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“Hello,” she waved from the front yard and sauntered to his car as soon as he stopped in her driveway.
Climbing out, he walked around his car to open the passenger car and greeted her with a big grin.
“’Morning. You look lovely.”
In an orange and yellow dress topped by a small jacket, her hair curling on her shoulders, she defined spring at its best.
Holding the door open for her, he let her slip into his BMW.
“What a beautiful car. It smells of new leather.”
“I bought it a month ago. Smooth as a sweet baby.” He turned on the engine and drove away. “Where to?”
“The Cheesecake Factory in the Town Mall is a nice place for lunch.”
“All right. Did you sleep well?”
“I did.”
They kept up a light banter until they settled at a table in the restaurant. Brenda ordered a strawberry daiquiri, ravioli with mushrooms, and a spinach salad. He did the same.
“Tell me about yourself,” he started as soon as the waiter left.
She chuckled. “That’s my professional line.”
“True, but you know everything about me. What happened to you between high school graduation and yesterday?”
“A lot. Some good, some bad. Same as everybody.” She’d stopped smiling.
“Probably, but that’s too vague. I would like to know more about you, if you don’t mind.” He’d had his share of bad surprises with Cybil and had learned to protect himself.
“From the day I left high school, or from the day I pushed you into the thorns?”
Matt threw back his head and let out a great peal of laughter. “Start anywhere you want.”
“After my horrible first kiss, I shunned all boys until graduation, but I craved a good kiss, the kind that would make the earth move under my feet.”
“Interesting. And did you get it?”
“I worked as a salesgirl in a retailed store. The sales manager was five years older.”
“Ah! I assume he made the earth move?”
“Move and shatter. I was madly in love.”
Her rational tone bemused him. He expected more excitement in her voice. She seemed to be analyzing herself.
“When I learned that he’d gotten a position in Chicago, I enrolled at Northwestern University where he was teaching advanced English. We dated and enjoyed four fantastic years until I got my BA in psychology.”
“And?” he prompted, eager to discover the next chapter of her life.
“When I got pregnant, I thought we would marry right away. Instead, Tyron Clark asked me to move in with him. I did. He promised to take good care of me and the baby, but he was anti-marriage, anti-commitment.”
“You have a child?” Nothing wrong with that, but it was the type of information he preferred to hear at the beginning of a relationship.
“A daughter. Mia is sixteen. Tyron kept his promise. He was a wonderful father. We lived together like a family for six years.”
“And then he left you?” He scowled ready to punch the sleaze if he ever met him.
