“But he thinks your father’s interested in me? That’s not nice when we both know who he really likes.” She jiggled the chubby baby on her knee eliciting a squeal of delight.
“Yes, well. David needs to get with the program if he doesn’t want to end up a boring, dried-up bachelor. Look, I know him just about better than he knows himself and I think you’re perfect for him. You can ask Monica if you like, I’m sure she’ll agree. We all grew up together so she can tell you as well as I can what makes David tick.” She sipped the coffee and eyed off the chocolate cake on April’s plate. “Are you going to eat that or did you buy it to stare at?”
April pushed the plate across in reply. They’d become instant friends from the moment Susan had invited her for the cookout. “Go for it.”
“Thanks. I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately. All I seem to do is eat.”
“Pregnant maybe?” Not that she would know what it felt like but even she’d read that somewhere in a magazine.
Susan grimaced. “The thought had crossed my mind and I’ll stop on the way home and get a pregnancy test. Not sure I’m ready for another little bundle just yet. Miss Connie keeps me pretty busy.”
“You’re an awesome mother. Stop doubting yourself.” April wiped up a dribble from the baby’s chin.
“I know but it’s not what I had planned, you know? But listen, that isn’t what we were talking about. We were discussing you and David.”
“Yes, we were. Look, I like him a lot but he has doubts. I think it’s because I’m a little bit too hippyish for him, plus he seems to have this ‘plan’ he feels he has to stick to.”
“Maybe but I think it’s more a case of him being stuck in his ways more than anything.” She scooped a morsel of cake into her mouth and closed her eyes as she chewed. “He doesn’t really have to go back to Seattle. He has a perfectly good practice here. His mother is here and all his friends, too. You have to make him stay, April.”
“I don’t really think it’s my place to make him change his mind. It’s a decision he has to make on his own but I’m not averse to tempting him to stay. I like him a lot.”
Susan opened her eyes and gave April a self-satisfied smile. “I knew it. So, what’s the plan then? How are you going to break down his barriers and make him need you so much that he can’t exist without you?”
“We did get a little bit cuddly last week when he came over for dinner. Then he freaked out and went home.”
“Oh, now I get it. He’s been in such a mood lately according to Monica. Very short-tempered, even with his mother who he adores.”
“Oh, dear, that’s not nice. He called me the following day and I brushed him off. Decided that he needs to realize he misses me or it won’t work. I thought a bit of space between us might be a good idea. Give him time to think about what he wants and not feel it’s me pressuring him to get together.” April stared as Susan ate the last morsel of chocolate cake. Probably a good thing because she really had to get back to the shop. The sign on the window said she’d be back in thirty minutes. “And then his mother came into the shop and we got talking over a cup of tea. She’s such a lovely lady. She even told me about the history of the building and offered me some of her father-in-law’s old newspapers to use in the shop.”
“Bet David has a fit over that. He’ll think she’s interfering, which she never does.”
“I hope not. She means well and, to be honest, I really like her. She has guts and even though she loves her son, she doesn’t seem to be overbearing. I figure if his mom likes me, then its half the battle. I just need David to realize that living here isn’t that bad and he really does have a good life already without trying to go back and try and pick up where he left off. Who knows how that would turn out for him?”
“I like you, how you think. It will do him good to stay here. I mean, he’s worked so hard to keep the business going with his dad dying. Be a shame for him to walk away from it. The amount of women that have tried and failed to spark some sort of interest from David is quite long. They obviously weren’t his type where as you…”
“Are definitely not his type according to him.”
“So why is he like a bear with a sore head then? Tell me that.”
“What do you mean?” The last time she’d seen David he’d been quick to run away from her. Scared maybe, but a bear with a sore head – no.
“He only acts like that when he has trouble dealing with what life’s thrown his way. I think you’ve made more of an impression on him than you know.”
April hurried back to the shop, hoping she hadn’t annoyed a customer by leaving them waiting. She deserved a coffee break once in a while and when Susan arrived with the delectable Connie, it was easy to close the door of the business for a half hour.
She opened the door and jammed it wide, breathing a sigh of relief that there wasn’t anyone standing waiting at the front step. She pulled out her buckets of flowers, an old spinning wheel that was her display for the day and then hurried inside. And stopped short when she spied David sitting on the bottom step with his arm around Hamish.
“What are you doing in here?”
“I
