you.”
“I can’t help bragging about my boy,” Lester laughed and patted his son on the arm. “And this must be Julia. Lucy told me plenty about you, too, young lady….”
Lester turned to Julia. It seemed that everyone else had forgotten she was there.
Lester gave Julia’s hand a hardy shake. “Good to meet you, dear.”
“Nice to meet you, Lester.” Julia smiled cordially.
It was hard not to like Lester. She made a sincere effort to match his enthusiasm—despite having only first heard of his existence five minutes ago.
She felt Sam Baxter staring at her. She looked up at him. No dazzling smile for her. To the contrary, his expression was serious again. His eyes, unreadable. He didn’t offer his hand and introduce himself, and for some reason, she felt relieved instead of slighted.
“Sorry to barge in. My father insisted I stop by for a minute and say hello….”
Sam’s apology was meant for her mother, Julia knew. Yet he addressed it to her.
She met his glance again. Just like the first time, she felt her mouth go dry, her polished conversation skills deserting her.
What in the world was going on here? When had she gotten so tongue-tied around a man? Silly…Had to be the wine. It had gone straight to her head. She’d never been able to drink on an empty stomach.
Before Julia had a chance to answer, her mother stepped forward and took Sam by the arm.
“Nonsense. Come inside and make yourself comfortable. You must stay for dinner. Lester, tell him he has to stay.”
“Of course he’ll stay,” Lester insisted, following them.
The seniors were double-teaming him. He didn’t stand a chance. He’d soon agree, Julia predicted, just to be polite.
The idea of spending the evening making small talk with Sam Baxter made Julia uneasy, but she brushed the feeling aside. She was just tired after a long workday, where she had to be polite and friendly to strangers all day at her job. Now she was forced to do it all night. Her annoyance had nothing to do with him.
“Well…maybe for a few minutes,” Sam Baxter said.
“Wait ’til you try her cooking. You’re in for a treat.”
“Lester, please. Your son is in the business. He’s not going to be impressed with my simple home cooking.”
“Don’t listen to her. You’ll see. You’ll be asking for her recipes,” Lester promised.
Julia thought her mother was a good cook and Lester’s lavish compliments were at least in the ballpark this time.
She wondered what Lester meant by Sam being in the business. Most chefs she’d ever met, even the younger ones, didn’t have Sam’s lean, fit body. Even the guys on TV. There was definitely something sexy about a man who cooked, though. An image of this man in chef’s whites, an intimidating force in a hot, steamy commercial kitchen was very…distracting.
“Come. Sit down. Relax.” Lucy herded everyone into the living room, though she didn’t sit down herself, Julia noticed.
Sam sat on one end of the long pillow-back couch and Lester sat on the other. Julia took an armchair.
She crossed her long legs, then noticed Sam’s eyes following her movement as she tugged her skirt down over her knee. Checking her out? She felt blood rush up her cheeks and hoped she wasn’t blushing.
“I have some cheese spread and nibbles in the kitchen. I’ll just run out and get them.” Lucy glanced at Lester, who sat on the couch near Sam. Julia wasn’t surprised when Lester quickly rose, as well.
“I’ll help you, dear.” Lester jumped up and followed Lucy like a loyal pet.
From the gleam in his eye, Julia guessed he was not only eager to help his hostess, but steal a little private time. Julia hoped they didn’t take too long. For one thing, it could get embarrassing. For another, she already felt uncomfortable being left alone with the tall, dark and smoldering son.
Julia looked over at Sam. “They might take a while out there,” he said quietly.
So he’d picked up on the same hints.
She glanced at him but didn’t know what to say. A seasoned saleswoman, she was rarely at a loss on how to start a conversation. She’d even taught classes on the topic, for goodness’ sake.
The polite thing to do would be to ask Sam what sort of work he did exactly, what had brought him down to Vermont from Boston. That sort of thing.
But some errant impulse caused her to start off on a completely different track.
“Did your father really tell you much about my mother? Or did you just say that to be polite?”
He looked surprised at her direct manner. But not at all offended. Maybe more like amused, she thought.
“The last few weeks, he hardly talked about anything else. It’s Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. Why do you ask?”
Julia shrugged. She picked a thread off her skirt. “I didn’t hear a word about your father until about fifteen minutes ago. Or maybe I did and I wasn’t paying attention…Does your father date very much?”
His eyes narrowed. Now he did look a bit offended. Or at least, taken aback by her question. “Are you suspicious of his intentions? He’s a very sincere person.”
“I’m sure he’s sincere. He’s seem very nice. Really,” she assured him. “My mother is very social. I just don’t want him to get…disappointed.”
She could tell he was definitely fighting a smile now. The corners of his mouth twitched and she nearly caught another glimpse of those devastating dimples. The entire gesture was utterly tantalizing.
“Don’t worry about my dad. He’s been out in the single scene a long time. He can take care of himself.”
Lester might think he was the James Bond of the AARP set. His son might think so, as well. But they had never encountered the likes of Lucy.
She glanced toward the kitchen. No sign of the lovebirds. After they’d first disappeared, she’d heard them talking back there, but now there was only silence.
Bad sign.
She turned back to Sam, leaning forward a bit in her chair. “Do you think this is serious?” she whispered.
“Excuse me?” He leaned toward her, trying to hear what she was saying. They were suddenly face-to-face, closer than she expected. The scent of his spicy cologne filled her senses. His cheeks were shadowed by a day’s growth of beard, lending a slightly scruffy and totally male edge to his handsome looks.
“I said…do you think it’s serious? Between our parents, I mean.”
“Looks pretty serious to me. They’re crazy about each other. Haven’t you noticed?”
