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Mimi’s brow furrowed. “But we’re not in a kitchen.”
“Right! But we’re near a kitchen. It must be some kind of psychological thing. Like Pavlov’s dog. I even hear the word kitchen and I start sweating.”
Good grief. If she wasn’t sweating before, she certainly was now. What was wrong with her?
“Well, I’m glad you and Luke are hitting it off. As friends,” Mimi clarified, putting an odd emphasis on the word. “I still feel bad about the mix up with the lease, but I’m glad the two of you could find a way to make it work. So,” she continued, “I heard Luke was going to ask you to make the picnic dinner for his big date with Jenna.”
“You did?”
“I was the one who suggested it, actually. The whole date sounds really romantic, don’t you think?”
“Sure, if you like being out on the water.” Okay, that sounded snarkier than she’d intended.
Mimi stilled. “You d
on’t like the water?”
“Oh, no, I love being out on the water. I just don’t know Jenna very well, so I really can’t say what she likes or doesn’t like.”
“What do you think of Luke and Jenna? As a couple? My mom and Viola paid a pretty penny to make this date happen. Not that they both couldn’t afford it, and the money is going to a great cause, so that’s all good, but after the whole Victoria debacle Mom really has her hopes up that Jenna will be the one.”
“Yeah, I kind of get that.” She tried for a bright smile. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for good things to happen!” There she went again. Sounding way too enthusiastic about the whole thing.
Mimi studied her a moment, then slowly smiled back. “Good idea. I’ll keep my fingers crossed too.”
Chapter Sixteen
Sarah could no longer deny it. There wasn’t just a big part of her that was jealous of Jenna for going out on this date with Luke. Every cell in her being revolted at the thought of the two of them together. Which was so silly, really, when he hadn’t shown any interest in her beyond the kiss, and okay, maybe when they’d danced the night of the silent auction he’d seemed kind of into her. But it was hard to tell with a man like Luke because she’d never met anyone like him before.
When Sarah was sixteen, she’d gone on her first and only high school date. Danny LaCroix had been charming enough in an Archie and Jughead kind of way. They’d gone to the junior prom and Mom had taken pictures and she’d even been having fun, until he’d tried to cop a boob feel. She’d smacked him on the head with the glittery clutch purse she’d bought at Marshalls for half off, so the date couldn’t really be considered any kind of success.
That was it as far as boys were concerned. She went through the rest of high school studying and working part-time at the bakery at Publix, hanging out with her best friend, Lisa, the class math geek, or with her mother, kicking back at home watching old movies. Other than going to the beach, she wasn’t the typical teenager. She loved reading and baking, which had always made her feel old compared to the rest of the girls in her class who constantly talked about boys and shopping.
Sarah hadn’t had a traditional upbringing, probably because Olivia Jamison hadn’t been a traditional mom. She could still remember the looks on the other kids’ faces whenever she told them that no, her parents weren’t divorced because they’d never been married to begin with. Today, no one would bat an eyelash, but twenty years ago? Things had been different then.
According to her mom (who always believed in telling the absolute truth with no sugarcoating), she and good old Dad had met at a party. He was an engineer working on a contract with NASA and on temporary assignment in nearby Cape Canaveral. They’d “hooked up” (yes, those were her mother’s exact words) and spent a fun couple of months together. Something had happened with the birth control (at which point in the story, Sarah had begged her mom to omit the details) and Olivia had wound up pregnant.
Marriage had never been on the table. Olivia wasn’t in love with Robert Beachum and he wasn’t in love with her. He was an attractive man who made her laugh, but that was it. Other than the sex, the two of them didn’t have a lot in common, so why get married just because there was a baby on the way? Especially when you knew the marriage was never going to last.
It made sense, really. Olivia was a modern, educated woman. She had a master’s degree in Library Science and made a decent living. If Robert wanted to “chip in” and help out financially, then great! He could be as involved (or uninvolved) in his baby’s life as he wanted to be. No problem. Olivia had this covered. So, when it was time for Robert to go back to his regularly scheduled life, he left Cocoa Beach and Olivia and Sarah, and never looked back.
Sarah couldn’t blame her father, really. Olivia hadn’t wanted him in her life and he wasn’t a jerk. Despite the fact that Olivia had never asked for child support, he nonetheless contributed to Sarah’s financial upbringing. When she had needed braces, Dad had paid for them. He’d flown her up to visit him at least once a year and came down to see her whenever he could. But then life became real. He got married and had three more kids, and his visits to Cocoa Beach became less frequent. Their relationship evolved into a nice sort of politeness void of any real father-daughter emotion. She barely knew her three half-brothers and she had absolutely nothing in common with her stepmother, Melissa, who was a stay at home mom and president of the local garden club.
It was okay, though, because she and Mom were a team and Dad was, well…Dad. He did the best he could with the cards he’d been dealt. She appreciated the financial support he’d given her growing up and wished him nothing but the best. She’d continue sending him Father’s Day cards. They always exchanged gifts at Christmas, and he’d never once forgotten her birthday. Who knew? Maybe one day they’d grow closer. Or maybe not. It’s not like she needed anything more from her father this late in her life.
After the near boob attack her junior year of high school, Sarah had avoided boys. Until she couldn’t really avoid them any longer. She knew she was pretty, in a totally bland kind of way. She was petite and blond and most guys seemed to like that sort of package, so she got asked out a lot. But no one inspired her to say yes, until she met Christopher, a sous chef who worked with her on the cruise line. He was funny and cute and made her pulse race whenever she was near him. Plus, he made the most spectacular French onion soup she’d ever tasted. She was twenty-two and still a virgin, and it seemed past time to do something about that. The sex had been nice, but after just a couple of weeks he began to hint that he might be falling in love with her.
She hated hurting his feelings but she didn’t feel the same way, so when an opportunity came to take a job on shore, she’d gone for it. It was the perfect excuse to break up. Christopher had been teary-eyed at their goodbye, but all Sarah had felt was relief. The next few years had been busy. Lots of different jobs, lots of hard work, but no more boys. Every once in a while she’d be tempted to go out with a fellow co-worker or a nice man she’d meet through mutual friends, but in the end the whole thing seemed like too much work.
She was almost thirty years old and she’d never fallen in love. Maybe there was something wrong with her. Maybe she’d inherited her mother’s unconventional genes. Or maybe she’d never met the right man. Until now.
Except what she felt for Luke couldn’t be called love. But lust, yes, most definitely. And it wasn’t just about his looks. He was gorgeous, no doubt about it, but there was more to it than that. She’d discovered the night of the Toby incident that he was a decent guy and that she liked him. And then he’d kissed her and she’d discovered that they had chemistry with a capital C. No one, not even Christopher, had made her feel the way she’d felt after kissing Luke.
The truth was, despite his cluelessness when it came to the women in his life, she liked almost everything about him. From the OCD way he always put his toothbrush back in the same exact place on the bathroom counter, to the way he tiptoed around late at night when he thought she was sleeping so that he didn’t disturb her. She liked the way his skin crinkled around his piercing blue eyes when he smiled. The way he smelled. The way he tasted. All of which added up to the fact that Sarah had it bad.
And now here she was putting together a romantic picnic dinner for the man she was lusting over to share with another woman. It was as if the fates were laughing at her.
She had the food all ready to go bright and early Saturday morning. Mimi was going to pick it up and bring it to Luke, who was already at the marina in Destin, but when Mimi came by The Bistro, she mentioned that Jenna’s favorite dessert was chocolate cake.
