Chapter 6 #2
“What are you doing in here again?” Tamara asked, almost simultaneously.
“Oh, he’s so cute,” Kate said, putting out a hand for the dog to come to her. Surprisingly, though, he ignored her, staying close to Tamara.
Kate laughed good-naturedly. “Looks like it’s you he cares about.”
“He knows I’m in charge of the kitchen,” Tamara said, reluctantly picking up the dog and taking him to the back door. “Come on, you. You can’t be in here when we have a party going on.”
She tried to be firm, but she did give him a few dog treats once they were outside. She had to let the little dog know there were rules and regulations here. More than that, she couldn’t get too attached because, inevitably, he’d soon run off for good.
Tamara returned to the party, and everyone was talking about their families. Apparently, Kate had relatives in France, but over here, she was pretty much alone except for her work. Some of the others discussed their siblings, cousins, and friends, and a few funny family anecdotes were told.
“This isn’t exactly funny, but my mother called the other day,” Meg said. “She still hasn’t quite managed to bring herself to apologize, but it feels as if the ice is melting. At least she called Lucas by his name and not ‘that rock star’ for once.”
Tamara smiled at the fact Meg was sticking to her guns with her mother, which couldn’t be easy, given the fact that Mrs. Ashworth probably didn’t hear the word no very often.
Jenn and Daniel talked about the preparations for their upcoming wedding in San Francisco, although they were aiming for something a little less spectacular—and less expensive—than the average wedding at Married in Malibu.
It sounded as if half the photographers in San Francisco would be attending, and the difficult part about that was going to be working out which of them would take the wedding photographs.
Amy raised the subject of her upcoming gallery show.
She’d been painting constantly since coming to Married in Malibu, and the change of scenery had prompted a new burst of creativity.
Well, that and her newly rekindled relationship with Travis.
Travis mentioned a visit he’d made back to his old neighborhood, wanting to reconnect with family and friends.
He was planning to work with a community outreach group to help kids in situations as tough as his own had been.
They even got Jason talking about his new novel, and he was surprisingly open about it all. Tamara was surprised by that. She had expected that a writer like him would be guarded about professional details.
“You’re not worried about giving away your ideas?” Kate asked.
“The way I see it, it’s more about what you do with those ideas,” Jason said. “I could shout mine from the rooftops, but I don’t think anyone could write them exactly the same way I would. So there’s nothing to worry about.”
Tamara wished it worked the same way in the world of coffee. There, everyone guarded their blends as carefully as they guarded their loved ones. Perhaps even more carefully, in some cases. They kept their secrets.
As Tamara listened, she thought that the people at Married in Malibu would do just about anything for any of their colleagues in every aspect of their lives, not just work.
This surprise party said a lot about how committed they were to one another, going out of their way to do something special for the quietest member of their team.
“I’m kind of envious of you guys.” Tamara finally said. When she realized a few of them didn’t know what she meant, she added, “I’d love to have a bunch of people there for me like you are for one another.”
Liz laughed at that, and Tamara frowned a little. She couldn’t see why.
Liz said, “Tamara, we talk to you about business all the time—even the weddings we’re sworn to secrecy over.
We spend as much time in your shop as we do in our own offices.
From what Nate tells me, you’ve agreed to handle the coffee for this next wedding.
You’re one of us.” She paused. “Whether you want to be or not, I’m afraid. ”
“We don’t know what we’d do without you,” Meg agreed.
“Nate certainly doesn’t,” Travis said, then kept talking quickly as Amy gave him a look and punched his arm. “What? He drinks twice as much coffee as the rest of us.”
They all laughed then, a little relieved. Travis was right about Nate’s caffeine consumption.
Then Daniel declared it was time for a group photograph. He got them all into position, and somehow Tamara found herself in the center, even though it was Kate’s big day. Nate was nestled in beside her again, but this time they weren’t hiding behind the counter.
“Get a little closer together,” Daniel said. “Just push in there.”
Tamara found herself being pushed closer to Nate until there wasn’t a breath of space between them. Nate’s arm ended up wrapped around her waist. Finally, Daniel seemed satisfied.
“Everybody smile,” Daniel said, taking the first of what proved to be a whole series of pictures. It seemed to take forever, and Tamara was aware of every second that she was pressed close to Nate. Every hot, spine-tingling second.
And yet, at the moment Daniel said he’d got the snap and the group dispersed, Tamara remained beside Nate.
She half turned to face him, and she couldn’t help thinking, once again, how easy it would be to kiss him and what that would be like.
She knew how he would taste and how soft his lips would be.
The memory of both those things was far too fresh in her mind.
“You two look more like a couple than all the couples in this room,” Kate said, floating past with another glass of wine. “Liz and Jason, Travis and Amy, Jenn and Daniel… You fit right in.”
That was enough to make Tamara jump back. But when she saw the look in his eyes, she wondered if he had been thinking the same thing. There was something there between them. Something that suggested he’d been hoping it might have gone the other way.