22. Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Adalie
W hen I knock on Nate’s door later that evening, I’m completely out of sorts. Elliot’s unexpected visit had messed up my whole routine so much that I’ve already called Vic twice to ask her to leave me notes for things I need to take care of tomorrow.
Dani answers, her smile so big, tears prick my eyes. She’s so happy to see me and it’s so nice that I go inside and hug her a little more tightly than usual. She hugs me back and says quietly, “Are you okay, Adalie?”
I nod. “I had a bad day. But that’s all over now.”
She steps away. “I have some good news.”
“Tell me,” I say, smiling.
“My teacher said he’s never had a student who understands perspective as well as I do.”
She looks so proud of herself as she leads me through the living room toward the kitchen, taking the bag I’d brought so I don’t have to carry it.
“You’ve been doing really well,” I say. “I’m not surprised he noticed.”
I look up from the girl and see her father. My breath lodges in my lungs as I take him in, standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner. He’s dressed in worn jeans and a faded Harley Davidson t-shirt. I want so much to walk up to him, bury myself in his strength with his arms wrapped around me.
I just want to surround myself with these people who make me happy, who don’t make me feel guilty, or like I’m doing things wrong, or like I’m not enough.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I miss the next thing Dani says. Nate chuckles, noticing my preoccupation, and says, “Why don’t you get the easel set up, pipsqueak?”
She bounces her way out to the family room where the easel I’d loaned her from Blue Vista leans against the wall. She brings it to the middle of the room where they’ve laid a sheet to protect the floor.
“Hey,” he says softly, while Dani is focused.
“Hey,” I say.
“Did I hear you say you had a bad day?” he asks.
I nod. “Elliot came by the office. I don’t really want to talk about it.” Then a thought pops into my head. “Shit,” I mutter, glancing at Dani immediately, but she didn’t hear me swear. “Sorry. I remembered something I needed to do today at work. I’m a little scattered.” I pull out my phone and send a text to Vic.
Me:
Are you still at the office? Can you write me another note?
Vic:
I left about thirty minutes ago. Text me everything you forgot as you remember, and I’ll have it all for you tomorrow when you get in. Relax and have fun tonight with Dani and Nate. Start fresh in the morning.
I sigh and send the text with the thing I need to remember.
“Sorry again,” I mutter to Nate as I finish and put my phone away. “He threw off my routine today, and I didn’t write my list of things to do for tomorrow.” I meet his eyes. “I keep randomly remembering stuff.”
“Can I do anything to help?” he asks, and those stupid tears prick my eyes again.
It’s very hard not to touch him, to watch him without reaching out to him. Especially when I just want him to wrap his strong arms around me and tell me everything will be okay. I manage a smile and shake my head.
“It’s fine. I hate it when my routine is thrown off, that’s all. It takes me so long to get back on track.”
“Can I make you some tea?” he asks.
And my smile grows bigger. “That would be great.”
Dani bounces back to us after only a moment, grabbing my hand and leading me to the easel. We get into the lesson and I’m able to focus. We’re doing watercolours today and painting has always been my favourite art medium. I point out a few things for Dani to consider and she makes little adjustments. I have a photo from Ava of a vase of flowers that I’m using for this lesson. There are differences between the photo and the painting that is Dani’s original style.
The painting is half done when Nate calls a stop to our lesson for dinner.
“Can I keep working on it without you?” she asks after washing her hands and taking her seat next to Taylor, who came in part way through the lesson.
“Of course. We don’t need the easel back until September. You can work on any of our projects when I’m not here.”
“I wish I had an easel at Mom’s place,” Dani says.
As we eat dinner, Dani is quizzed on her spelling words. When we go around the table saying what our favourite thing about the day was, Dani again says painting with me, just like she always does when I’m here. I tell her mine was giving her a hug at the front door. She thinks it’s silly, but it’s completely true. I realize I love this little girl, and she makes my whole day brighter whenever I get to see her.
After dinner, Dani clears the table while Taylor loads the dishwasher. Then she takes Nate’s phone to call her mom, heading upstairs for the conversation.
I sit at the island and Nate goes to the kitchen, turning on the kettle.
“I wanted to ask a favour of you, actually,” he says as he waits for the water to boil.
“What’s that?” I ask.
He glances at the stairs, but there’s no sound of skipping footsteps on them. He lowers his voice and says, “Dani’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks. I’ve talked to Katie, and we were thinking of each getting her an easel. Maybe you could help me pick one out?”
He gives me my second cup of tea once the water is finished boiling, and I wrap my hands around the mug, letting the heat seep into my skin.
“Absolutely. We can do that next week if you want. But you probably don’t each need one. There are table top ones and she could bring it to both houses.”
He sits beside me, our eyes meeting and locking. I’m acutely conscious of the fact that we haven’t touched at all since Monday morning.
“I can go upstairs with Dani if you guys want some time alone,” Taylor says, breaking the moment.
I turn back around, taking a sip of my tea, which is far too hot, so I burn my tongue. “Damn,” I say, making Taylor laugh at me. I glare at him. “That was your fault,” I tell him.
He shrugs, getting the detergent into the dishwasher and turning it on. “So are you guys still doing the comfort zone thing now that you’re… you know.” He waggles his eyebrows.
I snort at his innuendo. “You’re not very subtle, are you?”
He grins. “Subtle like a jackhammer. That’s me.”
“Nothing’s changed,” Nate says. “She still wants me to take her out to do things she wouldn’t normally do.”
“But you’re…” Taylor trails off, casting a glance at the stairs and lowering his voice like Nate had done. “You’re together. Exclusive. Right?”
Nate and I look at each other, as though confirming, though we’ve already talked about it at length over the last few nights. “Yes,” I say, not taking my eyes off him. I hadn’t thought not being able to kiss him would be this difficult. But maybe that’s where the difficulty comes in. The fact that I can’t kiss him. And I really want to.
“So shouldn’t you be doing things Nate wouldn’t normally do as well?” Taylor asks. “You know. To keep it even.”
I turn back to Taylor. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“So what do you like to do, Adalie?” Taylor prods.
“I like going to the theatre. There’s this amazing improv place on Granville Island. And the Art Gallery. Obviously, I like to paint.” I gasp, turning toward Nate, my hand over his. “We could go to Bard on the Beach.”
Taylor laughs. “I can assure you, Nate has never been.”
“Isn’t that Shakespeare?” Nate asks. I can tell from his tone that he’s skeptical.
But he’s also staring at where my hand is touching his. He turns his around so our palms are touching now, weaving his fingers through mine. It’s such simple contact, but butterflies explode in my belly. I have to swallow before I can answer.
“Yes. They usually put on four plays every summer. I try to go at least once. I went to Twelfth Night last year with Vic. It was so good.”
He doesn’t seem convinced, but he nods, meeting my eyes. “If you want to go, I’ll go with you.”
I beam. “Excellent. I’ll get the tickets tonight. When we talk later, we’ll figure out the date.”
“You’ll talk later?” Taylor says. “Aren’t you talking now?”
Nate scowls at his brother. “We talk on the phone every night.”
Taylor’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Then he grins. “Aren’t you two the cutest?”
I roll my lips together because I know Nate is annoyed, but I think it’s funny. And I happen to agree. I love that we talk every night.
Dani comes back down the stairs, announcing her arrival with pounding footsteps that give me time to remove my hand from Nate’s before she returns.
“Mom said to say hello to everyone,” she calls before racing to give me a hug. “Is it time for you to go, Adalie?”
“Just about. Your dad made me some tea, so I was finishing it while I waited for you to say goodbye.”
“I wish I could see you again tomorrow night. It’s too bad there’s no paint night at Blue Vista anymore.”
“There will be in a few months,” I assure her. “I’ll let your dad know when they start up again.”
“Are you busy tomorrow night?” Dani asks as she helps me gather my things.
“Um. No. There’s a rehearsal dinner, but I’ll be done work early. There’s a wedding on Saturday, so I’ll also need to be there first thing in the morning. It’s the start of my busy season.”
“Do you ever paint what you see at the weddings?”
“Sometimes. Though not while I’m there. I might take a picture of something and try to recreate it like we did with the flowers today.”
Dani walks me to the door, carrying my bag for me, when Nate stops her. “I’ll walk Adalie to her car, pipsqueak. Say goodbye, then go get in the shower.”
Dani sighs, but hands my things to her dad. “Goodbye, Adalie. I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”
“Bye, Dani. See you later.”
She gives me another hug and races up the stairs again.
“Oh, to have that energy,” I say wistfully.
Taylor laughs before holding up his hand in a wave. “See you, Adalie.”
Then Nate is ushering me outside and leading me to my car. As soon as my bags are in the trunk, he spins me over to the driver’s side and presses me back into the door, claiming my lips in a searing kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck, holding on to him as his tongue sweeps into my mouth. His hands are on my hips, but one travels a little further down until he reaches the hem of my skirt and his fingers trail along the skin of my thigh until he can grab my ass, pulling me into him.
“Nate,” I whisper. “People might see.”
He shakes his head. “Between the car and me, no one can see. Do you want me to stop?”
Instead of answering, I pull his head back down, kissing him again, arching into him. I lose all track of time as he kisses me, his fingers playing along the edge of my underwear, though he doesn’t try to delve inside. I lose myself in the sensations, partly wishing he would take it further, until he pulls away, smoothing my skirt, our breathing laboured.
“God, Adalie,” he rasps. “You have no idea how hard it’s been to not do that tonight.”
I giggle. “Actually, I do.”
His arms wrap around me, and he rests his forehead against mine. It’s nice to be completely surrounded by him. Peaceful, except for the part of me that wants to tear all our clothes off and climb him like a tree.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks. “You were a little out of sorts when you came in tonight.”
I smile. “I’m better now. Thanks to you and Dani and Taylor.”
He swallows and seems for a moment like he wants to say something before he finally does. “It’s none of my business, so tell me to stay out of it if you want. Did he ask for money?”
I nod.
“Did you give it to him?”
“I told him it was the last time, but yes.” Shame burns through me because I really wanted to say no to Elliot today, and I just didn’t have the backbone to do it. I change the subject. “Do you actually want to go to the play with me this summer? If you don’t want to…”
He puts a finger over my lips, stalling what I was going to say. “You’ve been doing a lot of stuff I like. I figure I should do some things you like. It makes sense. We’re still getting to know one another, right? This is part of it.”
“I don’t want you to be bored.”
He kisses me again. This time it’s a sweet, lingering kiss. “I am never bored with you, Adalie.”
“Really?”
He nods. “Really. You brighten up the room whenever you’re in it. I know you came to me because you thought you needed to change, but you don’t.”
I kiss him this time. He’s saying all the things I’ve always wanted to hear, and if I don’t kiss him, I’m going to start crying. So I lean into him, holding him to me as we make out on the street.
He breaks the kiss to tuck a curl behind my ear. “Speaking of you being so bright,” he says. “I’ve been thinking. If you’re going to be riding with me more often, we should get you your own gear.”
“Yeah? Like my own jacket and helmet?”
“The black doesn’t suit you. And it’s not quite the right size.”
“Why don’t we do that next week?” I say.
“Perfect.” He sighs. “I have to get back inside. Dani won’t be much longer in her shower.”
I kiss him one more time. Then I laugh. “You have to let me go if you’re going inside.”
“I don’t want to,” he grumbles.
He gives me one more swift kiss and backs up. I climb into my car before we can start everything all over again. I watch in my mirrors as he moves around my car to stand on the grass of his front yard. I keep watching as I drive away. He doesn’t go inside until after I can’t see him anymore.