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“I’m good. Your sister is having all of us over this weekend. Rhys mentioned you were going.”
Mara was hosting ‘Italian night’ at her place. For the past several years, we regularly had themed dinner parties, where each of us would cover a course. Italian night, Greek night, Thai, British, we had done quite a few. On Indian night we overestimated our capabilities and had to order out, but at least we’d stuck to our theme. We favored Italian and Greek, and we’d worked our way through many popular dishes. My contribution for this one was appetizers.
“Yup!”
“There’s supposed to be weather on Saturday. Can I drive you? Your little car might struggle with the snow and you’re not out of my way.” He waited while I considered so much more than his offer.
“I think I’ll be okay…” I stalled while he looked at me steadily, patiently waiting for me to come to the reasonable decision. Besides the weather, Mara’s driveway was just not that big and it was stupid to risk getting stuck. I’d seen the weather reports as well, “You know what? I’ll take you up on that. Thanks for thinking of me.”
I wondered if he thought about me even half as much as I thought about him.
Mara’s was a ton of fun as usual. I enjoyed the kids. Rhys had six-year-old twins named Amelie and Cole, and they and Rebecca had adopted each other since she’d moved in at Christmas. Of course, there was my sweet niece, Olivia, who at the end of December, became a brand-new teenager. Cole was hilarious, a mini-Rhys complete with smirk, but much quieter, like his Uncle Barrett. Amelie was a pistol.
The weather had held out until after dinner but by the time we were ready to head for home it was coming down hard, and I was even more grateful for Barrett’s thoughtfulness. His SUV would make mincemeat out of the snow and my little car would have been putt-putt-putting all the way home.
Barrett went out and started Rhys’s truck to warm it up for Bex and the kids, as well as his own, and then came back for me. We left together, his hand at my back, and I tucked the feeling away to add to my fantasy that he and I could be something real.
Silence reigned as he carefully drove us to my place. I had grown used to driving with him in silence. In fact, he was one of the few people with whom I didn’t feel the need to fill the empty space with chatter.
“You’re quiet, tonight,” he murmured.
I chuckled. “I was actually just thinking that you are one of the few people I am comfortable with in silence.” I glanced at him. “That’s a good thing in case you are wondering.”
“You’re comfortable with me.”
“Yes.” I paused. “I’m not comfortable with too many people. Weird, right? It’s not like we’ve spent tons of time together.”
“When it works, it works.” He glanced at me. “We work.”
I looked out the window. “I wish…”
“Me too,” he replied.
He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the truck.
“Wait there,” he murmured, “I’ll come around and grab the casserole dishes.”
He swung out of the truck before I could protest and rounded the front of his SUV, coming round to open my door. Taking the dishes under one arm, he held out his other hand for me and handed me out. I didn’t need assistance to get down from the high seat, but I placed my hand in his anyway.
Another moment stolen for my favorite fantasy.
I unlocked my front door and he followed me in. I didn’t want him to leave. Dangerous, but true.
“What do you think of my sister?”
His beautiful hazel eyes widened in surprise. I got the feeling it was not often anyone ever caught Barrett off guard.
“How do you mean?”
I hung my coat on a hook by the front door and unwound my pretty floral scarf from around my neck and hung that up as well.
“Can I take your coat?”
He looked at me for a long moment before shrugging out of his coat and handing it to me.
Taking his coat, which meant he would stay for a while, made me uncomfortably happy. I wiggled like a happy puppy on the inside to hang his coat beside mine. I liked the way it looked.
I stole that, too.
