12. Had An Understanding
12
HAD AN UNDERSTANDING
“Y ou are a grill master,” Charlotte said. “These are perfect.”
“My mother taught us all how to cook,” he said. “She always said to never rely on anyone to do anything for you.”
“With that many kids, she probably needed all the hands she could get,” she said.
“And then some,” he said. “I’m not sure why they had so many kids, but my mother has a brother who has nine kids, so maybe it’s their thing.”
“Nine kids?! Was it a competition?”
“No idea,” he said. “They have multiples in their family. Not us. My mother was pregnant eight times. No, thank you.”
“And since you’re in the middle, you saw what she went through for some of them.”
“I did,” he said. “Even at a young age, we were helping out. My father wasn’t around much.”
Charlotte still couldn’t believe she’d told Foster what she had about her family, but she really did think he wouldn’t say a word.
When he’d asked if Amanda was married to Drew Bond, she just assumed he knew the name. In the Northeast, the Bond name was well known.
She’d scrambled after that to say that she wasn’t looking to be married to some wealthy guy like her sister. Just wanted to be with a partner who was there for her. Listen to her wants and needs and help each other.
Like she was with Foster cleaning up dinner.
“That had to be hard,” she said. “How much do you clean your plates before they go in the dishwasher?”
“I rinse them,” he said. “If I was going to wash them then I’d just do it. I don’t understand the need for people to wash their dishes first. Do you do that?”
“No,” she said. “I feel the same way. I just get the food off of them.”
Which she did and put it in the dishwasher. When she bent over, her butt bumped into his leg and it caused her to jump up quickly and apologize.
He only laughed and continued to clean up with her.
“Do I have to wait to get dessert?”
“No,” she said. “Help yourself. Did you have to wait growing up? Like were there rules about sitting at the table and eating?”
She wanted to know more about him but also understood that he didn’t say a lot.
He’d mentioned secrets and she was positive there was a crap load of them in his life.
She was starting to wonder if he was embarrassed over his upbringing, which she was assuming was fairly humble.
It had to be if his mother didn’t work with that many kids and his father was in the service, then passed away young.
“We always had enough food,” he said. “But there would be fights at the table. Lots of fights in our house.”
“How could there not be with that many kids? Especially more boys than girls.”
“My mother was good at knocking heads together. My oldest brother was eighteen when my father died. He’d been helping raise us for years. I don’t think he ever got to be a kid.”
“Something tells me that none of you got to be a kid,” she said.
“Just Talia. She’s the baby,” he said.
“She might not feel that way with so many older brothers,” she said. “Not if they are all like you.”
“Like me how?” he asked after he stopped chewing his blondie.
“Protective,” she said. “I see that in you. From helping me from getting hurt. You never lectured though. You saved me, then showed me what not to do and how to do it right.”
“You can’t help yourself if you don’t know how,” he said.
“Did your mother teach you that?” she asked.
“Pretty much. I saw how hard she worked and everything she did. I think that is why we cut her so much slack when she wants to interfere now.”
“Can I ask where your mother lives now?” she asked.
He seemed to hesitate. “North Carolina.”
“Is that where you are from?” she asked.
“I’m from a lot of places because we traveled a lot, but Fayavette is the last home my mother has lived in. Or the last city. That’s home now in a way.”
“And far enough away that you don’t see her often,” she said, smiling. “I bet you don’t talk to your family much.”
“More than I care to,” he said drily.
She’d let it go. She didn’t want to pry. She felt she had an understanding of Foster and that he’d tell her what he wanted to.
He seemed to guard himself more than her and because she knew what he felt like, she wouldn’t push.
“Thank you for dinner,” she said.
“Are you leaving?” he asked, frowning.
“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” she said. Even if she wouldn’t mind being in his company more.
“We can sit on the deck and look at the water,” he said. “Boring, I know. But I like doing it at night.”
“I’d love to,” she said. “I should thank you again for letting me sit on your bench. Marco and I enjoy it. I thought I’d miss all the action of the city, but when I went to the office last week I didn’t know how much I missed home until I walked in the door.”
“It’s a nice feeling, isn’t it?”
“Yes. And I can say this is my home too,” she said. “No one can take it away from me.”
He grabbed her another bottle of water and one for himself, they went to the deck and sat there in quiet for a minute or two.
She wasn’t even ready to jump out of her skin like she might have in the past over the silence.
“Do you like being on the water?”
“I know how to swim if that is what you’re asking,” she said. “When it gets warmer, I might go in. I’d like Marco to enjoy it.”
“I mean the boat,” he said. “Have you been sailing before?”
“I’ve never been on a sailboat,” she said. She’d been on a yacht but wouldn’t add that. No reason to. She’d already admitted that she dated older men who had money.
He probably thought she was some greedy gold digger and she was trying to make sure he didn’t think that.
She’d never been that way.
It just happened to be the men that paid attention to her.
That made her feel good about herself.
But more weren’t honest to begin with and she hadn’t seen it.
“Maybe we can go out on it sometime,” he said.
“I’d like that,” she said. “I’m going to visit my sister Memorial Day weekend. She’s due around then and they are going to induce her so I want to be there.”
“That’s nice,” he said. “What are you doing with Marco?”
“He’s going with me. I’m driving. I flew there once. Even though it’s a short flight from JFK to Logan, it’s getting through traffic, sitting in the airports, then getting a ferry after I rent a car or at least get a ride to the ferry, then someone picking me up. It’s actually less time for me to just drive there, and then I can bring Marco.”
“I would have kept him if you wanted,” he said. “Something to consider.”
“Really?” she asked. “That’s a sweet offer. But I’m not sure I can be without him, and if he spends a few days with you, he might not want to come back to me.”
He laughed. “That could have been my evil plan. I’ve never had a dog or thought I’d want one.”
“I’d suggest you get one, but you’re gone long days and it wouldn’t be fair to keep them locked up.”
“I could bring a dog to work with me if I had to,” he said.
“Your boss has to be pretty great to allow that,” she said.
“He has his moments,” he said, smirking. “Are you going to answer your phone?”
It’d been vibrating in her pocket on and off, but she was ignoring it.
She hated people who were on the phone nonstop when they were around her.
Every boyfriend she’d ever had spent more of their attention on an electronic than her.
Foster hadn’t once looked at his phone in her presence. She didn’t realize that until he’d just made that comment.
“It’s just a text. Can’t be anything important.”
“It could be your sister,” he said. “Did you think of that?”
No, she hadn’t and rushed to pull it out of her pocket.
When she saw who it was from and read the text she only got pissed and put it away.
“Not Amanda,” she said.
“But someone to upset you,” he said. “It’s all over your face.”
“Sorry,” she said. “It put me in a mood and I don’t want that.”
How dare Landon reach out to her now and say he missed her and made a mistake?
When she felt the phone vibrate again, she ground her teeth.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Just my jerk of an ex. He seems to think nine months later I’ll take him back.”
“He’s just reaching out now after all that time?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “He’s been texting me on and off for months and I ignore it.” She pulled her phone out and showed him. The last thing she wanted was for the guy she was trying to get to know to think she was jerking him around.
“You don’t have to show me,” he said.
“I don’t want you to think I’m lying about it. All the texts are one way.”
He reached for her phone and scanned over all the declarations of love and how much Landon missed her and that he wanted to take care of her. It was more embarrassing than anything, but was worth it for Foster to know where she stood.
He handed her phone back and stood up, then reached his hand out for hers.
She didn’t know what he was doing and allowed herself to be pulled up.
The next thing she knew she was in his arms and his mouth was crushing hers.
Holy crap. Was this really happening?
Her arms went around his neck and held on as she was being devoured by a kiss full of more passion than she’d ever felt in her life.
Too bad it was ending too soon.
Foster stepped back and said, “Try to think of that rather than him.”