be worse.
‘‘No kissing, no significant touching,’’ she said.
‘‘How about insignificant touching.’’
Beth glared at her friend. ‘‘Leave me alone. Nothing happened. I abandoned the poor man in a restaurant. It was not my finest hour and I just want to put the situation behind me.’’
‘‘Okay. You’ve made your point.’’ Cindy held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘‘I take it you’re not going to see him again.’’
Beth paused. ‘‘I am, but it’s not what you think.’’ Cindy’s hazel-green eyes widened slightly. ‘‘I’m not thinking anything.’’
‘‘Yes, you are. You’re thinking that he likes me or something, but he doesn’t. I sent him flowers to apologize for what I did. He came here yesterday because he wanted to hear me grovel in person. Then he suggested we go out and finish our date. I told him it was impossible. My life is full. I’m not interested in having a man.’’
‘‘But if you’re seeing him again, you did say yes to the date.’’
‘‘No. I told him I was busy next Saturday. I’ve got to do the planting, then there’s Matt’s baseball game followed by the swim party. After all that I’ll be way too exhausted to go out with anyone. When Todd didn’t believe me, I invited him to participate in all I have to do. If he has enough energy after that to go out, I said I would.’’ She shrugged. ‘‘He won’t want to. It’s going to be a long day.’’
‘‘Beth has a boyfriend,’’ Cindy sang under her breath. More heat flared on Beth’s cheeks. ‘‘I do not. He doesn’t like me. It’s not like that.’’
‘‘Oh, honey, it’s so exactly like that. He does like you. Why else would he bother?’’
The question had kept Beth up most of the night. She picked at the hem of her shorts. ‘‘I’m all wrong for him. He likes perky young women. I’m a widowed mother of two. It doesn’t make sense.’’
‘‘Maybe he wants a change.’’
‘‘Maybe this is Be Kind To Widows And Orphans Month.’’
‘‘Does it matter?’’
Beth looked at her friend’s face. She wanted to say that it didn’t matter, but if she was going to be honest with herself, she knew that it did. She didn’t want to be a mercy date for Todd. Being around him was exciting. For the first time in many months, she’d awakened early, with a sense of expectation. But she was afraid, too. She didn’t want to start anything with a man. She wasn’t ready, and even if she could get ready, she didn’t know how to play the game. The last thing she wanted was to make a fool of herself.
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