10. Beau
10
BEAU
B eau buttoned up his shirt and checked himself one more time in the mirror as he prepared for his date that wasn’t really a date.
He’d been considered a cute boy in high school, according to his buddies, who liked teasing him about all the girls giggling at him in the hallways. And he’d definitely buffed up in the military. The man looking back at him still had bright blue eyes, but his jaw was defined and his shoulders were broad. On paper, he figured he was a pretty good-looking guy.
But he felt… off-balance.
Confidence had never been an issue for him before. He liked people and they liked him, women especially.
But ever since things went south with Irene, Beau felt… different. That shiver of anticipation he expected when he was going to see a woman he liked was tinged with something sad now.
You’re just not excited because this isn’t real, he reminded himself, studying the serious man in the mirror. You’re not supposed to feel excited. This is just business.
But when he’d taken Quinn’s hand yesterday, he had felt something very unbusinesslike. It was like a jolt of his younger self had flashed through him for a second, and he’d wanted to sweep her up in his arms, kiss her, and spin her around until she squealed with laughter.
After that though, his feelings had gotten decidedly more complicated.
The look of pure joy in Mom’s eyes when they trailed down to find his hand twined with Quinn’s nearly broke his heart.
Does she really want that for me?
He’d always figured Mom would be happy to see him focus on Zandy and the farm. It was strange to imagine that she might want him to find love again.
While he stood there trying to get his head around it like an idiot, Mom had tried to insist that Quinn come in for lunch.
But Quinn had frozen in place, like a terrified statue.
Beau made some excuses for her and let go of her hand to take Dancer’s reins.
He’d figured he would walk her back to her cabin, but instead she had bolted immediately, and he could only watch after her, hoping she hadn’t changed her mind about the whole thing.
So when he texted her last night to ask her to dinner, he’d been relieved when she said yes after a moment. He wasn’t able to get any real insight into how she was feeling about the whole thing, because he hadn’t wanted to risk spooking her by saying anything more.
It’s fine, he thought to himself. We never have any trouble talking. Once we’re hanging out in person, she’ll relax and we’ll figure it all out.
But tonight was important. Both their futures hung in the balance.
He thought about putting on a tie, but decided against it. He and Quinn were both pretty casual people, and it would probably be better not to overdo things. He was feeling silly just staring at himself in the mirror, so he headed out of his bedroom and back into the relative hustle-bustle of the living room, where Mom and Zandy were making paper dolls.
Snippets of paper covered the coffee table, and Zandy already had a finished doll in her hand.
“Mine has a blue hat ,” Zandy sang out happily. “Like me.”
Beau smiled, watching as his mom cut out more of the clothing items Zandy had colored.
“Do you want to play too?” Mom asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“It’s good to finally have a little girl, isn’t it?” he teased her right back.
“You were fun too,” she told him. “Even if we had to make paper cowboys instead.”
He headed over to kiss the top of her head.
“Tell Quinn I said hello,” she told him, patting his hand where it rested on her shoulder.
“Will do,” he said.
“Bye, Daddy,” Zandy said, in a way that made it seem clear she wanted her grandma’s attention all to herself again.
“Bye, guppy,” he said, tousling her hair fondly.
He headed to the front door, pulling on his jacket before stepping out onto the porch.
The cold night air was sweet and fresh, and it felt good to be doing something different from his usual routine. The walk up to Quinn’s cabin would give him just enough time to settle his thoughts and chase away the unexpected nervousness he’d been feeling earlier. But before he’d taken five full steps, a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Hey,” Quinn said softly.
He turned back to find her standing by his truck down in the parking area.
“I was just coming up to get you,” he explained as he headed back in her direction.
“Well, it’s not a real date,” she said, then looked down like she was embarrassed.
Now that he was closer, he could see that she looked really beautiful. Her long, honey-brown hair was down for a change. And a pretty dress peeked out from under her coat. But her embarrassment tugged at his heart.
“You deserve door to door service, Quinn,” he told her firmly, his voice a little husky for some reason.
She looked up at him again, her big brown eyes widening slightly.
He opened the passenger door for her, offering his hand. But she scrambled in on her own and he shook his head, wondering how he was ever going to get her relaxed enough to feel good about his plan.
Just calm down, he told himself as he walked around the truck. If you’re relaxed, she’ll relax too.
How was it possible that a woman who was so brilliant and confident at work could be this shy and awkward on a pretend date? Of course, he’d just spent way more time in front of the mirror than he’d like to admit, so maybe he wasn’t one to talk.
He got in and was instantly hit with a delicate vanilla scent that had to be Quinn’s shampoo.
He had been planning on asking her how her day was, but he was thrown by the feminine fragrance and had to will himself not to notice it.
“Where are we going?” she asked him quietly as they pulled out.
“I thought we’d go to the Village Green,” he told her, figuring she would be thrilled since it was the fanciest place in town.
“I’ve never been there,” she said, her voice softer than ever.
“Me neither,” he admitted. “But I hear good things, and I’ve always wanted to try it. Besides, this could be the beginning of something big for both of us, so I figured it made sense to do it in style.”
She nodded and turned to look out the window.
Beau drove on in silence for a bit, feeling bad that he hadn’t been able to break the ice.
She’ll feel better once we get there, he told himself.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, they were standing in the opulent lobby of the Village Green. Lush carpet covered the floors, artwork hung from the walls, and there was even a baby grand piano.
“Wow,” Beau said, looking around and feeling about as out of place as a pig at a prom.
Quinn nodded and looked around, but her lips were pressed together like she was unhappy.
Maybe she doesn’t like things too fancy either…
He wanted to reassure her in some way, but the hostess was already headed right up to them, a megawatt smile on her face.
“Welcome,” she said. “Do you have a reservation with us tonight?”
“Wilson,” Beau said. “Party of two.”
“Of course, Mr. Wilson,” the girl said with another big smile. “Right this way.”
A few minutes later, they were seated at a nice booth near the back. A glass wall looked out onto the patio and one of the community college fields beyond. Windows on the adjoining wall offered a view of the village shops out on Ambler.
“This is nice,” Beau said, venturing a smile at Quinn.
Her eyes met his and then he saw her shoulders drop a tiny bit, like she had let out a breath.
“It is nice,” she agreed.
A waitress came up right away and took their drink orders, leaving them with menus.
The prices definitely made it seem like a fancy restaurant, but he could handle it. At least there weren’t too many choices. By the time the waitress got back with their lemonades, they were ready to order.
Beau got the steak and was impressed when Quinn asked for the pork tenderloin instead of the rabbit food women always seemed to think they had to order on dates.
As their server retreated with the menus, Beau looked over at Quinn again.
“How was your day?” he asked her, hoping to make up for lost ground from the ride over.
“It was good,” she said, letting out a nervous laugh.
“What?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I guess I wasn’t expecting you to ask me that.”
He nodded slowly and took a sip of his lemonade. It was cold and tart, but not as sweet as he liked it.
“What were you expecting me to ask?” he said after a moment letting his gaze flick up to hers.
“I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “Whether I’ve thought about your crazy plan?”
Her cheeks were pink now. He felt a jolt of unexpected satisfaction at the sight of her blushing.
Focus, soldier.
“Have you thought about it?” he asked.
But before she could answer, the relative quiet of the restaurant was broken by the sound of women’s laughter. They both turned, and Beau nearly groaned out loud when he saw who it was.
Normally, he would be happy to see the three older women headed in their direction. Just the thought of Betty Ann, Ginny, and Shirley stirred up happy memories of all the fairs, festivals, and fundraisers the Trinity Falls grand dames had spun out of thin air, like a trio of fairy godmothers.
An assortment of other women whose children were grown often joined the mighty three to make all their projects happen. Tonight, Alice Cassidy was with them, along with a younger, dark-haired woman he didn’t recognize.
“Beauregard Wilson,” Betty Ann said, marching over to see him with her friends in tow, all of them leaving the hostess standing in front of the table beside Beau and Quinn’s booth waiting for them with a stack of drink menus.
“Hi, Mrs. Eustace,” he said to her. “Mrs. Davies, Mrs. Ludd, Mrs. Cassidy. How are you all?”
“We’re gathering to update each other on some of the town holiday events,” Betty Ann answered for them. “So we’re very happy. And this is Mrs. Marta Garcia, she’ll be helping with one of our projects this year. Marta, this young man is inheriting his parents’ farm and Quinn here has been running it while he was away in the military. Wonderful to see them together like this.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Garcia,” Beau said politely.
“It’s very nice to meet you both as well,” she replied with a smile.
But her smile was nothing compared to the smiles on the faces of the older ladies. The only thing they seemed to like even more than planning their events was seeing folks from town getting together and starting more families to attend all those events.
“Now how did this happen?” Betty Ann asked, waving her hand vaguely between Beau and Quinn.
Quinn got a panicked look on her face, then clamped her mouth shut and fixed her gaze on her lemonade, like she was worried it was going to try to escape.
“Like you said, we’ve been working together on the farm,” Beau said quickly. “And we just realized we had a lot in common, right, Quinn?”
Quinn’s eyes shot up to his and she nodded once.
“We should let these kids get to it,” Ginny said softly, winking at Beau.
He glanced back at Quinn and saw that her pink cheeks were practically red now.
“Nice to see you all,” Beau said, nodding to them.
The ladies were all chattering about other things the moment they headed to their own table.
“You okay?” he asked quietly, turning back to Quinn.
She nodded and grabbed her lemonade, taking a big sip probably just to avoid having to say anything to him. She winced a little afterward, like it was too bitter for her too.
“This is what it’s going to be like for a while,” he told her. “But it’s not so bad. It makes people happy to think of us together.”
Her eyes lifted to his and there was something besides worry in her expression.
“A complimentary appetizer from our chef,” the server announced, appearing at the table before Beau could unpack what was going on with Quinn. “Mussels on the half shell.”
She set down a plate that was dotted with various globs of too-bright color. In the center were two mussels, looking almost lonely in the sea of colorful polka dots and stark white china.
“Thank you,” Quinn said politely.
The server explained something complicated about all the different dots of color, which were apparently supposed to be sauces. They listened politely, and when she was gone Quinn looked up at Beau.
“Well, I’m starving,” he told her. “I was outside all day helping Frank on clean-up in the fields.”
“That’s great,” she said, gesturing for him to take the first mussel.
He gestured right back, and she grabbed her tiny fork and scowled at the seafood, as if she wasn’t really sure how to attack it.
Honestly, Beau wasn’t either.
Why is that fork so tiny? Are we supposed to try to dip that mussel in those weird polka-dots?
While he tried to puzzle it out, Quinn just scooped out the bit of mussel with her fork and popped it right in her mouth.
He followed suit. The mussel was delicious. He probably could have eaten a few dozen more. He hoped the real food would be there soon.
At the table beside them, the ladies were all laughing and talking. When he made the mistake of looking over, he spotted Betty Ann gazing back at him.
“I guess we’ll be the hottest gossip in town by this time tomorrow,” he noticed out loud.
“We need to get our stories straight,” Quinn said suddenly.
It was the most she had said since they arrived, and she was right. But it also sounded… hopeful.
“That doesn’t mean I’m saying yes,” she qualified. “But if we do this, we’ll need to figure some things out.”
“Agreed,” Beau said, nodding.
The server floated over with their plates, and they waited quietly as she set them down and headed off again.
“Wow,” Quinn said, gazing down at the smallest pork tenderloin Beau had ever seen. “Smells good.”
“Mine too,” Beau said, looking at his own plate and wondering if they had accidentally ordered off the kids’ menu.
His steak was as small as her tenderloin, set on a tiny dab of mashed potatoes with some kind of bean sprouts on top like a decoration. The whole thing would have fit easily in the palm of his hand.
They dug in, and for a while there was only the clink of their silverware.
The restaurant slowly filled up around them, and Beau felt more and more worried that this just wasn’t going to work out. Quinn wasn’t talking at all, and he felt so buttoned up in his dress shirt that he couldn’t seem to remember how to put another person at ease.
When the girl came back to ask about dessert and coffee, Quinn shook her head once and Beau sent the server off with his credit card.
“Thanks for considering this,” he told Quinn a few minutes later as he opened the door to his truck for her.
But he was pretty sure she was going to say no after all. It had been a strange and awkward night. The worst part was that he had spent a month’s grocery budget on a single meal and he wasn’t anywhere near full from it.
“Hey,” he said as they pulled out of the parking lot. “I don’t know about you, but I’m still hungry. Mind if we swing through the drive-through at the Burger Boy in Springton Valley before we head home?”
“That sounds amazing ,” Quinn moaned.
“Burger Boy it is,” Beau said, chuckling.
“That was a really beautiful restaurant,” Quinn said. “But I think I’m more of a diner girl at heart.”
“Same, ” Beau said, relaxing a little now that Quinn was actually talking again. “If we do this, we’ll set up our dates at the diner, or maybe the café in town.”
“I love Jolly Beans, ” Quinn said, nodding. “And Pete’s making his cranberry loaf this time of year.”
They chatted about food and town for a bit and before he knew it, Beau was pulled into the drive-through window.
“What do you want?” he asked Quinn.
“ Everything ,” she said, laughing.
“Everything, huh?” he said. “A girl after my own heart.”
They ordered too much food, and he handed over the warm paper bag to Quinn, placed their drinks in the holders on the console, and pulled out again.
He expected Quinn to ask where they were going. But she was looking out the window quietly, an expression of contentment on her face that he hadn’t seen all night. She clearly trusted him to get them wherever he thought they should go to enjoy their meal.
When he pulled into the driveway for the farm and hung a left onto the dirt road, she smiled.
“I thought we could look at the trees while we ate,” he told her.
“Best spot on the whole farm,” she said, nodding. “If you can’t go up to the top on horseback.”
They bumped up the hillside and he pulled in by one of the old supply sheds, looking out over the trees. The moon was almost full and it cast a glow over the whole farm. The trees looked smaller from up here, like they were part of a model railroad, too perfect to be real.
They unbuckled their seatbelts and Quinn passed him his double cheeseburger before taking her own out of the bag.
He unwrapped it and took a big bite, closing his eyes in ecstasy around the warm, savory treat.
“ Amazing,” Quinn moaned around her bite. “Thank you for this.”
He turned to see her grab her chocolate shake from the console and take a big sip. Something about the way she enjoyed her food warmed his heart.
“What?” she asked, placing the shake back down.
“It’s just nice to see a woman who doesn’t pretend not to eat,” he said, hoping she didn’t take it the wrong way.
“Listen, when you work outside in the cold all day, you don’t take meals for granted,” she said, fishing her fries out of the bag and holding them out to him.
“Thanks,” he said, taking one.
It was salty and greasy and delicious.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, gazing out the windshield at the starry sky and the trees as a warm feeling crept over him.
This is the most romantic night of my life.
The thought was unexpected, and Beau shook his head, wondering where it had come from. In his whirlwind courtship of Irene, he’d taken her out in the city a few times, to all the nice places she’d been interested in—they’d sat at cloth-covered tables with flowers and candles and classical music playing. It had been the textbook definition of romance.
At least he’d thought so…
He turned to look at Quinn. She was finished with her meal, and her eyes were feasting on the view now instead. Moonlight glimmered in her soft tresses and lit up her eyes.
While he was watching, she turned to him, her expression softening, and he was struck by the same feeling he’d had at the top of the hill earlier.
Beautiful…
“You brought me here because you knew I couldn’t resist, didn’t you?” she asked softly.
His heart began thundering and a tingle went down his spine.
Could it really be this simple? Could we actually fall in love?
“You knew I’d see the trees like this, and I would have to say yes to your plan,” she went on, smiling a little sheepishly.
Of course. The plan.
He cleared his throat, feeling like a fool. A sweet, innocent young woman like Quinn wouldn’t fall for a man like Beau, who couldn’t even make his first marriage work.
“Well, you were right,” she said, looking back out at the hillside. “It’s just magical.”
He smiled, her earnest enthusiasm for the family land brightening his mood.
“There’s no rush to decide,” he told her, hoping he was right.
Though he knew that Max couldn’t hold out forever before he put the shop on the open market.
“You know what?” Quinn said, turning to him. “Let’s do it.”
Her cheeks were flushed now, but with excitement instead of embarrassment. To Beau, it looked like all the stars had fallen from the sky to dance in her eyes. And he felt her warm glow reflecting back on him, illuminating the dark corners where his sadness hid, and bringing him back into the light.
“Yes,” he murmured, leaning toward her like a tree growing toward sunlight.
It was only when she thrust her hand out to him that he remembered he wasn’t supposed to kiss her.
He accepted her small hand in his and shook, trying not to notice how good it felt to touch her and wondering how he was supposed to manage a pretend relationship if he ended up with very real feelings.
What have I gotten myself into?