“Hurt.” Hiccupping sobs alternated with baby babble from the little girl.
“Oh, baby girl. Let me see.” Susan grabbed her daughter from April and inspected her hand. “I didn’t even see her touching the barbeque.”
David touched Susan on the shoulder. “You need to keep that under running cold water for at least ten minutes, cool the skin before it blisters.”
“She gave me such a fright with that scream, David.” April held her hand to her heart, the furious beating slowing as Susan pushed the pudgy fingers under the running water again. “See, the red is going down now. You poor thing, Connie. That must have really hurt you, baby girl.”
“Thank goodness you were there, April. I’ve never seen anyone move so fast.” Susan kissed her daughter’s cheek. “All better, baby girl?”
“Thanks, April. I appreciate how quick you moved, especially with that sore leg.” David put a hand around her shoulders and she leaned into him, the adrenaline leaving her a little shaky.
“No problem.”
“Good. That’s good then.” He looked as relieved as April felt. It was obvious how much he adored Connie.
“Come outside with me and have a drink somewhere quiet where we can talk and let our heart rates slow down.” She held out her hand and he stared at her as if scared she would bite. “Come on. A drink and a chat. Let’s drink to Connie being lucky it was only a minor burn. Besides, I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to you the last couple of days and I kind of missed seeing you around. The day is too beautiful to not make the most of it.”
“Easy to see why. The shop is looking amazing, at least from what I’ve seen from the outside. You’ve done a great job.”
“Thanks.”
David put his hand in hers and she pulled him outside. They paused at the cooler and he poured them both a glass of wine after asking her preference. “This is a nice wine. Fruity and fresh, much like the bottle we shared the first night we met.”
April took a sip. “It is. I don’t drink much normally but this is very pleasant.” She slipped her arm through his and headed over to a shady spot. “This is so relaxing after the last hectic couple of weeks. It’s nice to stop and breathe.”
“You certainly got a lot done in a short amount of time.” When David smiled, the dimples in his cheeks deepened.
“Been peeking, have you?”
“I get my coffee down the road, remember? And I always walk past and some mornings I even get to jog with Oscar. It’s the only time I get to exercise. The way you’ve got the room set up with the low lights on, the lamps throwing light in strategic places, makes it hard to miss, you know.” He leaned back in the seat, stretched out his long legs.
“Of course, I’d forgotten the coffee episode. It seems so long ago when it’s not, really.” April laughed. “We seem to be quite the accidental couple, don’t we? Me the accidental one and you being the poor unfortunate guy on the spot.”
“It would seem so.”
“Tell me, David, what do you do for fun?”
He whipped his head around and looked at her and she kicked herself at how that must have sounded. “You know, you run for exercise, but how do you relax?”
“Oh, right. Well, I listen to music. I have my favorites of course.”
“Who?” April leaned forward, eager to hear what he had to say. She would get to know this man no matter how hard he made it.
“Mozart is my favorite. ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ especially. I love the intensity of the story.” He sighed. “Do you know it?”
April blanched, the question throwing her off. She was expecting to hear he liked Waylon Jennings or Shania Twain. He had the look of a country music fan. “Ah, not really, no. I’m more into old stuff like the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. Anything from the ’70s, really.”
“Oh.” He sipped his wine and looked out over the gathering. “I see.”
“But I’d be interested in hearing it, though. I love to learn new things.” She watched Connie running around the yard, her earlier painful experience forgotten. “Children are so resilient, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are. We have a lot to learn from them I feel.”
“So, you’re Connie’s godfather. You and Susan must be close.” His face lit up when she spoke of the baby.
“We went to school together. We’ve always been as thick as thieves, even when I was away in Seattle.”
“That’s nice. I like her. She’s very friendly and kind. She didn’t know me from a bar of soap but she still she insisted Mari invite me here today.” Susan flitted from guest to guest and looked over in their direction more often than was necessary, a whimsical look on her face. April gave her a smile.
“Heart of gold.” David lifted his hand in a wave.
“And so calm and down to earth.”
*
Was she taking a dig at herself? It was hard to tell but April Moore was a very creative person if not more than a little scatterbrained. The smudge of orange paint on the side of her neck showed just how distracted she could be. No doubt in the middle of a project and rushed off to do something else and forgot what she was doing. But he could tell by looking at the job she’d done setting out her shop she had a skill that couldn’t be learned. Everything fitted together seamlessly in his opinion and he was happy to give it even if he wouldn’t give her taste house room. Her eclectic mix of different styles all melded together to look as though it was tossed casually in the room. A slightly different color palette to her apartment, thank goodness, but the shop was bound to draw plenty of customers from what he’d seen so far. He walked into work every day, fingers crossed that she hadn’t
