CHAPTER THIRTEEN
My plan was to arrive at Aaron and Tess’s house before Gideon, but Lisset, who clearly stayed up way too late at her sleepover last night, had a meltdown half an hour before we were due to leave. She was grumpy and teary the whole of today and refused to take an afternoon nap. When she discovered I hadn’t washed the pink sweater she wanted to wear tonight, there ensued tears and drama of epic proportions. I’m already frazzled and her behavior is like a rubber band snapping against my stretched nerves.
“Uh-oh,” Tess declares when she opens her front door and takes one look at Lisset’s tear-stained face and my strained one.
“Sorry we’re late,” I tell her.
“No problem,” she reassures me. “It’s only twenty minutes. We’ve been chatting to Gideon.”
“Chatting?” I ask wearily. “Or interrogating?”
She winks at me. “Aaron and I are warming up. The spotlights and chains will be brought out later.” Her gaze moves over my face. You okay? she mouths.
I shake my head no.
My sister gives my shoulder a light squeeze, then turns her attention to Lisset. “Okay, what’s going on with my most favorite niece?”
Lisset’s lips wobble a little. “Mommy didn’t wash my favorite pink sweater that I really wanted to wear tonight.”
Tess widens her eyes. “Oh, thank goodness!” she exclaims. “Because this blue sweater you’re wearing right now is my absolute favorite color on you. And look!” She points to her own blue knitted top.
Lisset’s expression instantly brightens. “We match.”
“We do,” Tess confirms, pulling her in for a hug. “Now why don’t you head inside and see if you can sneak up on Aaron and Gideon and give them a scare?”
“Okay!” With a mischievous giggle, she takes off down the hallway.
Tess reaches for the tray of food I’m currently gripping too tightly. “Let me take that from you before you snap it in half.”
Relinquishing the tray to her, I let out a sigh. “I don’t understand. Why does Aunt trump Mom?”
Tess smiles at me. “Moms might get the short end of the stick a lot of the time, but when that little girl is sick or scared, you can bet you’re the first person she’ll turn to.”
Only slightly appeased by her words, I follow her down the hallway to the kitchen. “It smells delicious.”
Tess texted yesterday to let me know she was cooking a seafood paella. At her request, I’ve made a light green salad and spicy Spanish potatoes.
I hear Gideon’s deep, warm voice talking to Aaron in the kitchen. Something dangerous flutters through me. Something that terrifies me a little.
I saw the man last night. So why am I now overflowing with anticipation and nerves? And why did I spend too much time wondering what to wear and how to do my hair?
In the kitchen, Gideon is leaning against the kitchen island, a glass of wine in his hand. His eyes spark with pleasure when he catches sight of me.
“Hey, Kate.”
“Hi, Gideon.”
“You look nice.”
I feel the impact of his admiration on every inch of me. “Thank you.” I’m wearing a well-cut, jade-green top, dark-denim jeans that hug my legs in all the right places, and a little more mascara than usual.
Aaron closes the oven door and flashes me a warm smile. “My favorite sister-in-law.”
I return his smile. “Your only sister-in-law.”
He places a brief kiss on my cheek. “It’s good to see you.”
Lisset puffs out her chest. “I scared them both, Mom!”
“Nearly gave me a heart attack,” Aaron declares.
“I’m still recovering,” Gideon confirms.
Standing next to Gideon, Lisset is beaming with pride, her fatigue set aside for the moment. She skips out of the kitchen, no doubt on the hunt for Tess’s cat, Ash.
“A glass of Cava?” Tess asks, referring to the sparkling wine of Spain, clearly going all out on her Spanish theme tonight. “Or we’ve got some rosé?”
“I can’t,” I say reluctantly, even though I could really do with a glass or two of wine to take the edge off today. “I’m driving.”
Gideon immediately puts down his wine glass. “Go ahead,” he says. “I’ll drive you home.”
“What about you?”
“I walked here.”
Only now do I realize I didn’t see his car parked in the driveway. “You walked !” It’s winter. Granted, it’s not raining, but it still feels like an odd choice. “It must have taken you at least half an hour.”
“It was a good walk. Cleared my head.”
I glance at the wine he pushed aside. “But you’re already drinking.”
“It’s fine, Kate,” he says softly. “It seems like you’ve had a rough day. Relax and enjoy a glass of wine.”
I bite my lip. I’m rarely this indecisive, but Gideon driving us home later in my car feels next-level cozy. “Are you sure I’m not spoiling your evening?”
For the span of three breaths, he stares at me steadily. Patiently. “I’m sure.”
I look away, flushing. Abruptly, I’m aware of the presence of Tess and Aaron standing frozen in the kitchen watching Gideon and I go back and forth. Aaron is frowning, but Tess has a look of pure delight on her face. All she needs now is popcorn.
Aaron opens his mouth and I have a hunch he’s about to offer to drive me home. Over the last year or so, he’s become surprisingly protective of me, nearly as much as Tess. Before he can say anything, though, a not-so-discreet elbow jab from Tess in his ribs shuts him up.
“That’s so kind of you, Gideon,” she says, smiling sweetly at him and practically shoving a glass of Cava into my hands. She sends me a pointed look.
“It is,” I say. “Very kind. Thank you.”
Sometimes, it’s easier to simply go along with my sister and spare myself the ensuing headache. I take a sip of my wine, feeling some of the tension leave my body.
Lisset bounds into the kitchen, crashing into Gideon. He steadies her with a hand on her shoulder, his face relaxed, showing no annoyance.
“Want me to show you Ash?” she asks him. “He’s the cat.”
“Sure,” he says easily.
“I’ll come with you,” offers Aaron.
I hide a smile. My brother-in-law is as untrusting as I am.
As soon as they’re gone, Tess whips her head in my direction. “Okay, what’s going on between you and Gideon?”
“Nothing.”
“It certainly doesn’t feel like nothing.”
I agree, but I sip my wine and keep quiet. I’m not foolish enough to hand over the equivalent of a loaded gun to Tess.
“It’s been nearly a week since you were Miss Ice Queen to Gideon on our walk. Things have definitely progressed since then. What happened?”
“Nothing’s happened. I’ve run into him a couple of times,” I tell her, opting for a casual shrug. “We’ve chatted and I’ve got to know him a little better.”
Except, now that I think about it, have I really gotten to know him more? Despite our talks, he remains an enigma.
Tess checks on the paella. “Well, he showed up with flowers and a bottle of expensive wine, so he has my vote.” She lets loose with a violent sneeze.
I roll my eyes. “Does it have to be a dramatic production every time you sneeze?”
“You know me, full of drama.”
Full of trouble is a more apt description.
When Lisset reappears in the kitchen without the two men, saying “Uncle Aaron wanted a talk with Gideon,” I raise my eyebrows at Tess.
She waves away my concern. “Aaron can’t not question him. He’s looking out for you.”
I’m not altogether resentful, but I’m also fretting a little, wondering what Aaron will say to Gideon.
“You know you can trust Aaron, right?” Tess reassures me. “He won’t say anything you don’t want him say.”
I do trust him. When he took on Tess, he took me on too. Not begrudgingly, but willingly. And I’m not offended by his quiet concern and protectiveness. In truth, I’m secretly grateful he has my back.
When the men finally return, I can’t glean much from their faces. All I know is that Gideon appears his usual relaxed self, while Aaron’s frown seems to have carved itself into his skin.
We sit down to eat at the dining room table, which Tess has decorated with fresh flowers and candles. My sister has orchestrated the seating arrangements so I end up opposite Gideon with Aaron seated next to me. I know Tess’s devious mind. She wants Gideon watching me and Aaron watching Gideon.
The seafood paella is in a huge shallow pan in the middle of the table. While we pile our plates with paella, salad, potatoes, and tomato bread from Beth’s Bakery, Lisset gives in to the temptation to blow the candles out. I shoot her The Look and she slouches back in her seat. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Tess high-fiving her. Honestly, the two of them will be the death of me.
Tess turns to Gideon. “Orange juice?” she asks, picking up the jug on the table.
He grimaces. “No thanks.”
“Not a fan?” I query.
“Nope. The pulp freaks me out.”
“Me too!” Lisset says in delight, and I watch them enjoy a bonding moment over their shared disgust.
After Gideon pours himself a lemonade, he asks Aaron a question about his work.
“I’m in the cybersecurity field,” Aaron replies.
“That’s how we met,” Tess chimes in. “Aaron was sent to improve the cybersecurity of the greeting card company I was working for at the time.”
Interest stirs on Gideon’s face. “What was your biggest challenge there?” he asks Aaron.
“Tess,” Aaron answers without hesitation.
I let out a chuckle. I can well believe that.
Tess throws up her hands in good-natured surrender. “I admit I was...challenging.”
“Teaching Tess about security was an uphill battle,” Aaron elaborates with the hint of a smile. “She wouldn’t take it seriously.”
“But I’m better now,” she maintains.
“Are you?”
Her chin goes up. “Yes!”
Aaron narrows his eyes at her. “Do you still have your little black book with all your usernames and passwords inside?”
Tess squirms a little. “Well, yes, but only because some of the passwords are so complicated I can’t remember them.”
Gideon and I trade an amused glance.
Aaron pinches the bridge of his nose. “It’s bad enough you write your passwords down, but please tell me you haven’t actually written out password in front of any of them.”
Tess looks indignant. “Of course not!”
“Good,” Aaron responds on a relieved sigh, his frown fading.
I gesture to the nearly empty bottle of wine on the table. “Looks like we need more wine, Aaron.”
The moment he leaves the dining room, I turn to Tess. “The truth.”
“I promise I didn’t write down password .” She flicks a glance toward the kitchen, then she mumbles, “I wrote p—w instead.”
“Tess,” I admonish, while Gideon winces.
“Don’t tell him,” she begs us. “I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“I won’t say anything,” Gideon promises, “but you should really find a better system.”
“It works for me.”
I hold back a snort. “It’ll work for a lot of criminals too.”
Aaron returns with the wine and Tess rapidly changes the subject. It’s warm in the dining room, and my spicy potatoes are turning up the heat level even further. Gideon peels off his long-sleeved black sweater. I stare at the defined curve of muscle running down his forearm before my eyes seek out the dark edge of his mysterious tattoo teasing me under his T-shirt.
Lisset notices it too. And with the guileless candor that only the children and elderly can get away with, she asks, “What are your tattoos, Gideon?”
I hold my breath, wanting to high-five my daughter. Finally, I’ll be able to satisfy my curiosity.
After the briefest hesitation, Gideon pulls up his shirt sleeve. I make out the ink of a paw print. He tells Lisset he has four paw print tattoos, one on his upper arm, three on his shoulder blade.
“They represent the rescue dogs I’ve loved and who have passed away,” he explains. “Their names were Flash, Kushla, Bonnie, and Clyde.”
No.
Oh, no.
I’m not even particularly fond of dogs. So why does that hit me right in the solar plexus? Deep in the back of my brain, an alarm bell is going off. Actually, it sounds more like the warning wail of a tsunami siren. Danger! Danger!
I’m not the only one affected. Tess has her hand clasped over her heart, her eyes shiny, like she’s about to recite a pledge to the Tattoo Temple.
Then she looks over at Aaron.
“No,” he says before she has a chance to speak.
“But a tattoo will look spectacular on you.”
“Forget it.”
I can see all sorts of scheming taking place in that chaotic brain of hers. “Not even a tattoo of my name?” she asks after a moment.
Aaron reaches across the table to grasp her hand and press a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “Your name is tattooed on my heart,” he says simply. “I don’t need it on my skin.”
Predictably, Tess is a puddle on the floor, along with all her arguments.
I watch them and ache a little, a restless longing taking up residence in my chest. Their love is searing and beautiful. Two complete opposites who found each other and fought their way to feeling whole together.
I look up to find Gideon’s eyes on me. All sorts of emotions are stirring behind his eyes, like certain puzzle pieces are slotting into place, but also like he can’t fully make out the entire picture.
Lisset’s voice breaks the spell. “When Uno dies, will you get a paw print tattoo for him?”
I wince at her blunt question, but Gideon answers evenly, “I will.”
“Do you have any siblings, Gideon?” Tess asks, switching topics.
“I’m an only child.”
Like they’re in a relay race, Aaron takes the baton from Tess and begins peppering Gideon with questions. Why did he move to Brown Oaks? What line of work is he in? How does his volunteering work fit in with his job?
Gideon gives Aaron the same broad, generalized answers he gave me, but Aaron isn’t satisfied. He keeps pushing. He’s trying to be subtle. After all, he’s the host and Gideon is a guest in his house, but the tension at the table is rising.
Tess and I are quiet. Now I have an inkling of what Aaron felt like when he first started dating Tess and we subjected him to a grueling family interrogation.
And, yes, a part of me wants to know the answers to the questions Aaron is asking, but another part of me is thinking, this is too much for what is supposed to be a genial, hospitable evening.
I’m about to intervene when Gideon abruptly puts down his knife and fork and wipes his mouth with a napkin.
“I worked for a strategic consulting firm,” he says. “Our clients were high-profile and demanding, and the work was incredibly stressful. But I loved almost everything about my job.” He’s looking at me, as if I’m the only person in the room who needs to hear this. “For years, I lived and breathed my work. And I made a lot of money. An obscene amount of money, to be honest.” His lips tighten. “But I burnt myself out. Badly. I couldn’t stomach another night sleeping at the office. Everyone around me was getting married, having kids, living a life outside of work. And I realized I wanted, I needed , to do something different with my life.” He leaves a quiet pause. “I left the city, left my corporate job, and moved here.” His gaze swings to Aaron. “So I don’t have all the answers to your questions, because I’m still trying to figure them out myself.”
Aaron holds his stare, a thoughtful look crossing his face. Tess is, for once, speechless.
There’s more Gideon’s not saying, but this feels enough for now. “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” I say to him.
“I hope so too,” he replies in a quiet voice.
Just then Tess’s cat wanders into the dining room and begins scratching at a sealed box next to the server.
“What does he want?” I ask Tess.
“I keep the catnip in there.” She wrinkles her nose at Ash, who looks up at her with pleading green eyes. “Cut it out,” she says to him. “We have guests. I can’t be your drug dealer right now.”
We all laugh, the mood lightened a little.
Gideon turns to me. “What do you like most about food styling?”
I fiddle with the stem of my glass, giving myself a moment to think. “With so much ugliness in the world, I love creating beautiful arrangements of food that people enjoy looking at.”
He nods, like he gets it.
Suddenly, the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile. I follow the direction of his gaze and see that Lisset has fallen asleep at the table, her head resting on her folded arms, her plate pushed aside. There’s a softness in his stare that pulls at me.
I stand. “I’ll take her to the guest room. She’ll be more comfortable there.”
Gideon stands too. “I can carry her,” he offers. “If you’re okay with it.”
My heart is not okay. Not when the walls around it keep crumbling in the face of gestures like this.
But Lisset is at the age where she’s too big for me to lift and Aaron has disappeared into the kitchen to refill the water jug.
“All right,” I say. “Thank you.”
Gideon gently scoops Lisset up. She stirs and mumbles something, but then nestles against his chest and tumbles back into sleep. I bite my lip and look away, leading the way to the guest bedroom where we tuck Lisset into bed.
When we return, Tess eyes me, her face saying, This guy is so hot .
I pick up my glass, but don’t drink. My frown says, Stop it .
“How’s Lisset doing with the whole reading thing?” she asks.
“I’m going to try her out with the Reading Dog Program at the school,” I tell her. “She’ll be working with Gideon.”
“Ah,” she says. It’s both amazing and annoying how much meaning my sister can convey in one word.
Prompted by Tess’s questions, Gideon tells her about the program and his role in it.
“What if Uno falls asleep while the kids are reading to him?” she asks. “Won’t that knock their confidence?”
He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve trained Uno to be attentive, but if he falls asleep, I simply tell the children they read so beautifully they put him to sleep.”
“How clever.” Smiling, she turns to Aaron. “Honey, I need help with dessert.”
His brow creases. “But you’ve already made dessert.”
Tess makes a humming noise in the back of her throat. “Yes, but I need help with some last-minute toppings.”
Aaron’s brow clears. “Ah, yes. Coming.”
They disappear into the kitchen, leaving Gideon and me alone in the dining room.
We look at one another. Gideon’s lips twitch and I shake my head. “My sister is not very subtle.”
“No, she’s not,” he agrees with a laugh.
“Now that she’s found true love with Aaron, she’s decided it’s a gift everyone should have. I seem to be at the top of her list.”
“And you’re opposed?” he asks casually, but there’s nothing casual about the look in his eyes.
“It’s not at the top of my list,” I say bluntly. “In fact, it’s not anywhere on my list.”
We buckle a sleepy Lisset into the backseat and thank Tess and Aaron for a delicious dinner. Gideon is full of compliments for the food, triggering an impulsive hug from a glowing Tess.
Aaron’s arms remain folded across his chest. “Text me when you arrive home,” he says to me.
“I will,” I promise him.
As Gideon pulls out into the street, I say, “You survived.”
“More than that, I had fun.”
I eye him dubiously. “Masochist.”
He lets out a chuckle. “No, really, I had a good time. Despite being interrogated to within an inch of my life.”
I study his profile as he drives my car, his strong jawline under the short beard, the sensual curve of his mouth.
“You held up pretty well,” I say.
“I understand where they’re coming from.”
“Tess can be a handful.”
“She loves you,” he says quietly. “That love may be fierce and opinionated, but it’s love. I’m sure she only wants what’s best for you.”
What he doesn’t say, but what fills the heavy silence in the car, is that my sister has seemingly decided Gideon Walker is the man who’s best for me. How she’s come to that conclusion in the ridiculously short time she’s known him, I have no idea.
We listen to the hum of the car on the quiet roads. Gideon’s hands are relaxed and competent on the steering wheel. He’s driving carefully, which I appreciate.
Choosing my words deliberately, I say, “Thank you for being a friend to me, Gideon.”
He flicks a quick glance my way. The shadows in the car don’t allow me to read his expression, but he goes still and I see his jaw tighten.
I’m not naive. I realize there’s something more than just platonic friendship between us. I know we both feel the buzz of an electric attraction, but I also want him to know, in the clearest possible terms, that friendship is all I want between us.
For a second, I think he might say something, maybe push the matter, but he exhales heavily and the moment passes.
He parks in my garage and I tell him I’m okay to take Lisset up to bed. I’m not quite ready for Gideon Walker to be inside my house.
“Good night, Kate. Sleep well,” he says softly, giving me a slightly crooked grin.
When he turns away and heads toward his house, the night swallowing him up, the oddest feeling comes over me, as though I’m left standing outside in the cold, shut out from the warmth and light I’ve come to associate with him.