“Maybe you should tell Lindsay your problem first, Pete.”
“Uh, yeah. I’ve gone out with Sheila Hooten a few times,” he began. Then he held up a hand, anticipating Lindsay’s response. “I know you told me she was bad news, but we had fun. And I made it clear that’s all I wanted. But she started pressing me.”
“For what?” Rafe asked.
“Man, you don’t know nothing about women,” Pete announced. “She wanted me to marry her!”
“I never said I understood women,” Rafe said, glaring at Pete. “I’m a bachelor.”
“So am I, and hoping to stay that way.”
“Come on, Pete,” Gil said with a grin. “Marriage is great.” He smiled at his wife and reached out to touch her. Pete had noticed that Gil constantly touched Lindsay.
“You’re still a newlywed, Gil. How would you know? Most women don’t start bossing you around until after the first year, usually just after you’ve had a kid and know you can’t leave.”
Gil laughed, but Lindsay protested and her cheeks turned red.
“Sorry, sis. I’m sure that won’t happen to you, but you remember Brad at Christmastime?” he asked, naming Gil’s brother-in-law. “Cathy had him tied in knots, leading him around by the nose. It was pitiful. All because she was pregnant.”
Rafe leaned toward him. “Eat your sandwich, boy. You’re not scoring any points with either Gil or Lindsay.”
After checking their expressions, Pete decided Rafe’s advice was sound and bit off a big bite of his sandwich.
As he chewed determinedly, Gil sighed, then spoke. “If you made your intentions clear, then what’s the problem?”
Lindsay gave her husband a disgusted look. “None of you know anything about women. Really, Gil, no woman would believe his warning. It’s like waving a red flag in front of a bull and expecting him to ignore it. That’s ridiculous!”
“Hey, I was trying to be honest!” Pete swore, his voice rising.
“So stop seeing her,” Gil suggested.
“I haven’t asked her out for a couple of weeks, but she keeps showing up wherever I go. And she hangs all over me.” Pete sent a disgusted look in his sister’s direction. “What can I do?”
Lindsay sighed. “Well, you could pay attention to another lady, but then you’d end up with her expecting marriage. Though why these women think you’d be good marriage material, I’ll never know. You need a woman who feels the same way you do about mar—” She broke off midword, staring into space.
Pete glowered at her. “There isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t want to catch a man,” Pete muttered. Gil reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“You’re wrong. I know a lady who feels that way.” Pete looked doubtful. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Kelly. She won’t even consider marriage. All we have to do is talk her into helping.”
Pete remembered Kelly’s attitude when he’d involved her earlier. “Uh, Lindsay, I don’t think that’s going to work.”
When Lindsay arrived at the store at one o’clock, Kelly didn’t mention her problem with Pete. She figured the least said, the soonest mended. She felt sure she’d gotten her point across to Pete Crawford. She didn’t think he’d try that “stuff” again.
Which was good because the “stuff” was bothersome. She couldn’t get that kiss—those kisses to be technically correct—out of her head. But she would. She was determined.
“I’m going upstairs to have lunch with Mom and Drew,” she said. “If you need help, just call.”
When they’d agreed to be partners, Lindsay had no intention of marrying. She’d returned home after a year in Chicago. She’d bought the entire building and converted the second floor above the shop into a roomy three-bedroom apartment she intended to share with Kelly and Kelly’s son, Drew. But by then, Gil, who’d met Kelly in Chicago, had convinced her to marry him.
Lindsay had moved to Gil’s ranch. She’d offered Kelly the apartment at a ridiculously low rate, and Kelly had convinced her mother to move in with her and give up her waitressing jobs to take care of her grandson, sometimes also helping out in the store.
“I’ll come down again when Drew takes his nap,” Kelly added, hurrying away before Lindsay could say anything.
When Kelly entered the apartment, she heard her two-year-old son chattering to his grandmother. He didn’t always get the words right, but he was happy. And she adored him.
“Hey, little guy, how are you?” she asked as she moved into the kitchen.
He beamed at her and held out his arms. “Mama!”
Kelly gave him a hug but didn’t take him out of his high chair. Her mother was filling a plate for him full of chopped-up bites of hamburger, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Kelly wanted him to eat properly. “Mmm, mmm, good. Look at what Grandma has fixed for you.”
Mary Wildenthal grinned at her daughter. “I hope your enthusiasm works.”
“Maybe if we bribe him with cookies,” Kelly returned.
Drew squealed in excitement. “Cookie!” It was one of his favorite words.
“Oops,” Kelly acknowledged her mistake. “After you eat your lunch.”
“You’d better eat your lunch, too. I heard the high school was letting out early for parent conferences. I bet you’re busy this afternoon.”
“I hope so,” Kelly said, sitting down at the table. She felt spoiled letting her mother serve her, but Mary insisted. After holding down two waitressing jobs for twenty-five years, she said she felt lazy.
Kelly followed her mother’s advice. It meant her mother wouldn’t expect conversation, and Kelly was afraid she might let slip her difficulty with Pete. Like Lindsay, her mother thought Kelly should date.
Kelly thought the one dating should be Mary. She was only forty-one, having had Kelly when she was sixteen. Kelly’s father ran away to avoid responsibility and Mary’s strict parents had kicked Mary out of the house.
“Kelly?” Lindsay’s voice sounded on the intercom between the apartment and the dress shop. “We’re filling up.”
Kelly punched the button to respond. “I’ll be right down.” She’d barely eaten half of her lunch, and she wasn’t scheduled to work the afternoon, but a new business needed flexibility. After six months of operation their efforts were really beginning to pay off.
“But you haven’t finished your meal,” Mary protested.
“I know, but we need the customers. Come down after Drew goes to sleep,” she added. They’d gotten a baby monitor so as long as Drew couldn’t get out of his bed, they were okay. But Kelly was getting worried about his prowess these days.
“Okay,”
