A quick glance in the mirror, a hand over her curls to make sure they were in place and she was ready. Dakota walked out to the kitchen as she did up a charm bracelet on her wrist, Tiny dancing around her feet. “You have to stay home, little poodle.”
The yaps of protest had her laughing. It was as though Tiny could understand every word she said. Her dog had always been able to predict her moods so really it wouldn’t have surprised Dakota if she could. It was almost seven o’clock. A ripple of excitement raced up her skin, goose bumps appeared on her arms. “This is ridiculous to be so worked up over a date with a friend. I need a glass of wine to calm me down before Adam arrives and I risk making a fool of myself. He said friend, Tiny, and friend is what I will strive to be. Nothing more.”
A bottle of Shiraz sat on the counter and she reached for a wineglass before she opened the bottle. As she poured, a cramp gripped her hand and the bottle slipped from her hand, shattering on the tiles and spilling wine all over the kitchen floor.
“Oh no.” Dakota looked at the mess as she massaged her hand until the cramp eased. Red wine dripped all down her dress staining it beyond repair. “What a pain.” Nothing for it, she’d have to change and clean up the floor. She walked into the tiny mudroom for the mop and bucket, hoping Adam would be running late.
The doorbell rang and Tiny raced to the door, yapping in joy. Heck, just her luck.
She left the bucket and mop in the kitchen, hurriedly wiped her hands, mopped at her dress with a tea towel, and went to open the door.
Adam stood with a bunch of daisies in his hand. His smile turned to confusion when he spied the wine down her dress. He reached out, concern in his voice. “What happened? Are you okay, Dakota?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Stupid hand cramped up and I dropped the bottle of wine and it went everywhere as you can see.” She stepped back, bit back a curse as a dribble of wine trickled down her leg and into her shoe, leaving a soggy tight clinging to a now cold foot. “Come in. I’m sorry but I have to clean up the mess and change before we go out.”
“Hey, I can use a mop. Show me the disaster area and I’ll clean up while you change.” He followed her into the kitchen, his lips twitching at the pool of red on her tiles. “You have made rather a shamble of the place, haven’t you?”
“Of course. My motto is, ‘if you’re going to do something, you may as well do it spectacularly well.’” And hadn’t she done just that?
“It just so happens that I agree and you have. Off you go, leave me with this.” He gave her a nudge and thankful for the help, Dakota hurried off to find a new outfit to wear.
Over dinner later, she laughed about the mishap even if she did think she was a klutz. “If I didn’t particularly like that red wine, I wouldn’t have been so annoyed with myself.”
Adam reached out and took her hand, looking at the scar that ran down both fingers and her palm. He ran his thumb over it and she shivered, her fingers instinctively closing over his. “Does it still hurt?”
“Not really. Just a dull ache and numb patches, which I can live with.”
“Want to share what happened?”
Dakota didn’t have the heart to refuse after he’d cleaned up her mess. Besides, it was nice to offload on someone who wasn’t intent on coddling her. He listened and agreed with her when she said she was fine.
“I get it, I do. Being in the sport I am, injuries are part of the deal. Sadly, they can be career ending too. Knock on wood,” he tapped his fingers on the table, “so far I’ve managed to avoid that. A knee reconstruction was my last stint in hospital and that was the second one I’ve suffered through.”
“But it hasn’t slowed you down, has it?”
“No. I have had to think about my future though, even if I’m not ready to quit the sport it’s something I must consider.”
“Understandable too. But my parents think I’m never going to be able to do the fine work I did before and they might be right. But I can still work, still support myself.”
“You didn’t think of changing professions?” Adam took a bite of his steak.
“No, never. I love what I do. The finer designs may be harder for me now and I might not ever be able to do what I once did but you should see what I’ve done lately. I’ve managed to find a whole new line and I’ve had so much interest already and it’s not even for sale yet.” She put down her knife and fork and rested her hands on her lap. It’d been hard to accept in the beginning, knowing she would never pick up her finest tools again but forever pragmatic, she’d considered herself lucky she still had all her fingers. Every now and then the nostalgia washed over her leaving sadness in its wake but it didn’t last for long.
“Tell me about it.” He lifted his glass and took a sip of water.
“Christmas decorations. It’s something I thought of years ago but didn’t launch. My pieces are expensive, I know that and I wanted to reach a bigger market. So, I played with a couple of ideas and started working on my Christmas decorations.”
“They weren’t in the shops though. I would have seen them.”
Dakota smiled at him. “No they weren’t. They were planned for release before I had my accident so things got put off. I still haven’t launched them.” How nice to know that he followed her career and how lucky for her that she’d already
