Chapter Five #2
‘Not since he was axed, but yes, that’s the last part he played.
’ Slowly Anna began to do up the buttons on the blouse again.
She loved Val as much as her own mother, and they talked about everything — but not this.
Chris would always be Val’s son. Talking about another man to her, no matter how innocent the sense, felt like a betrayal.
‘Dan is helping put on the school play,’ she explained.
‘I invited him to dinner with us to say thank you.’ She left out the part where actually the school was doing Dan a favour, so she didn’t need to thank him.
And the part where she’d been dithering over what to wear, even though she knew he wasn’t interested in her like that.
It depends who’s giving me the come-on.
She put a hand to her fluttering belly. He’d said that, hadn’t he? And while she was sure he flirted with most females, he had, for that brief moment, flirted with her.
More, she’d enjoyed it.
Guilt rolled through her and as she did up the last two buttons she bent her head so Val couldn’t see her face.
On one level she knew she was young, that she wasn’t expected to spend the rest of her life mourning Chris.
But this was Chris’s mum, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t, hurt her by idly talking about an attraction to a man that would lead nowhere.
‘You need to change out of those awful black trousers and put on a pair that show off your figure.’
Anna’s head shot up and she gaped at Val, wondering if she’d heard her correctly. ‘Sorry?’
‘You heard me.’ Val smiled, her green eyes swimming with such understanding Anna felt her heart falter. ‘It’s okay to be attracted to another man,’ she said softly. ‘Chris would have wanted that for you. And for Maisie.’
Tears pricked the back of her eyes and Anna struggled to take in a breath. ‘No, Val, you’ve got this wrong. Dan and me, it’s a professional footing only. I invited him because he looked lonely. He lives in London and stays in a hotel on the days he helps at the school.’
Val patted her hand, the smile remaining on her face, and in her eyes. ‘Still, when a handsome man comes round for dinner, a woman wants to look her best.’ She pressed a kiss against Anna’s cheek. ‘Have a good evening. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
In a daze Anna heard Val walk down the stairs, heard the laughter from Maisie as she said goodbye to her grandma. What had just happened?
Laughter bubbled out of her. She could just imagine the shock on Dan’s face if she told him her mother-in-law had just given her permission to go on a date with him.
As fast as the laughter arrived though, it disappeared.
Touching the spot on her chest that started to ache, Anna flopped onto the bed.
She didn’t want to date men, wasn’t ready for all the angst, the see-sawing emotions.
Especially now it wasn’t just her life she had to look out for, but Maisie’s, too.
Heck, she wasn’t even ready to let another man get close to her.
Her friends had set her up on a couple of blind dates, and she’d felt nothing. Zero. Zip.
Chris was her man. He always would be, and no number of handsome actors with wicked smiles would change that.
As she levered herself off the bed though, she slipped out of the trousers and shimmied into a pair of black skinny jeans. Val was right. This might not be a date, but it didn’t mean she shouldn’t make an effort.
After also adding a touch of eyeliner and hint of blusher, she strode back downstairs to check on the lasagne.
‘Mum, he’s here.’ Maisie, who’d been peering through the front window, raced into the kitchen, eyes shining. ‘Can I let him in?’
‘It would be rather rude to leave him on the doorstep.’
While Maisie skipped off down the hall, Anna took a few deep breaths, forcing her heartrate to settle. It was lasagne, in the kitchen, with her daughter. The way her jeans felt, she wouldn’t be eating much of the lasagne, either.
The door opened, and suddenly Dan’s broad shoulders filled her small hall. Heart thumping, despite the talking to she’d just given it, she watched him hand Maisie a plastic bag. Her daughter peeked inside and as she started to giggle, his eyes, so blue, so magnetic, looked up and held hers.
And her heart cartwheeled in her chest.
‘Hi.’ He smiled and she tried to remind herself it was the same smile he’d give any woman. It wasn’t a smile intended just for her, no matter how warm, how special it made her feel. ‘Advance warning. I’ve just given your daughter an overdose of sugar and additives.’
‘Look, Mum.’ Maisie rushed up to her and held out the bag, which was filled with old-fashioned sweets, including a cavity-inducing number of Sherbet Fountains.
Anna winced. ‘Thank you, I think.’ Though she couldn’t deny the excitement in Maisie’s expression. Nor the thoughtfulness of the gesture, when most guys would surely not have thought of bringing her daughter anything.
Dan laughed softly as he followed her into the kitchen. ‘If it helps, I’ll impress on her the importance of dental hygiene while we eat.’
Once in the kitchen he withdrew his other hand from behind his back and handed her a bottle of red wine and a bunch of multicoloured gerbera daisies. As she grasped the flowers, so bright, so pretty, her heart shifted. Chris had been the last person to buy her flowers.
‘The wine redeems you,’ she told him, accepting the bottle in her other hand. ‘The flowers are overkill, but lovely, thank you.’
‘I could have got away with just the bottle?’
‘You could,’ she confirmed, reaching down to retrieve her one vase from the back of the cupboard under the sink.
It gave her a precious moment away from the bright blue of his gaze.
Time to remind herself the flowers were simply him being polite.
When she stood back up, she found him staring at her, a wide smile on his face.
‘Well, well, you’re a cheap date.’ Immediately her heart jumped and the vase nearly slipped out of her hand.
He must have seen the panic in her expression because his smile slipped.
‘Not that this is a date, obviously.’ Exhaling heavily, he thrust a hand into his pocket.
‘Sorry, it was a throwaway remark. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.
’ He peered closely at her. ‘Are we still good?’
‘Of course.’ She gave him a bright — and yes, okay, rather forced — smile. ‘Why don’t you sit down in the front room with Maisie while I put these in water.’
As he turned and headed out, Anna collapsed against the worktop. Flippety flip, she had to get a handle on herself. She was totally overreacting, both to him and his harmless flirting. The trouble was, part of her wanted him to flirt with her for real, and that scared the living crap out of her.