AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay then,” Bridget decided. “I think it’s in the kitchen.”
“Hurry up,” he prompted as she started toward the kitchen. “I volunteered to bring a keg of beer and I don’t want it to get warm before we get to Bob’s.”
The coat was hanging from a hook by the back door. “Here it is.” Bridget folded it over her arm and turned to rejoin Jim.
Her attention was caught by the spotless sink. There wasn’t a trace of lettuce or scallions in sight. She looked for the tulips and saw the vase sitting on the coffee table in the living room, rearranged into a more attractive grouping than she had done.
“Of all the—” She pressed her lips together for a second. “I don’t believe it.”
“Don’t believe what?” Jim asked curiously. “Why the frown? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said tartly. “It’s just my mother, tidying up after me.”
“My mother is the same way. Irritating, isn’t it?” he agreed with a smile. “Ready?” He opened the sliding glass door onto the porch for her. “It can’t be easy living across the road from your parents, still under their thumb, so to speak.”
Bridget flicked a brief glance at the big white house opposite her small A-frame chalet. “That’s putting it mildly,” she replied and walked beside Jim to his Subaru station wagon. “I think my mother spends as much time taking care of my house as she does her own.”
“Look on the bright side. Not everybody can have free maid service,” Jim said as he opened the passenger door of the car for Bridget.
She smiled in rueful acceptance of his attempt to cheer her up. “True. I guess it really isn’t too bad. And I can’t say that I didn’t know what my neighbors would be like before I moved in here.”
“Now you have the idea.” He smiled and walked around the car to the driver’s side.
“It was really convenient when Molly was younger,” Bridget enlarged on the statement. “I didn’t have to worry about her coming home from school and not having anyone here because I was working. All she had to do was walk across the road to grandma’s until I came.”
“Molly’s a bright kid,” Jim commented idly as he reversed out of the driveway. “Is she staying over there tonight?”
“No, she’s spending the night with a girlfriend, much to my mother’s dismay,” she sighed. “She’s such a snob.”
“Your mother wants to do the right thing. She’s a lot like mine,” he said. “Always knows what’s right and proper for somebody else, regardless of that somebody else’s opinion. It’s a great way to make enemies and keep everyone walking on eggshells.”
“Did you say you were a psychology professor?” Bridget laughed.
“No, I just know my mother. And from what you’ve told me about yours, they could be related,” he grinned.
“You’re very good for me, Jim.” She leaned back in the seat, relaxing, no longer upset by her mother’s interference.
“I could be better, but we won’t go into that,” he added quickly when his sliding glance saw Bridget tense. “Patience is one of my main virtues, as you’ll discover.”
“And perception,” she added thoughtfully.
Jim shrugged. “Well, it doesn’t take much to see that you were deeply hurt when you lost your husband.”
She looked out the window at the verdant landscape. Her reply was carefully phrased—she hoped it didn’t sound rehearsed. “Brian was a good man, compassionate and understanding. You’re like him in many ways.”
“Is that why you’re so wary? The good don’t always die young, Bridget,” he teased, but with a note of compassion.
“I know,” she agreed, nodding faintly without letting her gaze wander from the countryside. “Gee, it’s all so green, isn’t it?”
Jim studied her profile for a second, knowing she had deliberately changed the subject, but as he had said, he was patient. Six months ago, she had refused to go out with him. He had made progress since then.
“Yeah, Vermont really is, once spring makes up its mind,” he commented.
It was only a few minutes’ drive to the Tyler house. Of course, any place in Vermont seemed to be only a short drive away through unspoiled countryside. Rolling hills and jutting mountains were covered with trees just beginning to turn a fresh new green—hickories, maples, and birches, interspersed with dark green pines. Lush meadows and carefully tended fields dotted the valleys, rustic and beautiful with occasional stone fences meandering through them.
A stand of white birch marked the front lawn of the Tyler house. There were already several cars in the driveway when Jim pulled in. The sounds of laughing voices and music indicated the party had begun.
“I think everyone’s in the backyard,” Jim observed. “You go ahead and I’ll get the keg of beer from the back.”
