'That's the one. Let the lady taste it.'
She bided her time, then picked up the glass holding the testing sip. She sampled, lifted her eyebrows. 'It's very good ... has a nice finish.'
Logan grinned. 'Then let's get started on it.'
'The point I was trying to make,' she began again, 'is that while it's smart and beneficial all around for you and me to develop a friendly relationship, it's probably not either for us to take it to any other level.'
'Uh-huh.' He sampled the wine himself, kept watching her with those big-cat eyes. 'You think I'm not going to kiss you again because it might not be smart or beneficial?'
'I'm in a new place, with a new job. I've taken my kids to a new place. They're first with me.'
'I expect they would be. But I don't expect this is your first dinner with a man since you lost your husband.'
'I'm careful.'
'I never would've guessed. How'd he die?'
'Plane crash. Commuter plane. He was on his way back from a business trip. I had the TV on, and
there was a bulletin. They didn't give any names, but I knew it was Kevin's plane. I knew he was gone before they came to tell me.'
'You know what you were wearing when you heard the bulletin, what you were doing, where you were standing.' His voice was quiet, his eyes were direct. 'You know every detail about that day.'
'Why do you say that?'
'Because it was the worst day of your life. You'll be hazy on the day before, the day after, but you'll never forget a single detail of that day.'
'You're right.' And his intuition surprised her, touched her. 'Have you lost someone?'
'No, not like what you mean, or how you mean. But a woman like you? She doesn't get married, stay married, unless the man's at the center of her life. Something yanks that center out of you, you never forget.'
'No, I won't.' It was carved into her heart. 'That's the most insightful and accurate, and comforting expression of sympathy anyone's given me. I hope I don't insult you by saying it comes as a surprise.'
'I don't insult that easy. You lost their father, but you've built a life—looks like a good one—for your kids. That takes work. You're not the first woman I've been interested in who's had children. I respect motherhood, and its priorities. Doesn't stop me from looking across this table and wondering when I'm going to get you naked.'
She opened her mouth, closed it again. Cleared her throat, sipped wine. 'Well. Blunt.'
'Different sort of woman, I'd just go for the mattress.' At her strangled half laugh, he lifted his wine.
And waited while their first course was served. 'But as it is, you're a... since we're having this nice
meal together I'll say you're a cautious sort of woman.'
'You wanted to say tight-ass.'
He grinned, appreciating her. 'You'll never know. Added to that, we both work for Roz, and I wouldn't do anything to mess her up. Not intentionally. You've got two kids to worry about. And I don't know
how tender you might be yet over losing your husband. So instead of my hauling you off to bed, we're having dinner conversation.'
She took a minute to think it through. At the root, she couldn't find anything wrong with his logic. In fact, she agreed with it. 'All right. First Roz. I won't do anything to mess her up either. So whatever happens here, we agree to maintain a courteous working relationship.'
'Might not always be courteous, but it'll be about the work.'
'Fair enough. My boys are my priority, first and last. Not only because they have to be,' she added,
'but because I want them to be. Nothing will change that.'
'Anything did, I wouldn't have much respect for you.'
'Well.' She waited just a moment because his response had not only been blunt again, but was one she appreciated a great deal. 'As for Kevin, I loved him very much. Losing him cut me in two, the part that just wanted to lie down and die, and the part that had to go through the grief and the anger and the motions—and live.'
'Takes courage to live.'
Her eyes stung, and she took one very careful breath. 'Thank you. I had to put myself back together.
For the kids, for myself. I'll never feel for another man exactly what I felt for him. I don't think I should. But that doesn't mean I can't be interested in and attracted to someone else. It doesn't mean I'm fated to live my life alone.'
He sat for a moment. 'How can such a sensible woman have an emotional attachment to forms and invoices?'
'How can such a talented man be so disorganized?' More relaxed than she'd imagined, she enjoyed her salad. 'I drove by the Dawson job again.'
'Oh, yeah?'
'I realize you still have a few finishing touches that have to wait until all danger of frost is over, but I wanted to tell you it's good work. No, that's wrong. It's not. It's exceptional work.'
'Thanks. You take more pictures?'
'I did. We'll be using some of them—before and after—in the landscaping section of the Web site I'm designing.'
'No shit.'
'None whatsoever. I'm going to make Roz more money, Logan. She makes more, you make more.
The site's going to generate more business for the landscaping arm. I guarantee it.'
'It's hard to find a downside on that one.'
'You know what I envy you most?'
'My sparkling personality.'
'No, you don't sparkle in the least. Your muscle.'
'You envy my muscle? I don't think it'd look so good on you, Red.'
'Whenever I'd start a project at home—back home—I couldn't do it all myself. I have vision—not as creative as yours, maybe, but I can see what I want, and I've got considerable skill. But when it comes
to the heavy, manual labor of it, I'm out. It's frustrating because with some of it, I'd really like to do it
all myself. And I can't. So I envy you the muscle that means you can.'
'I imagine whether you're doing it or directing it, it's done the way you want.'
She smiled into her wine. 'Goes without saying. I've heard you've got a place not far from Roz's.'
'About two miles out.' When their main courses were served, Logan cut a chunk off his catfish, laid it
on her plate.
Stella stared at it. 'Well. Hmmm.'
'I bet you tell your kids they don't know if they like something or not until they've tried it.'
'One of the advantages of being a grown-up is being able to say things like that without applying them to yourself. But okay.' She forked off a tiny bite, geared herself up for the worst, and ate it. 'Interestingly,' she said after a moment, 'it tastes nothing like cat. Or like what one assumes cat might taste like. It's actually good.'
'You might just get back some of your southern. We'll have you eating grits next.'
'I don't think so. Those I have tried. Anyway, are you doing the work yourself? On your house.'
'Most of it. Land's got some nice gentle rises, good drainage. Some fine old trees on the north side. A couple of pretty sycamores and some hickory, with some wild azalea and mountain laurel scattered around. Some open southern exposure. Plenty of frontage, and a small creek running on the back edge.'
'What about the house?'
'What?'
'The house. What kind of house is it?'
'Oh. Two-story frame. It's probably too much space for me, but it came with the land.'
'It sounds like the sort of thing I'll be looking for in a few months. Maybe if you hear of anything on the market you could let me know.'
'Sure, I can do that. Kids doing all right at Roz's?'
'They're doing great. But at some point we'll need to have our own place. It's important they have their own. I don't want anything elaborate—couldn't afford it, anyway. And I don't mind fixing something up. I'm fairly handy. And I'd really prefer it wasn't haunted.'
