Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Ana
“How does the cake look, dear? He’ll be here in ten minutes. I would bet that Dennis Luview is a prompt man. If he said he would be here at five, he will. I want to make sure the cake is appealing.”
For the umpteenth time, Aunt Lucinda asked Ana her opinion of the chocolate cherry bundt cake, which looked like something Ana wanted to destroy singlehandedly with her bare hands, a pint of vanilla ice cream, and a brand new streaming comedy series.
But no. The cake was for Dennis.
Fine.
“It’s fine, Auntie.”
“I hope it’s not overdone. Does it look a bit dark here, along this slope?”
“It looks perfect.” Ana fought the urge to wipe saliva off the corner of her mouth.
“I feel terrible.”
“You already apologized.”
“I did, but that was an egregious error on my part.”
“It’s understandable. No one ever told you my–Harris’s–name, the, you know...”
“The real scoundrel’s name.”
“Exactly.”
“When Dennis marched up to you like that, so angry, so furious, asking you why you were there and pregnant with his baby, I do believe every protective instinct in me kicked in.” Lucinda massaged her biceps.
“Who knew I still have that kind of power in my arm? That poor boy. He must be in so much pain. Do you think I could have dislocated his jaw?”
Holding back a laugh, all she could do was pat Auntie’s killer arm.
“I think we’d know by now.”
“Ana would have noticed when she was kissing him yesterday,” Brie added, entering the room with a glass of mint tea and a mischievous look.
Auntie’s eyebrows shot up so high, they were nearly chandeliers.
“Kiss? You kissed Dennis Luview yesterday?”
“I did.”
“Well, that was forward of him.”
“I was just as forward, Auntie. It takes two to kiss, you know.”
“Well. My goodness. My Donald always took the lead in matters of…” She paused, then whispered, “...the flesh.”
Brie caught Ana’s eye over the bundt cake, biting her lips to hold back a giggle.
“What was he like, courting you?” Brie asked, the old-fashioned word giving Ana a thrill.
Dressing up when you were nearly twenty-seven weeks pregnant was a little bit like being told you could wear either a black trash bag or a white trash bag.
Of course, there’s such a thing as cute maternity clothes, but it’s just not the same.
And she’d packed for a fun, relaxing weekend with Brie’s great-aunt, not for a romantic night out with a guy who mattered.
Dennis mattered.
Was he courting her? This first date certainly felt old-fashioned, but in all the right ways.
“My Donald was the main reason I left my home in Sabbathday Lake, you know. So long ago. Such a sweet man.” Her eyes went out of focus, clearly thinking back decades, long before Ana and Brie were born, before their parents had ever existed, to a time Ana imagined was simpler.
Same problems. Just… simpler.
“I was just eighteen. So young. So foolish and naive. I know so much more now, but if I could live my life all over again, I’d change very little.”
“What would you change?” Ana pried, ever so gently.
“I wouldn’t have waited with Donald. I made the poor man wait a year. That’s a year of my life I wasted. A year of happiness and growth we could have shared.”
“Oh!” Brie’s hands went over her heart. Salty tears filled Ana’s nose and the back of her throat.
“Auntie,” Ana said through thick emotions. “That is so beautiful.”
“I struggled. Oh, how I struggled!” Auntie’s hands flew in the air, then came together, clapping lightly.
The smile that stretched her wrinkled face was luminous.
“I didn’t want to leave Mama and my brother and sister.
Donald was patient, but he was persistent, too.
” She batted her eyelashes. “He knew who he wanted. And he was right. I wish I had let him be right sooner. He’s been gone for so long, but oh, what I would give for just one more day with him. One more hour. One more minute.”
The top of Ana’s shirt was now soaked with tears.
DING!
The doorbell startled all three of them, Lucinda the most, her hands flying in the air again but decidedly less graceful this time.
“Oh, goodness. Listen to me rambling like an old woman.” Pulling herself up to full height, she touched her hair, then looked at Ana with alarm. “Your top!”
Brie sniffled as she studied Ana.
“You cried so much, it’s like you’re wearing a tear bib.”
“I don’t have anything else to wear!” Ana groaned. Luck meant she’d packed a red maternity t-shirt, stretchy and lightweight. Nothing else would really do for this date.
“It’ll dry off.” Brie looked at the front door. “Let’s go upstairs and use a hair dryer on it.”
While Lucinda answered the door, Brie and Ana made their way to the bathroom, where Brie grabbed a small hair dryer and turned it on low, pointing it at Ana’s cleavage.
“Are you nervous?” Brie asked as she fluffed Ana’s shirt, the two of them finding a way to get the water to evaporate faster.
“No. Should I be?”
“I don’t know. This is awfully fast.”
Ana reached for toilet paper to wipe her eyes.
“Auntie’s story is gutting me. Donald’s been gone for so long. How do you have that kind of love and then live the rest of your years alone?”
“Loads of women do it.”
“It’s not fair!”
“No, it’s not. But I guess it’s better than never finding it at all?”
The murmur of voices downstairs made her hope that Lucinda’s apology wasn’t too awful for Dennis.
The old woman was deeply moral and was being so hard on herself.
All day, Auntie had been systematically calling every person she knew in town to correct her error, hoping to shut down the Luview gossip mill.
She’d even called Deanna Luview. Ana could only imagine how that conversation had gone.
“Good enough,” Ana said, the wet spot now vanquished. In the mirror, her reflection showed puffy eyes, but that was to be expected. Her face was rounder than normal, her breasts big and voluptuous. Pregnancy certainly took an average set of boobs and turned them into something lush.
“You look great,” Brie declared. “Go get ’em.”
“I already got him.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I don’t.”
“You’re going to sleep with him tonight, right?”
“Uh… not here! At Auntie’s house!”
“What about at his place?”
“He lives in a cottage at an old camp, surrounded by his entire extended family.”
“Are they in a cult or something?”
“No.”
“That’s weird.”
“Says the woman who works for her parents’ cheese shop, along with all her siblings.”
“We don’t work there full time, and it’s a family business!”
“Dennis works for his parents’ tree service. So does his brother Kell.”
“I thought he was retired military.”
“He is.”
“This is so confusing.”
“Not for me.”
With that, she descended the stairs, hoping her tears hadn’t left salt stains on her shirt.
Dennis looked up from where he sat in Lucinda’s parlor, a half-eaten slice of chocolate cherry bundt cake on a dessert plate in front of him. He smiled.
“You’re wearing red.”
She noted his similarly colored shirt.
“You, too.”
“My mom made me.”
“Does your mother dress you all the time?”
“Only when I take beautiful ladies out for dates in Luview. Which means… this time.”
Auntie winked at Ana.
“Dennis and I have resolved our misunderstanding.”
“Miss Lucinda,” he said, looking at the cake, “slap me around all you want if it means you make more of this delicious apology.”
“Oh, you,” Auntie said, delighted. “I’ll make that for you any time.”
A charmer, he was. Ana laughed at the sight, finishing her slow walk to the sofa, debating whether to sit or not. Getting up was getting harder these days, and not so graceful.
She stood, waiting.
“Ana, have a slice! Please,” Auntie said, waving for her and Brie to sit.
“Dinner backwards?” Dennis offered. “Cake first, then our dinner at the restaurant.”
“Followed by another dessert?” she asked, patting her belly.
They all laughed while Auntie cut more slices and poured tea.
For the next ten minutes, they were a group in bliss. Chocolate and cherry teased Ana’s mouth, the relaxed companionship of people she cared about so fulfilling.
Dennis finished his slice and looked at Lucinda.
“That was the best cake I’ve ever had, Miss Lucinda. Thank you.”
“You’re flattering me,” she said with a sly smile.
“It’s not just flattery if it’s true.” Dennis leaned down and pulled a bouquet of red roses from the other side of his chair. He stood and walked over to Ana, who looked up at him, mouth still full of cake.
“Mmm!” she said as Lucinda smiled at her, then him, with approval.
“You wanted the Love You, Maine treatment, and you’re going to get the full experience. I’m even dressing the part,” he said, plucking his shirt. “We’re not eating at a fine dining establishment, though. Hope that’s okay.”
Ana swallowed and quickly washed down her cake with some tea.
“Of course!”
As if the roses weren’t enough, Dennis bent down again and produced an enormous bag of red foil hearts from Lucinda’s store.
“Oh, my goodness!”
“You have excellent taste in chocolate, my boy,” Auntie declared. She reached for the flowers. “Ana, let me put these in water and arrange them in a vase. Flowers this nice deserve good treatment.”
“Dennis!” Ana said, standing slowly and reaching up for a hug, wishing they didn’t have an audience. “Thank you!”
“Martin needs to step up,” Brie said out of the corner of her mouth, making Ana laugh.
“Flowers, candy, and so much more.” He smiled at her, then made a fake frown. “But I drew the line at wearing the heart costume.”
“Got to save something for the bedroom,” Brie muttered. If Ana were closer, she’d kick her ankle.
“Nice seeing you again, too, Brie,” Dennis said, in a voice that made it clear he’d heard her perfectly. He turned to Ana. “Shall we?”
“Can’t wait. Where to next?”
They said their goodbyes and walked to the driveway, Ana ignoring the movement of curtains at the window as Auntie peeked out, watching them.