Page 48 of Save the Last Dance
He’d convinced her not to overthink it. What had her caution-first policy done for her anyway? Lately the more impetuous decisions she’d made—coming home, deciding to stay—had been the best ones of her life. Plus, she’d been agonizing about him—and the consequences of being with him—for so long, it wasn’t exactly an impulsive decision. So she was okay with this.She wouldn’t think about his whole “no kids” boundaries right now. Being with him now wasn’t about a future together. It was for fun. For pleasure.
“Nina?” Bethany stared at her.
“Oh, er, sorry.” Embarrassed, she tried to remember what Bethany had been saying. “Extra help would be great.”
And it would be. Aside from this crazy idea to be with Mack, she was also in over her head with the work at the Harvest Fest. She wouldn’t let Mack down, of course, so she would pull it together by the weekend. But perfecting cupcake décor was a focused art she knew well, whereas creating specialty seasonal dishes for the whole town felt daunting.
“Great.” Bethany pulled a pencil from the back pocket of her slim-fitting khakis. “I’m adding wood to the list of items you’ll need as soon as possible since the brisket takes a long time to cook in that smoker. I can have one of the guys from the shop deliver some tonight to make sure we don’t run out.”
“That’s very generous of you, but I don’t want to put you to work when Mack is in town to give Scott a break and to help you two spend more time together.” Nina remembered that she might be inadvertently thwarting his efforts to bolster Scott and Bethany’s marriage. “You could both use a vacation.”
Gram didn’t look up from washing the first colander full of beans as she said, “Marriages need tending, just like anything else you want to grow.”
“I’m fine.” Bethany hardly glanced up from Nina’s list as she continued to make notes. “I’m right where I want to be. Working.”
Nina couldn’t ignore the unhappiness in the other woman’s voice.
“Bethany.” Nina strode closer and gently pried the list from her friend’s fingers. “No onewantsto work this much. You’re wound so tight I’m worried about you.”
Gram shook the water off her hands and turned her walker toward them. “She’s not the only one.”
“I hate being at home,” Bethany admitted. “Scott’s never there anyway.”
“You tell him he has to be there.” Gram frowned. “Remind him that marriages don’t fix themselves. You have to put in the work. Obviously, the two of you don’t have a problem with that. You just have to put all your effort into the marriage instead of stores and politics and volunteering.”
Nina silently cheered her grandmother for effortlessly putting into words what would have been so difficult for Nina to say. Plus, Gram’s age gave her an authority Nina couldn’t hope to match. For a second, the only sound in the kitchen was the twang of the steel guitar over the PA system.
“You both want the same thing, right?” Nina prodded. “To stay together?”
Nina was a romantic at heart. She’d been cheering on happy-ever-afters since her parents’ divorce had devastated her. She’d gotten into a business called Cupcake Romance because she loved the weddings and being part of a bride’s special day. So she couldn’t help rooting for Scott and Bethany. She’d always envied them and the solid foundation they’d built for their daughter. She wanted to build that kind of life for herself and her children one day, too.
But Bethany’s eyes were shadowed when she met Nina’s gaze.
“I’m honestly not sure anymore, Nina.” She shook her head, her shoulders drooping. “I just don’t know.”
Her hurt was so palpable, Nina felt it, too.
“Talk to him,” she urged, unsure what else to say. But then she remembered Mack’s words from earlier in the day about seizing the moment and taking more chances. “Don’t let a marriage slip away without at least seeing if there’s some spark still left.”
“You should kidnap him and be sure to wear your sexiest, do-me-baby underwear,” Gram suggested with a straight face.
“Gram!” Nina tried not to be scandalized that her grandmother was thinking along the same lines as her. Bethany let out a surprised laugh.
“I’m serious.” Gram pushed the walker closer, moving with a little more ease today than she had the week before. Maybe her new meds were making a difference. Her physical therapist had said she’d noticed some improvement when she’d come over the day before.
“Kidnap a grown man?” Bethany twisted her long, dark hair into a makeshift bun and jammed a pencil through the knot. “Against his will?”
Gram harrumphed and tsked. “What grown man resists his wife when she promises to have her way with him?” She wiggled her eyebrows in a way that would have been amusing if Nina hadn’t wanted to bury her head in the sand. “Tell him you packed lingerie and that he’s driving wherever you tell him to go.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” Nina stage-whispered to Bethany, shielding her face in mock-embarrassment.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Bethany admitted. “If only we didn’t have to talk.”
Nina’s jaw fell open. “Okay, you two. I’m clearly way too virginal for this conversation.”
Gram peered down her nose at Nina. “You’ll fool no one with that talk, missy. As for you,” she turned to Bethany and then leaned forward on the arm supports of the walker “why do you need to talk?”
“Youdidsay I should talk to him,” Bethany reminded them, fanning herself as the noise level increased outside.
