Page 109 of The Broken Heart Playlist
When the girls are all blindfolded, Gideon brings out nine cups of pickles on a tray. We place a cup in front of each blindfolded girl, warn them not to say out loud the answer, and instruct them to go ahead and taste the sample. If they don’t like it, they can spit it out in a tissue. Gideon and I grin at one another as we watch the girls’ reactions after tasting the food. We remove the cups, and all of them write down what they think the food was. Then it’s on to the next round.
Every single one of them loves the challenge of trying to guess what they’re eating based on taste and texture alone. There are lots of spluttering sounds and shrieks, as well as dramaticyucksandyums, which is exactly what you’re aiming for in a successful taste test.
After the tasting challenge, Gideon rigs up a Mission Impossible-style obstacle course in the hallway. He uses masking tape to hold in place various colored strings at different angles, and gives the girls their mission in a deep, stern voice. After they complete the mission, he hands them a prize.
His imagination and enthusiasm enthrall me. Gideon is fully committed to ensuring Lisset has the best possible birthday party.
The girls, including Lisset, are ecstatic. They’ve all fallen a little bit in love with Gideon. I have a feeling Lisset will place him on a pedestal for a long time after this.
“Is that your mom’s boyfriend?” one of the girls whispers to Lisset.
I don’t hear her answer, but I know Gideon heard the question. His only response was a small smile.
The rest of the time flies by. Once the girls have all left and Tess arrives to pick up Lisset, who tells her this was the best party she’s ever had, Gideon insists on staying to help clean up.I tell him he doesn’t have to, that he’s already done so much, but he stands firm, and I’m too worn out to argue with him. In truth, I’m grateful for his help.
“You really saved me today,” I say to Gideon after we’ve cleared away all the party stuff and the house is reasonably tidy. “How can I thank you for all your help?”
He pushes in the last of the dining room chairs and slowly straightens. “I have one request.”
His dangerously soft voice and the look in his eyes should have warned me, but I was in a post-party haze and too full of gratitude for all he’d done for us.
“Name it,” I tell him.
“I want you to play the blindfold tasting challenge with me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
My frown is immediate. “Absolutely not. Choose another request.”
“I want that one.”
“You can’t have it.”
I mean, I’m grateful for his help. Although perhapshelpis a lukewarm description, since he pretty much saved Lisset’s birthday party. But I’m not that grateful. Or that stupid.
He’s silent for a beat, then he lets out a disillusioned sigh. “I thought so.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just that I knew you’d be too chicken to do the tasting. I guess a bunch of nine-year-olds have more spunk than you.”
“Nice try.” He’s playing the oldest trick in the book, and I see right through him. “I know what you’re trying to do.”
His eyes are wide when he asks, “What am I trying to do?”
I hold back a snort. Please. I have a nine-year-old daughter. I can spot fake innocence a mile off. “You’re trying to bait me into doing a silly taste testing.”
And trying to bait me into something deeper. Something that will require me to relinquish control and yield to him in a way that terrifies me even as it quietly thrills me.
“Am I?” he asks.
“Yes. But the party’s over. There’s no point.”
“There’s always a point, Katherine,” he tells me, deliberately using the name he knows I detest. “But it doesn’t matter,” he adds with a negligent shrug. “I won the bet.”
I narrow my eyes at his self-satisfied expression. “What bet?”
“The bet I had with myself.” His voice is nonchalant, slightly taunting. “I bet you wouldn’t do the challenge, and I won.”
