,” Carly cut in with a feigned teasing tone. “Mom, I told you, Stone and I are just friends.”
“Good friends,” Stone added, watching Carly’s face for her reaction. He got one. Wide eyes and open mouth.
He also got one from Carly’s mother. A smile and look of approval.
“Yes, we’re becoming good friends since Stone moved here,” Carly rushed out, waving off his comment. “Good friends don’t have intentions regarding each other except for friendship, Momma.”
Confused, her mother’s eyes narrowed his way. “M-men don’t want pr-pretty w-women for just fr-friends.”
“Momma,” Carly pleaded, the red back full force in her cheeks. “Stone just cooked us a wonderful meal. Not only that, he fed you. I’m pretty sure you actually like him so no more awkward questions.”
“Th-that doesn’t m-mean I tr-trust him where y-you are c-concerned. E-Especially as h-he’s not an-answered my qu-question.”
He’d bet anything Audrey Evans had been a fireball during her heyday. Stone smiled. “I like Carly, ma’am, but as far as my intentions, at this point in our relationship, we are truly friends. We’ve never held hands or kissed or any of those things couples do who are more than friends.”
Which was mostly true. He had brushed that kiss against her hairline, but that hadn’t been a real kiss.
