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“You could come inside, I could get you some lemonade or something,” she offered.
“I get the feeling that’s all that’s on offer. Am I right?”
She nodded.
“Normally, I would say yes, but I’m not ready to face the inside of this house quite yet. Can I get a raincheck?”
She nodded again.
“You’re awfully accommodating.” I noted.
“You just gave me the best kiss of my life, why wouldn’t I be accommodating?”
“Does that mean you’re willing to go out with me again?”
Marlowe gave a slow smile. “We just agreed I was accommodating, didn’t we?”
“Yes. Yes we did. But I get a feeling, you’re only accommodating on the things you want to be accommodating about.”
“That’s true. Now,” she muttered. Suddenly she wasn’t smiling or looking at me.
“Is there a story there?”
She bit her lip. “It’s a tenth date story.” She looked me in the eyes. “Kind of like parts of your childhood are a tenth date story, you know?”
Ouch. “That bad, huh?”
She nodded and pushed up off the swing. I missed the feel of her body immediately.
“Is our date over?” I asked, hoping the answer was no.
“I have to take Chaos for a walk.”
I wondered if it was my reluctance to go inside with her, or if I’d somehow touched a nerve when I asked her about her past. She’d dodged my attempts to ask her about herself at the diner as well.
She headed for her front door, but I caught up to her and touched her hand. No way was I leaving things ambiguous. She turned around.
“Since you promised me a tenth date, how soon can we have a second date?”
Marlowe smiled. “School still hasn’t started. I’m working on lesson plans, but I don’t have specific hours I have to work, so call me and we can set something up.”
Still too ambiguous.
“Expect a call tomorrow.”
Mercifully, her smile got bigger. “I will.”
11
“So how did it go?”
“Uhm, good.” I set my phone on the kitchen island, pulled down a wine glass, and grabbed a good bottle of Oregon Riesling out of the fridge that I had been saving for a special occasion. And this sure was an occasion.
“Am I hearing you tearing foil off a bottle of wine?” Sue always had had bat-like hearing.
“Maybe,” I muttered. I found my corkscrew in my newly minted junk drawer and popped the cork.
“Why do you need wine?”
