Page 4 of Kiss Me Now
The late afternoon sun was sliding toward dusk, and though Miss Lily turned her head at the sound of every car coming down the road with an air of expectation, there was still no sign of him as we gathered the last of the ripe beans.
Well, I couldn’t do anything about my neighbor’s flaky grandson, but I could at least try to manage Miss Lily’s expectations, prepare her for yet another weekend where Ian the Idiot didn’t show.
“It’ll be dark soon,” I noted, keeping my voice casual.
Miss Lily glanced at the sky. “Another hour at least. Though I should get this haul to Mary so she can start supper.”
I wanted to say, “Tell her she’s only cooking for you two,” but I couldn’t bear to squash Miss Lily’s hopes so directly. Maybe my best bet was to give Miss Lily something else to look forward to. “What are we doing in the garden tomorrow?”
“Weare doing nothing,” Miss Lily told me. “I’ll be transplanting the fall lettuce seedlings, butyouhave work to do on your house. You’re going to be awfully busy when school starts. Better use your time while you have it. Are you working on the floors next?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The sound of a riding mower cut through the quiet dusk as the teenage boy across the road set to work cutting his lawn. Better now than 8 AM, I decided. I raised my voice to be heard over the high whine of the engine. “I need to refinish the front room floors. But why don’t you let me come over first thing in the morning and help you with the planting? I’d love to. I find it very satisfying.”
“You’re sweet, honey, but my grandson can do it. You get those floors taken care of. You’ll feel better not having them to worry about.”
I studied the elderly woman as she bent to examine a bell pepper plant, my irritation toward her grandson renewed. “I don’t think he’s coming, Miss Lily. No one who’s ever eaten Mary’s cooking would risk missing supper. If he’s not here now, I think you’d better assume he won’t be here at all.”
I braced myself for the brightness to dim in Miss Lily’s eyes, but her smile was steady as ever when she said, “You worry too much. He’ll be here.”
“Well, I hope so for your sake, Miss Lily. But just know if your grandson doesn’t show up, I’ll be here first thing in the morning to help you with the planting.”
“That won’t be necessary,” a male voice said from the edge of the garden.
We both turned from the pepper plant, and Miss Lily’s face brightened even more as she hurried down the row toward a tall man with dark blond hair, broad shoulders, and a big grin on his face. The mower had covered the sound of his arrival.
“Ian,” Miss Lily cried as he hurried to meet her, his arms stretched out for her hug.
“Hey, Gran,” he said, gathering her close to his chest. “How are you?”
“Completely copacetic now that you’re here.” She stepped back and waved me over.
I walked toward them slowly, taking the measure of this prodigal grandson.
“You cut it awfully close,” Gran scolded him, but her tone held a world of love. “Mary will have supper on the table soon.”
“Gran, how can you say I’m late when I didn’t tell you I was coming? This was supposed to be a surprise. I didn’t even tell Dad I was coming.”
“Gran knows everything,” she said. “Brooke, come here and meet Ian.”
I took the last few steps to put myself in handshake range. Ian’s wide grin for his Gran turned polite and cool as I extended my hand.
“Ian, this is my lovely neighbor, Brooke Spencer. She’s going to be the new science teacher at Lincoln.”
“Brooke,” he said, his voice as cool as his smile. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Same here,” I said.All of it good, and I don’t believe a word of it.I hoped the unspoken words showed up in my equally polite smile to him.
“You’re off the hook,” he said. “I’ll help Gran with the planting tomorrow.”
“How nice,” I said. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate having someone besides me coming over here every single day.” I hoped he understood this subtext too:I’m here because you never are.
“I’m so pleased you two can finally meet,” Miss Lily said, unaware of the undercurrents between me and my new nemesis, Ian the Idiot. “Brooke, why don’t you go get cleaned up and come over for supper in half an hour? I’d love for two of my favorite people in the world to get to know each other.”
Ian’s brow creased slightly, but he didn’t need to worry. I had no interest in crashing their dinner.
“That’s kind, Miss Lily, but I have big plans for this squash tonight. Miss Mary doesn’t need to stress about two extra mouths to feed. I need to get home and try my own kitchen experiment.”
“That squash will keep forever,” Miss Lily said. “You can experiment on it tomorrow. Mary just happened to cook a Mississippi roast, and there’s plenty to go round. I’ll send Ian for you in a half hour.”
