Page 39 of The Bachelor's Dilemma

“I won’t. At least I hope neither one of us does. Come on, tiptoe so we don’t disturb Edith.”

A couple of hours later, several batches of cookies cooled on wire racks on her counter. Anna and Zack surveyed them proudly.

“I helped,” Zack said.

“Yes, you did. You were a good helper.”

“Can we give some to Myles? I bet he doesn’t have chocolate chip cookies at his house,” Zack said.

“That would be a good idea.”

And a good excuse to see him, just for a moment. She had his phone number. Would he like them to come and bring him cookies? Probably taking a child to a hotel room wasn’t the wisest move. Maybe he was tired enough of his hotel he’d relish the walk over.

Glancing out the window, she saw the rain had stopped. For how long, she wasn’t sure. It was still gray and overcast.

“And we can give some cookies to Edith,” he added.

“I’m not sure she’ll be up to cookies, but we’ll take her some just in case,” Anna said.

They carefully packed two plates with cookies. Heading out to check on Edith, Anna gave the plate to Zack to carry. He solemnly walked to the elevator and waited for her to press the button.

Edith had grown worse. Admonishing Zack to sit on the sofa and not touch anything, Anna prepared Edith some more soup and brought her a warm washcloth to freshen up. The woman had a high fever and Anna made sure she took some aspirin before giving her the soup.

“Shall I call a doctor?”

“No. Don’t get near me, Anna. You need to stay well for Zack. I’ll ride this out and be better before you know it. Go on now. I thank you for stopping by.”

“When you finish the soup,” Anna said. “We’ll be quiet in the living room. But I want to make sure you’re holding it down before we leave.”

“I’ll be fine,” the older woman said, but she sat up against the pillows Anna plumped up for her and sipped the soup.

It was more than a half hour later when Anna and Zack left. Edith had fallen asleep again. Anna knew the older woman had no one else, so vowed she’d check in on her each day at least once or twice.

When she returned to her apartment, she gave way to impulse and called Myles.

“Riker,” he answered. Her heart began pounding at the sound of his voice.

“Hi. Miserable day, isn’t it?”

“I like it. I walked to a coffee shop this morning in the rain. When you live in a desert most of the time, rain’s a treat.”

“It’s cold and damp and dreary,” she countered.

“But rain keeps that grass in Central Park green. And washes the air. It is clean and crisp outside.”

“So, want to take another walk in that crisp, clean air?” she asked.

“To?”

“My place. Zack and I baked chocolate chip cookies this morning. I wish it was nice enough to take him to the park. That would burn off some of his energy. Be prepared. If you come over, you’ll have to take part in entertaining a rambunctious kid.”

She was talking too fast, as if she didn’t leave an opening for him, he couldn’t refuse.

She hoped he’d want to come over. She wanted to see him.

“Sounds like a plan. I love chocolate chip cookies. I don’t think I’ve had homemade ones since I was a kid. I can be there in a half hour.”

“We’ll be here.” She hung up, feeling breathless with anticipation. He was coming over. Granted, Zack would be a perfect chaperon. But she didn’t care; she’d get to see Myles again. And then it was only a couple of days until he came to see where she worked. And then there was the school meeting on Wednesday evening.

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