Chapter 11
With Patty minding the store for the afternoon, Tiffany picked up Ashleigh and Thomas from camp and took them to the beach for a couple of hours. After the months of endless work to get the store open, it was nice to take a break and spend some time with the kids.
Maddie came to pick up Thomas after dinner.
“He should be good and tired,” Tiffany said. “They played hard at the beach.” Both toddlers were droopy-eyed after their favorite dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and a bath.
Maddie scooped her son up off the floor. “Hey, buddy.” She planted a noisy kiss on his neck that made him giggle. “Did you have fun with Auntie Tiff and Ashleigh?”
“Uh-huh,” he said. “We made sandcastles and got ice cream and went swimming.”
Maddie let her mouth fall open in playful shock. “You had ice cream before dinner?”
“Shhh,” he said, putting a finger over her lips. “Don’t tell Daddy. It’s a secret.”
Tiffany shared a smile with her sister. She was never happier than when she was with her sister and their kids.
Well, lately she’d had some other rather happy times, too, but she couldn’t think about that now when she was in mom mode.
She was sorry she’d told Blaine she couldn’t see him tonight.
After the busy day she’d had, Ashleigh would be fast asleep in no time, and the night would stretch out long and lonely.
A knock on the door sent Tiffany scurrying across the empty living room, filled with hope that maybe he’d decided to come over anyway.
She instantly hated herself for the thought.
Since when did she get so excited to see a man she was only having sex with?
That would be something to chew over during that long, lonely night when she could remind herself that theirs was nothing more than a fling.
The last thing she needed was more heartbreak, so she’d do well to remember the boundaries of their affair and stay well within them.
She threw open the door to find two burly men outside. “May I help you?”
“Tiffany Sturgil?”
“That’s me.”
“I have a delivery for you. If you could sign here.”
“What kind of delivery?”
“I’m not at liberty to say, ma’am. If you sign here, I can get it for you.”
“It’s not alive, is it?”
“No, ma’am,” he said with a laugh. “Nothing that requires care or feeding.”
Filled with trepidation—and curiosity—she signed on the dotted line.
“What’s up?” Maddie asked from behind her.
“Not sure.”
Ashleigh toddled over to see what all the excitement was about.
Tiffany scooped her up and waited to see what the men had for her. She nearly fell over in shock when they carried in a sofa. “Where… What… Where did that come from?”
“We picked it up from the old Ridgeway place,” one of the men said.
Tiffany glanced at Maddie, who watched the proceedings with bug eyes.
“Who sent it?” Tiffany asked.
“Not sure exactly, but we have a note for you in the truck. We’ll get it on the next run.”
“Wait. There’s more?”
“Heck, yeah. A lot more.”
“Who could’ve done this?” Tiffany asked her sister after the men went back outside.
“I figured you might know.”
“I have no idea.”
“It sure is nice,” Maddie said, running a hand over the soft fabric.
“Yes.” Anything was nicer than nothing, but the sofa was one she would’ve chosen herself.
Over the next fifteen minutes, the men brought in a gorgeous area rug, end tables, lamps and a kitchen table and chairs that fit perfectly in her empty breakfast nook. By the time they handed over the note that accompanied the gift, Tiffany had tears rolling down her face.
Maddie put down Thomas and took Ashleigh from her, entertaining them while Tiffany wiped away the tears and opened the card.
Now don’t kill me, it said in a masculine scrawl, but I happened to be going by the Ridgeway place and noticed a sign for the estate sale.
I went in to check it out and saw exactly what you needed for dirt cheap.
The temptation was too great to pass up.
I hope you’ll accept this gift in the spirit in which it was given and not kill me or hold it against me or punish me in any way, except for ways that I’ll leave to your fertile imagination…
I find myself thinking about you pretty much all the time. Blaine.
“Who’s it from?” Maddie asked as she stretched out on the sofa.
“Blaine.”
“Are you shitting me?”
“Shit,” Thomas said, making both women laugh.
“Don’t say that word, Thomas,” Maddie said sternly. “Mommy shouldn’t have said it.”
Tiffany plopped down next to her. “I can’t believe he did this.”
“Can I see the note?”
Tiffany handed it to her.
“Oh, wow, Tiff. How sweet is that?”
“It’s very sweet.” Tiffany contended with a new flood of tears. “I can’t believe he did this.”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s possible your sex-only fling just became a bona fide relationship.”
“What does that mean?”
“He really likes you, honey.”
“I’m not ready for that. I just got divorced.”
“Your marriage has been over for a long time. It only officially ended. If you like him as much as he seems to like you, why can’t you take a chance and see what happens?”
“I’m afraid to,” Tiffany said softly. “I’m so afraid of how I already feel about him, and then he goes and does something like this.”
Maddie reached for her hand. “Do you remember when you sat in my kitchen and told me you wanted what I have with Mac?”
Tiffany nodded.
“This,” Maddie said, gesturing to the furniture, “is right out of Mac McCarthy’s playbook. Blaine is a good guy, a decent guy. He’s nothing like Jim. Not to mention he’s hotter than sin.”
“Yes, he is,” Tiffany said, laughing through her tears. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Oh no?” Maddie raised an eyebrow. “Do tell.”
“No way.”
Thomas crawled into his mother’s lap and popped his thumb into his mouth.
“As much as I’d love to stick around for the dirty details, that’s my signal to get this tired boy home to bed,” Maddie said, lifting her son as she stood. “Think about what I said, okay?”
Tiffany walked them to the door. “How will I think about anything else?”
“I gotta say one more thing.”
“You always have to get the last word in.”
Maddie laughed. “Mac accuses me of the same thing.”
“What’s your last word on this matter?”
“Blaine has good taste. Not just in furniture but in women, too.” She kissed Tiffany’s cheek. “Talk to you in the morning.”
After her sister left, Tiffany went through the motions of getting Ashleigh into bed as her head spun over the implications of Blaine’s grand gesture.
Thankfully, it took only one story, rather than the usual three, to send her baby girl off to sleep.
For a long time after Ashleigh fell asleep, Tiffany stayed in bed with her, snuggled up to the child who’d brought her so much joy and comfort during the last three difficult years of her marriage.
Ashleigh smelled of baby shampoo and sweet little girl.
Tiffany couldn’t wait until she was older and they could go shopping together.
She’d be starting ballet class at the studio in the fall, and Tiffany was excited to share her love of dance with her daughter.
So much to look forward to all of a sudden, Tiffany thought, at peace, finally, with the changes her life had undergone recently.
Her daughter was healthy and thriving, the store was holding its own, she was free of Jim and the terrible strain of their failing marriage, her mother and sister were happily in love with men who cherished them, and she had a sweet, wonderful new man in her life who couldn’t stop thinking of her.
It had been a very long time since the inventory of her life had looked as perfect as it did right now.
She was on her way to sleep when the doorbell rang.
Shaking off the slumber, she went downstairs, wondering if Maddie had forgotten something that Thomas couldn’t live without until the morning.
She opened the door, and her mind went blank when she found Blaine looking sinfully sexy in a white button-down shirt and plaid shorts.
He held out a pizza box to her. “A peace offering.”
“Why do you need a peace offering?”
“I figured you’d be mad at me for changing the rules on you.”
She took his hand and led him inside, placing the pizza box on the coffee table. Turning to him, she put her arms around him and rested her face on his chest. “Thank you.”
His arms came around her, holding her snugly and perfectly. “Wow, I got off way easier than expected.”
“It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“That can’t possibly be true.”
“It is.” She let her hands wander under his shirt and reveled in the tremble that traveled through him when her hands found his back. “I want to pay you back, but I can’t right now.”
“It was a present, and doing it made me happy, so no more talk of paying me back, okay?”
“Do you really think about me all the time?”
“All the time.” This was said against her neck, where the brush of soft lips and rough whiskers made her shiver.
As they stood there wrapped up in each other for several minutes, Tiffany realized her sister was right. This was no longer the uncomplicated, sex-only relationship she’d planned to have with him.
“Where’s Ashleigh?” he asked.
“Asleep.”
“Could I see her?”
“You’ve seen her before.”
“I know, but I bet she’s awfully cute when she’s asleep.”
“She is.”
“That’s what I want to see.”
His words went straight to her heart, making it flip-flop precariously.
She took his hand and led him up the stairs.
Outside Ashleigh’s room, she turned on the hall light and opened the door.
Her little girl’s dark hair formed a swirl on the white pillowcase, and her lips were pursed into an adorable, kissable bow.
“So pretty,” Blaine whispered. “She looks just like her mama.”
“I’ve heard that a time or two.” Tiffany rearranged the covers that Ashleigh had already kicked off, kissed her daughter’s cheek and followed Blaine from the room.
“Thank you for that,” he said.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’d like to get to know her. If that’s okay with you.”
“That depends.”
“On?”