1 #3
“What would be the fun in that? You know how long I’ve wanted to put flowers in your beard.” I do. She mentioned it to me the second day I met her.
“Go ahead,” I let out a dramatic sigh. “Do your worst.”
“Yes!” She claps her hands before she picks up a couple flowers and leans in close.
I breathe in her sweet scent. I don’t know if it’s her perfume or shampoo or her sheer Annie-ness, but she always smells wonderful.
She places a hand on my beard, and I go perfectly still, willing my body to hide the tumultuous storm inside.
My eyes fly to hers, and for just a moment, Annie seems a little uncertain, as if she might be feeling as much as I am.
She swiftly resorts to her typical silliness.
“The key to a good flower beard is restraint.” She holds up a sprig of small daisies.
I’m thinking chamomile since it’s simple and small. And smells good.” She puts one in my beard and steps back. “Good! But let’s try adding a bit more.”
“Are you enjoying yourself?” I ask.
“You have no idea! And that scowl of yours really adds to the fun.”
“I’m not scowling.”
“You look very uncomfortable.” She tucks two more flowers in my beard, leaving her palm on my chin as she scrutinizes her work.
She has to be doing this on purpose. All this touching feels like a coordinated attack.
I catch her glance, and her eyes flick to my lips and stay there.
If we were anywhere else but her kitchen with her mom and sister and my daughter watching, I would absolutely kiss her.
That would certainly send the friendship wall tumbling down.
As it is, all I can do is close my eyes and swallow.
When I open them, she’s still watching me, but now she looks as flustered as I feel.
“How do I look?” I’m doing my best to sound casual. After all, we have an audience.
“Good,” she whispers. “Really good.” Then, in a brighter voice, she says, “He looks good. Right, Elinor?”
Elinor, busy carrying platters of food out of the kitchen, gives a cursory, “Very spiffy.”
“You look handsome, Daddy.” Pepper says.
“This,” Annie waves a hand at my face, “is all I dreamed it would be.” She leans in and plants a swift kiss on my cheek. My mind is a blur. All I can think about is the sensation of Annie’s warm lips on my skin.
I return to reality as Annie, Pepper, and Maggie exit the kitchen carrying the last dishes.
I should just do it now, call Annie back to the empty kitchen and ask her out for this weekend.
It would be so easy. I’m about to call her name when it occurs to me that if she says no, the whole dinner will be awkward. I’ll ask her later tonight.
***
Dinner, like all the meals at Bumble Cottage, is a merry feast—good food, the best conversation, and endless laughter.
When we start dinner, the garden is a riot of color, but by the time we sing happy birthday, Annie’s face illuminated by candles is the only light in the dusky garden.
She loves her gifts—especially the stuffed otter, who she promptly christens Olallie and proceeds to snuggle in her arms. I’m mildly jealous of an inanimate object.
Edward and Elinor begin to clear the table. I stand up to help. “Hey Brandon,” Annie begins, “tonight’s a full moon. It’s actually a blue moon. Did you know?”
“Um, no?”
“Well, it is, and some of my friends are going to the swimming hole tonight. What do you think?”
I glance around the table. Everyone’s gone except Pepper and me.
“Um . . . of going swimming in the middle of the night? It sounds cold and a little dangerous.”
“So that’s a no?” she asks, one questioning eyebrow raised.
“Are you asking if I want to go? It’s kind of late . . .”
“Nah, the night is young.”
“Maybe if I brought my swimsuit.”
“You could just go in your skivvies—or if that’s too wild for you, you could probably borrow Edward’s.”
“I’m flattered that you think my waist could fit in Edward’s swim trunks.”
“You’re fit,” Annie says with a laugh. “C’mon. It’ll be fun.” It does sound fun—the sort of fun I had a decade ago. But now I have a job and a child to care for.
I pluck the flowers out of my beard. One, two, three. “I’m sorry, but the flower beard is all the fun you’re going to get out of me tonight.”
“It was quite the triumph,” she says wistfully. “I suppose it went to my head. I should have known you weren’t up for midnight swimming.”
“I can’t leave Pepper all alone. Plus, we’re getting up early to get her home in time for school.”
“My mom and Elinor would be happy to have Pepper stay here, but I get it.” Annie stands up and begins stacking plates. “It was silly of me to even ask.”
“May I carry those for you?”
“No, I’ve got it,” she says, a hitch in her voice as she hurries up the steps and into the house, the screen door slamming behind her. I continue gathering up dishes, uneasy. Annie went from happy to sad so fast.
“Nice job!” Pepper says sarcastically.
“What?”
“Annie just asked you out, and you shot her down.”
“What? No, she wasn’t asking me out. She’s going with a group of friends. I would know if she were asking me out.”
“Dad,” Pepper shakes her head sadly, “sometimes you are such a guy.”