Second Chance for Romance

Chapter 26

Running was my time by myself to think and work things out. Cooking was Wren’s. I had no idea what she needed to work out, but she made a big meal on Sunday, a rack of lamb with all the trimmings.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,” she said as she set the platter on the table.

Christy politely hid her reaction to the sight of the meat and bones sticking up.

“Oh, relax,” Wren said to her. “I made you a special entrée. Quail stuffed with dates.”

Christy brightened immediately. “Thank you.”

“And we have a special Bordeaux tonight. My dad has a case of this tucked away. I sort of borrowed a couple of bottles.” She smiled at Trip.

“Being daddy’s little princess has its perks sometimes.”

“That it does,” he said agreeably.

Christy and I shared a covert smile. Trip and Wren had been especially nice to each other since their Halloween blowup.

“So,” he said as we dug in, “I was thinking… let’s talk about New Year’s plans.”

“Party?” Christy said hopefully.

Trip glanced at Wren.

“Sort of,” she said. “We were thinking of renting a cabin in Aspen or Breckenridge.”

“Ooh, that sounds fun!” Christy said.

Wren shot a glance at Trip.

“Maybe all four of us could go,” he said on cue.

I set down my knife and fork. “Have you completely gone over to the dark side?”

“You don’t know the power of the dark side!” he said in his best Darth Vader voice.

“Yeah, I think I do,” I said. “She’s a freakin’ force of nature.”

“You can say that again,” Christy said. Then she shot me a warning look.

“Right,” I said agreeably. I added a grin. “See? I can change.”

She laughed. “You can.”

“About New Year’s,” Trip said doggedly. “We all love skiing, and it’d be fun to get away for a couple of days before we start school again.”

“Tell you what,” I said, “let’s get through this quarter first. Okay?”

“But we’ll need to rent the cabin,” he said. “And we’d better do it early.”

“Whose side are you on?” I said.

“Hers! Are you kidding? I know what’s good for me.”

Wren simply smirked.

“We haven’t even had Thanksgiving yet,” I objected. “Speaking of which, what’re you all doing?”

“Gonna spend it with Wren’s family,” he said, “and Christmas with mine.”

She looked mildly annoyed that I’d managed to hijack the conversation, but she didn’t interrupt.

“Her father always has a big party Wednesday night for all his employees. So we’re going to that.”

“And since Christmas is such a big deal with Trip and his little brothers,”

Wren added, “we’ll be at their house for the holidays.”

“So you’re already splitting time between your families?” I teased.

Christy grinned at me.

“It’s almost like you’re married already.”

“You’re just jealous,” Trip said around a mouthful of lamb. “This is really delicious, babe.”

“Yeah, I kinda am,” I said. “I mean, I’m happy for you both. But it’s still fun to tease you.” I didn’t want Wren to re-hijack the conversation, so I turned to Christy. “You going to San Diego for Thanksgiving?”

“Mmm hmm. Almost everyone will be there. My mom isn’t sure about Rich, but we’ll still have a full house.”

“Sounds like fun,” I said.

“It will be. I love spending time with my family. It’s chaotic, especially with all my nieces and nephews, but…”

“You love chaos,” I finished for her.

“What can I say?” She took another bite of her quail. “This is good.

Thank you, Wren.” She looked back at me. “What’re you doing? Home to Atlanta?”

“No. I think I’ll stay here. I have a ton of work to do.”

She set down her fork with an uneaten bite of quail. “No, you can’t!”

“Why not?”

“It’s Thanksgiving. It’s family. How can you stay here?”

“Well, I don’t have much choice. My parents are going to Hawaii with friends. Erin’s spending it with Leah and her family. I don’t really want to go to the Coulters’, and I don’t want to spend it with either of my grandparents.

It’s okay,” I told her. “I don’t mind. I have plenty of work—”

“But you can’t. You’ll be all alone.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind.”

“Don’t be silly. You can come home with me.”

Even Wren was shocked, although she reacted quicker than I did.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” she said.

“I can’t.” I reacted without thinking, mostly to forestall Wren. “I mean…

it’d be a huge imposition. Besides, you said so yourself, your parents have a full house.”

“Nonsense,” Wren said. “One more won’t make a difference. Besides, you need to meet Christy’s family anyway.” The rest was unspoken: Your future in-laws.

I looked at Christy. “Do you really want me to come?”

“I do.” She blushed when she realized what she’d said, but she didn’t take it back.

“I’d… like that.”

I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about Christy during my run on Monday.

She’d gone from housemate to something close to a girlfriend in the span of a few days, but that didn’t really bother me. I wasn’t even nervous about spending Thanksgiving with her family. If anything, I was looking forward to

it.

Instead, my problems involved Gina, and I could name the cause in one word: guilt. I hadn’t replied to her letter, hadn’t thought about her much since it arrived, and felt like I was stringing her along. Altogether, that was a recipe for an extra-long run and no easy answers.

Did I really want a long-distance relationship for a couple of years, maybe more? Could I make it work even if I did? Could Gina? Part of me still thought it would be easier than persuading a sometimes-naïve Catholic girl to become a swinger.

But I was convinced that Christy had a wild side. I’d seen flashes already and heard more from Wren. I thought I could coax it out of her. Even so, did I want to give up Gina for the long-shot possibility of a relationship with Christy?

Yes? No? Maybe?

I don’t know.

I made time later that evening to write Gina a letter. I spent most of it telling her about Trip’s project, my own, and the house remodel across the street. I carefully avoided anything about my parents’ trip to Hawaii or my Thanksgiving plans. I didn’t mention Christy at all, which made me feel even more guilty. A lie by omission is still a lie, after all.

I was still thinking about it when Christy came home from working late on her exhibition piece. I heard the front door close and voices downstairs as she talked to Wren and Trip. Then she came upstairs with a foil-covered plate cradled on a folded dishtowel. She smiled tiredly when she saw me. Then she walked straight into my studio and sank to the floor beside my chair.

“You would not believe how much work I still have to do,” she said.

“Siobhan wants me to make a half-scale marble dust version of The Dying Replicant. The small one doesn’t convey enough emotion, she says.”

“She’s probably right. Anything I can do to help?”

“Maybe pose for me? I can scale up from the small one, but it’d be easier and quicker with you there. Not to mention the moral support.”

“Can do,” I said.

She removed the foil from her dinner and started eating.

“You want anything now? A drink? Dessert?”

“Oh, that’d be awesome. I didn’t have enough hands. Do you mind?”

“Not at all. What do you want? Coke? Juice? Water?”

“Maybe just some water. And… do we have any whiskey from the party?”

“I can check.”

“My nerves are shot, and I could really use something to settle them.”

“One water and one whiskey, coming up. And I’ll see what we have for dessert.”

“Thanks. You’re amazing.”

I headed downstairs.

Wren and Trip were working together at the dining room table, their usual hangout on school nights.

“Do we have any more Jameson?” I asked her.

“Uh-oh. I thought she was okay.”

“Just frazzled.”

“Yeah. She said she’ll be working every night this week and probably through the weekend if she wants to get everything done.”

“Anything we can do to help?” Trip asked.

“I’ll let you know.”

Wren stood and gestured for me to follow her into the kitchen.

“Aren’t you going to gloat?” I said.

“About what?”

“I’m taking care of Christy like she’s my girlfriend.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Wren said. “I only gloat when you’re being stubborn.”

“Mmm. But now that I’m doing what you wanted all along, you’re a gracious winner?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she said. “I’m jumping for joy on the inside. But I’m also worried about my best friend. You’re taking good care of her, so I’m giving you a break.”

“Seems fair.”

She opened the cupboard where we kept our liquor and took down the bottle of whiskey. “Hey, babe,” she called to Trip in the dining room. “Would you put Jameson on the liquor store list?”

“Got it,” he called back.

She swirled the liquid in the green bottle. “Enough for two. You want

one?”

“Sure. Why not.”

She took a tray from a bottom cupboard and set it on the counter.

“We have any dessert?” I asked while she filled glass tumblers with ice.

“Cookies okay? They’re store-bought. In the pantry.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

A few minutes later I headed upstairs carrying the tray laden with late-night goodies. Christy was sitting where I’d left her, eating tiredly. I set the tray on my desk, filled the two whiskey tumblers, and handed one to her, followed by a glass of ice water. I took my own tumbler and sank into the chair.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“You’re welcome. Cookies are on the tray.”

She finished eating in silence and then took a long drink of Jameson. She sighed.

“Better?”

She nodded and took another sip.

I could almost see the liquor work its way through her.

“Would you rub my neck like you did the other day?”

“Sure. Slide over.”

She scooted into place between my feet, and I began massaging her shoulders and neck. She moaned and lolled her head forward.

After a while she finished her drink and set it aside. Then she wordlessly climbed into my lap, where she curled up with her head on my chest and fell asleep in minutes.

I carried her downstairs once I was sure she was good and asleep. I met Wren and Trip on the way up.

“She okay?” Wren asked quietly.

I nodded. “Just tired. Fell asleep in my lap.”

“You’re a good guy,” Wren said. “I don’t care what people say.” She brushed back a strand of Christy’s blonde hair with surprising tenderness.

“Come on, I’ll help put her to bed.” She turned and rose on tiptoe to give Trip a kiss. “Go on to bed yourself. I’ll be there shortly.”

He nodded.

I carried Christy into her bedroom and waited for Wren to clear a pile of clothes from the bed. I grinned to myself and surveyed the chaos.

“Here you go,” Wren said. “Let me take off her shoes first.”

Christy sighed and snuggled deeper into the hollow of my shoulder.

“Okay. Set her down and then help me get her jeans off.”

“Better if you do it,” I said as I laid the sleeping girl on the bed.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. You’ll see everything eventually, but…”

“It needs to be her decision.”

“Right.”

“I’ll wait in the hall.”

Wren emerged a few minutes later. She stretched upward and kissed me on the cheek. “Seeing you with her makes me love you even more.”

“But in a sisterly way.”

She chuckled, low and suggestive. “Only if your sister wants to screw your brains out.”

My eyebrows shot up. My sister did, in fact, want to do just that. But Wren didn’t know that. Not unless she could read minds.

“Down, boy.” She laughed and patted my arm. “As soon as you and Christy are together and she’s ready.”

“You don’t need a doubleheader tonight?” I teased.

“Oh, God, I’d love a doubleheader! You have no idea how much I want you and Trip together. But we can’t. Christy wouldn’t understand. Not yet.”

“I know.” I glanced at her closed bedroom door and thought for a moment. “You really think she has the makings of a swinger?”

“Totally. She’s so hot for you she’d do just about anything.”

“Yeah, but she has to want it. And not just for my sake. You remember how it was with Trip.”

“Yeah. And I’ve talked to Susan about it too.”

My eyebrows headed north again.

“Of course. She gave me her phone number. Told me to call any time I wanted to talk.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“She thinks you and Christy would make a good match.” She grinned, but I saw the barest flicker of irritation at the corners of her eyes.

“Lemme guess,” I said with a low chuckle, “she also thinks Gina and I would make a good match.”

The flicker flared to life. “I didn’t say that.”

“But you were thinking it. I know Susan—better than you do—and she’d’ve said it was up to me.”

“So what if she did?”

“Take her advice. All of it. Yeah, Christy and I might make a good match, but we’re a long way from that. Gina and I have a history together—a pretty good one, too—and she isn’t out of the picture yet.”

“No, but she’s in California. And Christy’s here.”

“You know, I think I noticed something like that,” I said with gentle sarcasm.

“Well, it gives her home field advantage. Soon enough you’ll be undressing her for bed. Then you’ll climb in beside her.”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

“No maybe about it.”

“Goodnight, Wren,” I said firmly.

“Ugh. I hate it when you’re like this.”

“What? Thinking and acting for myself? Yeah, I can see how that would drive you crazy.” I kissed her forehead. “Just let me do things my way, okay?”

“All right,” she said ungraciously. “But hurry up. I’m dying for that doubleheader you mentioned. And Christy…! Oh, God, Paul, you have no idea what she does to me.”

“Then be patient. Good things come to those who wait.”